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Evacuation measures are said to have started on Saturday to bring civilians from the Azov steelworks in besieged Mariupol to safety
Photo: OLEG PETRASYUK / EPA
According to the United Nations, an international evacuation operation to rescue trapped Ukrainian civilians from the Azov steelworks is underway in Mariupol, which has been besieged by Russian troops for weeks.
UN spokesman Jens Laerke announced on Sunday in Geneva that the mission was being coordinated with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the conflicting parties Russia and Ukraine.
According to Laerke, a convoy to rescue the civilians started on Friday and reached the port city surrounded by Russian troops on Saturday morning.
According to the ICRC, dozens of civilians have already been taken out of the steelworks in several buses.
There is hope that this could be the start of a larger action.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke on Sunday of a "first group" of 100 people who were rescued and said on Twitter: "Now we are working with the United Nations to evacuate more civilians from the facility".
Both sides observed the ceasefire
The Russian Defense Ministry, on the other hand, spoke of 80 rescued civilians who, in an action initiated by Vladimir Putin, were brought from Mariupol to the village of Besimenne near the Russian border and were being cared for there.
Those who wanted to enter the area controlled by Ukrainian troops were handed over to representatives of the United Nations and ICRC.
According to President Zelenskyy, the civilians were taken from there to the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporizhia.
According to Ukrainian authorities, both sides kept the agreed ceasefire during the evacuation.
There is still a lack of clarity about the exact figures: Already on Saturday, civilians are said to have been taken out of the Azov steelworks via escape corridors.
While Russia reported 50 rescued civilians, the Ukrainian Azov regiment spoke of only around 20 people.
A Reuters photographer meanwhile reported 54 rescued people.
According to Ukrainian information, around 1,000 civilians are still trapped in the bunkers at the plant.
Russia speaks of around 2,500 people, mainly military and "foreign mercenaries".
The plan to evacuate civilians remaining outside the Azov steel plant in the devastated Mariupol has meanwhile been postponed until early Friday morning, according to the Reuters news agency, citing the Mariupol city council.
According to estimates by the AP news agency, there are currently up to 100,000 people in the surrounded city.
dak/Reuters/dpa-afxp/AP
