“Mariupol” Garrison completed its task, orders are to stay alive – General Staff

Kateryna Tyshchenko - Tuesday, 17 May 2022, 00:15

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has stated that the "Mariupol" Garrison had completed their combat mission, and unit commanders had been ordered to save the lives of military  personnel.

Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine; Hanna Malyar, Deputy Minister of Defence, on Facebook

General Staff quote: "The Mariupol garrison has completed its combat mission. Supreme Military Command has ordered the commanders of the units located at Azovstal to save the lives of military personnel. An operation is underway to rescue Ukrainian defenders trapped inside the plant".

Details: The General Staff stated that the evacuation of 53 severely wounded soldiers started on Monday. They had been taken to a medical facility in Novoazovsk (in CADR - Certain Areas of the Donetsk Region).

"Another 211 defenders had been evacuated to Olenivka through the humanitarian corridor and then returned to the territory under Ukraine’s control via an exchange procedure," the statement said.

The measures aimed at rescuing the defenders who remain on Azovstal territory go on. 

Hanna Malyar, Deputy Minister of Defence, said that the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard and the Border Guard Service had jointly launched an operation to rescue the defenders of Mariupol besieged at the Azovstal steelworks.

"Thanks to the defenders of Mariupol, we have gained critical time to build reserves, regroup forces and receive assistance from partners. All defenders of Mariupol have completed the tasks given by the command in full. Unfortunately, we do not have the capacity to relieve the siege of Azovstal by military means. The most important common task of  Ukraine and the whole world is to save the lives of the defenders of Mariupol," Hanna Malyar stressed.

Background:

On 16 May, the Russian Ministry of Defence said that an agreement had been reached regarding the evacuation of wounded Ukrainian soldiers from the besieged Azovstal plant in Mariupol to the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine.

Later, the commander of Azov Regiment, Denys Prokopenko, stated that the defenders of Mariupol had completed their task and that he wanted to save the lives of his subordinates.

In the evening, Reuters reported that buses carrying Ukrainian military personnel had left the territory of the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol.