Evacuations under way in Mariupol; Pelosi visits Ukraine

By CARA ANNA and YESICA FISCH
Associated Press

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP) — An operation to evacuate civilians from a steel plant in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol is under way. The effort to bring civilians out of the sprawling Azovstal steel plant was being done Sunday with the International Committee of the Red Cross and in coordination with Ukrainian and Russian officials. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the first group of about 100 people was headed to Ukrainian-controlled territory. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi revealed that she visited Ukraine’s president to show unflinching American support for the country’s defense against Russia’s invasion. Later Sunday, one of the defenders of the steel plant said Russian forces resumed their shelling of the plant “as soon as” the evacuation of a group of civilians was completed on Sunday.