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"An
operation is planned today to get civilians out of the plant,"
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's office said without giving
details.
Russia did not immediately comment on the Ukrainian presidency's
remarks.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said after meeting
Zelenskiy in Kyiv on Thursday that intense discussions were
under way to enable the evacuation of the Azovstal steel plant,
which has been pounded by Russian forces occupying Mariupol.
"We are depending on the goodwill of all parties and we are in
this together," United Nations Crisis Coordinator Amin Awad told
Reuters on Friday morning.
On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed "in
principle" to U.N. and International Committee for the Red Cross
involvement in evacuating the Azovstal plant.
The Mariupol city council has said about 100,000 residents
across the city are "in mortal danger" because of Russian
shelling and unsanitary conditions, and described a
"catastrophic" shortage of drinking water and food.
Russia declared victory in Mariupol last week, but hundreds of
Ukrainian forces remain in the vast industrial complex of the
Azovstal steel works. Civilians are also sheltering at the site.
(Reporting by Natalia Zinets, additional reporting by Leonardo
Benassatto, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
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