Ukraine: dozens of civilians evacuated from the Azovstal factory, some "handed over" to the UN
An aerial view of the Azovstal factory in the port city of Mariupol, April 22, 2022. © ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO/REUTERS
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The Russian Ministry of Defense announced this Sunday, May 1 the evacuation of some 80 civilians from the Azovstal metallurgical complex in Mariupol, a besieged port in the south-east of Ukraine, and indicated that those who wanted it had been “
handed over
" to the UN and the ICRC.
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"
Eighty civilians, including women and children (...) have been rescued
," the Russian ministry said in a statement, adding that "
those who wanted to leave for areas controlled by the Kiev regime were handed over to representatives of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross
".
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the evacuation of the Azovstal site had "
begun
" and that around 100 civilians were heading towards "
territory controlled by Ukraine
".
Their final destination must be Zaporijjia, a large Ukrainian city located 200 kilometers west of Mariupol where they will be welcomed tomorrow, according to Volodymyr Zelensky.
Evacuated civilians settled in a camp in Bezimennoye
The reason for the discrepancy between the number of evacuees communicated by Russia and the Ukrainian president was not immediately clear, but the Russian Ministry of Defense had already announced on Saturday that nearly 50 civilians had left 'Azovstal.
Thousands of civilians had been able to leave since the start of the war on February 24 Mariupol, a port city populated before the war by half a million inhabitants and now under Russian control after weeks of bombing which almost completely destroyed it and there are at least 20,000 deaths, according to the Ukrainians.
But this is the first time, after multiple failed attempts despite the intercession of foreign officials and Pope Francis, that civilians entrenched in the Azovstal complex, the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance crushed by Russian bombs, can get out. .
According to the Russian press agencies, the civilians evacuated from this gigantic steel complex, where the last Ukrainian fighters are folded up against the Russian army which has besieged Mariupol since the beginning of March, have been installed in a tent camp in Bezimennoye, a city under Russian control. east of Mariupol.
The Defense Ministry released video of Sunday's evacuations showing civilians arriving by bus in Bezimennoye, where they were being picked up by ICRC and UN officials as Russian soldiers looked on.
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Also to listen: Ukraine: in Mariupol, a pro-Russian administration is gradually being put in place
(
With
AFP)
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