In a video released this Saturday by the city’s last defenders holed up in the Azovstal metallurgical complex, we see dozens of women and children housed in a makeshift dormitory.
The Azov Battalion posted a new video on YouTube Saturday morning showing dozens of women and children living underground in a building of the vast Azovstal Metallurgical Complex. We see them housed in a makeshift dormitory, dressed warmly, laundry hanging by a thread.
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The Ukrainians have been demanding for several days that the women and children, who would have fled with them in their hundreds to the basement of the factory, can be evacuated “with safety guarantees”. According to Oleksiï Arestovych, adviser to the Ukrainian Presidency, the Russians “resumed airstrikes” on the complex on Saturday. “They are trying offensive operations,” but “our defenders, despite their difficult situation, are conducting counter-operations,” he said on Telegram. These claims were unverifiable. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Russian forces would not attempt a final attack on Azovstal, preferring instead to besiege the site.
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“Go home”
Questioned by a Ukrainian soldier, a woman who has been living in this underground since the beginning of March explains in front of the camera. Another, holding a baby, claims to have taken refuge there because her husband worked in Azovstal. Several children also speak out on camera, saying they wish they could “go home.” The date of the video could not be immediately verified, but two women interviewed say today’s date is April 21.
video screenshot. AZOV BATTALION / REUTERS
Mariupol, which had a population of around 450,000 before the conflict began on February 24, has become a wasteland, with residents huddled in basements and lacking everything, with no communication with the outside world. According to Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk on Saturday, Ukrainian authorities should try again to evacuate civilians from the city as Russian attacks on the Azovstal Steel Plant resumed.
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“Today we try again to evacuate women, children and the elderly,” the deputy prime minister said on Facebook on Saturday morning, adding that civilians had begun to gather near a city mall and were hoping to start Departure for Zaporizhia, about 200 km northwest, around 12:00 local time (09:00 GMT).