Ukraine's Foreign Ministry has called for the urgent evacuation of hundreds of civilians trapped at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol by Russian forces.

"The situation on Azovstal is desperate. Hundreds of civilians, children, injured Ukrainian defenders are trapped in plantʼs shelters. They have almost no food, water, essential medicine," the ministry said in a tweet on April 21.

Smoke rises above the Azovstal iron and steel works in Mariupol.

"Azovstal is being constantly bombarded by Russia, despite large number of civilians sheltering there. Ukrainians don't trust Russian troops, are afraid of being deported, killed. An urgent humanitarian corridor is needed from the Azovstal plant with guarantees people will be safe," it added.

As you'll see below, Ukraine's military have rejected the offer of a humanitarian corridor, twice, they want to leave with their weapons via an unnamed 'third party'.

The plea for the safe passage of civilians and wounded came after Moscow claimed it had full control of the port city, except at the sprawling iron and steel plant.

Russian troops were planning on storming the facility, but President Vladimir Putin called the operation off on April 21, saying it would cause too many Russian casualties and that instead, forces should seal off Azovstal so tightly that "even a fly can't get out."

Putin calls off assault on Ukraine's last Mariupol hold out

"We always need to think about preserving the lives and health of our soldiers and officers," Putin told the defense chief, adding that, in this particular case, they should not be sent to assault the steel plant.

"One should not get into those catacombs and crawl there underground, in these industrial facilities," the president said. Built back in Soviet times, the Azovstal steel plant has a vast network of well-fortified underground tunnels built to withstand heavy bombardments. An aide to the government of the Donetsk People's Republic, Yan Gagin, had once described these tunnels as an underground city.

Retreating Ukrainian forces, including the notorious Neo-Nazi Azov regiment, have entrenched themselves in these tunnels and have since used them as their last line of defense. On Thursday, Shoigu told Putin that Russian forces and the Donbass republics' militias have fully seized the city of Mariupol, except for the Azovstal plant complex.

Shoigu has also said that a military operation at the plant could be finished in three to four days, apparently planning to storm the facility.

The president has also offered those entrenched at the plant another chance to surrender. "Offer anyone, who has not laid down their arms yet, to do that," he has told Shoigu, adding that Russia "guarantees them their lives as well as decent treatment under all international norms." Those injured will also get "qualified medical treatment," the president added.

Meanwhile those captured by Ukraine are suffering beatings, torture; and some of those that have been murdered have then been used in their false flag operations.

Russia has twice sought to organize humanitarian corridors for those willing to exit the Azovstal plant over the past few days, but both attempts failed. Instead, the Azov militants and the Ukrainian forces demanded they be allowed to leave through the assistance of an unnamed "third party" while also keeping their personal weapons. Kiev has also blamed Moscow for the fact that attempts to create humanitarian corridors had failed.

"There is a military way" to unblock Mariupol, Zelensky told local media during a press conference with the prime ministers of Spain and Denmark in Kiev.

"We need to prepare for it. We are preparing to be strong, but here we need the help of our partners. It's difficult, by ourselves," he added.

Some 8,100 Ukrainian troops, militants and mercenaries were in Mariupol when it was surrounded last month, the defense minister said, and 1,478 of them have surrendered.

Mariupol was the stronghold of "Azov," a volunteer regiment created after the 2014 coup in Kiev that openly embraced Nazi symbolism. It was subsequently integrated into the National Guard of Ukraine and has units across the country.

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