Ukrainian troops, believed to be the last Russian fighting force in Mariupol, have been asked to stop the defense of the city.
Reuters news agency reported that the Azov regiment was ordered only to “save soldiers’ lives” in the port – a key military target for Vladimir Putin, which has been under bombardment for weeks.
The regiment said civilians and seriously injured soldiers had been evacuated from Mariupol’s Azovstal factory, while those who died there were still being relocated, according to a video statement from Denys Prokopenko, the center’s commander group.
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“We have repeatedly emphasized the three conditions that are most important to us: civilians, injuries and deaths,” he said.
“Civilians have been evacuated. The seriously injured have received the necessary assistance and they are evacuated, which will then be exchanged and transferred to the territories due to Ukraine. “
He added that in the future he hopes relatives will be able to “bury their soldiers with honor”.
Mariupol has been Putin’s main target since the war began, and the city has been devastated by a series of attacks.
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Wounded Ukrainian troops leave Azovstal
At one point, an estimated thousands of people were sheltering underneath the plant, including hundreds of civilians, and several evacuations have been conducted in recent weeks.
Before the war, Mariupol had a population of about 400,000, but this has dropped dramatically to less than a quarter of its original population, with the rest of the population struggling daily with shortages of food and water. clean and serious electricity.
Aid could not reach the city and the evacuation of civilians was extremely difficult.
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Capturing the strategically important port city would give Russia its first major success in a war in which its military has failed to gain the upper hand over Ukraine’s aggressive defenses.
