Civilians Now Out of Azovstal Plant in Mariupol

All elderly people, women and children have been evacuated from the besieged Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, Ukraine and Russia have announced.

The operation began a week ago, co-ordinated by the UN and Red Cross, which have not confirmed the news.

Ukrainian forces are holding out at the heavily bombed plant, the last part of the city not under Russian control.

Russia has besieged the plant for weeks, demanding the surrender of its defenders from the Azov battalion.

The whereabouts of the evacuees are not yet clear, but Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said this part of the humanitarian operation was now complete. In the past, it has taken days for those evacuated to reach Ukrainian-held territory.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said more than 300 civilians had been rescued from the plant, although the Russian defence ministry gave a much lower number, saying 51 people had been evacuated over a period of three days.-Agencies