Dozens of civilians have escaped the besieged port city of Mariupol in the south of Ukraine. 

The city has been subjected to a relentless bombardment by Russian forces, destroyed an estimated 90% of its buildings and left tens of thousands dead. 

Few now remain in what is currently one of the most dangerous places on the planet and many of those that do have taken shelter in the bunkers below the sprawling Azovstal steelworks. 

The plant is one of the few parts of the city that is not controlled by Russia and the Ukrainian Government has been negotiating with Moscow to allow civilians safe passage out. 

A damaged street in the besieged city of Mariupol, Ukraine, 17-04-2022. Image: REUTERS / Alamy Stock Photo

On Sunday, dozens of civilians were successfully evacuated and news of their successful evacuation delighted President Zelenskyy: 

"The first group of about 100 people is already heading to the controlled area,” he tweeted.

"Tomorrow [Monday] we'll meet them in Zaporizhzhia. Grateful to our team! Now they, together with UN, are working on the evacuation of other civilians from the plant."

However amid the relief at having escaped, many said they had been left traumatised by what they had endured after so many months in a warzone: 

"You just can't imagine what we have been through - the terror,” one woman told Reuters news agency. 

"I feared that the bunker would not withstand it [the shelling] - I had terrible fear.

"When the bunker started to shake, I was hysterical, my husband can vouch for that: I was so worried the bunker would cave in.

"We didn't see the sun for so long."

MARIUPOL, Ukrainer. Smoke rises from the Azovstal Steel Works under Russian bombardment in mid-April 2022. Photo:Mariupol City Council

The importance of Mariupol

The Black Sea port city is key to both Ukraine’s economy and Russia’s hopes of winning the war. 

The current siege has crippled the city’s lucrative steel and coal industry. Moreover, it severely restricted Ukraine’s ability to trade with the world as most of its exports pass through the city’s ports. 

If Russia were to conquer Mariupol, it would control a hugely significant swathe of land from the Crimean peninsula - which it annexed in 2014 - to the contested Donbas region which Putin is keen to partition away from Ukraine. 

It is why the Ukrainian Prime Minister said last month that Kyiv’s troops will “will fight until the end” for the city.

Main image: Destroyed buildings in Mariupol as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, 12-03-2022. Image: State Emergency Service of Ukraine/UPI Credit: UPI/Alamy Live News