NEW YORK (May 1, 2022)–“A safe passage operation to evacuate civilians from the Azovstal steel plant is ongoing today, Sunday 1 May. The efforts are coordinated by the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross, in coordination with the parties to the conflict.
It was agreed with both parties to the conflict that civilians who had been stranded for nearly two months in Azovstal – women, children and the elderly – will be evacuated to Zaporizka where they will receive immediate humanitarian support, including psychological services.
The operation started on Friday 29 April with a joint UN/ICRC convoy travelling some 230 kilometres from Zaporizka to reach the plant in Mariupol on Saturday morning, local time.
As the operations are still ongoing, we will not provide further details at this point, to guarantee the safety of the civilians and humanitarians in the convoy.
The UN will also continue to push for the safe passage out of Mariupol city for all those civilians who wish to leave. The UN is engaging actively with parties to advance these efforts.”
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted “The evacuation of civilians from Azovstal began. The first group of about 100 people is already heading to the controlled area. Tomorrow we will meet them in Zaporozhye. Thank you to our team! Currently, they, together with representatives #ООН , are working on the evacuation of other civilians from the plant.”
The first footage of the evacuation of Ukraine civilians:
The first footage from today's rescue operation in #Mariupol has appeared. The video shows the #Ukrainian military helping people to get out of the destroyed factory. International organizations such as Red Cross and United Nations also participated in the rescue operation. pic.twitter.com/E23468kNGv
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) May 1, 2022
Source: United Nations and Ukraine President Zelenskyy contributed to the article.
