Kyiv, Ukraine, May 16, 2022 (AFP) – More than 260 Ukrainian fighters, 53 of whom were wounded, were evacuated from the Azovstal steelworks complex in Mariupol this Monday (16), the last stronghold of resistance to Russia, the MP announced. Defense Minister Hanna Malyar.

“On 16 May, 53 seriously injured were evacuated from Azovstal to Novoazovsk to receive medical care, and 211 were taken to Olenivka via a humanitarian corridor,” the deputy minister said in a video. said.

The two sites are located in the area controlled by Russian and pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, but Hanna said they will be repatriated “as part of a process of change”.

“I want to emphasize that Ukraine needs its heroes alive. This is our principle,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video message.

The Ukrainian general staff stressed that the soldiers in Mariupol “fulfilled their combat mission” and now the goal is to “save the life of these personnel.”

The staff said in a statement posted on Facebook that by holding the Azovstal contingent, it “prevented the Russians from quickly seizing the city of Zaporizhia.” “The defenders of Mariupol are the heroes of our time. They will forever go down in history,” he added.

The Azovstal steelworks became a symbol of resistance, with hundreds of soldiers fighting there, even after the rest of the city was captured by Russian forces.

16.May.2022 – Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, in her speech to the press in Stockholm, announced that the country will apply to join NATO. “The government has decided to notify NATO that Sweden wants to become a member of the alliance. Sweden’s ambassador to NATO will inform NATO soon,” Andersson said.