On the 73rd day of the Russian invasion in Ukraine this Sunday, May 8, women, children and the elderly were all evacuated from the Azovstal steelworks, the last pocket of resistance of the Ukrainian forces in Mariupol, a port city devastated by the fighting with the Russians, kyiv announced on Saturday.
► Moscow has blocked the RFI website, which broadcasts information in fifteen languages including Russian. An alternative URL address allows access to the site in French and in Russian. RFI in Russian is also available on Telegram: https://t.me/RFI_Ru via a VPN and in Russia in French via satellite on Hotbird.
► The site of the Russian editorial staff of RFI broadcasts Ukrainian public radio (in the Ukrainian language) from the home page.
The main points:
► All children, women and the elderly were able to leave the huge Azovstal steelworks, the last pocket of resistance of Ukrainian fighters in Mariupol on Saturday, announced the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister. Kyiv said that ” nearly 500 civilians had been evacuated from the factory in recent days.
► Supporting images, the Ukrainian forces claim to have sunk a new Russian ship in the Black Sea. Information that Moscow has not confirmed.
► The counteroffensive engaged by Ukrainian forces for several days in the Kharkiv region is progressing, analysts believe.
► Final rehearsals took place on Saturday before the traditional May 9 military parade in Moscow celebrating the victory over Nazi Germany, which will be the occasion for a show of force in the midst of the struggling Ukrainian campaign.
Times are given in Universal Time (UT)
04:15: The last civilians have been able to leave Azovstal, the authorities hope to evacuate the wounded and the soldiers
Women, children and the elderly have all been evacuated from the Azovstal steelworks, the last pocket of resistance by Ukrainian forces in Mariupol, a port city devastated by fighting with the Russians, kyiv announced on Saturday. These operations, which have been taking place for a week under the aegis of the UN and the Red Cross, have allowed, according to the Ukrainians, nearly 500 people to flee.
“ We evacuated civilians from Azovstal “Launched Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday evening in his daily message, citing the number of 300 exfiltrated people. “ We are now preparing the second phase (…): the wounded and the medical personnel “.
And, ” of course, we are also working to evacuate our soldiers. All these heroes defending Mariupol “, he continued, without giving a figure. “ It is extremely difficult. But it is very important. »
04h00: Hello and welcome to this live
You can find our live from yesterday here.