Ukraine to continue evacuation from Mariupol

KIEV -- Ukraine will continue the evacuation from the besieged city of Mariupol which began on Sunday afternoon, head of the President's Office Andriy Yermak said on Sunday evening.

In the first stage, Ukraine evacuated from Mariupol 100 women, children and elders, who will arrive in Ukraine's southern city of Zaporizhzhia, Yermak said on Facebook.

He thanked the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross for their support for the evacuation efforts.

According to Petro Andryushchenko, an advisor to the mayor of Mariupol, the evacuation began at 4 p.m. local time (1300 GMT) on Sunday.

The evacuation from Mariupol was the centerpiece of talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday.

Mariupol, a key Azov Sea port city in eastern Ukraine, saw one of the worst bouts of violence in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.