KYIV (Reuters – As Ukrainian rebels left Mariupol’s Azovstal Steelworks this week to end their last stand against Russia, Mariia Zimareva struggled in vain in the floods of photos published.

On Wednesday, her 19-year-old daughter, five months pregnant, was informed by her husband’s 22-years-old unit that he was one of a number of soldiers who were taken from the Steelworks to Olenivka in the Russian-controlled region of Donetsk.

There is uncertainty about the fates of the fighters. Kyiv has asked for their return as a prisoner exchange. Some Russian legislators have asked that the soldiers be tried.

Zimareva, who was living in Znamianka (central Ukrainian region of Kirovohrad), said that “I was scared before too.”

She said, “I’ve not had a single moment of calm since that first day in the war.”

Stanislav Zimarev is Stanislav, a National Guard soldier who serves in an armoured personnel transport unit. He was sent to Mariupol on February 7, just weeks prior to the Russian invasion.

Zimareva stated that in April a shrapnel fragment pierced his hip. The injured man was brought to the Azovstal steelworks, which is the last stronghold for city fighters.

According to Sheri, the couple last spoke directly on April 20. He was still able to reach her through another fighter weeks later.

Now, she is speculating on her husband’s and the other fighters being transferred in prison swap. Moscow talk about trials of soldiers is propaganda for a domestic audience, she said.

They will exchange everyone. Even the Azov fighters. She said that they are lying about the trial and it is Russian propaganda to convince Russians to let them go.

This was the Azov Regiment’s fighters at Mariupol. Moscow refers to the Azov regiment as “Nazis”. It was created in 2014 to combat Russian-backed separatists.

Zimareva shared that she and her husband were expecting a child, although they haven’t yet chosen a name.

She said, “I’m hoping he will be back by that point and we can pick one together.”