President Of Ukraine Truce Appeals For Trapped Civilians In Steel Plant

The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky stated on Thursday that the civilians who are trapped under the steelworks bunkers in Mariupol after the bombardment of Russia need to be taken out.

In the early weeks of the military operation after failing to capture the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in which thousands have been killed and many villages and towns are flattened, the Russians have increased their attacks in eastern and southern Ukraine, which includes the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.

The resistance of Ukraine at the steel plant underlines the failure of Russia in capturing the major cities in the war that has the support of Western powers which are arming Kyiv and punishing Russia with sanctions. In a major historical shift, Finland and Sweden are expected soon to decide whether to join NATO.

Russian army promised to stop its attack in Azovstal from Thursday daytime for the next two days for allowing the civilians to leave, after what is described as bloody battles by Ukraine fighters on Wednesday which blocked the evacuations. The Kremlin stated that humanitarian corridors were in place in the plant.

According to the officials from Ukraine, around 200 civilians were remain trapped in the underground bunkers network along with the fighters at the Soviet-era complex of Azovstal.

Zelensky stated in his early morning address, that Ukraine is ready for a ceasefire in the port city of Mariupol which is controlled by Russia after weeks of siege apart from the steel complex.

Zelensky said that is it simply time taking to take out the civilians from those basements and underground shelters. Because we could not use heavy equipment in the present conditions to remove the rubble away, which has to be removed by hand.

Azov regiment commander of the Ukrainian army Denis Prokopenko stated on late Wednesday that inside the Azovstal the Ukraine army is fighting very difficult and bloody battles.

The general staff of the Ukrainian army has stated that the Russians assaulted the plant with air support and the Russian fighters released the pictures which appeared to show the flames and smoke surrounding the steel plant.

Among dozens of evacuees who managed to reach the town controlled by Ukraine this week, Tetyana Trotsak stated that God forbid the bunkers were hit by more shells where the civilians are present, also describing that it took her two and a half-hour of walk to get through a short stretch of ground covered with rubble at the complex.

Mariupol is an important target for Russia to cut off Ukraine from the Black Sea metals and grain route of export and also to link the territory controlled by Russia in the east of the country to Crimea, which was seized by Russia in 2014.

This week hundreds of civilians were evacuated from this city and other regions by Red Cross and United Nations.

The United Nations humanitarian office stated that 300 civilians were evacuated on Wednesday from Mariupol and other areas of south Ukraine, but no one was from Azovstal among those civilians.