Tonight, the Reuters news agency reported that ambulances and buses are transporting people from the steel plants in Azovstal.
The Ukrainian authorities did not say what was happening, and told Agence France-Presse that they could not say anything else now, since the operation was continuing.
Over a period of weeks, about 1,000 soldiers were detained, with no chance of bringing in new supplies. They were surrounded by Russian forces, and Ukrainian soldiers holed up in several underground tunnels in steel mills.
There were long, hard battles in the steel mills. A quarter of an hour later, the campaigns were smaller, but a large number of people were trapped in the steel mills.
Former employees evacuated several hundred civilians from the facility. But the soldiers, who were badly wounded, had to stay behind.
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Former employees today informed the Russian Defense Ministry that they agreed to allow seriously wounded Ukrainian soldiers to be evacuated from the Azovstal steel plants. It comes after negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
Tonight, Reuters reported that more vehicles are moving soldiers out of steel mills. An eyewitness told the news agency that it was not clear how many people were on the buses.
Three soldiers on their way out of the steel mills in Azovstal.
Photo: Alexander Ermoshenko/Reuters
On Telegram, a social media, videos are shared of the vehicles to be transmitted from the infected, but these videos cannot be verified.
According to the agreement reached between Ukraine and Russia, the soldiers will be transferred to Novoazovsk, located in the Russian-controlled area of Ukraine. There the soldiers will receive medical assistance. Tonight, Reuters reported that the first soldiers had arrived in the city.
It is not known why it was agreed to move the soldiers there, but it could be a sign that Russia wants to control the soldiers who are now allowed to leave the steel mills.
It is not clear what Ukraine should give back
Soldiers in Azovstal always needed help. All supply lines were cut, and long negotiations took place to receive assistance for seriously wounded soldiers. The United Nations and the Red Cross are involved in the negotiations.
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Irina Verychuk said earlier today that there are about 1,000 soldiers inside the steel plant, and hundreds of them have been injured.
A bus leaving the steel plant in Azovstal. Inside, wounded Ukrainian soldiers are now being transported to a Russian-controlled area.
Photo: Alexander Ermoshenko/Reuters
In order to evacuate the soldiers, an agreement was entered into, but it is unclear what Ukraine would have to return in order for the evacuation to take place. “It is possible that the outcome will not satisfy everyone,” Deputy Prime Minister Verstjok says.
Denis Prokopenko, one of the commanders of the Ukrainian forces in Azovstal, says they are now following orders from the higher levels of the Ukrainian defense to save lives.
Troops from the Azov Battalion are inside the ironworks and surrounded by Russian forces. This is a group that emerged from a neo-Nazi group, but today it fights under Ukrainian leadership.
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