Evacuation from steel plant in Mariupol under way, says UN
A long-awaited effort to evacuate people from a steel plant in theukrainiancityofmariupol was under way last night, the United Nations said.
UN humanitarian spokesman Saviano Abreu said the operation to bring people out of the sprawling Azovstal steel plant was being done with the International Committee for the Red Cross and in co-ordination with Ukrainian and Russian officials.
As many as 100,000 people are believed to be in blockaded Mariupol still, including up to 1,000 civilians who were hunkered down with an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian fighters beneath the Soviet-era steel plant – the only part of the city not occupied by the Russians.
Mr Abreu called the situation “very complex” but would not give further details.
Like other evacuations, success of the mission in Mariupol depended on Russia and its forces in a long series of checkpoints before reaching Ukrainian ones.
Zaporizhzhia, a city about 141 miles (227km) northwest of Mariupol, was the destination of the evacuation effort, Mr Abreu said.
He said women, children and the elderly – who have been stranded for nearly two months – would be evacuated
to the city, where they would receive immediate humanitarian support, including psychological services.
Mariupol has seen some of the worst suffering of the war. A maternity hospital was hit with a lethal Russian airstrike in the opening weeks of the war, and hundreds of people were reported killed in the bombing of a theatre where civilians were taking shelter.
“As the operations are still ongoing, we will not provide further details at this point, to guarantee the safety of the civilians and humanitarians in the convoy,” Mr Abreu said of the evacuation.
“The UN will also continue to push for the safe passage out of Mariupol city for all those civilians who wish to leave.”
The UN said the convoy to evacuate civilians started on Friday, travelling some 140 miles before reaching the plant in Mariupol on Saturday.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr
Zelensky said in a tweet yesterday that the first group of about 100 people was heading to Ukrainian-controlled territory.
“Tomorrow we'll meet them in Zaporizhzhia. Grateful to our team! Now they, together with #UN, are working on the evacuation of other civilians from the plant,” he tweeted.
A team with Doctors Without Borders was at a reception centre for displaced people in Zaporizhzhia in preparation for the UN convoy's arrival, if successful. Stress, exhaustion and low supplies of food have likely weakened the health of civilians who have been trapped underground at the steel plant.
People who have fled Russian-occupied areas have at times described their vehicles being fired on. Ukrainian officials have repeatedly accused Russian forces of shelling evacuation routes on which the two sides had agreed.
Russia’s high-stakes offensive in coastal southern Ukraine and the country’s eastern industrial heartland has Ukrainian forces fighting village by village and more civilians fleeing airstrikes and artillery shelling as war draws near their doorsteps.
Russian forces have embarked on a major military operation to seize significant parts of southern and eastern Ukraine following their failure to capture Kyiv.
Mariupol, a port city on the Sea of Azov, is a key target because of its strategic location near the Crimea Peninsula, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014.
“All the leaders of the free world know what Russia has done to Mariupol. And Russia will not go unpunished for this,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address. He warned that Russia was “gathering additional forces for new attacks against our military in the east of the country”.
Limited evacuations from the city took place on Saturday, but the details had been unclear given the number of parties involved in the negotiations and the volatile situation on the ground.
The Russian defence ministry said a total of 46 people, a group of 25 and another numbering 21, were evacuated from areas near the Azovstal plant.
A top official with the Azov Regiment, the Ukrainian unit defending the steelworks, said on Saturday that 20 women and children were evacuated from the plant itself. Civilians have sheltered in a maze of underground tunnels while the plant has been under siege.
In a video posted on the regiment's Telegram channel, Deputy Commander Sviatoslav Palamar called for the evacuation of wounded Ukrainian fighters as well as civilians.
“We don't know why they are not taken away and their evacuation to the territory controlled by Ukraine is not being discussed,” he said.
Getting a full picture of the unfolding battle in eastern Ukraine has been difficult because airstrikes and artillery barrages have made it extremely dangerous for reporters to move around.
Also, both Ukraine and Moscow-backed rebels have introduced tight restrictions on reporting from the combat zone.
But western military analysts have suggested that the offensive in the Donbas region, which includes Mariupol, was going much slower than planned. So far, Russian troops and the separatists appeared to have made only minorgainsinthemonthsince Moscow said it would focus its military strength in the east.
Kyiv is the ‘right place to be,’ says British diplomat as she returns to Ukraine
The UK'S ambassador to Ukraine has returned to Kyiv and says she feels comfortable working there, although she has “heightened security”.
Melinda Simmons left Kyiv in late February, but stayed in Ukraine for slightly longer before returning to the UK. Boris Johnson said last week the embassy would soon be reopening, following in the footsteps of a number of western countries which have recently reopened their diplomatic hubs in Ukraine.
Ms Simmons said despite her return, the embassy had not yet reopened and they were not running a consular service. UK nationals are still advised not to travel to Ukraine.
She said in an interview with The Observer that as she drove into the city on Friday she got “a real sense of what
was going on ... and it’s truly shocking”.
“But what is equally extraordinary is to see how Ukraine kept Russia out of Kyiv,” she said. “Every way in which Ukraine has been able to do that is a thing to celebrate and to treasure.
“I am here with a heightened level of security protection and bearing in mind that potential risk, but for now I feel comfortable working under those circumstances.”
Ms Simmons added: “I wasn't sure I'd make it back to Kyiv, so coming back is an extraordinary thing. It absolutely feels like the right place to be."
Travelling into Kyiv, she commented on passing vehicles which were presumably evacuating civilians.
Ms Simmons wrote on Twitter: “On my travel to Kyiv I passed several vehicles going the other way, with this
sign ‘children’ on the window – a reminder if one were needed of the sickeningly high price children are being forced to pay for the Russian Invasion of Ukraine.”
She added: “It was a long drive, but worth going the distance. [It’s] so good to be in Kyiv again.”
In a call on Saturday afternoon, Mr Johnson offered Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky the UK’S “continued economic and humanitarian support”, a Downing Street spokesperson said.
Mr Johnson is said to have told the Ukrainian president he is “more committed than ever to reinforcing Ukraine and ensuring [Vladimir] Putin fails”.
Following the call between Mr Johnson and Mr Zelensky, a Downing Street spokesperson said: “The Prime Minister spoke to Ukrainian president
Volodymyr Zelensky today, as part of their regular dialogue.
“President Zelensky updated on the fierce fighting in Eastern Ukraine and ongoing siege of Mariupol. He set out the equipment needed for the defence of Ukraine.
"The Prime Minister reiterated that he is more committed than ever to reinforcing Ukraine and ensuring Putin fails, noting how hard the Ukrainians are fighting for their freedom.
“He confirmed that the UK will continue to provide additional military aid to give the Ukrainians the equipment they needed to defend themselves.
"The leaders also discussed progress of the Un-led effort to evacuate Mariupol and concern for the injured there. The Prime Minister offered the UK'S continued economic and humanitarian support.”