A small group of women and children has made it out of Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant.

About 20 women and children have been evacuated from Mariupol’s embattled Azovstal steel plant, according to a Ukrainian commander in the factory and Russian state media.

The news came amid United Nations-backed efforts to broker a cease-fire to allow hundreds of trapped civilians and Ukrainian fighters to escape the factory, the last bastion of resistance in the besieged city of Mariupol.

In a video posted to Telegram, Capt. Svyatoslav Palamar, the deputy commander of the Azov regiment at the plant, said an evacuation convoy had arrived to bring the civilians to a safe place. He told The New York Times that evacuation efforts will continue on Sunday if the Russians “don’t start shooting again.”

He did not provide further details.

Russia’s TASS news agency said one of its correspondents on the scene reported that 25 people — including six children — had emerged from the plant. Read more

@nytimes