Dozens of Civilians Successfully Escape from Mariupol . Steel Factory

KIEV – About 20 civilians have left the Azovstal steel mill in Mariupol, the last part of the southern city still in troop hands Ukraine .

They were the first group to have managed to escape since the President Russia Vladimir Putin ordered the sprawling industrial area closed last week.

More than a week ago, after saying Mariupol had been arrested, President Putin told his troops: “Block this industrial area so flies can’t get through.”

But Russian media have reported that 25 civilians managed to leave the Azovstal factory on Saturday, including six children under the age of 14. But the media did not say where the group had been taken.

The report was confirmed by soldiers inside the steel mill, who put the number at 20 women and children.

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“They were transferred to a suitable place and we hope that they will be evacuated to Zaporizhzhia, in Ukrainian-controlled territory,” said Deputy commander of the Azov regiment, Sviatoslav Palamar, as quoted by Reuters. BBCSunday (1/5/2022)

The mayor of Mariupol, Vadym Boychenko, told the BBC that people there were “on the border between life and death”.

“(People) are waiting, they are praying for rescue. It’s hard to say how many days or hours we have to save their lives,” he said.

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