One Of Europe's Biggest Steel Plants 'Destroyed' Amid Russian Shelling, Ukrainian Lawmaker Shares Video
The Mariupol city council has claimed that Russian soldiers have forced several thousand city residents to be relocated to Russia.
New Delhi: Russian forces continue to advance deeper into the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol as heavy fighting shut down a major steel plant.
One of Europe's biggest iron and steelworks, Azovstal, was badly damaged as Russian forces lay siege to the besieged and battered port city, officials said Sunday, as reported by news agency AFP.
"One of the biggest metallurgic plants in Europe destroyed. The economic losses for Ukraine are huge. The environment is devastated," Ukrainian lawmaker Lesia Vasylenko tweeted.
The video shows explosions on an industrial site, with thick grey and black smoke rising from the buildings.
#Mariupol #Azovstal One of the biggest metallurgic plants in #Europe destroyed. The economic losses for #Ukraine are huge. The environment is devastated #StopRussiaNOW pic.twitter.com/4GMbkYb0es
— Lesia Vasylenko (@lesiavasylenko) March 19, 2022
The Ukrainian lawmaker's colleague Serhiy Taruta wrote on Facebook that Russian forces "had practically destroyed the factory".
"We will return to the city, rebuild the enterprise and revive it," Azovstal's director-general Enver Tskitishvili wrote on messaging app Telegram, as quoted by AFP.
He did not reveal the extent of the damage to the plant.
ALSO READ | Russia-Ukraine Conflict: 228 Killed In Kyiv Since Start Of Offensive, Thousands Flee Besieged Mariupol
Russian Soldiers Forcing Mariupol Residents To Be Relocated To Russia, Claims City Council
The Mariupol city council has claimed that Russian soldiers have forced several thousand city residents to be relocated to Russia, The Associated Press reported.
"The occupiers are forcing people to leave Ukraine for Russian territory," the council's statement read, as per the report.
"The occupiers illegally took people out of the Levoberezhny district and a shelter in the building of a sports club, where more than a thousand people (mostly women and children) were hiding from constant bombing," it added.
Local authorities are pleading for more Western help.
"Children, elderly people are dying. The city is destroyed and it is wiped off the face of the earth," Mariupol police officer Michail Vershnin said from a rubble-strewn street, as reported by AP.
Evacuations from Ukraine's besieged cities proceeded via eight of 10 humanitarian corridors, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk informed on Saturday.
As per AP, a total of 6,623 people were evacuated, including 4,128 from Mariupol who were taken northwest to Zaporizhzhia.
(With Inputs From Agencies)
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