Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday asked the head of the United Nations to assist “store” the lives of the last wounded Ukrainians trapped beneath the giant Azovstal metallic plant in battered Mariupol.

“The lives of the folks who continue to be there are in hazard. Everyone is crucial to us. We ask for your help in saving them,” Zelensky instructed Antonio Guterres with the aid of smartphone, after thanking him for a a hit UN and Red Cross-led evacuation this week.

He called on the UN to “assist in the removal of all the wounded from Azovstal.”

The statement came as Ukraine said Wednesday that there were fierce battles with Russian troops at the plant, where Ukrainian soldiers had been holed up for weeks.

Zelensky said that this week’s evacuations led by the UN and Red Cross, which he said brought over 100 people trapped in Azovstal to safety, showed the world “that international organisations can be effective.

He “expressed hope for a successful continuation of the ongoing evacuation operation.”

Guterres visited both Moscow and Kyiv last week, which paved the way for the evacuations.