A wounded Ukrainian soldier is taken on board a bus at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol. Reuters
A wounded Ukrainian soldier is taken on board a bus at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol. Reuters
A wounded Ukrainian soldier is taken on board a bus at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol. Reuters
A wounded Ukrainian soldier is taken on board a bus at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol. Reuters

Ukraine works to rescue last soldiers from Azovstal in evacuation mission


Laura O'Callaghan
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Efforts were on Tuesday under way to rescue the last group of Ukrainian soldiers holed up in the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol after more than 260 troops were evacuated overnight.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said “delicacy and time” were needed as officials worked to free the remaining soldiers defending the last corner of the city under control of the defenders.

It was not immediately clear how many people remained at the vast steelworks on Tuesday morning.

Servicemen trapped at Azovstal have been holding out for weeks in bunkers and tunnels built underground to withstand potential nuclear attacks. Since Russia invaded its neighbour in February, the site, one of the largest metal plants in Europe, has become a symbol of the stiff resistance shown by the Ukrainians in defending their homeland. Civilians were evacuated from Azovstal earlier this month.

Ukraine Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar on Tuesday said 53 seriously wounded fighters had been brought out of the site and transported to hospital in Novoazovsk. The town east of Mariupol is under the control of Russian-backed separatists.

A bus carrying wounded soldiers from the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol drives under Russian military escort. Reuters
A bus carrying wounded soldiers from the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol drives under Russian military escort. Reuters

Another 211 fighters were evacuated to Olenivka in the Donetsk region through a humanitarian corridor. Ms Maliar said an exchange would be worked out for their return home.

Stretchers carrying injured soldiers were loaded on to buses after nightfall. The vehicles were accompanied by a Russian military convoy as they departed.

Ms Maliar said the “defenders of Mariupol” had fulfilled all their tasks and it was impossible to “unblock Azovstal by military means”.

“Mariupol’s defenders have fully accomplished all missions assigned by the command,” she said.

The commander of the Azov Battalion, which led the defence of the plant, said in a video message released on Monday that the mission had ended with as many lives saved as possible.

“Absolutely safe plans and operations don’t exist during war,” Lt Col Denis Prokopenko said.

Mr Zelenskyy said “work to bring the guys home continues and it requires delicacy and time”.

The Speaker of Russia’s Parliament on Tuesday said the legislature will consider banning the exchange of Russian prisoners of war for captured members of Azov Battalion.

The faction, once a nationalist militia but now integrated into Ukraine’s National Guard, became the face of resistance against Russian troops in the strategic southern city of Mariupol.

But Moscow has depicted the group as a main perpetrator of the alleged radical anti-Russian nationalism – or even Nazism – from which it claims it needs to protect Ukraine’s Russian speakers.

The battalion denies being fascist, racist or neo-Nazi, and Ukraine says it has been reformed to shift away from its radical nationalist origins.

Vyacheslav Volodin, Speaker of the State Duma, said Azov Battalion members were "Nazi criminals" who should not be included in prisoner exchanges.

"They are war criminals and we must do everything to bring them to justice," he said.

The Duma website said Mr Volodin had asked the defence and security committees to prepare an instruction to that effect.

Meanwhile, Britain’s Ministry of Defence said up to 3,500 buildings were destroyed or damaged in the Chernihiv region north of Kyiv during the Russian army’s failed push to take the Ukrainian capital.

About 80 per cent of the damage was to residential buildings.

The MoD said the scale of destruction in areas bombarded by Russian troops shows their preparedness to use artillery in inhabited areas “with minimal regard to discrimination or proportionality”.

“In the coming weeks, Russia is likely to continue to rely heavily on massed artillery strikes as it attempts to regain momentum in its advance in the Donbas,” the MoD said in an intelligence update posted on Twitter.

Ukraine news latest in pictures

New UK refugee system

 

  • A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
  • Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
  • A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
  • To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
  • Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
  • Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
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Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S

Rating: 3/5

Getting there
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Tbilisi from Dh1,025 return including taxes

What can you do?

Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses

Seek professional advice from a legal expert

You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor

You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline

In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support

Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

2.

China

3.

UAE

4.

Japan

5

Norway

6.

Canada

7.

Singapore

8.

Australia

9.

Saudi Arabia

10.

South Korea

Global institutions: BlackRock and KKR

US-based BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with $5.98 trillion of assets under management as of the end of last year. The New York firm run by Larry Fink provides investment management services to institutional clients and retail investors including governments, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, banks and charitable foundations around the world, through a variety of investment vehicles.

KKR & Co, or Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, is a global private equity and investment firm with around $195 billion of assets as of the end of last year. The New York-based firm, founded by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, invests in multiple alternative asset classes through direct or fund-to-fund investments with a particular focus on infrastructure, technology, healthcare, real estate and energy.

 

if you go
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How to apply for a drone permit
  • Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
  • Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
  • Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
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  • Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
  • Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
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THE SPECS

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How to wear a kandura

Dos

  • Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion 
  • Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
  • Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work 
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  • Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal 
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Seemar’s top six for the Dubai World Cup Carnival:

1. Reynaldothewizard
2. North America
3. Raven’s Corner
4. Hawkesbury
5. New Maharajah
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Key findings of Jenkins report
  • Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
  • Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
  • Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
  • Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Specs
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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SPECS

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ETFs explained

Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.

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Price: base / as tested: Dh382,000

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Other key dates
  • Finals draw: December 2
  • Finals (including semi-finals and third-placed game): June 5–9, 2019
  • Euro 2020 play-off draw: November 22, 2019
  • Euro 2020 play-offs: March 26–31, 2020

White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogenChromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxideUltramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica contentOphiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on landOlivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour

Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
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What is Reform?

Reform is a right-wing, populist party led by Nigel Farage, a former MEP who won a seat in the House of Commons last year at his eighth attempt and a prominent figure in the campaign for the UK to leave the European Union.

It was founded in 2018 and originally called the Brexit Party.

Many of its members previously belonged to UKIP or the mainstream Conservatives.

After Brexit took place, the party focused on the reformation of British democracy.

Former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson became its first MP after defecting in March 2024.

The party gained support from Elon Musk, and had hoped the tech billionaire would make a £100m donation. However, Mr Musk changed his mind and called for Mr Farage to step down as leader in a row involving the US tycoon's support for far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson who is in prison for contempt of court.

Updated: May 20, 2022, 12:05 PM