Rescue ‘ongoing’, says Ukrainian soldier stuck in Mariupol’s Azovstal plant

After days of holing up inside Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant, a few Ukrainian civilians have been evacuated, thanks to a ceasefire, according to Capt. Svyatoslav Palamar, a deputy commander in the Azov Regiment trapped inside the plant complex. 

The ceasefire was initially scheduled to commence at 6 am local time but got delayed and finally began at 11 am, according to Capt. Palmar. 

“As of now, it’s the truth, both sides follow the ceasefire regime,” he said.

“Since 6 a.m., we’ve been waiting for the evacuation convoy to arrive, which only arrived at 6:25 p.m,” he added. 

The deputy commander further revealed that several civilians have been rescued from “under the rubble.”

“We have brought 20 civilians to the agreed meeting point, whom we’ve managed to rescue from under the rubble. These are women and children. We hope these people will go to the agreed destination, which is Zaporizhzhia, the territory controlled by Ukraine,” Capt. Palamar said in a video address on the Telegram handle of Azov Regiment. 

“As of now, the rescue operation is ongoing, conducted by the servicemen of Azov – we rescue the civilians from under the rubble,” he added.

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“These are women, children and the elderly,” he said while hoping that the evacuation procedure turns out to be a success.

“As for the wounded — those people who require urgent medical care — it is unclear to us why they are not being evacuated and their evacuation to the territory controlled by Ukraine is not being discussed,” he said. 

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Capt. Palomar also stressed on making sure that the civilians are not the only ones being evacuated, “but also our wounded servicemen who require medical care.”

While the process of evacuation has been set in motion, there are still several people stuck inside the plant’s complex including those who were wounded during the Russian attacks in the past few weeks.