“As a first step, we proposed an exchange: we will take our seriously wounded from Azovstal through a humanitarian corridor. In exchange, we will hand over Russian prisoners of war according to standard POW exchange rules,” she wrote on Facebook.

According to Vereschuk, no agreements have been made yet, but the negotiations are going well; she also said it is impossible to break the blockade of the Azovstal metallurgical plant by military means.

The Russian forces have kept under control for over two weeks all the point of access to and from the place and allowed the evacuation of the civilians who were being held by the Ukrainian military and nationalists.

On May 7th, the Ukrainian deputy prime minister reported that all civilians had been evacuated from the steel mill’s territory.

The Russian authorities proclaimed that the Ukrainian soldiers and officers who remain in Azovstal may leave, their lives will be spared and the wounded will be treated, provided they lay down their arms.

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