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. The vast Azovstal industrial complex in the Sea of Azov port city that has been devastated by weeks of Russian shelling has served as a refuge for both civilians and a dwindling number of Ukrainian troops as Moscow has claimed control of Mariupol. 

The United Nations and International Committee of the Red Cross began an operation coordinated with Ukraine and Russia on April 29 to bring out women, children and the elderly from the steel works.