Shelling of Azovstal resumes after evacuation as Mariupol residents count losses
Russian forces and pro-Russian separatists resumed on Monday (May 2) the shelling of the Azovstal industrial complex after several dozens of civilians were evacuated from the site.
The footage filmed by Reuters showed a cloud of thick black smoke rising from the destroyed steel plant after shelling.
Azovstal is located in the Sea of Azov port city that has been devastated by weeks of Russian shelling and has served as a refuge for both civilians and a dwindling number of Ukrainian troops as Moscow has claimed control of Mariupol.
Azovstal remains the last stronghold of the Ukrainian forces in the city, with many soldiers and civilians reported hiding inside its bomb shelters.
The Russian army said 126 people had left Mariupol in safe convoys over Saturday (April 30) and Sunday (May 1) from the steelworks and other districts for separatist-controlled Donetsk.
Of these 57 opted to stay in that area, while the others had decided to leave for Ukrainian-held parts, it said.
Outside the Azovstal factory, where the fighting has stopped, residents of Mariupol try to figure out what to do next.
Many of them, like Tatyana Bushlanova, have their houses destroyed or heavily damaged.
Buslahnova said she would have left Mariupol, but is not sure she would be provided with a new place to live in.
"I don't know how to stay here during winter. We don't have a roof, don't have windows. Everything is very complicated," she said.