Photo: ANDREY BORODULIN / Reforma Agency
The Ukrainian authorities have reported that a total of 20 civilians, women and children, have been evacuated from the Azovstal metallurgical plant , the last redoubt controlled by the Ukrainian troops in the city of Mariupol, in southeastern Ukraine.
The deputy commander of the Azov Battalion, Sviatoslav Palamar, has posted a video on Telegram in which he reported that the civilians had been transferred late this Saturday afternoon after an agreement was reached with the Russian forces.
“At 19.40 hours has been moved to 25 civilians to the agreed place and have been rescued. They are women and children. We hope that these people will go in the agreed direction, towards Zaporizhia, towards the territory controlled by Ukraine”, Palamar pointed out, according to the Ukrinform news agency.
Palamar has explained that Russian artillery has been firing at the plant metallurgical throughout the night and has caused significant damage.
Furthermore, he affirmed that the truce did not begin at 6.00, as agreed, but at 11.00. The evacuation convoy finally arrived at 18.25, even though it should have arrived at 6.00 hours.
The troops of the Azov Battalion are now working to remove the civilians from the rubble, explained Palamar, who has defended thus the need to evacuate civilians: the elderly, women and children.
He has also highlighted the need to evacuate wounded soldiers. “We have to guarantee the exit not only of civilians, but also of wounded soldiers who need medical attention” , he added.
Approximately a thousand civilians and soldiers are entrenched on the grounds of the Mariupol Azovstal metallurgical plant, including some 600 injured, according to Ukrinform.
According to CNN, TASS, the state news agency s of Russia said on Saturday that a group of civilians left the steel plant. A correspondent at the scene told TASS that a total of 25 people came out, including six children. under 14 years old. CNN cannot independently verify TASS reports.
Russian planes continue to attack the besieged city of Mariupol, concentrating on the Azovstal steel mill, where troops and civilians take refuge. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces posted on Facebook that the Ukrainian military had regained control of four settlements in the Kharkiv region.
The invasion of Ukraine has left several cities in rubble, including Mariupol, where thousands of civilians and soldiers are trapped in underground bunkers at the Azovstal steel plant, in a city continuously bombed by Russia.
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