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Russian forces Tuesday began storming the steel mill containing the last pocket of resistance in Mariupol, Ukrainian defenders said, just as scores of civilians evacuated from the bombed-out plant reached relative safety and told of days and nights filled with dread and despair from constant shelling, Associated Press reported.

Osnat Lubrani, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, said that thanks to the evacuation effort over the weekend, 101 people — including women, the elderly, and 17 children, the youngest 6 months old — were able to emerge from the bunkers under the Azovstal steelworks and “see the daylight after two months.”

One evacuee said she went to sleep at the plant every night afraid she wouldn’t wake up.

“You can’t imagine how scary it is when you sit in the bomb shelter, in a damp and wet basement, and it is bouncing and shaking,” 54-year-old Elina Tsybulchenko said upon arriving in the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporizhzhia, about 140 miles (230 kilometers) northwest of Mariupol, in a convoy of buses and ambulances.

She said if the shelter were hit by a bomb like the ones that left the huge craters she saw on the two occasions she ventured outside, “all of us would be done.”

Evacuees, a few of whom were in tears, made their way from the buses into a tent offering some of the comforts long denied them during their weeks underground, including hot food, diapers and connections to the outside world. Mothers fed small children. Some of the evacuees browsed racks of donated clothing, including new underwear.

The news for those left behind was more grim. Ukrainian commanders said Russian forces backed by tanks began storming the sprawling plant, which includes a maze of tunnels and bunkers spread out over 11 square kilometers (4 square miles), according to the Associated Press.

How many Ukrainian fighters were holed up inside was unclear, but the Russians put the number at about 2,000 in recent weeks, and 500 were reported to be wounded. A few hundred civilians also remained there, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.

“We’ll do everything that’s possible to repel the assault, but we’re calling for urgent measures to evacuate the civilians that remain inside the plant and to bring them out safely,” Sviatoslav Palamar, deputy commander of Ukraine’s Azov Regiment, said on the messaging app Telegram.

He added that throughout the night, the plant was hit with naval artillery fire and airstrikes. Two civilian women were killed and 10 civilians wounded, he said.

The UN’s Lubrani expressed hope for further evacuations but said none had been worked out.

In his nightly video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that by storming the steel mill, Russian forces violated agreements for safe evacuations. He said the prior evacuations are “not a victory yet, but it’s already a result. I believe there’s still a chance to save other people.”

In other battlefield developments, Russian troops shelled a chemical plant in the eastern city of Avdiivka, killing at least 10 people, Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said.

“The Russians knew exactly where to aim — the workers just finished their shift and were waiting for a bus at a bus stop to take them home,” Kyrylenko wrote in a Telegram post. “Another cynical crime by Russians on our land.”

Explosions were also heard in Lviv, in western Ukraine, near the Polish border. The strikes damaged three power substations, knocking out electricity in parts of the city and disrupting the water supply, and wounded two people, the mayor said. Lviv has been a gateway for NATO-supplied weapons and a haven for those fleeing the fighting in the east, Associated Press reported.

The CPN (Maoist Centre) has taken action against 11 leaders including the commander of the Maoist people's war for carrying out activities against the party's norms and values in the election in Udayapur.

At a time when the party has been taking action against the rebel candidates across the nation, it has recommended action against Province Committee member Bhim Bahadur Adhikari, Krishna Prasad Baral and Yadu Dhakal among other district leaders.

Adhikari was the the commander of Maoist people's war.

Province Committee Chairman Harka Nembang said that the party decided to take action against them for filing candidacies against the official candidates of the party and coalition.

The Congress on Tuesday said its senior leader and former party president Rahul Gandhi is in Nepal to attend the wedding of a journalist friend, The Indian Express reported.

The statement came soon after Amit Malviya, the head of the BJP’s information and technology department, put out a video on Twitter purportedly showing Gandhi at a nightclub.

“Rahul Gandhi was at a nightclub when Mumbai was under seize. He is at a nightclub at a time when his party is exploding. He is consistent. Interestingly, soon after the Congress refused to outsource their presidency, hit jobs have begun on their Prime Ministerial candidate…,” he tweeted.

When asked about Gandhi’s whereabouts, Congress communication department head Randeep Surjewala told reporters: “Rahul Gandhi has not gone as an uninvited guest like Prime Minister Modi went to Pakistan to celebrate birthday and cut cakes for the then Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif. Rahul Gandhi has gone to a friendly country Nepal to participate in a private marriage function of a friend. By chance, the friend also happens to be a journalist. So I think they are also abusing your fraternity.”

The PTI quoted a report in The Kathmandu Post and said the Congress leader was in Kathmandu to attend the wedding of his Nepali friend Sumnima Udas.

“Last when I checked, having a family in this country, having friends in this country, attending marriage, engagement ceremonies is a matter of our culture and civilization. It has still not become a crime in this country to be married, to be friends with someone, or to attend their marriage celebration,” Surjewala said at an AICC press conference.

“Maybe after today Prime Minister Modi and the BJP may decide that it is illegal to attend a marriage. They may say it is a crime to have friends or participate in family functions. But do let me know so that we all change our status, habits and civilizational practices of attending the marriage of friends as also family,” he added, according to The Indian Express.

Actor Bhuwan KC joined the Nepali Congress on Tuesday. Along with him, actress Shweta Khadka and Rabindra Khadka have also joined the Congress.

Nepali Congress President and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba welcomed them to the party amid a program organized in Baluwatar this morning.

Earlier, actress Karishma Manandhar had joined the CPN (Maoist Centre) and Rekha Thapa joined the Rastriya Prajatantra Party.