The wives of the defenders of Mariupol, who are still in Azovstal, appealed to Pope Francis to help get the Ukrainian soldiers to a third country.

This was reported by Reuters.

Kateryna Prokopenko, 27, and Yulia Fedosyuk, 29, spoke to the Pope for about five minutes at the end of his general audience in St. Peter's Square.

The women asked the Pope to speak directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin to let their husbands go.

"We hope that this meeting will give us a chance to save their lives. Our soldiers are waiting to be evacuated to a third country, to lay down their arms in case of evacuation," Fedosyuk told reporters later.

"Russian captivity is not an option for them," Prokopenko added.

According to the women, the last time they spoke with their husbands, soldiers of the Azov Regiment, on Tuesday. They said they told the Pope about the wounded soldiers and their severe wounds, unburied bodies, and lack of food, water, and medicine at the steelworks.

The Pope said he would do his best and pray for them.

"We asked him to come to Ukraine, talk to Putin and tell him to let them go," Fedosyuk said.

The women named Switzerland and Turkey as possible allies for the evacuation but did not provide details.

Pope Francis said in an interview published on May 3 that he had asked for a meeting with Putin in Moscow to try to end the war in Ukraine but had not received any response.

As previously reported, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine reminded the Pope who is responsible for the war.