The task of expelling Ukrainian soldiers from Azovstal continues

Kyiv says the last pocket of resistance against the Russian military in the strategic port of Mariupol – the operation to rescue Ukrainian fighters from the largest Azovstel steelworks – must continue today. “Complete” Their mission.

The garrison’s soldiers were stationed in Azovstal, and more than 260 of them were expelled yesterday. “Accomplished their war mission”He greeted the civil servants of the Ukrainian army in a statement and gave orders to their commanders. “Save lives” Of the rest.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, for its part, explained Telegraph :

Unfortunately, today Ukraine can not stop Azovstal in military ways.

Ukrainian officials said last week that more than 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers – including 600 wounded – were inside the industrial complex. “City within city” With its kilometers of underground galleries. They established themselves there more than a month after experiencing the siege of Mariupol, which was attacked by the Russian army at the start of the war on February 24, and is now completely destroyed. The city, located on the shores of the Sea of ​​Azov, is strategically located between Crimea, which was annexed by Moscow in 2014, and the Donbass (eastern Ukraine) minefield, where there are two pro-Russian separatist “republics”. Has now intensified its offensive.

Some “53 seriously injured were evacuated from Azovstal to Novosibirsk for medical assistance, and 211 were taken to Olenivka via the Humanitarian Corridor. “Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Kanna Malyar made the announcement last night Video. Both locations are located in territory controlled by Russian and pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, but the militants must be repatriated to areas under Ukrainian control. “As part of the transfer process”She clarified.

Ukrainian civil servants confirmed the expulsion of these 264 soldiers overnight. “Rescue operation for security personnel stranded in Ukraine” On the Azovstal site “To be continued”, Without specifying their number. According to civil servants, their fierce opposition particularly prevented the Russian army from rapidly seizing the large Ukrainian city of Zaporizhia, 200 kilometers west.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Monday that it had imposed a ceasefire around Azovstal to allow the evacuation of wounded Ukrainian soldiers.