President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in a video message on May 17 confirmed the start of the withdrawal of the Ukrainian military from the territory of the Azovstal metallurgical plant in Mariupol, reports TASS.
« We have hope that we can save the lives of our guys. Among them there are seriously wounded, they need help, ”the agency quotes the politician.
According to him, Kyiv hopes to subsequently “return the guys home,” that is, to the territory controlled by the Ukrainian authorities.
On May 16, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that an agreement had been reached with Ukrainian servicemen blocked in Azovstal to evacuate the wounded, for which a silence regime was introduced and a humanitarian corridor was opened. In the evening, RT channel correspondent Maxim Touri informedthat, according to preliminary estimates, regarding 300 militants came out of Azovstal, including regarding 50 wounded. The wounded were taken to the Central District Hospital of Novoazovsk.
According to the Ukrainian side, on May 16, 53 seriously wounded Ukrainian soldiers were evacuated from Azovstal to the territory controlled by the DPR, to Novoazovsk, and 211 Ukrainian soldiers were taken along the humanitarian corridor to Yelenovka (DPR).