The last Ukrainian civilian trapped in a steel plant in the port city of Mariupol has been evacuated, according to officials.
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshuk said on Saturday that “all women, children and the elderly” had been taken from the underground bunkers of the giant steel plant, where they were fleeing Russian attacks, with little food, water or medicine. “
“This part of the humanitarian operation in Mariupol is over,” Vereshuk wrote on Telegram.
The steel mill, Ukraine’s last stronghold of resistance in the devastated port city, has become a symbol of resistance to Russia’s occupation of large swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine in a 10-week war. Hundreds of Ukrainian fighters are reported to have remained there.
In a late-night speech, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said more than 300 civilians had been rescued from factories and pledged to continue “extremely difficult but essential efforts” to evacuate trapped combatants.
“We took all the civilians out of the Azov steel plant and are now preparing the second phase of the mission to evacuate the wounded and medical personnel. Of course, we are trying to evacuate our troops and all the heroes who defended Mariupol,” he said. “
Authorities will also help keep residents of other parts of Mariupol and surrounding settlements safe, he added.
“True Hell Festival”
Weeks of Russian bombing have left Mariupol in ruins, and the steel plant has been largely destroyed. During the suspension of fighting, civilians have been evacuated since last weekend, brokered by the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Russian-backed separatists also reported that a total of 176 civilians were evacuated from the factory. It was not immediately clear if the civilian man was still there.
Backed by tanks and artillery, Russian forces made another attempt on Saturday to attack the Azov steel plant to drive out the last Ukrainian defenders, according to the Ukrainian military command.
But fighters in the factory have pledged not to surrender, and Kyiv officials fear that Russian forces want to wipe them out by Monday. On Monday, Moscow will commemorate the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
The Ukrainian government issued a statement following the end of the civilian evacuation, calling on MSF to rescue the trapped soldiers, saying they had been under “continuous shelling and attacks by Russian troops” for 72 consecutive days.
“Currently, medicine, water and food are in short supply, and wounded soldiers are dying from gangrene and sepsis,” the statement said.
A commander still at the Azov steel plant wrote on Facebook that his troops can now only hope for a miracle, “hoping that the higher forces will find a way to solve our rescue problem”.
36th Marine Infantry Brigade Commander Sheryl Wallina said: “It feels like I’m entering a real festival of hell where we soldiers are fighting for our lives and the whole world is watching this fun festival .”
“Pain, sadness, hunger, suffering, tears, fear, death. It’s all real,” he added, posting a photo of himself unshaven, with his glasses completely open and his nose open. Appears to be injured.
Russia has not said it will allow the trapped soldiers to evacuate.
Ukrainian military unit Azov Battalion said three Ukrainian fighters were killed and six others wounded in an evacuation operation on Friday. The battalion’s deputy commander, Sviatoslav Paramar, said the army was waving a white flag, accusing Russian troops of firing anti-tank weapons at a car.
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared victory in Mariupol on April 21 and ordered a blockade of factories, requiring Ukrainian troops inside to disarm.
Located between the Crimea peninsula occupied by Moscow in 2014 and parts of eastern Ukraine occupied that year by Russian-backed separatists, Mariupol is key to linking the two Russian-held territories and blocking Ukrainian exports.
In Washington, D.C., CIA Director William Burns said Putin believed “doubling down” on the conflict would improve the outcome for Russia.
“His mentality is that he doesn’t believe he can afford to lose,” Burns said at a Financial Times event.
Moscow has called its actions since February 24 a “special military operation” aimed at disarming Ukraine and freeing it from anti-Russian nationalism fueled by the West.
Ukraine and the West say Russia has waged an unprovoked war.