You’ve probably heard or seen the news about people being evacuated from Azovstal. It happened over the weekend, and it took a couple days for some of the buses and cars to travel the usual 4-5 trip to Zaporozhia. You probably heard about this because it was getting a lot of coverage, and in truth, it really was a big event. But that’s only the case because Russia has been so intractable about ceasefires and green corridors and letting people leave the city. So I was waiting to see what was actually going to happen. The fact that the UN and the ICRC were actually permitted to arrive in Mariupol was a good sign, but one never knows.

156 people (156 evacuees from Azovstal arrived in Zaporizhzhia – PHOTOS, VIDEO – News May 3, 2022 – 0629.com.ua). That’s the total “official” count of people evacuated from Azovstal over the two-day ceasefire (one and a half days, really, because Russia decided to honor the ceasefire 5 hours later than they’d agreed to). This is out of a purported 1000 people who had been sheltering there. The number also didn’t include any wounded military. Personal cars were invited to join the evacuation, but since there are still an estimated 100,000 people in Mariupol, it would have taken a lot of cars to get them all out. So, yes, it’s good that 156 people were able to make it out. But there are still far more people still trapped.

Remember from last week, when supposed Putin directed forces to just button up Azovstal and stop trying to take it over? Yeah, that never really happened. Not only did the bombing and shelling continue almost unabated, but Russian forces continue to try to take control of the area (Russian troops begin to storm Azovstal plant – ukrinform.net, Video of assault on Azovstal plant released – ukrinform.net). So was that supposed stand-down order just PR, or does Putin not actually command the Russian armed forces? Seems like there’s a disconnect.

Just a little sidenote. I got in touch with a friend from Mariupol — an English teacher named Anna whom I’d met some years ago. She, along with her kids and parents, left Mariupol about the same time as Katya 2 and Vanya. They kind of had to, since their house was on fire. Her descriptions of living in their basement without heat or electricity, running out of food and water, is virtually the same as other reports from there. Fortunately, they’re all safe now, but as Anna noted, their life in Mariupol is gone and they have to start over now.