Russian forces mount assault on steel plant

Russian forces began storming a sprawling steel plant in the besieged port city of Mariupol yesterday, Ukrainian officers said, as a convoy carrying dozens of civilians evacuated from the facility over the weekend arrived in the relative safety of a Ukrainian-controlled city.

Osnat Lubrani, the UN humanitarian co-ordinator for Ukraine, said in a statement that, thanks to the evacuation effort: “One hundred and one women, men, children and older persons could finally leave the bunkers below the Azovstal steelworks and see the daylight after two months.”

The news for those left behind was more grim. The deputy commander of the Azov Regiment holed up in the plant said Russian forces were storming the facility, which includes a warren of underground tunnels and bunkers. Another Ukrainian officer confirmed the assault on Ukrainian television.

“The enemy is trying to storm the Azovstal plant with significant forces using armoured vehicles. Our fighters are repelling all attacks,” Denys Shlega, commander of the 12th Operational Brigade of Ukraine’s National Guard who is also currently at Azovstal, said.

On the messaging app Telegram, deputy commander of Ukraine’s Azov Regiment, Sviatoslav Palamar, said the Russians were mounting a heavy assault on the plant with “the support of armoured vehicles and tanks, with attempts to land troops from boats and a large number of infantry”.

“We’ll do everything that’s possible to repel the assault, but we’re calling for urgent measures to evacuate the civilians that remain inside the plant and to bring them to safety,” he said.

He added that throughout the night, the plant was hit with naval artillery fire and airstrikes. Two civilian women were killed and 10 civilians were wounded, he added.

The assault began almost two weeks after Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered his military not to storm the plant, but rather block it off. It also came as the first convoy of evacuees from the plant arrived in the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporizhzhia, some 140 miles (230km) north west of Mariupol.

At a reception centre, stretchers and wheelchairs were lined up, children’s shoes dangled from a shopping trolley and a pile of toys waited for the first convoy of civilians, whose evacuation was being overseen by the United Nations and the Red Cross.

The arrival of buses and ambulances was a rare glimmer of good news in the nearly 10-week conflict that has killed thousands, forced millions to flee the country, laid waste to towns and cities and shifted the post-cold War balance of power in eastern Europe.

“Over the past days, travelling with the evacuees, I have heard mothers, children and frail grandparents speak about the trauma of living day after day under unrelenting heavy shelling and the fear of death, and with extreme lack of water, food and sanitation,” Ms Lubrani said.

“They spoke of the hell they have experienced since this war started, seeking refuge in the Azovstal plant, many being separated from family members whose fate they still don’t know.”

In addition to the 101 people evacuated from the steelworks, another 58 people joined the convoy in a town on the outskirts of Mariupol, Ms Lubrani said.

Some decided not to travel all the way to Zaporizhzhia, where a total of 127 people arrived yesterday, she added.

Meanwhile, Mr Putin has told French president Emmanuel Macron that Moscow is ready for talks with Ukraine.

The Kremlin said that “despite Kyiv’s inconsistency and its lack of readiness for serious work, the Russian side is still ready for dialogue”.

UNDER ATTACK: Wives of servicemen in the Azov Regiment with relatives and activists take part in a “Save the military of Mariupol” rally in Kyiv.