The office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Friday that an operation had been planned to evacuate civilians from shelters at the Azovstal steel plant, which is besieging Mariupol’s last shelter, according to a report.
The office did not provide details about the operation, which it said would take place on Friday, according to Reuters.
Russia has destroyed Mariupol, a strategic port, with continuous attacks since the beginning of the invasion, many of them on civilians. The attacks have left the city with little energy, water and food for the past two months.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin told his troops that they did not have to invade the factory and claimed victory over the city. However, the Ukrainian defenders, along with thousands of civilians and wounded soldiers, remained inside the besieged factory.
This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows damage to the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, Ukraine, Wednesday, April 27, 2022. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
RUSSIA TRYING TO RE-SHINT AGAINST MARIUPOL STEEL, says Ukrainian official
On Wednesday, a Mariupol official said the Russians were constantly trying to invade the factory.
A building destroyed during the fighting can be seen in Mariupol, Ukraine. (AP / Alexei Alexandrov)
“The airstrikes on Azovstal are not going away. It is not silence, but attempts to invade again and again,” Petri Andriushenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, wrote on his Telegram page on Wednesday.
The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy gives a speech in Kyiv. (Brochure of the Ukrainian Presidential Office)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who met with Zelensky in Kyiv on Thursday, said efforts were being made to evacuate the plant, Reuters reported.
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Putin agreed on Tuesday to allow the Red Cross to help evacuate “in principle.”
