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The United Nations says it is conducting a “safe evacuation operation” of civilians from the Azovstal steel plant in Ukraine.
This was stated on Sunday by the spokesman of the UN Office for Coordination and Humanitarian Affairs, Saviano Abreu.
The operation started on April 29 and is being carried out in coordination with the International Committee of the Red Cross, Russia, Ukraine, Abreu told Reuters.
He said crews arrived at the Azovstal plant on Saturday morning, but gave no further details, saying these could endanger the safety of the evacuees.
The Red Cross also declined to give details, but only confirmed that the operation to evacuate civilians from Mariupol was under way.
“The International Committee of the Red Cross confirms that the evacuation operation is taking place, in coordination with the UN and other parties involved in the conflict,” said a spokesman for the organization.
The United Nations believes close to 1,000 civilians are at the Azovstal steel plant, the only part of Mariupol not under Russian occupation. The organization believes that close to 100,000 civilians are inside the city of Mariupol, a city that has been the scene of intense fighting since Russia launched its occupation of Ukraine on February 24.
Ukrainian fighters at the Azovstal plant released a video on April 30 saying they were running out of food, water and other supplies, calling for help.
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