Russia allows wounded Ukrainian soldiers to leave Azovstal, Kyiv ends combat mission in Mariupol

A Ukrainian soldier in the Azovstal factory is removed from a vehicle on a stretcher during the evacuation on May 16 reuters

Reuters on May 16 quoted Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar as saying that 53 soldiers were injured in the steel factory Azovstal was taken to the hospital in the town of Novoazovsk do Russia control, about 32 kilometers to the east.

Malyar said another 211 people had been taken to the town of Olenivka, which is in the separatist-held area. Deputy Minister Malyar added that all those evacuated will be part of a prisoner exchange with Russia.

Reuters reporters saw five buses carrying troops from Azovstal to Novoazovsk late on Friday, May 16. Several service members were injured and were taken off the bus on stretchers. About 600 soldiers are believed to have been inside the Azovstal steel plant.

“We hope to be able to save the lives of our soldiers. There were seriously injured people among them. They are being taken care of. Ukraine needs its heroes alive.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke early in the morning of May 17.

Ukrainian Army said it had “ordered the commanders of the units stationed at Azovstal to save the lives of the soldiers” and claimed the force there had completed its combat mission.

The Ukrainian military added that efforts to rescue soldiers inside were still underway, but did not specify the number of soldiers remaining.

Ukraine said its forces had been entrenched in Azovstal for 82 days to give the remaining Ukrainian forces enough time to fight Russia and receive the necessary Western weapons.

The evacuation could mark the end of the longest and bloodiest battle in the Ukrainian conflict and a significant defeat for Ukraine. Mariupol fell into disrepair after a months-long siege by Russia.

The evacuation operation comes hours after Russia announced it had agreed to evacuate wounded Ukrainian soldiers to a medical facility in Novoazovsk. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on May 16 that Russian President Vladimir Putin allowed Ukrainian soldiers to leave for humanitarian reasons.

Ukrainian soldiers in Azovstal had to hold out for weeks in bunkers and tunnels built deep underground to fend off nuclear war. Civilians were evacuated from the plant, one of the largest in Europe, earlier this month.