ZAPORIZHZHIA,
Iryna Vereshchuk made the announcement on Saturday.
She said: “The president’s order has been carried out: all women, children and the elderly have been evacuated from Azovstal. This part of the Mariupol humanitarian operation has been completed.”
She did not elaborate. The Russian news agency
The civilians had been holding up in the plant with Ukrainian fighters making a final stand to prevent a complete takeover of Mariupol.
Evacuating civilians from the steel mill had drawn the world’s attention, with the
In recent days, fighters inside the plant had described bringing out small groups of civilians who had been hiding for weeks. But Russian fire had continued in the area, making the operation difficult.
It remains unclear what will happen to the Ukrainian fighters there, both those still in combat and hundreds who are believed to be wounded. In recent days, the Ukrainian government had been reaching out to a variety of international organizations to try and guarantee them safe passage.
The escape of the civilians puts new pressure on
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
ZAPORIZHZHIA,
However, in a sign of the unexpectedly effective defense that has sustained the fighting into its 11th week,
Western military analysts said a Ukrainian counter-offensive also was advancing around the nation's second-largest city, Kharkiv, even as it remained a key target of Russian shelling. The Ukrainian army said it retook control of five villages and part of a sixth near hotly contested Kharkiv.
As
"As war again rages in
The most intense battles in recent days have befallen eastern
Moscow’s also has sought to sweep across southern
On Saturday, six Russian cruise missiles fired from aircraft hit the region of Odesa, where authorities have a curfew in place until Tuesday morning. Videos posted on social media showed thick black smoke rising over Odesa with sirens wailing in the background.
Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press showed
The image corresponds with a Ukrainian military video showing a drone striking the Russian vessel, engulfing it in flames.
Against that backdrop, Ukrainian fighters made a final stand to prevent a complete takeover of Mariupol. Securing the strategically important Sea of Azov port would give
New satellite photos analyzed by the AP showed vast devastation at a sprawling seaside steel mill that is the last corner of Ukrainian resistance in the city. Buildings at the Azovstal plant, including one under which hundreds of fighters and civilians are likely hiding, had large, gaping holes in the roof, according to the images shot Friday by
The bombardment of the steel mill intensified in recent days despite a Russian pledge for a temporary cease-fire to allow civilians inside to escape.
Rescuers sought to evacuate more civilians on Saturday after a week of on-and-off convoys to get people out of Mariupol. Dozens of civilians were delivered Friday to the care of
The latest evacuees followed roughly 500 others who were allowed to leave the plant and other parts of the city in recent days.
Ukrainian fighters at the Azovstal mill have repeatedly refused to surrender but acknowledged Saturday using white flags to help evacuate civilians from the site. The fighters issued a statement via social media saying both they and the Russians have used a white flag system to halt fighting in order to get civilians out.
They said the Saturday incident marked the fourth time they raised the flags for that purpose. The statement followed comments attributed to a commander on the Russian side there suggesting the Ukrainians were using the white flag for negotiations with their attackers.
The Ukrainian government has called on international organizations to also help evacuate the fighters defending the plant. By Russia’s most recent estimate, roughly 2,000 Ukrainian fighters remained at the Azovstal steelworks. They have repeatedly refused to surrender.
Ukrainian President
“We are also working on diplomatic options to save our troops who are still at Azovstal,” he said in his nightly video address early Saturday.
The relief of those who have been evacuated was tempered by the memory of those still left behind.
“They need our help badly,” said
While they pounded away at the plant, Russian forces struggled to make significant gains elsewhere nearly 2 1/2 months into a ruinous war that has killed thousands of people, forced millions to flee
Kharkiv, which was the first Soviet capital in
A
In other developments, a Russian missile on Saturday destroyed a Ukrainian national museum dedicated to the life and work of an 18th-century philosopher, the local council said. It posted photographs on Facebook showing the Gregory Skovoroda museum engulfed in flames.
As an indication of his importance to Ukraine’s cultural heritage, Skovoroda’s likeness adorns a Ukrainian banknote. The museum in Skovorodynivka lies near the Russian border in the Kharkiv region where fighting has been fierce.
Zelenskyy said in his nightly address that the “extraordinary strength of the Ukrainian position” lies in all the countries of the free world understanding what is at stake in the ruinous war.
“We are defending ourselves against an onslaught of tyranny that wants to destroy everything that freedom gives to people and states," the Ukrainian leader said. "And such a struggle, for freedom and against tyranny, is fully comprehensible for any society, in any corner of the globe.”
At the
Talks to end the war have stalled. Zelenskyy said Friday that he would be open to negotiations with
"In that situation, we will be able to start discussing things normally,” Zelenskyy told a meeting at
Gambrell reported from Lviv,
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