Kyiv, May 8 (Reuters) – Ukrainian fighters at the besieged Azovstal steel plant in the southeastern port of Mariupol, the latest target of Russian forces in the city, vowed to continue their position on Sunday.
“We will continue to fight while we are alive to repel the Russian occupiers,” Captain Svyatoslav Palamar, deputy commander of the Ukrainian Azov Regiment, told an online news conference.
“We don’t have much time, we are under intense fire,” he said, begging the international community to help evacuate the wounded soldiers from the plant.
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Iliya Samoilenko, a fighter from the Azov Regiment, who is also taking part in the virtual conference, said they still have weapons, ammunition and water and are ready to fight as long as necessary.
“We can die at any moment … Our message is do not waste your efforts,” Samoilenko said, urging the Ukrainian government to rely more on continuing the battles against Russian forces than on hopes that Moscow can be pacified through negotiations.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a late-night address Saturday that more than 300 civilians had been rescued from the Azovstal plant. He said authorities would now focus on evacuating the wounded and medics and helping residents elsewhere in Mariupol and surrounding settlements to be safe.
Palamar said he could not confirm that all civilians had been evacuated from the plant, as Ukrainian fighters were unable to inspect and clear all bombed areas.
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Report by Natalia Zinets Written by Nerius Adomaitis Edited by Francis Carey
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