Ukraine's leader says the situation at a steelworks in the city of Mariupol has reached new levels of desperation as hundreds remain trapped inside.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pleaded Thursday for a cease-fire to allow the evacuation of civilians trapped in a sprawling complex of underground bunkers and tunnels beneath a Mariupol steel plant, where fighters continue to try to fend off the Russian troops who have taken over the rest of the city.
The president asked for more help from the United Nations, which has joined the International Red Cross to usher civilians to safety from the Azovstal steel plant, the last Ukrainian holdout in the city.Advertisement. In the Luhansk area, an official reported that Russian troops shelled 24 times on Wednesday. Posting on Telegram, regional Gov. Serhiy Haidai said the attacks hit homes, killing five people and injuring 25.
Mariupol, a strategic prize that would allow Moscow to stitch together a land corridor connecting Russia, Crimea and western Ukraine, has been the site of some of the war’sand most forceful negotiations. The once-thriving city of 450,000 people has lost more than three-quarters of its population — contributing to the millions of displaced Ukrainians — with its mayor and city leaders operating from outside its borders.
Bedraggled civilians who have made their way from the Mariupol steelworks to Ukrainian-held territory in recent days have recounted a terrifying ordeal punctuated by heavy bombardment, with food, water and medical care almost impossible to obtain. Ukrainian authorities Thursday reported 629 child casualties — including 221 deaths — in fighting to date, warning that the tally was low because full information is not available from Russian-held areas. Altogether, official military and civilian casualty numbers for both nations have exceeded 15,000.
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