SYEVERODONEZK (dpa-AFX) – According to pro-Russian separatists, the evacuation of the chemical plant Azot planned by Moscow in the embattled city of Sievjerodonetsk in eastern Ukraine has failed for the time being. Separatist representative Rodion Miroshnik said that because the Ukrainian side was firing grenade launchers and tanks from the factory premises, no one could get to safety there. The Russian Defense Ministry had announced the humanitarian corridor for Wednesday to allow civilians to flee the bunkers of the industrial complex.
More than 500 civilians are believed to be there; the separatists estimate that there could be as many as 1,200 people. They should have fled through the corridor to the area controlled by pro-Russian forces. Miroshnik also said that around 2,000 Ukrainian militants and foreign mercenaries may have holed up in the Azot facility. This has not been confirmed by the Ukrainian side. The Ukrainian side had rejected Moscow’s call for surrender.
In his blog for the Telegram news channel, the governor of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Hajday, spoke of ongoing fighting in Sieverodonetsk and other places in the region. “It’s getting harder, but our soldiers are stopping the enemy on three sides at once. They’re protecting Sieverodonetsk and not allowing any advance to Lysychansk,” he said. Lysychansk, where Hajday says there are many injured, is on a river across from Sieverodonetsk, which is already largely controlled by Russian troops. The bridges between the two cities have been destroyed.
Russia had called on the Ukrainian fighters to surrender, as it had done earlier in the steelworks in the port city of Mariupol. The Ministry of Defense in Moscow announced that the lives of prisoners of war would be spared in this case. After the capture of Mariupol, thousands of Ukrainian soldiers were taken prisoner. According to its own statements, Russia has around 6,500 fighters in its power so far./mau/DP/nas