The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Ukraine War: More than 260 Ukrainian soldiers evacuated

2022-05-17T06:32:33.072Z


Ukraine War: More than 260 Ukrainian soldiers evacuated from Mariupol steel mill Created: 05/17/2022, 08:23 By: Helena Gries Numerous soldiers are evacuated from the steel works in Mariupol and taken to Russian-controlled territory for a later exchange of prisoners: the news ticker. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine brings new victims every day. The Azov steelworks in the strategically i


Ukraine War: More than 260 Ukrainian soldiers evacuated from Mariupol steel mill

Created: 05/17/2022, 08:23

By: Helena Gries

Numerous soldiers are evacuated from the steel works in Mariupol and taken to Russian-controlled territory for a later exchange of prisoners: the news ticker.

  • The conflict

    between Russia and Ukraine brings new victims every day.

  • The Azov steelworks

    in the strategically important port city of Mariupol is considered the last bastion of the Ukrainian army in the Ukraine war.

  • All the latest news and developments on the Ukraine conflict in our news ticker.

Kyiv – More than 260 Ukrainian soldiers have been evacuated from the Azov steel plant in the port city of Mariupol, which has been under siege by Russian troops for weeks.

53 seriously injured were taken to Novoazovsk for treatment on Monday and 211 other soldiers to Olenivka, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said.

Both places are in areas under the control of the Russian military.

The soldiers are to be “exchanged” at a later date, as Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maljar said in a video message.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, Kyiv and Moscow have already made several prisoner exchanges.

War in Ukraine: Ceasefire announced in Mariupol

The Russian Defense Ministry earlier on Monday announced a ceasefire in Mariupol to get injured Ukrainian soldiers out of the steelworks.

Moscow had named "medical facilities" in Novoazovsk as the target of the evacuation operation.

"We hope that we can save the lives of our boys," said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a video message.

“I want to underline: Ukraine needs its Ukrainian heroes alive.

That is our principle.”

The Azov Steelworks is the last bastion of the Ukrainian army in the strategically important port city.

Heavy fighting has been raging in Mariupol for weeks.

In the past few weeks, hundreds of civilians have been brought to safety from the huge industrial complex.

However, hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers continued to hold out there.

According to Ukrainian information, there were still around 1,000, including 600 injured.

The general staff of the Ukrainian army said on Tuesday night that the soldiers had "fulfilled their combat mission".

The commanders had orders to "save the lives" of the remaining soldiers.

Efforts to relieve them would continue.

According to the authorities, around 260 Ukrainian soldiers have left the Azov steelworks in Mariupol after weeks of blockade.

© Alexei Kudenko/dpa

"Unfortunately, today Ukraine cannot liberate Azov steel by military means," the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said on Telegram.

However, according to the General Staff, the fierce resistance of the soldiers in Mariupol had decisively slowed down the advance of the Russian forces towards the large city of Zaporizhia, which is still in Ukrainian hands.

(hg/AFP)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-05-17

You may like

News/Politics 2024-02-26T04:24:48.568Z
News/Politics 2024-02-17T05:30:23.545Z

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z
News/Politics 2024-03-28T05:25:00.011Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.