The Azovstal Industrial Complex, which is the last enclave in which the organized Ukrainian resistance is entrenched in Mariupol, a large part of which was destroyed following the Russian bombing, is still the link behind the field developments in that region.
After Moscow announced yesterday that the condition for evacuating civilians lies in laying down their arms, Ukraine is expected to begin evacuating those trapped inside the factory in the coming hours, according to what the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced.
This announcement came while the Russian side doubted the presence of civilians inside the factory, believing that all those who are holed up inside are from the Ukrainian forces and may come out in the form of civilians to obtain a safe escape after the control of 95% of the city of Mariupol, according to the Russian version.
Putin is clear: arms in exchange for evacuation
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has stressed that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been very clear that while civilians can leave the besieged Azovstal plant in Mariupol, in southeastern Ukraine, fighters must lay down their weapons.
“What could be the subject of negotiations in this case?” Peskov added, as quoted by the TASS news agency on Thursday.
Ukrainian fears
In addition, the governor of the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, Pavlo Kirilenko, said Thursday that Russia is preventing the evacuation of wounded Ukrainian fighters from the Azovstal plant, because it wants to arrest them.
Kirilenko, the governor of the eastern Donetsk region, also said that Russia is also obstructing efforts to arrange humanitarian corridors elsewhere in Donetsk, but that Russian forces have been pushed back across his region.
“They (want) to take advantage of the opportunity to arrest the defenders of Mariupol, one of the main (elements) of them… the Azov battalion,” he said in a press briefing.
He also added, “Therefore, the Russian side does not agree to any evacuation measures regarding the wounded (Ukrainians) of the troops.”
last pocket
It is noteworthy that the Azovstal Industrial Complex, a large part of which was destroyed by the Russian bombing, is the last enclave in which the organized Ukrainian resistance is holed up in Mariupol.
Russia had announced a few days ago a ceasefire in order to allow civilians to leave to any side they wanted. It also confirmed that it will also allow the exit of soldiers, fighters, and what it describes as mercenaries, provided that they lay down their weapons and declare their surrender.
Azovstal Industrial District in Mariupol, Donetsk People’s Republic
However, the Ukrainian authorities denied that there had been any ceasefire, while the two sides blamed each other and blamed each other on accusations.
It is noteworthy that the city of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov, since the start of the Russian military operation on the territory of its western neighbor, has been a strategic target for Moscow, since its control will open land corridors for the movement of Russian forces between eastern Ukraine and Crimea, which Moscow annexed to its territory in 2014.
