As U.S. forces approached a surrounded steel mill in Mariupol, Ukraine, an evacuation - expected for a long time - of people began on Sunday.
Nancy Pelosi, the U.S. Speaker of the House, announced that she paid a visit to Ukraine's leader to express unwavering U.S. support for the country's fight against Russia's aggression.
Ukrainian forces shared a video online showing elderly ladies and mothers with young kids being assisted as they ascended a high pile of wreckage from the huge Azovstal steel plant's remains, and then took a bus.
More than 100 individuals, including women and youngsters, are scheduled to come to the Ukrainian-controlled town of Zaporizhzhia on Monday, according to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy.
"This crucially vital humanitarian route has begun operating today, for the first time in all the days of the battle," he said in a pre-recorded address posted on his Telegram messaging platform account.
The Mariupol Town Council announced on Telegram that inhabitants from various areas of the city would be evacuated beginning Monday.
People leaving Russian-occupied territories have previously reported their vehicles being shot at, and Ukrainian authorities have regularly accused Russian soldiers of shelling agreed-upon evacuation channels.
After the departure of a batch of civilians was finished, one of the plant's defenders stated Russian soldiers resumed bombarding the factory.
Around hundreds of civilians stay trapped, along with roughly 500 injured soldiers and many dead bodies, according to Denys Shlega, head of Ukraine's National Guard's 12th Tactical Brigade, in a television appearance Sunday night.
Numerous dozens of little children remain in the plant's shelters, according to Shlega, and will require one or two additional escape rounds.
According to reports, Sviastoslav Palamar, a senior leader of the Azov Regiment, which is assisting in the defense of the steel mill, said it has been tough to get some of the injured inside the complex.
"There's debris, we don't even have any unique gear. It's difficult for fighters to lift stones weighing tons with just their arms alone," he remarked.
Up to 100,000 individuals could still be in Mariupol, comprising up to 1,000 citizens dug down under the Soviet-era steel plant - the only portion of the town not taken by the Russians - with an expected 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers.
For its strategic position nearby the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia captured from Ukraine in 2014, Mariupol, a major port on the Sea of Azov, is a vital target.
