Ukraine mounts effort to rescue last fighters at steel mill

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The Ukrainian fighters who doggedly defended a steel mill in the devastated port city of Mariupol have completed their mission, Ukrainian officials said, and efforts were underway to rescue the last of the defenders who remained inside.

Ukraine's deputy defense minister said more than 260 fighters, including some badly wounded, were evacuated from the hulking Azovstal plant Monday and taken to areas under Russia’s control. Officials planned to keep trying to save an unknown number of fighters who stayed behind.

“The work to bring the guys home continues, and it requires delicacy and time,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

The evacuation of some of the defenders came as Moscow suffered another diplomatic setback in the war, with Sweden joining Finland in deciding to seek NATO membership. And Ukraine made a symbolic gain when its forces reportedly pushed Russian troops back to the Russian border in the Kharkiv region.

Still, Russian forces pounded targets in the industrial heartland of eastern Ukraine known as the Donbas, and the death toll kept climbing with the war set to enter its 12th week on Wednesday.

Ukraine Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said 53 seriously wounded fighters were taken from the Azovstal plant to a hospital in Novoazovsk, east of Mariupol. An additional 211 fighters were evacuated to Olenivka through a humanitarian corridor. She said an exchange would be worked out for their return home.

Zelenskyy said the evacuation to separatist-controlled territory was done to save the lives of the fighters who endured weeks of Russian assaults in the maze of underground passages below the plant. He said the “heavily wounded” were getting medical help.

“Ukraine needs Ukrainian heroes to be alive. It’s our principle,” he...