Ukrainian fighters have been evacuated from besieged Mariupol steel

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severely wounded Ukrainian fighters are being evacuated from the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, the Ukrainian army said.

In a statement Tuesday, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said it had ordered the commanders stationed at the plant to “save the lives of personnel” as they had “fulfilled their combat mission”.

Over the past month, hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians have taken refuge under the city’s sprawling steel plants. Civilians inside have been evacuated in recent weeks, and more than 260 soldiers, some of them wounded, have left the plant for Russian-controlled areas late Monday.

It is not known how many fighters remain in the factory.

Indiscriminate bombings by Russian forces have reduced the southern city to ruins, with Ukrainian authorities claiming tens of thousands of people killed. Ukrainian troops say they have stayed in Azovstal for 82 days, gaining time for the rest of Ukraine to hold off Russia’s offensive elsewhere.

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“We hope we can save the lives of our boys,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an address early this morning.

“Some of them are seriously injured. They receive care. Ukraine needs living Ukrainian heroes.

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar said 53 wounded soldiers from the steel plant were taken to a hospital in the Russian-controlled city of Novoazovsk, about 32km east.

Another 211 people were taken to the town of Olenivka, an area controlled by Russian-backed separatists.

All evacuees will be subject to a potential prisoner exchange with Russia, Ms Malyar added.

Describing conditions at the plant on Monday, the wife of an Azovstal fighter told the Associated Press: “They are in hell. They get new wounds every day. They are without legs and arms, exhausted, without drugs. “

In other events, Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to be backing away from threats of revenge against Sweden and Finland after they announced official plans to join NATO.

Mr Putin has often made baseless claims that NATO enlargement poses a direct existential threat to Russia, with the Kremlin warning last month of “consequences” if the Nordic countries join the alliance.

“Expanding the military infrastructure in this area will certainly provoke our response. “What will be the answer? We will see what threats they pose to us,” Putin said.

Finland and Sweden, both non-aligned during the Cold War, cite the invasion of Ukraine as crucial in their choice to join the military alliance.