ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine — Ukraine’s deputy prime minister on Saturday said that all women, children and elderly people have been evacuated from a steel mill in Mariupol that had been under attack by Russian troops.
Iryna Vereshchuk made the announcement, according to The Associated Press and CNN.
“The president’s order has been carried out: all women, children and the elderly have been evacuated from Azovstal,” Vereshchuk said in a statement posted on Telegram. “This part of the Mariupol humanitarian operation has been completed.”
Vereshchuk did not provide further details about the evacuation from the Metallurgical Combine Azovsta, according to the AP. Tass, the Russian news agency, reported that 50 civilians were evacuated from the plant on Saturday, and a similar number of people left on Friday.
About 200 people were holed up in the mill, the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol, according to The New York Times.
The besieged southern port city in Ukraine has been targeted by Russia since the war began on Feb. 24, the BBC reported.
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