FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Ukraine ends mission to defend Azovstal steel plant

Ukraine ends mission to defend Azovstal steel plant

The force holed up in the last Ukrainian stronghold in the besieged port of Mariupol began evacuating on Monday, appearing to cede control of the city to Russia after months of bombardment.

Five buses carrying troops from the Azovstal steelworks arrived in the Russian-controlled town of Novoazovsk late on Monday, some 32 kilometres (20 miles) to the east, a Reuters witness said.

Some of the evacuated troops were wounded and carried out of the buses on stretchers. Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Anna Malyar said 53 were taken to a hospital.

 

It was not immediately clear how many troops were aboard the buses. Malyar said 211 other troops were taken to another site. Some 600 troops were believed to have been inside the steel plant.

"We hope that we will be able to save the lives of our guys," Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday night.

The Ukrainian regiment at the steel plant said it was fulfilling orders to save the lives of troops by evacuating them.

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