MOSCOW: The Russian defence ministry said Sunday that nearly 50 civilians had left the besieged Azovstal steel plant in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.
“On April 30, following the implementation of a ceasefire and the opening of a humanitarian corridor, two groups of civilians have left the residential buildings adjacent to the site of the Azovstal steel plant,“ the ministry said on Telegram.
“Twenty-five residents left in the afternoon. In the early evening, a second group of 21 people left and were taken to Bezimenne,“ a village situated halfway between Mariupol and the Russian border.
“All of the civilians were given accommodation, food and necessary medical help,“ the Russian authorities said, without specifying where the first group had been taken.
A defence ministry video showed a convoy of cars and buses travelling in the dark, marked with a “Z”, the letter used by the Russian forces in the conflict.
Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, said on Telegram: “Radio silence on the evacuation pending official information.
“We are asking everyone to refrain from giving information from Mariupol today. Thank you for your understanding,“ the adviser said.
On Saturday, the Ukrainian forces guarding the Azovstal site had said that 20 civilians, including children, had left the area and voiced hope that they would be allowed to reach the city of Zaporizhzhia, which is under Ukrainian control.
On Sunday, the Russian defence ministry also confirmed that “near Odessa, high-precision Onyx missiles destroyed a hangar at a military aerodrome housing weapons and ammunition from the United States and European countries, and the runway was also destroyed.”-AFP