Continuation of Mariupol evacuations is hoped for this morning
The continuation of the evacuations of residents of Mariupol is scheduled for this morning, after a first operation which removed a hundred civilians from the Azovstal factory, besieged by Russian forces in this strategic port in south-eastern Ukraine.
“On May 2, the evacuation in Mariupol begins at 7 a.m. [6 heures à Paris] », announced on Telegram Pavlo Kirilenko, regional governor of Donetsk, on the night of Sunday to Monday. It is not yet known whether new operations have actually been able to begin.
This evacuation operation began on Saturday and was carried out in coordination between Ukraine, Russia and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). It first concerned civilians present in the basements of the huge Azovstal steelworks.
“Today, for the first time since the start of the war, this vital humanitarian corridor has started to function. For the first time, there were two days of real ceasefire in this territory” of the steel complex, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video broadcast message on Sunday evening.
“More than a hundred civilians have already been evacuated, first of all women and children”, said the president, adding that the first evacuees would arrive in Zaporizhia, a town west of Mariupol, this morning. Mr. Zelensky added “hope that the conditions will be met to continue evacuations from Mariupol”.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, however, recalled that “hundreds of civilians remain stranded in Azovstal” alongside the Ukrainian soldiers who are still resisting under the Russian bombs. “The situation has become a sign of a real humanitarian disaster, as people lack water, food and medicine”she warned.
Especially since the Russian bombardments seemed to resume, according to Denys Chleha, commander of the 12and operational brigade of the Ukrainian national guard.
“For the past two days, during the operation to get civilians out of the factory, there has been an announcement of a ceasefire (…) two days of calm, but once the last civilian left the factory, which literally happened an hour ago, the bombardment of the factory started again with all types of weapons”he said immediately after the evacuation in a video broadcast on Ukrainian television.