Escape from the port city of Mariupol
More civilians can exit Stahlwerk
05/03/2022, 00:49 am
Civilians are still hiding in the Azovstal steelworks, the last bastion of Ukrainian troops in Mariupol. After some of them were evacuated at the weekend, further rescue attempts initially failed. Now people are free again.
According to Ukrainian sources, 20 civilians left the besieged Azov steelworks in the port city of Mariupol on Monday evening. The Azov regiment involved in the defense of the steelworks said the evacuation operation could only take place five hours late because the factory premises had again been shelled by Russian soldiers. “The enemy’s artillery created new debris and destruction,” explained deputy commander Svyatoslav Palamar.
After dozens of people were able to leave the huge factory premises of the Azov-Stahl group in Mariupol for the first time over the weekend, another rescue operation was supposed to begin on Monday morning. According to the Mariupol City Hall, the evacuation buses did not initially arrive at the agreed collection point.
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, more than a hundred people were taken out of the steelworks over the weekend. According to the Russian army, 46 civilians left the steelworks on Saturday and stayed “voluntarily” in the separatist region of Donetsk. According to the information, another 80 people left Mariupol on Sunday. Accordingly, 69 of them left for Ukrainian territory.
First “real ceasefire” in Mariupol
However, no evacuation convoy arrived in the city of Zaporizhia, 220 kilometers away, on Monday. Vehicles from the UN children’s charity Unicef and other aid organizations were parked in a parking lot on the outskirts of Zaporizhia.
The evacuation actions from Mariupol are being coordinated by the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in coordination with the warring parties. A ceasefire was agreed for Mariopol. “For the first time there was a real ceasefire in this area for two days,” said Zelenskyj on Sunday evening. After the end of the ceasefire, Russia resumed shelling the steelworks site, regiment commander Palamar said. Buildings “in which civilians are hiding” would also be shot at.
The strategically important port city of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov has become a symbol of Russian warfare in Ukraine. Russian troops had already surrounded the city, which had been largely destroyed in the meantime, in the first days of the war. Ukraine estimates at least 20,000 people have died in Mariupol since the siege began. The steelworks is now the last bastion of the Ukrainian resistance in the city.
According to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Wereschuk, there are still hundreds of civilians in the underground passages of the eleven-square-meter facility. The people have little access to water and food, and many also need medical help.