On Saturday, the first civilians are said to have been evacuated from Azovstal's steelworks in Mariupol after a ceasefire was introduced.
This is stated by a commander of the extremist nationalist Azov Battalion, which defends the steelworks for Ukraine.
The ceasefire in Mariupol, which is required for the evacuation to take place, has dragged on and only on Saturday evening, commander Svyatoslav Palamar states on his Telegram channel that the evacuation has begun, reports CNN.
"As it looks right now, both sides are following the ceasefire.
We have taken 20 civilians who we managed to save from the ruins to the agreed meeting place.
These are women and children.
We hope that these people will get to the agreed destination, which is Zaporizhzhia, which is controlled by Ukraine, "says Palamar.
"We hope that this process will continue and that we will successfully evacuate all civilians," he continued.
Tass: "Six children under 14 have been evacuated"
Russia's state-controlled news agency Tass announced earlier on Saturday that a group of civilians had left the steelworks.
According to Tass, there will be a total of 25 people, including six children under the age of 14, reports CNN.
There are an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers and 1,000 civilians inside the steel plant, including several hundred injured after several rocket attacks in recent weeks.
According to the Azov Battalion, rocket attacks on Wednesday destroyed temporary hospitals inside the plant - which increased the number of injured further.
From inside the steelworks, there have been alarms for several weeks about an unsustainable situation and an appeal for an evacuation.
Many injured people need emergency medical care and during the past week, water and food have begun to run out.
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The steel plant in Mariupol is in ruins - for the second time.
See the pictures from the Second World War to today in the clip.
Photo: Sergei Grits / AP / TT & SVT