Europe 1 with AFP 4:44 p.m., May 3, 2022
Russia launched this Tuesday "a powerful assault", supported by tanks and infantry against the Azovstal factory, the last focus of Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol, announced a commander of the Azov battalion which defends the steelworks.
The complex had been under siege for several weeks.
Evacuations of civilians could be organized before the attack.
"A powerful assault on the territory of Azovstal is currently underway, with the support of armored vehicles, tanks, with attempts to land troops, with the help of boats and a large number of elements of infantry," Sviatoslav Palamar, deputy commander of the Azov regiment, said in a video message on Telegram.
The industrial complex had been besieged for several weeks and represented the last focus of resistance of the Ukrainian army in Mariupol, in the south-east of Ukraine.
101 civilians evacuated
At the same time, the UN announced the "successful" evacuation of 101 civilians stuck for weeks in the Azovstal complex.
“I am happy and relieved to confirm that 101 civilians have been successfully evacuated from the Azovstal metallurgical plant in Mariupol,” UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine Osnat Lubrani said in a statement.
On Twitter, the coordinator posted a photograph of her in front of a convoy of more than a dozen buses stopped on a road.
“People I have traveled with have told me heartbreaking stories of the hell they have been through. I am thinking of the people who remain trapped. We will do everything in our power to help them,” a- she writes.