Hundreds still trapped in Mariupol face new hell
SHELLING resumed at the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol as soon as rescue crews finished evacuating some civilians on Sunday, said Ukrainian officials.
Senior sources added that Russian artillery had resumed shortly after about 100 people were safely moved from the plant.
The steelworks is where the city’s last defenders are holed up, with more than 500 soldiers and around 1,000 civilians surviving in the vast industrial area’s underground network.
Hopes had risen of a swift end to the two-month siege when the first batch of evacuees were ushered to safety by United Nations and Red Cross workers.
But yesterday Pedro Andyushchenko, an advisor to Mariupol’s mayor, told Ukrainian television: “As soon as the buses left Azovstal with the evacuees, new shelling began immediately.”
His account was backed by Denys Shlega, a national guard commander at the complex, who said: “Several dozen small children are still in the bunkers underneath the plant.” Sviatoslav Palamar, deputy commander of the Azov regiment defending the steelworks, said that after months of bombardment, the living conditions were appalling.
He said the air stank of rotting bodies, drinking water was running short and among the rubble were mines, rockets, artillery shells and unexploded cluster ordnance.
Elsewhere yesterday, Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Gaidai said three people were killed by shelling of Popasna and other major towns. Mr Gaidai said that in some areas, the bombardment was so intense, salvage workers could not recover the bodies.
“I don’t even want to speak about what’s happening with the people living in Popasna, Rubizhne and Novotoshkivske right now. These cities simply don’t exist anymore. The
‘As soon as the buses left, shelling began’
Russians have completely destroyed them.” The UN human rights office said the war’s civilian death toll had reached 3,153 – up 254 from Friday. It stressed many more deaths may not have been reported.
Ukrainian sources said two Russian navy patrol boats were destroyed in a drone attack close to the Ukrainian coast on Sunday.
The Raptor boats were being used to evacuate Russian military personnel from notorious Snake Island, and replace them with new personnel, it was reported. The attack