The advisor to the mayor of Mariupol, Petro Andriushchenko, says that the evacuation of the civilians has begun.

“According to our information, the buses left Mariupol. According to the preliminary agreement, buses will pick up people in the village of Mangush and Berdyansk,” he told.

He added that people can join the column by their own transport.

“We hope that thousands of our Mariupol residents who were stuck on the way from Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia will get to Zaporizhzhia tonight or tomorrow morning,” he wishes.

The evacuation, on the other hand, seems to be moving at a snail’s pace.

The Mariupol city council stated that buses had not yet arrived at the major assembly location.

It a retail complex on the city’s northwest outskirts.

An evacuation of the besieged city was also scheduled for Sunday afternoon, but it did not take place.

The overall evacuation is distinct from the evacuation of civilians besieged at the Azovstal steelworks.

There has been no indication yet on whether a second round of the evacuation will begin on Monday.