The High Military Command issued an order to the commanders of units stationed at Azovstal to save the lives of personnel, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on Facebook on Tuesday night.

"The evacuation of 53 seriously wounded servicemen has begun. They were taken to a medical facility in Novoazovsk. Another 211 defenders were evacuated through the humanitarian corridor to Olenivka with their subsequent return to the territory controlled by Ukraine through the exchange procedure. Measures to save the defenders who remain on the territory of Azovstal continue," the statement said.

"The defenders of Mariupol are the heroes of our time. They are forever in history. This is a separate special forces detachment 'Azov', the 12th brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine, the 36th separate brigade of the marines, border guards, policemen, volunteers, the territorial defense of Mariupol," the General Staff said.

The report notes that "holding positions at Azovstal, they did not allow the enemy to transfer a grouping of 17 battalion tactical groups (about 20,000 personnel) to other directions. Thus, they prevented the implementation of the plan for rapid capture of Zaporizhia, to reach the administrative border of Donetsk and Zaporizhia regions and create conditions for the surrounding of the JFO group."

"Holding the main enemy forces around Mariupol allowed us to prepare and create defensive lines where our troops are today and give a worthy rebuff to the aggressor. We received critically necessary time to form reserves, regroup forces, receive assistance from partners," the statement also says.

"The most important common task for all of Ukraine and the whole world is to save the lives of the defenders of Mariupol," the General Staff says.