Joseph Campbell

ZAPORIZHZHIA (Ukraine/KYIV) – After weeks of hiding in underground bunkers under Russian bombardment, the first evacuees of the ruins Mariupol’s Azovstal Steel Works were due to arrive at Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine on Monday.

As Moscow is now in control of Mariupol, the vast Azovstal Industrial Complex located in Sea of Azov Port City has been a shelter for civilians and an ever-dwindling number of Ukrainian troops.

An operation was launched by the United Nations and International Committee of the Red Cross in coordination with Russia and Ukraine on April 29th to expel women, children and the old from the Steel Works.

Volodymyr Zeleskiy, President of Ukraine, posted that about 100 civilians will arrive in Zaporizhzhia, southeastern Ukraine, on Monday.

He said, “For the first, we had 2 days of ceasefire on that territory and we were able to eliminate more than 100 civilians, including women and children.”

Some of the evacuees, who were not in steelworks but had travelled independently from the UN/Red Cross operations to Mariupol on Monday, arrived in Zaporizhzhia.

A funeral van brought one woman to the scene. The woman claimed that she was from Mariupol and had been living in hiding in the basement of a nearby village.

A convoy of civilians, but from Mariupol, also left Zaporizhzhia Monday morning. This was according to Petro Andryushchenko, an aide to the mayor.

No indication was given that there was a plan for pulling out the Ukrainian forces who were still in place. This group includes members of the Azov regiment and the border guards.

An aide to Mariupol stated that Russia resumed the shelling of the industrial area on Sunday, after the evacuation buses had left.

Andryushchenko stated that “Yesterday as soon as buses left Azovstal together with the evacuatees, the new shelling started immediately.”

An assortment of relatives who were part of the force digging there was due to meet on Monday at Kyiv’s Independence Square in order to go towards Zaporizhzhia, where they will lobby for Mariupol to be evacuated.