A first group of about 100 people was removed from the huge industrial complex of Azovstal, according to Ukrainian President Zelensky. They will be taken to the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporizhzhya.
The rescue operation is being coordinated by the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross as agreed by the Russian and Ukrainian authorities.
‘Hysterical’
“When the bunker started to shake again, I became hysterical,” Usmanova told Reuters news agency in the pro-Russian village of Bezimenne, from where she will travel to Zaporizhzhya. “We were terrified that the place would collapse.” Natalia spent much of her life working in the factory.
It was cramped in the tunnels, Usmanova describes the situation that was described as inhumane by several international organizations. The structure dates back to the Soviet era.
Natalia will travel from the pro-Russian Donetsk region to Ukrainian territory.
REUTERS
As she and her husband left the devastated city of Mariupol on a bus, she joked that she no longer had to go to the bathroom with a torch. “It is unimaginable what kind of terror we have had to endure. I’ve loved living and working in the factory all my life, but this was horrible.”
In addition to civilians, there are also Ukrainian fighters in the complex, according to Russia.
Mariupol’s municipal council said that people trapped elsewhere in the port city should be patient. Their departure through a humanitarian corridor has been postponed until Monday morning, 08:00 local time.