All women, children and elderly evacuated from Mariupol steel mill

Smoke rises from the Metallurgical Combine Azovstal in Mariupol. File picture: AP

All women, children and the elderly have been evacuated from the Mariupol steel mill in Ukraine besieged by Russian forces.

Earlier, civilians had been rescued from the tunnels under the steel plant, a Ukrainian official said, even as fighters holed up at the sprawling complex made their last stand to prevent Moscow’s complete takeover of the strategic port city.