The situation in the Ukrainian city of Sieverodonetsk is reportedly getting worse. The strategically important industrial city in eastern Ukraine is heavily contested and is now largely controlled by Russian separatists. Hundreds of Ukrainian civilians are said to be still holding out in protective bunkers at the local chemical plant in Azot.
After the Russian military destroyed the third and final bridge over the Siwerskyj Donets river on Sunday, the remaining residents of the city of Sievjerodonetsk were surrounded by Russian forces and thus cut off from the outside world. River crossing points like the one at Sieverodonetsk could play an increasingly important role in the showdown between Russia and Ukraine in the coming months, according to the UK MoD.
Moscow had initially promised Ukraine a safe escape corridor for Wednesday to enable the trapped people to be evacuated, but then declared this as a failure.
The events at the chemical plant are strongly reminiscent of the trapped Ukrainian militants at Mariupol’s Azovstal Steel Plant.
What do we know about the trapped people?
As the British Ministry of Defense announced in its daily situation assessment via Twitter, hundreds of Ukrainian civilians and soldiers are currently seeking refuge in the chemical plant’s underground bunkers. According to intelligence services, Russian forces are believed to be stationed directly in and around Azot, while Ukrainian fighters continue to survive underground.
According to the dpa news agency, the head of the city’s military administration Olexander Strjuk spoke specifically on Ukrainian television of up to 560 civilians who are said to be still in bomb shelters on the factory premises. “Certain supplies” are said to have been provided in the chemical plant, said Strjuk. The police and military are currently providing assistance, it said.
According to information from the “Washington Post”, according to the governor of Luhansk, Serhiy Hajdaj, there are currently 40 children in the protective bunkers. During the Russian bombardment, residents of Sieverodonetsk fled their homes, kindergartens and the local industrial park to underground shelters at the factory site.
Before the war, the chemical company Azot was one of the largest Ukrainian manufacturers of nitrogen fertilizers and employed around 6,000 people.
How is the humanitarian situation in the chemical plant?
Little is known about the state of health of the people holed up in the chemical plant or the humanitarian situation. The Washington Post reported on the extreme conditions under which those trapped had to hide underground from the regular bombing.
For example, reports were given of 68-year-old Lyubov Nefedova, who fled to a shelter during the Russian shelling. Here, the resident of the city of Lysychansk has been living in almost complete darkness since February. At night she sleeps on chairs and finds solace in her sister, who always sleeps next to her.
Nefedova told the Washington Post: “I was born here. I live here.” But because she no longer feels safe in her nearby apartment, she doesn’t leave this place.
What is known about the planned escape corridor?
According to dpa information, Moscow had announced a humanitarian corridor for the evacuation of the chemical plant for Wednesday. The corridor was to be open all day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. CEST (local time: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.) and allow civilians to escape from the heavily contested area well into the evening. However, the governor of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Hajdaj, did not comment on the matter. The humanitarian corridor was supposed to lead north from the chemical plant to the city of Swatowe, which is currently controlled by pro-Russian separatists.
In the meantime, pro-Russian separatists have accused Ukraine of having disrupted the escape corridor and thus the safe evacuation of civilians. The evacuation operation is considered to have failed, as reported by the Russian news agency RIA.
Separatist representative Rodion Miroshnik stated that Ukrainian fighters would fire at Russian forces from the factory premises with mortars and tanks. So no people could be brought to safety. This information is not independently verifiable.
Azot Chemical Plant vs. Asovstal Steel Plant: What are the parallels?
The case of the trapped Ukrainian people in the chemical plant is reminiscent of the incidents in the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, where Ukrainian fighters and civilians also holed up on a factory site last May.
Russia granted the Ukrainians who were trapped at the time an escape corridor in which several civilians were first evacuated by bus convoy from the besieged Asovstal steelworks. The large evacuation operation was accompanied by employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, around 80 people were taken to the village of Besimenne near the Russian border and cared for there. Civilians who then wanted to travel further to the Ukrainian-controlled areas were handed over to representatives of the UN and the ICRC.
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The Ukrainian fighters who remained in the steelworks finally surrendered after weeks of holding out. The entire city of Mariupol and the steelworks are now under complete Russian control.
In the case of the Azot chemical plant, the evacuation corridor announced by Russia should lead directly to Swatowe. This small town is controlled by pro-Russian separatists and is located in the so-called “Luhansk People’s Republic”, which has already been recognized by Moscow as an independent state.
Moscow has so far rejected Kyiv’s proposal to let people flee to Ukrainian-controlled territory. Russian General Mikhail Mizintsev, on the other hand, insinuated that Kyiv only wanted to smuggle armed fighters out of Sievjerodonetsk with such a corridor, as is said to have been the case at the Azovstal steelworks in the port city of Mariupol.
However, the general of the Russian Defense Ministry called on the Ukrainian soldiers to surrender immediately. In this case, Moscow announced that it would spare the lives of the prisoners of war.
The fighters at the Asovstal steelworks in Mariupol finally surrendered after weeks of occupation and were evacuated. When the Ukrainian port city was captured, thousands of Ukrainian fighters were taken prisoner. However, it is unclear what penalties the soldiers will face after the trial and whether they will have to face the death penalty in view of Russia’s withdrawal from the European Court of Human Rights.
Source: Tagesspiegel
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