Ukraine Russia Conflict: Ukrainian forces in Azovstal are 'securely blocked' says Ukraine officials

Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu has said that the remaining Ukrainian forces in the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol are “securely blocked”. "In accordance with the instructions of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the remnants of the militants located in the industrial zone of the Azovstal plant are securely blocked along the entire perimeter of this territory. Repeated proposals to the nationalists to release civilians and lay down their arms with a guarantee of saving lives and decent treatment in accordance with the norms of international law by them ignored. We continue these attempts" the minister said.

Meanwhile, Russia on 24th February launched the war on Ukraine. And, according to the latest updates, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has confirmed 156 people who were successfully evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol arrived in Zaporizhzhia on Tuesday. Another 200 civilians were still trapped under the complex and approximately 100,000 remained in the city, said Mariupol’s mayor, Vadym Boichenko. Russian troops continued to shell and attempted to storm the Azovstal steelworks in violation of ceasefire agreements, the president said. Four humanitarian corridors are planned from Mariupol to the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Wednesday “if the safety situation allows”, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, has announced. However, Russian attacks in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region killed 21 civilians and injured 27 on Tuesday, according to the regional governor.