KYIV, Ukraine, May  3, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - The Ukrainian military said Tuesday
that Russian forces had launched an offensive on the besieged Azovstal steel
plant where Kyiv's forces are holed up in the southern city of Mariupol.

"A powerful assault on the territory of the Azovstal plant is underway with
support from armoured vehicles and tanks," Sviatoslav Palamar, deputy commander
of Ukraine's Azov military unit said in a statement on social media.

Russian forces are also attempting "to land a large number of infantry by
boat," he said.

"We will do everything we can to repel this assault, but we call for
immediate measures to evacuate civilians who are on the territory of the
plant," he said.

The Russian army said earlier Tuesday that its forces and pro-Moscow
separatists were using artillery and planes to target Azovstal where Ukrainian
fighters are making their last stand.

The Russian defence ministry accused members of the Azov battalion and
other Ukrainian troops of using a pause in fighting to once again take up their
combat positions at the plant.

"Using artillery and aircraft, units of the Russian army and the Donetsk
People's Republic are beginning to destroy" the "firing positions" of the
Ukrainian troops, the defence ministry said in a statement carried by Russian
news agencies.
Mariupol is among the most battered cities in Ukraine.

The United Nations announced Tuesday that 101 civilians had been
successfully evacuated from the tunnels of the Azovstal plant in a joint
operation with the Red Cross.