https://www.npr.org/2022/05/04/ [login to see] /ukraine-mariupol-azovstal-evacuees-russia-siege
When Russian forces invaded Ukraine, 47-year-old Anna Krylova was working the night shift as a gas purification operator at Azovstal, a massive steel processing plant in the southern port city of Mariupol.
Her 14-year-old daughter, Maiia, came with her — no one was at home to watch her.
"We didn't leave that plant for the next 70 days," says Krylova. "As the bombing got worse, we moved further underground."
Russian forces began bombing Mariupol at the very start of the war. Most of the besieged city is in Russian hands now, but reduced to rubble. The Azovstal steel plant, badly hit, is the last holdout.
The Krylovas are among dozens of civilians who were evacuated from the plant this weekend, in a joint effort by the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross, which convinced Russia to hold its fire until some civilians got out. The evacuees arrived in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia on Tuesday. Some are now heading to various cities in Ukraine.