The evacuation operation is coordinated by the UN, the Red Cross, Ukraine and Russia.
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The UN confirms that the evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol is ongoing, according to Reuters.
A UN spokesman says the operation to establish a safe evacuation route for civilians at the steel plant was launched on 29 April.
The operation is coordinated by the UN together with Russia, Ukraine and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The spokesperson can not provide further details regarding the safety of the evacuees.
–The evacuated civilians arrived in the village of Bezimenne in the Donetsk region.
Reuters photographer describes that the first group of 40 civilians arrived in a column of vehicles with UN symbols on.
A new group of 14 civilians then arrived in the village of Bezimenne, according to Reuters.
“Crisis inside a crisis”
Azovstal has been a last Ukrainian stronghold in the city of Mariupol which is otherwise under Russian control.
Around 2000 Ukrainian soldiers holds up inside the steelworks, and in the underground tunnels under the giant factory, up to 1,000 civilians will be hiding – including several children.
Some have been there since Russia invaded Mariupol on February 24, others arrived in early March when their apartments became uninhabitable after rocket attacks.
When UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met with Zelenskyj in Kyiv on Thursday, he said that there were intense discussions about carrying out the evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal steelworks.
The UN Secretary-General has previously described the situation at the steelworks as “a crisis within a crisis”.
–The UN has previously stated that it hoped to evacuate civilians from the steel plant on Friday, after Putin “in principle” agreed to let the Red Cross and the UN assist in the evacuation.
Support from the Pope
Pope Francis addressed the situation in Mariupol when he spoke on Sunday to an assembly of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square in front of the Vatican.
– My thoughts go to the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, barbarically bombarded and destroyed, he said.
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