All women, children, and elderly civilians were evacuated from Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant, Ukraine Deputy Prime Minister says

• A group of children, women, and elderly individuals were evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant on Saturday.
• “The order of the president has been done,” Ukraine Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.
• The evacuation comes after multiple attacks from Russian troops on the steel plant in the city of Mariupol. 

A Ukraine official announced that all civilians — including women, children, and elderly individuals — were evacuated from a Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol on Saturday. 

“The order of the president has been done,” Ukraine Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a statement, per CNN. “This part of the Mariupol humanitarian operation has been completed.”

According to CNN, Mariupol Patrol Police Chief Mykhailo Verhynin said the evacuation was executed “without incident,” though Ukrainian forces remain inside the plant, blocked by Russian troops. 

Insider reported earlier this week that Russian troops have continued attacks against the plant, the country’s last stronghold, where civilians have been trapped for weeks. The attacks come after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops not to storm the steel plant out of concern for the safety of his country’s forces. 

“This is the case when we have to think, that is, we always have to think, and in this case even more so, about preserving the lives and health of our soldiers and officers,” Putin previously said. 

He added: “There is no need to climb into these catacombs and crawl underground through these industrial facilities.”

Earlier this week, the International Committee of the Red Cross said that with the help of the United Nations, the organization has evacuated more than 100 people who were hiding at Azovstal.