Ukrainian officials said that more than 100 civilians, including women and children, were evacuated from the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk and Chairman of the Servant of the People faction Davyd Arakhamia recorded a video statement saying that the evacuation was organised with the help of the International Red Cross.
"For the first time since the beginning of the war, since the inception of the blockade of the Azovstal plant, we have managed to withdraw more than 100 civilians - small children, women, and the elderly," Arakhamia said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed earlier on Sunday that an evacuation was underway.
Zelensky said on social media that a group of 100 people were on their way from the Azovstal steelworks to Ukrainian-controlled territory.
READ MORE: UN works to broker civilian evacuation from Mariupol, Ukraine
He indicated that plans were underway for a Monday rendezvous with the evacuees at the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia that had previously been a staging post for those fleeing Mariupol. Zaporizhzhia is about 230km from Mariupol.
As many as 100,000 people are believed to still be in blockaded Mariupol, including up to 1000 civilians who were hunkered down with an estimated 2000 Ukrainian fighters beneath the Soviet-era steel plant - the only part of the city not occupied by the Russians.
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