80 civilians evacuated from Mariupol's Azovstal: Russian Defense Ministry

MOSCOW, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Eighty civilians have been evacuated from the Azovstal plant in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol, the Russian Defense Ministry said Sunday.

The safe evacuation is a result of ceasefire and the opening of a humanitarian corridor, the ministry said in a statement.

According to the ministry, the civilians who wished to leave were delivered to representatives of the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier on Sunday that an evacuation from the steel plant had begun and the evacuees were set to arrive in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Monday.