General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: “The garrison "Mariupol" completed the mission assigned”

The siege of the Azovstal metallurgical plant in Mariupol has come to an end. The evacuation of part of the Ukrainian military has been confirmed.

Agency last night Reuters reported that about a dozen buses with the Ukrainian military left the plant. It was not possible to determine how many people were inside them. The Azov Regiment posted on social media:

“To save lives, the entire Mariupol garrison is fulfilling the decision of the Supreme Military Command and hopes for the support of the Ukrainian people.”

The report said the defenders of Mariupol held out for 82 days, buying time for the rest of Ukraine to take on Russian forces and obtain Western weaponry needed to counter the Russian attack. “Ukrainian Truth”. In a video that accompanied the Azov Regiment’s statement, Denis Prokopenko, one of the unit’s senior commanders, said:

“The main thing is to realize all the risks, is there a plan B, are you fully committed to the plan that should allow you to complete the tasks and save the lives and health of personnel? This is the highest level of command and control. Especially when your decision is approved by the highest military command.”

He did not specify what actions are being taken. The video was released hours after Russia said it had agreed to evacuate wounded Ukrainian soldiers to a medical facility in Russian-controlled Novoazovsk. The Russian Defense Ministry reported:

“An agreement was reached on the removal of the wounded. A humanitarian corridor has been opened through which the wounded Ukrainian servicemen are delivered to the Novoazovsk medical facility.”

On Monday, May 16, 264 Ukrainian soldiers were evacuated from the territory of the Azovstal metallurgical plant in Mariupol. About it informed Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar:

“53 seriously wounded people were evacuated from Azovstal to a medical facility in Novoazovsk (not controlled by Ukraine) to provide them with medical care. Another 211 people were delivered through a humanitarian corridor to Olenevka (not controlled by Ukraine). An exchange will be carried out for their further return home”

According to Malyar, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard and the Border Guard Service are jointly taking measures to rescue the fighters who are still under the blocked plant. President of Ukoaina Volodymyr Zelensky spoke about the evacuation process in his address:

“Thanks to the actions of the Ukrainian military…, as well as the negotiating group, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN, we hope that we will be able to save the lives of our guys. I want to emphasize: Ukraine needs Ukrainian heroes alive. This is our principle. I think every adequate person will understand these words “.

As writes air force, President Zelensky said that it will take delicacy and time to return the defenders of Azovstal home. Ukraine hopes to exchange them. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated that the Mariupol garrison completed its combat mission, thanks to the defenders of the city, the Ukrainian army gained invaluable time in the first days of the war. The High Military Command of Ukraine ordered the commanders of the units stationed at Azovstal in Mariupol to save the lives of the personnel. This was reported in the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the night of Tuesday, May 17:

“The Mariupol garrison has completed its combat mission. … The operation to rescue the defenders of Ukraine blocked on the territory of the plant continues. Holding positions on Azovstal, they did not allow the enemy to transfer the grouping of 17 battalion tactical groups (about 20,000 personnel) to other directions. Thus, they prevented the implementation of the plan for the rapid capture of Zaporozhye, the access to the administrative border of the Donetsk and Zaporozhye regions, and the creation of conditions for cordoning off the JFO group.

The command noted that, thanks to the defenders of Mariupol – the Azov battalion, the 12th brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine, the 36th separate brigade of the marines, border guards, policemen, volunteers, the city’s territorial defense – the Ukrainian army won invaluable time in the first days of the war.

The operation to rescue the rest of the military from Azovstal continues. Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Anna Malyar told Ukrainian television: “Any information can harm the ongoing processes … Since the process is underway, we cannot say what is happening now.”

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