The evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal factory in Mariupol started on Sunday afternoon. This has been confirmed by the United Nations and the authorities in Kiev and Moscow. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported on Twitter that “a first group” of a total of 100 Ukrainian citizens has been taken to safety. They will arrive this Monday in Zaporizhzhya, a city controlled by Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry spoke of 80 evacuated civilians from Mariupol on Sunday.
The evacuation is being led by the UN and the International Red Cross, in coordination with Russian and Ukrainian units. Ukrainian citizens, including children, have been sheltering in the steel factory for weeks with limited access to water, food and medicines. Meanwhile, the complex and the rest of the city came under fire from the Russians.
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It is believed that several hundred civilians are still waiting for help. Ukrainian fighters are also holed up in the factory, who on Sunday still refused to surrender the last Ukrainian stronghold in the city to the Russians.
Attack on Russian officers
The Ukrainian army has claimed several military successes this weekend. An attack on a Russian military headquarters in the eastern Ukrainian city of Izyum has killed 20 Russian officers, according to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry. According to unconfirmed reports, General Valeri Gerasimov, the chief of staff of the Russian armed forces who had just arrived in Ukraine to lead the battle of the Donbas, was slightly injured in the attack.
The Ukrainian Air Force says it shot down two Russian warplanes and several drones in the east of the country on Saturday. On the Snake Island in the Black Sea captured by Russia, according to the Ukrainians, three anti-aircraft installations, an anti-aircraft and a communications system have been destroyed. 42 Russian soldiers are also said to have died on the island. The posts have not been independently verified.
A fire broke out in a military facility in the Russian region of Belgorod, near the Ukrainian border north of Kharkov. It is not clear whether Ukraine is responsible for the fire or what kind of institution is involved. Ukrainian media share images of a large cloud of smoke, which can be seen just over the border. According to the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, several explosions were heard in the vicinity of the fire. More recently, mysterious attacks have taken place in the border area, where it is not clear who is responsible. In the Russian border region of Kursk, a railway bridge on a line where freight trains run was damaged on Sunday, AFP news agency reported. The governor of the region spoke of “sabotage” without accusing Ukraine of the attack.
Pelosi in Kyiv
Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, has paid an unannounced visit to President Zelensky in Kiev. „Your struggle [voor vrijheid] is a struggle for everyone,” Pelosi said in a video shared by Zelensky on Twitter. She added that the US “will be there for you until the battle is over.”
In Kiev, Pelosi spoke about US President Joe Biden’s request to Congress to allocate an additional 33 billion dollars (more than 31 billion euros) for military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. “Our delegation has proudly conveyed the message that additional US aid is on the way,” Pelosi said in a statement. Pelosi and six other members of the US Congress traveled on to Poland, where they met Polish President Andrzej Duda on Sunday.
Are the Russians helping with flights, or are they deportations? page 5
A version of this article also appeared in the newspaper of May 2, 2022