All Women, Kids And Elderly In Mariupol Steelworks Evacuated

The Ukrainian government says all civilian women, children and the elderly have been evacuated from the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, Euronews reported.

Photo Insert: Up to 1,000 civilians were thought to be trapped there, sheltering in underground bunkers, but over the last week there has been a concerted effort to try and get them out.

"The president's order has been carried out: All women, children, and old people have been evacuated from Azovstal. This part of Mariupol's humanitarian mission is accomplished," Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna said on social media on Saturday evening.

The sprawling Soviet-era Azovstal plant is the last pocket of resistance for Ukrainian forces in the devastated port city on the Azov Sea and has come under repeated bombardment over the last weeks by Russian forces.

Up to 1,000 civilians were thought to be trapped there, sheltering in underground bunkers, but over the last week there has been a concerted effort to try and get them out, including convoys organized by the United Nations and Red Cross, Agence France-Presse (AFP) also reported.

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