Ukraine aid workers prep stretchers, toys for Mariupol evacuees from steel plant

civilians slowly making their way to relative safety from the pulverized remnants of a steel plant in the city of Mariupol, besieged for months by Russian forces.The plant is the last holdout of Ukrainian resistance in a city that is otherwise controlled by Moscow's forces and key to their campaign in Ukraine's east.

A senior U.S. official warned that Russia is planning to annex much of the country's east later this month.At a reception center, stretchers and wheelchairs were lined up, tiny children’s shoes dangled from a shopping cart and a pile of toys waited for the first convoy of civilians whose evacuation is being overseen by the United Nations and Red Cross.Their arrival would represent a rare glimmer of good news in the nearly 10-week war sparked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine that has killed thousands, forced millions to flee the country, laid waste to towns and cities, and shifted the post-Cold War balance of power in eastern Europe.More than 100 people — including elderly women and mothers with small children — left Mariupol’s rubble-strewn Azovstal steelworks over the weekend and set out in buses and ambulances.ZAPORIZHZHIA, UKRAINE - MAY 02: A family waits in their car after arriving at an evacuation point for people fleeing Mariupol, Melitopol and the surrounding towns under Russian control on May 2, 2022, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. (Photo by Chris McGrath At least some were apparently taken to a village controlled by Russia-backed separatists.

The Russian military said some chose to stay in separatist areas. In the past, Ukraine has accused Moscow’s troops of taking civilians against their will to Russia or Russian-controlled areas — something the Kremlin has denied.Others left for the Ukrainian-controlled.