President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine says the first stage of evacuation from the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol has wrapped up, adding that preparations are underway for the next round of the effort.
This was reported by RBC-Ukraine with reference to the president’s address to the nation.
Zelensky noted the assistance of international organizations in the evacuation and spoke of the new humanitarian corridors being prepared.
I thank the teams of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations for helping us carry out the first phase of the Azovstal evacuation mission. More than 300 people were saved – women and children. In fact, we took civilians out of Azovstal. And we are currently preparing the second stage of the evacuation mission – the wounded [soldiers – ed.] and medics,” Zelensky said.
According to the Ukrainian leader, the success of the second stage requires that the parties comply with the agreements. However, currently no one can provide a 100% guarantee that the mission will be successful. The authorities also continue to search for a solution to extract the defenders of Mariupol from the besieged site.
“Of course, we’re working on extracting our military – all the heroes who are defending Mariupol. It is extremely difficult, but important,” Zelensky concluded.
