Ukrainian troops defending Azovstal hope that critically wounded soldiers will be evacuated

Sunday, 1 May 2022, 19:48

Ukrainian troops defending Mariupol from the Azovstal steelworks are hoping that the Ukrainian government and international organisations will be able to negotiate the safe evacuation of critically wounded soldiers.

Source: Ukrainian troops in a commentary for Hromadske

Quote: "They [the critically wounded soldiers] need appropriate medical attention, proper food, painkillers, bandages. The talks are going on, but we don’t know the details.

We know and hope that the process is ongoing and the negotiations are underway. We hope that they will be evacuated."

Details: According to the Representative of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Ukraine and Russia have agreed on the evacuation of Mariupol civilians to Zaporizhzhia, where they will receive humanitarian aid and assistance.

Background:

• At 5.30 pm on Sunday 1 May, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that with the help of the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross, the evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal bunkers had begun.
• On the afternoon of 1 May, international journalists started reporting that evacuation buses with 50 civilians on board had left Mariupol for the Russian-controlled territory of the unrecognised "Donetsk People’s Republic".
• On 30 April, soldiers from the Azov Regiment informed the international community that 20 civilians had been evacuated, but said that critically wounded people who had been rescued from under the rubble were being ignored in the negotiations on evacuation.