The Russian Defense Ministry announced the evacuation of 80 civilians from the "Azovestal" plant, the last stronghold of Ukrainian forces in the city of Mariupol, Donbass region.
"Thanks to the initiative of Russian President Vladimir Putin, 80 civilians, including women and children, were evacuated from the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, where they were held by the Nazi Ukrainian nationalists," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement issued on Sunday.
The ministry confirmed that the units of the Russian army and the Donetsk People's Police, which are besieging the factory, established a humanitarian corridor in order to secure the evacuation of civilians and were working to ensure a "pacification regime".
The ministry indicated that all the evacuees were taken to the village of Bizymenoy in the Donetsk People's Republic, where they were provided with the necessary shelter, food and medical aid.
The ministry confirmed that the Russian forces handed over to representatives of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross the evacuees who wanted to go to the territory under the control of the Kyiv government.
This statement comes in the wake of the United Nations' announcement that an operation to provide a safe corridor for the evacuation of civilians from "Azovstal" was launched in coordination with the International Committee of the Red Cross and the parties to the conflict.
It is noteworthy that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, commenting on this evacuation, had confirmed earlier, the evacuation of about 100 civilians from "Azovstal" to the territory under the control of the Kyiv government, adding that they are expected to arrive tomorrow in the city of Zaporozhye.
Since the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, Mariupol, the largest city overlooking the Sea of Azov, has witnessed fierce battles, during which the forces of Russia and the Donetsk People's Republic managed to control the entire city, except for "Azovstal".
President Putin ordered Russian forces not to storm the huge factory, which includes a complex network of underground facilities, and to continue to surround it.
The group of Ukrainian forces holed up inside the factory refuses to surrender, while the Kyiv government has announced the presence of civilians in the factory as well.
For its part, Russia unilaterally declared a humanitarian truce and suspended its military operations in the city in order to enable civilians in "Azovstal" to leave, but Kyiv denied the existence of any agreement to open humanitarian corridors there.
These developments come after Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' visit to Moscow and Kiev this week, and the two parties to the conflict agreed to involve the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross in organizing an operation to evacuate civilians from "Azovstal".