The russian occupiers evacuated more than 50 civilians from the area adjacent to the Azovstal plant, Reuters reports.
People were taken to the occupied village of Bezymenne, Donetsk region. They were transported on buses with Ukrainian license plates, accompanied by a convoy of кussian troops and cars with UN symbols.
The United Nations has also confirmed that an operation is underway to evacuate civilians from Azovstal in Mariupol.
UN spokesman for humanitarian affairs Saviano Abreu said that there were attempts to evacuate people together with the International Committee of the Red Cross, in coordination with Ukrainian and russian officials. He called the situation "very difficult" and mentioned that he could not provide further details, Radio Liberty reports.
Updated. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that an evacuation from Azovstal is ongoing.
"The evacuation of civilians from Azovstal has begun. The first group of about 100 people is already heading to the controlled area. Tomorrow we will meet them in Zaporizhzhia. Thanks to our team!" Zeleskyy posted in Twitter.
Розпочалася евакуація цивільних з Азовсталі. Перша група приблизно зі 100 осіб уже прямує на підконтрольну територію. Завтра зустрічатимемо їх у Запоріжжі. Дякую нашій команді! Нині вони, разом з представниками #ООН, працюють над евакуацією решти цивільних із території заводу.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 1, 2022
"The partial evacuation of civilians from Azovstal was successful. More than 100 Ukrainians, including children, women, and the elderly, are finally safe," Davyd Arahamia posted.
On 1 May morning, the Mariupol City Council announced that evacuation of the civilian population to Zaporizhzhia is possible on Sunday. The gathering was scheduled for 16:00 near the PortCity shopping mall.
On 30 April, an evacuation convoy extracted the first group of civilians from Azovstal in Mariupol but did not pick up wounded Ukrainian servicemen.
The mayor of Mariupol stressed that hundreds of civilians remain in Azovstal. There is almost no food, water, or medicines there.