Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar announced yesterday that a total of 264 soldiers, 53 of whom were seriously injured, were evacuated from the Azovstal steel factory besieged by Russian soldiers in the city of Mariupol in the south of the country. Images of the moments when Ukrainian soldiers were evacuated from the factory, which is a symbol of resistance against Russia, emerged. It was seen that the Ukrainian soldiers came out of the factory with their belongings, and that their belongings were searched by the Russian soldiers.
It was stated that while the injured soldiers were taken to a military hospital in the Novoazovsk region, 211 of them were taken to Olenivka. Both regions are under the control of pro-Russian separatists.
Azovstal, where thousands of civilians took shelter since the beginning of the war, has been under the bombardment of Russian forces for about 2 months. Women, children and the elderly, who were in the steel factory where there was a shortage of food, water and medicine until 10 days ago, were evacuated in an operation coordinated by the United Nations and the Red Cross, which ended on 7 May.