The operation to evacuate civilians from the Azovstal steel complex in Mariupol, in southeastern Ukraine, “continued” on Sunday in liaison with the ICRC, a spokesman for the UN in Geneva announced.
L ‘UN Confirms that an evacuation operation is being carried out at the Azovstal steel complex in liaison with the ICRC and the parties to the conflictsaid Sunday Jens Laerke, spokeswoman for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian AffairsUN, in an email. He stressed that he could not provide further details for security.
The convoy, which began on April 29, traveled about 230 kilometers and arrived at the complex in Mariupol on Saturday morningsaid Mr. Laerke.
Forty civilians were evacuated on Sunday from the territory of the Azovstal factory, which was besieged by the Russians in Mariupol, and taken to territories under Russian control in the east, according to Russian agencies TASS and Ria Novosti.
Eighteen men, fourteen women and eight children were taken from Mariupol to the self-proclaimed republic of Donetsk (controlled by pro-Russian separatists), according to a TASS agency reporter there.
According to the Ria Novosti correspondent, all the evacuees were placed in a tent camp in the village of Bezimennoye, a town located east of Mariupol, halfway between this port city and the Russian border. According to the same source, Red Cross and UN personnel assisted in the evacuation.
The Russian Defense Ministry said earlier that nearly fifty civilians had been evacuated from the Azovstal factory area on Saturday, where hundreds of members of the Ukrainian forces were buried.
On April 30, after the establishment of a ceasefire and the opening of a humanitarian corridor, two groups of civilians left the residential buildings adjacent to the territory of the Azovstal metallurgical plant.the Russian Defense Ministry told the Telegram.
He said the operation took place in two stages.
In the afternoon, 25 residents came out. In the early evening, the second group of 21 people left and were taken to Bezimennoyesaid the Russian Defense Ministry.
Ukrainian soldiers still controlling the Azovstal area indicated that 20 civilians, including children, had been evacuated. All previous evacuation attempts have failed.
Russian forces are maintaining the pressure
According to new satellite images from Maxar Technologies taken on April 29, almost all of the buildings in Azovstal were destroyed.
Odessa airport in southern Ukraine was hit on Saturday by a Russian missile that destroyed the runway without causing any casualties, regional governor Maxim Marchenko said.
In addition to the destruction of the runway at this airport, the Russian Ministry of Defense specified the use of Onyx high-precision missiles to destroy a hangar where weapons and ammunition received from the United States and European countries.
On Saturday, Russian forces maintained their pressure on the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine, specifically around Kharkiv, where they are trying to increase their control, despite Ukrainian resistance.
Violent explosions were heard overnight from Friday to Saturday in Kharkiv, the second largest city in the country, which was battered by Russian artillery for weeks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged that the situation in the region is difficult, but our soldiers achieved tactical victoriesHe added.
In the Donetsk and Lugansk region, 14 attacks launched by Russian forces have been repelled in the past 24 hours, the general staff of Ukrainian forces said on Saturday.
Source: Radio-Canada
