KYIV | About 800 civilians are taking refuge in a chemical plant in Severodonetsk, in eastern Ukraine, where fighting has raged between the Ukrainian and Russian armies for several days, said Tuesday the American lawyer of the magnate Dmytro Firtach, owner of the site.
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“About 800 civilians have taken refuge in the shelters of the Azot chemical plant, owned by Dmytro Firtach’s Group DF,” Lanny Davis, lawyer for the Ukrainian tycoon, said in a statement. “Among these 800 civilians are about 200 of the plant’s 3,000 employees and about 600 residents of Severodonetsk,” he added.
Contacted by AFP, the Ukrainian presidency had not confirmed the information at the end of the afternoon.
According to the press release published on the Group DF website, the 200 employees still present on the site of the factory “remain (…) to ensure the protection of the highly explosive chemicals still on the site”.
The Azot factory is located in Severodonetsk, a key city in the Lugansk region, which Russian troops have been trying to take full control for several weeks.
Moscow said on Tuesday morning that it had “completely liberated” residential areas there, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky assured Monday that Ukrainian fighters were “holding” their positions.
Dmytro Firtach, 57, one of Ukraine’s wealthiest people, is a former close friend of pro-Russian ex-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.
In June 2021, Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree imposing sanctions on the tycoon, including ordering the freezing of his assets and the withdrawal of licenses from his companies, after accusing him of selling titanium products to companies. Russian military.
However, Mr. Firtach had denounced the Russian invasion in late February, since helping to set up a 24-hour television channel with the presidential administration and other channel owners.
“This war is completely unnecessary and can in no way be justified,” he repeated on Tuesday, quoted in the press release. “This humanitarian tragedy is intolerable.”
