The evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol ended on Saturday due to unprecedented measures by Russia: 51 people, including 11 children, were rescued, according to Mikhail Mizintsev, the head of the Russian National Defense Control Center. 

"Thanks to the unprecedented measures taken by the Russian Federation leadership, [and] with active participation of United Nations and International Committee of the Red Cross officials, the humanitarian operation to evacuate civilians from the Azovstal steel and ironworks has ended today," Mizintsev said.

He added that "for the duration of the operation (from May 5, 2022), we have managed to rescue 51 people (18 men, 22 women, and 11 children), including one person on May 7, 2022." 

Read more: Guterres: Third evacuation operation underway in Ukraine

So far, over 18,500 people, including around 2,000 children, have been evacuated to Russia from hot zones in Ukraine and Donbass, according to Mizintsev. 

"Despite all the difficulties and hurdles caused by Kiev, in the past 24 hours, without involvement from the Ukrainian authorities, 18,583 people, including 1,841 children, have been evacuated to Russia from dangerous areas of the people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk and Ukraine," Mizintsev revealed. 

Since the beginning of Russia's military operation, a total of 1,165,957 civilians, including 205,640 children, have been evacuated. 

On Wednesday, the Kremlin denied that Russia was attacking the Azovstal steel mill in Mariupol after Ukraine accused Moscow of launching a "powerful" assault on the industrial zone where Kiev's military is stationed.