There were no signs of further evacuations of civilians from the besieged Azovstal plant in Mariupol on Saturday, after a flurry of activity late Friday, APA reports citing CNN.
Both Russia and Ukraine have said that the evacuations should continue Saturday. At least 100 civilians -- including children -- remain trapped in underground bunkers at the sprawling complex, which covers 11 square kilometers.
Around 50 civilians left the plant late on Friday, and were taken in buses escorted by Russian armored vehicles to a reception center at Bezimenne to the east of Mariupol, a town now controlled by Russian-backed separatists of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic.
The Ukrainians said they were later able to travel to Ukrainian-held territory.
The evacuations are brokered by the United Nations and International Red Cross.
Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, said she hopes that a broader evacuation of people wishing to leave Mariupol will resume later Saturday, after it failed to get underway Friday.
"If all goes according to plan, there will be buses to Port City at 5:00 p.m. (10 a.m. ET) to take people to Bezimenne," she said. Port City is a shopping center on the outskirts of Mariupol.
"There, people from Port City will join our column from Azovstal, which will leave for Zaporizhzhia the next day," she said.
Still unknown is the fate of hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers who remain trapped at the steelworks. Russia has repeatedly said that they can only leave if they lay down their arms.
On Friday night, President Volodymyr Zelensky said: "We are also working on diplomatic options to save our military, wh
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