Azovstal defenders leave steel plant in hundreds

17.05.2022, 09:05 thetimes.co.uk

More than 260 Ukrainian troops left the besieged Azovstal steel plant yesterday after Russia agreed to move the seriously wounded to a medical centre in the town of Novoazovsk, and the rest through a humanitarian corridor to the town of Olenivka, both of which are controlled by Russian forces. A dozen or so buses were seen leaving the plant in Mariupol but the number of passengers was unclear. Ganna Malyar, one of Ukraine’s deputy defence ministers, said that of 264 personnel evacuated, 53 heavily wounded had been taken to Novoazovsk and the rest to Olenivka. All may be exchanged for Russian prisoners, she added. It is thought that before yesterday about 600 servicemen remained inside the Azovstal works. Ukraine’s military said it had “ordered