Mariupol Evacuations

At least 8,000 people were killed by fighting or war-related causes in Russia's months-long conquest of Mariupol, one of the biggest battles of the nearly two-year war between Russia and Ukraine, according to Human Rights Watch.

Russian forces tightened their grip on the eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk and cut off the last routes for evacuating citizens, a Ukrainian official said on Monday -- a scene that echoed Moscow's assault on Mariupol last month.

Hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers have been evacuated from the besieged Azovstal steelworks -- the last holdout of troops defending the southern port city of Mariupol -- Kyiv said on Monday.

Ukraine said Saturday that all women, children and elderly civilians were evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant in the destroyed port city of Mariupol where Ukrainian forces are holding out against Russian troops.

Ukraine tried to evacuate more civilians from a besieged Mariupol steel plant on Saturday as Russian forces unleashed new bombardments across the country ahead of Victory Day festivities in Moscow.

Almost 500 civilians have been evacuated from the battered city of Mariupol and its besieged Azovstal steel plant since a UN-led rescue operation began, the head of Ukraine's presidential office said Friday.

A new UN convoy was expected in Mariupol Friday to evacuate civilians from the "bleak hell" of a besieged steel plant that has become the last pocket of resistance against invading Russian forces in the southern port city.

A third operation is under way to evacuate civilians from the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol and the besieged Azovstal steel plant, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the U.N. Security Council on Thursday.

Russia "violated" a promised truce at Mariupol's steelworks, where Ukrainian forces are making a last stand in the city, a Ukrainian commander said Thursday, pleading for help for "dying" soldiers and the evacuation of civilians.

Civilians including women and children are still trapped inside Ukraine's besieged city of Mariupol and a prolonged ceasefire is needed to ensure their evacuation as Russia presses its assault, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday

The head of the Red Cross in Ukraine said on Tuesday that an unknown number of civilians remained trapped in Mariupol and surrounding areas after it evacuated more than 100 civilians from the Azovstal plant.

The UN on Tuesday said 101 civilians were "successfully evacuated" from the tunnels of the Azovstal plant in Ukraine's battered city of Mariupol, besieged by Russian forces for two months, in a joint effort with the Red Cross.

The first evacuees from the ruins of Mariupol's Azovstal steel works were expected to reach the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporizhzhia on Monday after cowering in underground bunkers from Russian shelling for weeks.

Thousands have been killed and millions displaced since Russia's invasion, and stories of the harsh conditions in besieged Mariupol have horrified the world.

At least 20 civilians, including several children, were able to leave a badly battered steel plant in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol on Saturday in what could be the start of a long-awaited, larger evacuation of the last holdout in Mariupol.

At least 8,000 people were killed by fighting or war-related causes in Russia's months-long conquest of Mariupol, one of the biggest battles of the nearly two-year war between Russia and Ukraine, according to Human Rights Watch.

Russian forces tightened their grip on the eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk and cut off the last routes for evacuating citizens, a Ukrainian official said on Monday -- a scene that echoed Moscow's assault on Mariupol last month.

Hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers have been evacuated from the besieged Azovstal steelworks -- the last holdout of troops defending the southern port city of Mariupol -- Kyiv said on Monday.

Ukraine said Saturday that all women, children and elderly civilians were evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant in the destroyed port city of Mariupol where Ukrainian forces are holding out against Russian troops.

Ukraine tried to evacuate more civilians from a besieged Mariupol steel plant on Saturday as Russian forces unleashed new bombardments across the country ahead of Victory Day festivities in Moscow.

Almost 500 civilians have been evacuated from the battered city of Mariupol and its besieged Azovstal steel plant since a UN-led rescue operation began, the head of Ukraine's presidential office said Friday.

A new UN convoy was expected in Mariupol Friday to evacuate civilians from the "bleak hell" of a besieged steel plant that has become the last pocket of resistance against invading Russian forces in the southern port city.

A third operation is under way to evacuate civilians from the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol and the besieged Azovstal steel plant, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the U.N. Security Council on Thursday.

Russia "violated" a promised truce at Mariupol's steelworks, where Ukrainian forces are making a last stand in the city, a Ukrainian commander said Thursday, pleading for help for "dying" soldiers and the evacuation of civilians.

Civilians including women and children are still trapped inside Ukraine's besieged city of Mariupol and a prolonged ceasefire is needed to ensure their evacuation as Russia presses its assault, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday

The head of the Red Cross in Ukraine said on Tuesday that an unknown number of civilians remained trapped in Mariupol and surrounding areas after it evacuated more than 100 civilians from the Azovstal plant.

The UN on Tuesday said 101 civilians were "successfully evacuated" from the tunnels of the Azovstal plant in Ukraine's battered city of Mariupol, besieged by Russian forces for two months, in a joint effort with the Red Cross.

The first evacuees from the ruins of Mariupol's Azovstal steel works were expected to reach the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporizhzhia on Monday after cowering in underground bunkers from Russian shelling for weeks.

Thousands have been killed and millions displaced since Russia's invasion, and stories of the harsh conditions in besieged Mariupol have horrified the world.

At least 20 civilians, including several children, were able to leave a badly battered steel plant in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol on Saturday in what could be the start of a long-awaited, larger evacuation of the last holdout in Mariupol.