Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Hanna Malyar said negotiations are continuing to release the fighters. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said “the most influential international mediators” are involved in the plan to rescue more fighters from the steel factory. The number of fighters left there is unclear.
The steel factory is the last stronghold of the Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol, which is controlled by Russia. More than 260 Ukrainians were taken away from there on Monday as part of an agreement between the conflicting parties; some were seriously injured. Another seven buses carrying Ukrainian fighters from Azovstal arrived at a former penal colony in the town of Olenivka north of Mariupol on Tuesday. The place has been controlled by pro-Russian separatists since 2014.
The President of the Russian House of Commons, Vyacheslav Volodin, accused the Ukrainian fighters of being “war criminals”. They must be held accountable, he demanded.
Russia has been besieging Mariupol for almost three months. According to Ukrainian sources, the Russian bombardment killed more than 20,000 civilians there. Among other things, Russian troops launched airstrikes on a maternity hospital and a theater where civilians had taken shelter. Mariupol is considered a symbol of resistance and suffering.