Troops holed up in the last Ukrainian stronghold in the besieged port of Mariupol have begun evacuating, appearing to cede control of the once prosperous city to Russia after months of bombardment.
Ukraine's military command said in the early hours on Tuesday that the mission to defend the Azovstal steel plant by "the heroes of our time" was over and it pledged to rescue servicemen still trapped inside.
"The 'Mariupol' garrison has fulfilled its combat mission," the general staff of Ukraine's armed forces said in a statement.
"The supreme military command ordered the commanders of the units stationed at Azovstal to save the lives of the personnel."
Ukraine's Deputy Defence Minister Anna Malyar said 53 injured troops from the steelworks were taken to a hospital in the Russian-controlled town of Novoazovsk, some 32 kilometres to the east.
Another 211 people were taken to the town of Olenivka, in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatists, she said.
All of the evacuees will be subject to a potential prisoner exchange with Russia, she added.
Reuters saw five buses carrying troops from Azovstal arrive in Novoazovsk late on Monday.
Footage showed various buses with red crosses and the "Z" symbol transporting Ukrainian servicemen.
There was no immediate word on whether the wounded would be considered prisoners of war.
Some troops 'severely wounded'
Some of the evacuated troops were wounded and carried out of the buses on stretchers.
About 600 troops were believed to have been inside the steel plant.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Monday a "difficult" day.
"We hope that we will be able to save the lives of our guys," Mr Zelenskyy said in a late-night address.
"The work continues to bring the boys home, and this work needs delicacy. And time," he added.
Ukrainian troops say they held out in Azovstal for 82 days, buying time for the rest of Ukraine to battle Russian forces and secure Western arms needed to withstand Russia's assault.
But the evacuation likely marked the end of the longest and bloodiest battle of the Ukraine war and a significant defeat for Ukraine.
There has been no immediate response from Russian authorities to the developments in Azovstal.
City left in ruins
Mariupol is now in ruins after a Russian siege that Ukraine says has killed tens of thousands of people in the city.
The city had a pre-war population of more than 400,000. It is believed about 100,000 civilians remain there with scarce supplies of food, water electricity and heat.
Since Russia launched its invasion in February, Mariupol's devastation has become a symbol both of Ukraine's ability to withstand Russia's invasion and of Russia's willingness to devastate Ukrainian cities that hold out.
The evacuation came hours after Russia said it had agreed to evacuate wounded Ukrainian soldiers to a medical facility in Novoazovsk.
Azovstal's last defenders had been holding out for weeks in bunkers and tunnels built deep underground to withstand nuclear war.
Civilians were evacuated from inside the plant, one of the largest metallurgical facilities in Europe, earlier this month.
The wife of an Azov Regiment member described conditions at the plant earlier on Monday: "They are in hell. They receive new wounds every day. They are without legs or arms, exhausted, without medicines," Natalia Zaritskaya said.
ABC/wires
