The Latest Breaking News from Zaporizhzhia

LVIV, Ukraine — As a trickle of civilians from the brutalized city of Mariupol headed to safety Tuesday, Russian forces pressed their assault on Ukraine’s eastern heartland, striking at targets across a region that U.S. officials warn is under threat of annexation by Moscow.

Dozens of evacuees who took refuge for weeks in the bunkers of a steel works in Russian-occupied Mariupol reached the safety of Kyiv-controlled Zaporizhzhia on Tuesday, but aid workers said many still remained trapped in the port city.

The first evacuees from the ruins of Mariupol's Azovstal steel works were expected to arrive in the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporizhzhia later on Monday after weeks of cowering from Russian shelling in underground bunkers.

The first civilians evacuated from the bombed-out steel plant that has become the last stronghold of Ukrainian fighters in Mariupol slowly made their way toward safety Monday, as others who managed to escape the city described terrifying weeks of bombardment and deprivation. More than 100 civilians - including elderly women…

The artillery strike took place near the city of Zaporizhzhia in the south-eastern Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

Zelenskiy said about 100 civilians evacuated after weeks sheltering in the Azovstal complex would arrive in Zaporizhzhia on Monday

After nearly two months of siege, civilians holed up at a steel plant in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol began to be evacuated over the weekend

Ukraine news from May 2: Economy minister says Berlin could back embargo, as EU energy ministers debate fresh sanctions.

Russia turns off the gas, fears Moldova could be pulled into the war, and on the ground in Zaporizhzhia