Azovstal terrain heavily contested
Selenskyj: Russia keeps soldiers captive in steel works
05/11/2022, 00:38
Kyiv is trying to free the last Ukrainian soldiers from the Mariupol Steelworks. But the Russian troops not only shell the area, they also refuse to allow the defenders to withdraw. There are still said to be civilians in the Azovstal plant.
According to the will of the Russian besiegers, the Ukrainian soldiers entrenched in the Mariupol steelworks are not allowed to leave the premises. The Russian military has rejected any proposal to withdraw the fighters from the Azovstal plant unhindered, said President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to Ukrajinska Pravda. “The defenders of Mariupol remain there, they continue the resistance on the Azovstal site.”
Kyiv continues to use all available diplomatic means to enable the soldiers to be rescued. Russia insists on surrender of Azovstal defenders. Zelenskyi previously stated that Ukraine currently does not have the heavy weapons needed for a successful push to liberate Mariupol.
More than two months after the beginning of the war and after heavy fighting for the port city of Mariupol, the last Ukrainian soldiers have entrenched themselves in the Azovstal plant and are offering fierce resistance to the Russian soldiers and pro-Russian separatists. On Tuesday, the defenders reported heavy shelling by Russian troops. The area had been attacked from the air all night long, said the deputy commander of the Azov regiment, Svyatoslav Palamar, to “Ukrajinska Pravda”. There are many seriously injured. They urgently need to be brought to safety.
Most recently, several hundred civilians were evacuated from the site with the mediation of the UN and the Red Cross. Contrary to recent reports about the complete evacuation of all civilians from the Mariupol plant, regional administrator Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Monday evening that there were still 100 people there who were not combatants. A civilian is defined as a person who is not a member of the military or other combat organization during an armed conflict. It is not possible to independently verify whether and, if so, how many civilians are still in the steelworks.