The first civilians have been rescued from beneath the Mariupol steel plant, where they were surrounded by Russian troops.
However, 1,000 civilians are still trapped beneath with some suffering from rotting wounds, as gangrene sets in.
The Azovstal Iron and Steel Works plant became the last Ukrainian stronghold in the besieged southern port city.
Ukrainian forces defended the site against Russian forces and Putin declared it should be surrounded so “not even a fly comes through”.
Russian state media outlets claimed that 25 civilians have been evacuated from the plant yesterday.
But the deputy commander of the Ukrainian forces holding out inside, disputed the number, saying it was only 20.
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Russia's RIA Novosti news agency said that 19 adults and six children were brought out but gave no further details.
About 100,000 civilians remains in the bombed city which has seen some of the worst Russian air attacks during this war.
A church, serving as a shelter for at least a 1,000 people, was bombed, killing hundreds, even though they had written ‘children’ in Russian outside it.
Similarly, a maternity and children’s hospital was bombed in the city.
At least 1,000 people are still trapped beneath the Soviet-era steel plant according to Ukrainian officials.
United Nations workers have continued to try and broker an evacuation from the area.
Footage from filmed inside the steel works showed the defiant fighters inside, but also the wounded they were protecting.
Unidentified men were covered in stained bandages whilst others had open wounds or amputated limbs.
The videos were shared by two Ukrainian women who said their husbands were among the fighters holding fast there.
They said there was a skeleton medical staff who were treating at least 600 wounded people and said that some of the wounds were rotting with gangrene.
In the video the soldiers said they eat just once a day and share as little as a litre and a half of water among four people as supplies run low.
The video also revealed the warren of underground pathways beneath the facility where the Ukrainians are hiding.
One wounded man described the injuries he had suffered including two broken ribs, a punctured lung and a dislocated arm that "was hanging on the flesh".
He added: "I want to tell everyone who sees this: If you will not stop this here, in Ukraine, it will go further, to Europe."
The fighters are still holding fast as Russian seeks to conquer Mariupol.
If Moscow were to take the southern city, it would give it a land bridge between Russian controlled territories in the east of Ukraine and the conquered Crimea peninsula.
This would allow it to better resupply troops as Vladimir Putin has recently launched the next stage of his invasion of Ukraine, focusing his troops and resources on the east of the country.
This comes after the Kremlin failed to take any of the cities of major urban centres, including the capital Kyiv.
Russian troops pulled back from areas in the Kyiv oblast, leaving behind evidence of the atrocities it committed such as in Bucha, where civilians were butchered in the street.
Moscow forces then regrouped in the east, in an ongoing effort to fully seize the Donbas.
