The President of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelensky, celebrated Monday night the evacuation of 264 soldiers from the Azovstal plant, in the city of Mariupol, after the ceasefire decreed by Russia to carry out the evacuation of the wounded. It was done after the departure, yesterday, of a group of Ukrainian soldiers who asked to speak with the Russians.

“Thanks to the actions of the Ukrainian military, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the intelligence services, the negotiating team, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the United Nations, for saving the lives of our boys. Among them are the wounded seriously ill, to whom medical aid is being provided,” the president stressed.

In this context, Zelensky stressed that ” Ukraine needs living Ukrainian heroes .” “It is our main objective,” he added. Thus, I have explained that the work continues “to bring the boys home, a job that needs delicacy and time”.

The Ukrainian president held a meeting on Monday with the managing director of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, “on how to speed up the provision of financial assistance to Ukraine, given the state budget deficit during the war,” according to a statement from the Presidency of Ukraine.

Volodímir Zelensky has also explained, in his usual evening speech, that the Ukrainian authorities are working to accelerate the integration of Ukraine into the European Union and to extend the sanctions against Russia and Vladimir Putin and his entourage.