Contact lost with troops amid ‘heavy fighting’ at Azovstal steel plant in Ukraine

The mayor of the destroyed Ukrainian city of Mariupol said that contact was lost with Ukrainian forces holed up in a steel plant amid fierce battle.

The mayor of the destroyed Ukrainian city of Mariupol said that contact was lost with Ukrainian forces holed up in the Azovstal steel plant amid fierce battles with Russian troops.

“Unfortunately, yes, there is heavy fighting in Azovstal today,” Vadym Boichenko told Ukrainian television.

He said city officials had “lost contact” with Ukrainian forces inside the plant and had no way of knowing “what’s going on, whether they are safe or not”.

Smoke rises above the Azovstal steel plant in the city of Mariupol. Picture; Andrey BORODULIN / AFP

The Ukrainian military said that Russian forces had launched an offensive to rout troops inside Azovstal shortly after the United Nations and Red Cross confirmed that more than 100 civilians had been evacuated from the plant.

Russia confirmed it was attacking Ukrainian positions at the plant with “artillery and aircraft” but earlier Wednesday the Kremlin denied Russia was storming Azovstal.

A boy from Mariupol looks out through the smashed windscreen of his family's car after arriving with his family at an evacuation point for people fleeing Mariupol. Picture: Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Boichenko said Russia was attacking with heavy artillery, tanks, and war planes, adding that war ships next to coastal steel works were also involved in the attack.

“There are local residents there, civilians, hundreds of them there. There are children waiting for rescue. There are more than 30 kids,” the mayor added.

Mariupol is among the most badly hit cities of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

This satellite image by Maxar Technologies shows heavy damage to residential apartment buildings in the Livoberezhnyi District of Mariupol.

A new attempt to evaucate residents from the city and surrounding areas was taking place overnight but it was unclear if if successful.

The regional governor said a convoy of buses carrying civilians have set off bound for the city of Zaporozhye.

It was not expected to include the group of Ukrainian forces still holding out in its Azovstal steel plant.

ЕВАКУАЦІЯ ДО ЗАПОРІЖЖЯ!

За підтримки ООН та Червоного Хреста евакуюємо цивільних із Приазов’я.
Підсадка пасажирів у Запорізькій області:
–Луначарське кільце біля Бердянська о 10;
–Токмак о 15;
–Василівка о 16.
У Токмаку буде можливість долучитися до колони на власному транспорті pic.twitter.com/R79zLnJHcm

— Павло Кириленко (@Pavlo_Kyrylenko) May 4, 2022