May 6 (Reuters) – Russian forces in Ukraine’s Mariupol continued their ground assault on the Azovstal steel plant for a second day, British military intelligence said in a tweet on Friday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video address on Thursday that Russian forces were still storming and shelling the Soviet-era Azovstal plant, where civilians and military forces are sheltering.
A third United Nations operation is under way to evacuate civilians from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol. The mayor of Mariupol estimates around 200 civilians remain sheltering in underground tunnels.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, described the war zone in Mariupol as appearing to be “hellscapes”. The UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross have so far helped nearly 500 civilians flee the steel plant area in the southern port city during two operations in the past week.
Photo – An Ukrainian activist attends a rally on Independence Square in Kyiv (Kiev), Ukraine. Activists gathered to call on world leaders to help organize a humanitarian corridor for the evacuation of civilians and soldiers from the besieged city of Mariupol to neutral countries. EPA-EFE/OLEG PETRASYUK
