Close to 500 civilians evacuated from Mariupol
KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Almost 500 civilians have been evacuated from the battered city of Mariupol and its besieged Azovstal steel plant since a UN-led rescue operation began, the head of Ukraine's presidential office said Friday.
"We have managed to evacuate almost 500 civilians," Andriy Yermak said on Telegram. He said Kyiv will "do everything to save all its civilians and military" stuck in the devastated city, adding that the evacuations would continue.
In a separate Telegram post, Yermak said "another stage of rescuing our people in Azovstal continues."
He said Ukraine will "give the results of this later."
Ukraine's remaining soldiers in Mariupol and some civilians have been holed up in the tunnels of the huge Azovstal factory, besieged by Russian forces for weeks.
UN and Red Cross-led evacuations began last weekend.
Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk told AFP that evacuations Friday would focus on those still stuck inside the plant.
"Today we will concentrate precisely on Azovstal," she told AFP by phone.
"The operation is starting. We are praying for its success."
On Thursday a commander of Ukraine's
Azov battalion, that has led the fight to defend Mariupol, pleaded for the evacuation of the remaining civilians in the plant and for help for "dying" wounded soldiers.
Global crowdfunding
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday launched a global crowdfunding platform to help Kyiv win the war with Russia and rebuild the country's infrastructure.
"In one click, you can donate funds to protect our defenders, to save our civilians and to rebuild Ukraine," Zelensky said in English in a video on his Twitter page, launching the United24 platform. "Every donation matters for victory." Nine weeks into Russia's invasion, Ukrainian cities have suffered vast destruction.
"All funds will be transferred to the national bank of Ukraine and allocated to the relevant ministries," Zelensky said, indicating that his government would give an update "every 24 hours" about how the money was being used.
The Ukrainian leader called on ordinary people around the world to help Kyiv defeat Moscow.
"Only together we have the potential to stop the war and to rebuild what Russia has destroyed."
He said Ukraine will always remember the contributions.
War bill hits ‘$600 billion’
Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmygal told a news conference that preliminary economic losses from the war are estimated to be about $600 billion, adding that most of the losses should be covered with "money from the aggressor.".
Ukraine also needed between $4 to $5 billiona month just to cover the budget deficit, he said, flagging the crisis in its all-important grain exports with six of its largest storage facilities hit by missiles.
"Russia is provoking a food security crisis. Now millions of tons of our grain are blocked in our ports," he said, urging the international community to pressure Russia "to organize corridors to transport grain to countries which badly need it." Ukraine is a key global supplier of grain. Since the start of the war, Ukraine has reached out with various fundraising efforts, initially saying it was accepting cryptocurrency donations and publishing its official donations address on Twitter.
Then in mid-March it launched an "Aid for Ukraine" website in partnership with crypto-firms FTX and Everstake with all donations funneled to Ukraine's central bank.