Desk Report
Publish: 17 May 2022, 11:26 am
Ukrainian servicemen walk in the forest near a recently retaken village, north of Kharkiv, east Ukraine, Sunday, May 15, 2022 || Photo: AP
Hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers have been evacuated from the
besieged Azovstal steelworks — the last holdout of troops defending the
southern port city of Mariupol — Kyiv said on Monday.
The plant had become a symbol of resistance, with around 600
soldiers holed up in underground tunnels and bunkers fighting a rear-guard
battle to prevent Russian troops from taking full control of the strategically
located city.
But on Monday Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Malyar said
more than 260 had been moved through humanitarian corridors to areas under
Moscow and Russia-backed separatists control.
"An exchange procedure will be carried out for their further
return home," Malyar said.
The Ukrainian army said the soldiers in Mariupol had
"performed their combat task" and now the main goal was to "save
the lives of personnel."
By holding the steelworks, they stopped Russian forces from
rapidly capturing the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, a statement on Facebook
said.
Despite the resources of its giant neighbor, Ukraine has managed
to repel the Russian army for longer than many expected, fortified by weapons
and cash from Western allies.
The latest example of this came Monday when Ukraine's defense ministry announced its troops had regained control of territory on the Russian border near the country's second-largest city of Kharkiv, which has been under constant attack.
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