Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a regular nightly TV address on Sunday (local time) that over 350,000 civilians have been able to evacuate from combat zones thanks to the humanitarian evacuation routes agreed in advance with Russia since the start of the Russian invasion. He expressed his gratitude for the help of the international community.
President Zelensky said, “The international community’s humanitarian refugee negotiations are one of the topics of negotiations with Russia, and negotiations are still ongoing. It’s very complicated,” he said.
On this day, in Zaporizia, a region under the jurisdiction of the Ukrainian military, where the residents of Mariupol are evacuating, thousands of people visited the cemetery to commemorate the Orthodox Church Day for the Dead, despite air raids warning people not to leave their homes.
Henadi Bondrenko (61), who shared food with her family among the graves of the cemetery with her family, said, “If the dead come to life and see the war now, ‘I can’t do this. “It’s even worse than Nazi Germany,” he said, adding that even dead ancestors and the old Cossacks would want to join the fight.
After the failure of the capture of the capital Kiiu, Russia concentrated its attacks in eastern and southern Ukraine, devastating the strategic port city of Mariupol in the Sea of Azou and occupying most of it. Its proximity to the Russian-occupied Krm Peninsula in 2014 made it a strategic target, and now only the Azoustal Works remains the center of Ukrainian resistance and a civilian shelter.
Ukrainian military intelligence officers accuse the Russians of taking over all hospitals and medical institutions in the occupied territories wherever they go, looting medicines and equipment, completely depriving people of critical health care.
In an article posted on Facebook by the intelligence service of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine on the 1st, in Volchansk near Kharkiv, Russian troops occupied all hospitals and treated Russian wounded soldiers, while hospitalized residents and tuberculosis patients were driven to the streets. this was contained
Four hospitals in eastern Ukraine faced a similar fate due to Russian needs. In particular, a medical facility near Zaporizia was requisitioned as an ammunition depot for the Russian military, so medical staff might no longer take care of the residents, the Associated Press reported. The AP said it was still checking whether the facts were accurate.
Meanwhile, in Mariupol, where additional civilians were evacuated, scenes of the evacuation were posted on social media, with children and the elderly in thick winter coats crawling out of the bombed-down factory and getting on the bus.
In response to this, President Zelensky thanked the international community and aid organizations for helping the elderly, women and children escape safely, and announced through his Telegram account that 100 people will be moving to Zaporizia by Monday the 2nd.
This transportation was made possible with the cooperation of the International Committee of the Red Cross and UN agencies.
However, shortly following the civilian transport bus left on the 1st, the Russian army resumed fierce bombardment of the Azoustal Works, the Ukrainian Defense Forces at the Works said.
Dennis Schlega, commander of the Ukrainian Army’s Azou Regiment, said in a TV interview on the night of the 1st that hundreds of civilians, including children, and nearly 500 wounded and “innumerable” bodies remain in the steelworks.
“Dozens of very young children are in the trenches beneath the factories. We should be able to withdraw one more time,” he said.
More than 100,000 people are still in lockdown in downtown Mariupol, and more than 1,000 civilians and 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers remain inside the steelworks alone.
Even if an additional withdrawal is made from this place, the safety issue is only in the hands of the Russian military. It is because there are dozens of checkpoints to reach the Ukrainian jurisdiction, and it is up to the Russian military to pass or not.
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