The first group of civilians who took refuge under the steel plant, the latest redoubt for Ukrainian forces in the ruined city of Mariupol, managed to escape.
A senior Ukrainian soldier at the Azovstal steel plant said about 20 women and children had left, while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Vladimir Zelensky in Kyiv, where she pledged support for his country’s “struggle for freedom”. Pelosi, whose visit was not announced in advance, is the highest-ranking US official to meet with Ukraine’s president since the start of the war.
It is estimated that about 1,000 civilians and 2,000 Ukrainian fighters are sheltered under the Azovstal steel plant, the only part of the destroyed city that has not been captured by Russian forces.
Late Saturday, a senior soldier from the Azov Regiment at the Soviet-era steel plant said 20 women and children had managed to get out. “We are taking civilians out of the rubble with ropes – these are elderly people, women and children,” Svyatoslav Palamar told Reuters. In his Telegram channel, Palamar called for the evacuation of the wounded: “We do not know why they were not taken away and their evacuation to the territory controlled by Ukraine is not being discussed.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Sunday that 46 people had left the Azovstal plant, according to the state news agency Ria Novosti.
Russian forces have wiped out the once-thriving port city of Mariupol, a major target for Moscow because of its strategic location near Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.
Nancy Pelosi promised American support for Ukraine “until the battle is over” in a meeting with Zelensky – video
Zelensky, meanwhile, released footage from an earlier meeting between him, Pelosi and US House of Representatives Jason Crowe, Jim McGovern, Gregory Meeks and Adam Schiff. The US spokesman promised to support America “until the battle is over”.
“We are visiting you to thank you for your fight for freedom,” she said in a video posted on Zelenski’s Twitter account. “And that your battle is a battle for all, and that is why our commitment is to be with you until the battle is over.”
Last week, Joe Biden called for a $ 33 billion (£ 26 billion) package of military, humanitarian and economic support for Ukraine, more than doubling the level of US aid so far. The US president has asked Congress to immediately approve aid that cuts Ukraine’s entire defense budget.
As the United States increases its support for Ukraine, the German chancellor has rejected criticism that Berlin is not doing enough. In an interview with Bild am Sonntag, Olaf Scholz said he made decisions “quickly and in agreement with our partners”.
Ukraine is now seeking China, as well as other permanent members of the UN Security Council, to provide security guarantees. In an interview with China’s Xinhua state news agency on Sunday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said China’s proposal to provide a security guarantee was “a sign of our respect and trust in the People’s Republic of China.”
On the 67th day of the war, Russia continued its reorganized campaign to seize parts of southern and eastern Ukraine after failing to take Kyiv. Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Sunday that it had attacked an airport near Odessa and claimed to have destroyed a hangar containing weapons provided by foreign countries. “High-precision Onyx missiles at a military airport near Odessa destroyed a hangar with weapons and ammunition from the United States and European countries, as well as destroyed the runway,” a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti. has been verified independently.
Meanwhile, the governor of Kharkiv warned residents on Sunday not to leave shelters due to “intense shelling”. Oleh Sinehubov asked residents in the northern and eastern districts of the city, especially Saltivka, not to leave their shelters unless it is urgent.
In a video address Saturday, Zelensky urged Russian troops not to fight in Ukraine, saying even their generals expect thousands more to die.
He accused Moscow of recruiting “with little motivation and little combat experience” so that units gutted at the start of the war could be returned to battle. “Every Russian soldier can still save his own life,” Zelensky said. “It is better to survive in Russia than to perish on our land.”
As the first civilians are reported to have left Azovstal’s plant, the photos show the plight of the few thousand left.
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Video and images shared with the Associated Press by two Ukrainian women who said their husbands were among the fighters who refused to surrender at the factory showed unidentified men with soiled bandages, while others had open wounds or amputated limbs.
Skeletal medical personnel have treated at least 600 wounded, said the women, who identified their husbands as members of the Azov Regiment of the Ukrainian National Guard. Some of the wounds rotted with gangrene, they said.
In the video, the men said they ate only once a day and shared only 1.5 liters of water a day between four people, and that supplies at the besieged facility were depleted.
The AP could not independently verify the date and location of the video, which the women said was shot last week in a maze of corridors and bunkers below the plant.
The women also called for Ukrainian fighters to be evacuated along with civilians, warning that they could be tortured and executed if captured. “The lives of the soldiers also matter,” Yulia Fedusyuk told the news agency.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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