Civilians leave steelworks as Ukraine braces for renewed offensive

All vulnerable civilians have been evacuated from the Azovstal steelworks holdout in Mariupol, Ukraine said Saturday, presaging a showdown between Kyiv’s last remaining soldiers there and the besieging Russian forces ahead of celebrations marking the Soviet World War II victory.

The steel mill, the final pocket of Ukrainian resistance in the devastated port city, has taken on a symbolic value in the war. Kyiv fears a renewed intensity to Moscow’s offensive.

“All women, children and the elderly have been evacuated from Azovstal,” Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.

During a speech, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that hundreds of people had been removed from the plant and that preparations for a second stage of evacuation comprising the wounded and medics were under way.

Fighting continues on many fronts, and Ukraine’s defence ministry said it had destroyed another Russian vessel—a Serna-class landing craft—in the Black Sea.

“The traditional parade of the Russian Black Sea fleet on May 9 this year will be held near Snake Island—at the bottom of the sea,” the ministry added. Russia did not immediately confirm the incident.

Earlier, Ukraine’s defence ministry said Russian forces had resumed their assault on the Azovstal site, despite talk of a truce to allow trapped civilians to flee.