Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the first stage of the evacuation operations included the rescue of 300 civilians and their expulsion from the Azovstal factory, which is besieged by Russian forces, indicating the start of preparations for the second stage, which includes evacuating the wounded and medical staff.
The Ukrainian president also stressed that officials continue to work to secure humanitarian corridors for all residents of Mariupol and its suburbs.
On the other hand, the Russian National Defense Administration Center announced the completion of the three-day process of evacuating civilians from the Azovstal plant, according to the Russian TASS news agency.
The head of the Russian National Defense Administration Center, Mikhail Mezint Seif, said that 51 civilians were evacuated from the factory as part of an operation that began on May 5, adding that among these people were 18 men, 22 women and 11 children.
Evacuees from the heavily devastated Ukrainian city of Mariupol arrived at a reception center in the separatist-controlled village of Bizimeni on Saturday.
Mariupol endured the most devastating bombardment in the 10-week-old crisis.
The evacuees were handed over to the United Nations and representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Bizimini, near the border with Russia, to be then taken to their preferred destinations.
Hours before the Kremlin celebrates Victory Day over Nazism
In the field developments of the war in Ukraine, and hours before the Kremlin celebrated the Victory Day over Nazism, Moscow intensified its attacks in Ukraine to crown its victory celebrations, while Ukrainian forces intensified their concentration around a number of areas under Russian control, apparently in an attempt to spoil the Kremlin celebrations.
The preparations for the celebration of Victory Day will not be a day like other days, nor a celebration like previous years. The streets of Moscow began to be decorated to receive the promised day.
Military equipment was scattered around Red Square for parade.
But the question: What will the master of the Kremlin do in the victory parade without a victory celebrated?
A question that the master of the Kremlin must answer The Russian army is trying to give part of its answer before D-Day.
An answer that the army seeks to provide through air and ground raids on a number of Ukrainian regions, including Mariupol, which it was unable to control due to the stationing of Ukrainian fighters in Azovstal, in conjunction with other similar raids in Donetsk and Lugansk bordering Russia.
As for the Ukrainian army, which hopes to spoil the Kremlin celebrations, it has strengthened its positions around a number of Russian-controlled areas and carried out drone strikes on a Russian landing ship on Snake Island, coinciding with a coordinated attack on the north and east with the support of tanks and armored vehicles.
In this regard, Pavlo Kovalchuk, a spokesman for the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said: “During the previous day, the air defense units of the Ukrainian Air Force and Ground Forces were hit by 14 Orlan drones, and on the territory of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, the defenders of Ukraine repelled eight enemy attacks. “.
“They destroyed three tanks, eight artillery systems, seven units of armored combat vehicles, one vehicle and three units of enemy special engineering equipment,” he added.
Ukrainian attacks, despite their modesty, represent a symbol of two different strategies as the war continues in its third month, according to the American New York Times, and a slow mill that depends on control and moving from one village to another, but it bears another sign this time. The master of the Kremlin needs a victory to present it as an answer on Victory Day, And Kiev is trying to confirm that it is not like the Nazis whose defeat Moscow celebrates.