Kyiv reports rescue of all women, children and elderly from steel plant in Mariupol
Pro-Russian separatists stand alongside buses that have been taking evacuated civilians from Mariupol to temporary accommodation in the Donetsk region
Source: REUTERS
According to the Ukrainian government, all women, children and elderly people who were still in the Mariupol steel mill have now been able to leave it. However, officials are concerned about where the people are being taken and what is happening to them there.
AAccording to the Ukrainian government, all women, children and the elderly have been taken out of the Azov-Stahl steelworks in Mariupol, which was besieged by Russian troops. This was announced by Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk on Saturday.
“The President’s order has been carried out: “All women, children and the elderly have been evacuated from Azovstal. This part of the Mariupol humanitarian operation is over.”
She gave no details. The Russian news agency Tass reported that 50 civilians left the steelworks, the last bastion of Ukrainian resistance in the port city, on Saturday. A similarly sized group was evacuated on Friday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday that evacuation operations for the soldiers holed up in the industrial complex are also being worked on.
Meanwhile, the Federal Foreign Office is alarmed about the establishment of so-called filtration camps by the Russian army in Ukraine. The Ukrainian government accuses Russia of interrogating refugees from besieged cities like Mariupol in these centers and then deporting them to Russian territory. The Federal Foreign Office has received consistent reports about the camps that “lead us to assume the worst”, as WELT AM SONNTAG learned from the ministry. “They describe interrogation practices that include coercion and also torture.”
A woman evacuated from the steel mill is escorted to a bus by a pro-Russian soldier
Source: AP/Alexei Alexandrov
Civilians near the buses that took evacuees to the town of Bezimenne in Donetsk region
Source: REUTERS
In other parts of Mariupol, where more than 400,000 people lived before the war, more people are said to be holding out.
Observers assume that Russia wants to have conquered the steelworks by Monday
The latest evacuation mission came about with the help of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Since Thursday, Russia’s military had assured fire breaks of several hours every day in the completely destroyed city on the Azov Sea. The last one was supposed to end on Saturday night. According to Ukrainian sources, the ceasefires have been broken repeatedly. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday that evacuation operations for the soldiers are also being worked on.
Observers assume that the Kremlin wants to take Azovstal as soon as possible in order to be able to announce the capture of Mariupol next Monday – the 77th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Hitler’s Germany.
If the steel works were to fall too, the Russians would have completely taken over the strategically important port city, which would be an important military success for Moscow. So far, Kherson is the only important Ukrainian city that is completely under Russian control.