Nearly 500 people have been evacuated from the Azovstal steel works plant in Mariupol and the surrounding areas, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Twitter.
“I hope that continued coordination with Moscow & Kyiv will lead to more humanitarian pauses to allow civilians safe passage,” Guterres wrote.
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths said yesterday that another effort is currently underway to evacuate civilians from Mariupol and Azovstal.
The UK Ministry of Defence said in its daily update on the situation in Ukraine that the storming of Azovstal has continued for a second day, despite Russian statements claiming they would seek only to seal off the plant. According to UK officials, Russia’s renewed attempts to secure the plant and complete the capture of Mariupol may be related to the upcoming 9 May Victory Day commemorations and Vladimir Putin’s wish to have “a symbolic success” in Ukraine.
The UN has led an effort to evacuate civilians from the plant since April 29. It was approved by the conflict sides after UN Secretary Antonio Guterres’ visited Moscow and Kyiv.
Sources of Ukrayinska Pravda reported that Russian troops had breached the territory of the Azovstal plant. This information was later confirmed by David Arakhamia, Ukrainian chief negotiator at the talks with Russia. Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, stated earlier that the Russian army was not assaulting the plant, claiming that the Russian troops are suppressing the militants’ attempts to take up positions.
