20 civilians escape the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol

Ukrainian fighters of the Azov regiment reported that at least 20 civilians including children have successfully left the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol on Saturday. Hundreds of civilians and soldiers have been sheltering in the Azovstal steel plant.

Mariupol is Ukraine's one of the most strategic cities and Russian forces completely besieged the city on March 2. Several attempts at an evacuation of the last holdout have been unsuccessful and President Zelensky has repeatedly requested that at least civilians be allowed to leave.

Most of the Ukrainian forces in Mariupol retreated to the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works by 16 April as it is a defensible industrial complex. The massive structure also has a vast network of tunnels. However, conditions in the plant are reportedly brutal, reported AFP.

Russia had hit Mariupol hard and Ukrainian officials alleged that at least 95% of the city is destroyed by Russian bombing. About 21,000 civilians have been killed. Ukrainian authorities have accused Putin of engineering the humanitarian crisis of Mariupol.

Defending soldiers of the Azovstal Plant think the group that managed to leave is headed for the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, about 225 kilometers (140 miles) to the northwest, said Sviatoslav Palamar, deputy commander of the Azov regiment. It is unclear whether Saturday's evacuation was carried out by the UN as plans for the same were in the works.

The Azov regiment on Saturday said that it had been clearing the debris of overnight shelling by Russian forces to rescue trapped civilians. Heavy shelling was reported in Mariupol on Friday with explosions only seconds apart.

While Russian forces have been slowly and steadily advancing, the Ukrainian forces have been recapturing some territory, particularly around the city of Kharkiv. The village of Ruska Lozova which was under Russian troops' control for two months has been taken back, reported AFP.

Since the Russian invasion started, thousands of people have been killed in both fighting and war crime-style executions. Over 13 million people have been forced to leave Ukraine and seek refuge in other nations. Ukrainian prosecutors have reported over 8,000 war crimes across the nation.

Russia has denied any involvement in civilian deaths but confirmed carrying out airstrikes on Kyiv. Putin has warned Western nations against sending military aid and the defence ministry claimed to have struck sites hosting Western-supplied weapons and ammunition.