UN Secretary General António Guterres has announced that the third evacuation operation from Mariupol is ongoing.

"So far, two safe passage convoys have been successfully completed. In the first, concluded on 3 May, 101 civilians were evacuated from the Azovstal plant along with 59 more from a neighbouring area. In the second operation, completed last night, more than 320 civilians were evacuated from the city of Mariupol and surrounding areas. A third operation is under way — but it is our policy not to speak about the details of any of them before they are completed to avoid undermining possible success," Guterres said at the UN Security Council meeting in New York on Thursday.

He said that, so far, nearly 500 civilians found long-awaited relief after living under relentless shelling and scarce availability of water, food and sanitation.