Photo: REUTERS / copyright
Dozens of civilians were evacuated from the besieged Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol after weeks of siege.
The huge industrial zone is the last Ukrainian stronghold in this strategically important city in the southeast of the country taken by Russian troops.
Russia reported that dozens of civilians arrived in a town he controls.
Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky
, said meanwhile that a large group is heading towards Zaporizhia, a city over which Ukraine maintains control.
“The first group of some 100 people already is heading to the controlled area “, he tweeted. “Tomorrow we will meet them in Zaporizhia. Grateful to our team! Now they, together with the UN, are working on the evacuation of other civilians from the plant”.
The United Nations confirmed its participation in the operation, together with the Red Cross and the “parties of the conflict”.
The evacuation convoy arrived on Saturday morning, the UN reported, but did not give details on where it was going. carried people or how many had left. He alleged that sharing details could jeopardize the security of the operation.
The information arose after conflicting reports in the media about the fate of some twenty civilians who managed to escape since Saturday night.
Russian Ministry of Defense stated that almost 50 civilians left the besieged steelworks, some of whom were taken to Bezimenne
, a town in territory occupied by Russia in Ukraine.
Agency Reuters news agency reported that one of its photographers stationed in the village had seen more than 50 civilians in a convoy, and reported that UN personnel were in the area.
Trapped and in an extreme situation
Authorities of both countries are holding negotiations for the release of approximately 1.05 civilians still trapped inside Azovstal.
“Block this industrial area so that not even a fly can get through,” Putin told his troops last week, after announcing that the city of Mariupol had been taken.
The Mayor of Mariupol , Vadym Boychenko, declared to the BBC that the people who remain inside the factory are “on the border between life and death”.
“They are waiting , praying for rescue. It is difficult to say how many days or hours we have to save their lives”, he alleged.
Putin’s plan in the south of Ukraine
Russia is intensifying its offensive in eastern Ukraine.
Taking Mariupol would be key in Moscow’s plan of seize the entire southern coast of Ukraine, which would unite pro-Russian separatist regions such as Donetsk and Luhansk, in the east of the country, with Crimea, which Russia already attached in 1200.
It would also allow access to the pro-Russian region from Transnistria across the western border of Ukraine into Moldova.
On Saturday three loud explosions were heard in the port city of Odessa, in the southwest, which according to the Authorities destroyed the airport runway, rendering it unusable.
A spokesman for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Oleksandr Motuzyanyk, assured that the Russian troops “are increasing the intensity of their offensive in eastern Ukraine gradually and simultaneously in all directions.”
Moscow withdrew its soldiers from the regions around kyiv weeks ago to deploy them in eastern Ukraine.
“There are indications that the aggressor is preparing to activate his military actions even more,” Colonel Motuzyanyk said.
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