War in Ukraine: in Mariupol, the first civilians were evacuated from the Azovstal factory

At least a hundred civilians walked out of the hellish factoryAzovstal, in Mariupol (Ukraine). It’s a first. They had been in hiding since weeks in the basements of the complex industrialthe last pocket of Ukrainian resistance. In buses chartered by the Russian army and under UN and Red Cross escort, civilians are first taken to areas held by Russian separatists. They must receive first aid and food aid.

Mothers of families crack. The civilians no longer dared to believe in the evacuation, postponed on numerous occasions. According to the Ukrainian president, they should be taken from May 2 to Zaporizhiathe city hosting Ukrainian refugees from Mariupol. The last Ukrainian fighters, still in the factory, want it. “We hope that these women and children who came out of the rubble will be transferred to Ukrainian territory.“, said the battalion commander Azov. There are believed to be several hundred soldiers remaining in the industrial complex, including wounded taken under intense Russian fire.