Russian forces storm Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol

[Kamaji]

Russian forces storm Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol: Ukraine

By Evan Simko-Bednarski
May 3, 2022

Russian forces are storming the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, its defenders said Tuesday — less than two weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin made a show of calling off plans to attack the Ukrainian redoubt.

“The enemy is trying to storm the Azovstal plant with significant forces using armored vehicles,” said Denys Shlega, a Ukrainian National Guard commander at Azovstal.

The sprawling, Soviet-era metalworks — a maze of bunkers and tunnels — has been likened to a Ukrainian Alamo in the decimated port city of Mariupol. Some 2,000 of the city’s last remaining defenders have been holed up there for weeks, along with a few hundred civilians hiding from the Russian advance.

Sviatoslav Palamar, deputy commander of the Ukrainian National Guard’s Azov Regiment, said on Telegram that the Russians were attacking the plant with “the support of armored vehicles and tanks, with attempts to land troops from boats and a large number of infantry.”

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Source:  https://nypost.com/2022/05/03/russian-forces-storm-azovstal-steel-plant-in-mariupol-ukraine/

[mystery-ak]

Russian military is now storming Mariupol steel factory, Ukrainian forces say

Ukrainian forces at the Azovstal steel factory in Mariupol said Tuesday that Russia’s military is now storming the complex.

The move comes almost two weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his military not to storm the plant, but rather block off the last pocket of resistance in the besieged Ukrainian city.

Asked about reports in Ukrainian media that the plant was being bombarded, Sviatoslav Palamar, the deputy commander of the Azov Regiment that is holed up there, said “it is true.”

Vadim Astafyev, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, said Tuesday that Ukrainian fighters holed up at the plant “came out of the basements, took up firing positions on the territory and in the buildings of the plant.” Astafyev said Russian forces along with rebel forces from Donetsk were using “artillery and aircraft... to destroy these firing positions.”

Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko said earlier Tuesday that more than 200 civilians are still at the Azovstal factory following United Nations-assisted evacuation efforts there in recent days, according to Reuters.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Posted by Greg Norman

https://www.foxnews.com/live-news/russia-ukraine-war-news-putin-zelenskyy-live

[Kamaji]

Escape from hell: Civilians fleeing Mariupol's Azovstal steel works tell of the horrors of constant Russian bombing and fears they may be shipped off to Russian-controlled territories

By DAVID AVERRE FOR MAILONLINE and CHRIS PLEASANCE FOR MAILONLINE
3 May 2022

Heart-wrenching footage has emerged of terrified and exhausted Ukrainian civilians being evacuated from the Azovstal steel works in Mariupol this weekend before Russia commenced yet another bombardment.

The clips were captured by Ukraine's Azov battalion and give harrowing insight into the conditions endured by the civilians holed up in the factory, many of whom shared their thoughts on the conflict and the impact of the Russian invasion.

'There are more than ten children from 10 to 12 years old in our bunker alone,' one woman said as her child sobbed into her chest.

'A few more bombs and our bunker will be no more... you can imagine the mental condition of the children.'

Another evacuee expressed fear among civilians that they would be shipped off to Russian-controlled regions instead Ukraine-held Zaporizhzhia, as has happened to many internally-displaced Ukrainians in the Donbas region.

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Source:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10779451/Civilians-fleeing-Mariupols-Azovstal-steel-works-tell-horrors-constant-Russian-bombing.html

[Hoodat]

May 3

[Hoodat]

Mariupol before and after

[Hoodat]

Azovstal steel plant evacuees never arrived in Zaporizhzhia, Mariupol mayor says

Lawrence Richard - 4h ago

The civilians who arrived in Zaporizhzhia Tuesday were not the ones who were evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol days earlier, according to its mayor.

The buses allegedly carrying Ukrainian civilians from the Azovstal steel plant were not actually from Mariupol but from "other cities," Mayor Vadym Boichenko said during a briefing at Media Center Ukraine.

"The previous evacuation, which took place yesterday, which was presented by a number of media outlets as information that those were the residents of Mariupol who left, is not true. These people who were evacuated had nothing to do with the residents of Mariupol, they are from other cities," Boichenko said.  .  .

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/azovstal-steel-plant-evacuees-never-arrived-in-zaporizhzhia-mariupol-mayor-says/ar-AAWUgTo