he Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine has revealed that all women, children and elderly have been evacuated from the Azovstal steel mill.
“This part of the Mariupol humanitarian operation is over,” Iryna Vereshchuk wrote on the Telegram messaging service.
Ukraine announced on Friday an evacuation plan from Azovstal and other parts of Mariupol for Saturday.
Earlier, Russian-backed separatists in Donetsk region said that 50 civilians had been evacuated from the steel plant on Saturday.
The conditions in the mill complex which has been bombarded by Russian forces for weeks was described as a “hellscape”.
Ukrainian forces remain holed up in the complex, with many reported to be wounded. The huge plant is the last area in Mariupol that is under Ukrainian control.
Soldiers and civilians have been living in underground bunkers built during the soviet era as nuclear bunkers.
More to follow…