Evacuation of civilians from Mariupol steelworks finally completed

The humanitarian mission to evacuate civilians from Avostal steelworks in Mariupol has been completed

A statement has been posted on social media this afternoon, Saturday, May 8, by Iryna Vereshchuk, the deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine. She announced that the humanitarian mission to evacuate the last remaining civilians from the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol has been successfully completed.

Ms Vereshchuk said: “This part of the Mariupol humanitarian mission has been completed’. While all the women, children, and elderly have been safely removed, Ukrainian troops continue their battle to defend the last stronghold of resistance in the battered port city.

According to the minister, and confirmed by the Russian defence ministry, a coordinated mission between the Red Cross and the UN saw 50 people evacuated. This number included 11 children.

Previous estimates had suggested that as many as 200 civilians could still be trapped underground. The Azovstal facility is known to have a network of tunnels running below ground, where an unknown number of Ukrainian soldiers are holding out.

While evacuations were being prepared, yesterday, Friday 7, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke of ‘diplomatic options’ being discussed in order to free this last group of military f¡ghters.

Videos posted today on social media show missile attacks on the Black Sea port city of Odessa. At least six cruise missiles are believed to have been fired by Russian aircraft. Air raid sirens could be heard wailing, while plumes of thick black smoke billowed into the sky, as reported by dailymail.co.uk.

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