KYIV: Ukraine has appealed to Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) to help evacuate fighters holed up in the vast Azovstal steel works in Mariupol that is surrounded by Russian forces.
Ukraine’s Ministry for the Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories posted details on its website on Friday (May 6) of a letter to the medical charity in which Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk expressed concern about “deplorable conditions” at the plant.
It quoted Vereshchuk as saying the MSF charter provided assistance to people in need or victims of armed conflict.
“Based on the principles that guide MSF, the Ministry for the Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine is asking for a mission to evacuate the defenders of Mariupol, who are now in the Azovstal metallurgical plant,” the ministry wrote on its website.
It said she had asked MSF to “assess their physical and mental condition, collect evidence of the conditions they are in, and provide medical assistance to Ukrainians whose human rights have been violated by the Russian Federation”.
An MSF spokesperson confirmed the charity had received a letter from the government requesting support for the people trapped inside the plant.
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