Eighty civilians have been evacuated from the Azovstal plant in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol, according to a Russian Defence Ministry statement on Sunday. The ministry further said that the evacuation came as a result of a ceasefire between the warring sides and the opening of a humanitarian corridor.
According to the ministry, the civilians who wished to leave were delivered to representatives of the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier on Sunday that a rescue operation had begun to evacuate civilians out of the steel plant. He had further informed that evacuees were set to arrive in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Monday.
