In Ukraine on Tuesday, May 17, the exchange of Ukrainian solders is awaited after a part of the long-besieged defenders of the Azovstal steel works have been evacuated from Mariupol. Meanwhile, evidence of a new mass grave has been found in Mariupol as the UN has counted over 7 000 civilian casualties since Russia started its invasion. In the calmer west of Ukraine, missiles have hit places in the Lyviv Region, Belarusian Nexta TV, Ukrainian public broadcaster Ukrinform and American Radio Liberty report.
According to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces 53 severely wounded servicemen have been evacuated to a medical facility in Novoazovsk, while another 211 defenders have been taken to Olenivka through a humanitarian corridor and are set to be returned to the government-controlled territory through a prisoner of war exchange procedure.
«Measures to rescue defenders who remain at Azovstal are underway,» the General Staff added.
Both Olenivka and Novoazovsk are controlled by Russian occupation forces.
In the late hours of Monday, May 16, the Azov Regiment Commander Denys Prokopenko released a video statement from Mariupol. He pointed to his soldiers’ successful effort to distract the overwhelming enemy forces, which allowed other units of Ukraine’s defense forces to regroup during the siege of Azovstal, which began in early March.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy added: «Thanks to the actions of the Ukrainian military – the Armed Forces of Ukraine, intelligence, the negotiating team, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations – we hope that we will be able to save the lives of our guys.»
«I’d like to emphasize: Ukraine needs Ukrainian heroes alive. This is our principle. I think that every adequate person will understand these words,» Zelensky said.
Watch the Ukrainian President’s latest video address with English subtitles here.
Evidence of mass grave in Mariupol
Radio Liberty and its Schemes division of investigative journalism has reported of evidence that one more alleged mass grave has been revealed through satellite imagery in the city of Mariupol.
«The satellite imagery spotted the fourth mass grave in the occupied city of Mariupol, near the Central cemetery, which the local authorities reported about. It appeared in early March,» the journalists reported.
The report is based satellite imagery provided by US space technology company Maxar Technologies, where two trenches, one of which is more than 30 meters long, were noticed.
Ukrinform reports that an advisor to Mariupol Mayor Petro Andriushchenko stated earlier that the city council had received information about the depreservation of the Necropolis historical cemetery, which might contain one more mass grave of Mariupol residents.
Missiles hit safer Lviv Region
In a reminder that even places furthest from ground fighting in Donbas and the south of the country are not safe, missiles have hit places in the western Lviv Region. In the night to Tuesday, explosions have been hear in Lviv and Novoyavorivsk.
Novoyavorivsk Mayor Volodymyr Matseliukh stated that the explosions had been reported in town, Ukrinform reports.
«Residents of the city and villages of the Novoyavorivsk community, there are explosions reported across our territory, again. Now I can’t say exactly where this happened, but the explosions are being reported,»Matseliukh was quoted as saying. He urged residents not to leave shelters and wait for official updates.
The director of the Lviv Regional Military Administration, Maksym Kozytskyi, initially urged citizens to «not film, photograph, or spread speculative reports from unverified Telegram channels and groups.»
Later on, Kozytskyi stated that the invaders had once again hit Ukraine’s military infrastructure in Lviv region’s Yavoriv district, located close to the border with Poland, Ukrinform reports.