The evacuation of soldiers from the besieged steel mill has begun.

Witnesses told Reuters late Monday that they had observed a bus carrying Ukrainian soldiers leaving the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.

Ukraine’s president confirmed late Monday that more than 260 troops had been transported out.

– We hope we will be able to save the life of our son, said the president.

– Ukraine needs heroes alive. That’s the principle of how we work. I think any reasonable person will understand these words.

According to witnesses, there must have been talk of about 12 buses. It was not clear how many were said to be on the ship, and whether the 40 Ukrainian soldiers said to be wounded inside the steel plant were among those now thought to have been evacuated. They are said to have arrived in Novoazovsk east of Mariupol on Monday evening, Reuters reported.

According to Ukrainian authorities, there must have been about 600 soldiers inside the steel factory.

According to the French news agency AFP, Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed earlier on Monday that it had agreed a peace treaty with Azovstal with Ukraine.

Ukraine’s deputy defense minister said an “exchange procedure” would be carried out so that the refugees could be transported home.

The controversial Azov Battalion, which has proven links to far-right extremists, has written on Twitter that it is ready to follow orders to save lives among their troops.

“In order to save lives, the entire Mariupol garrison follows the decision taken by the Supreme Military Command, and expects the full support of the Ukrainian people,” they wrote.

Ukraine has long called for a peace deal to evacuate soldiers from steel mills – many of them wounded in the fighting that marked the city during the two months of the Russian invasion.

At the end of April, Russian troops declared victory in Mariupol. Since then, the remaining Ukrainian forces have taken root within the Azovstal steel mill, which was built to withstand nuclear war.

In the past, civilians have been evacuated from this last stronghold, to Zaporizhia, 220 km further to the west.