Civilian evacuations at a steel plant in Mariupol began Sunday after weeks of being held up underneath the facility, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

More than 100 civilians were evacuated Sunday from Azovstal steel plant and are expected to arrive in the Ukrainian-held city of Zaporizhzhia Monday morning, while hundreds of others await evacuation.

"There was not a single day when we did not try to find a solution that would save our people," Zelensky said in a video message Sunday. "Today, for the first time in all the days of the war, this vital corridor has started working. For the first time, there were two days of real ceasefire on this territory. More than a hundred civilians have already been evacuated — women and children, first of all, who were fleeing hostilities there."

OPERATION PLANNED TO GET CIVILIANS OUT OF MARIUPOL STEEL PLANT, UKRAINE SAYS

The evacuation efforts, coordinated by the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross, began after weeks of negotiations and previous failed attempts to establish safe passage through a humanitarian corridor out of the Ukrainian port city.

"It was agreed with both parties to the conflict that civilians who had been stranded for nearly two months in Azovstal — women, children and the elderly — will be evacuated to Zaporizka where they will receive immediate humanitarian support, including psychological services," the U.N. said in a statement Sunday.

Shortly after the evacuation operations concluded for the day, Ukrainian officials said Russian forces began firing in the area. Several hundred civilians, including children, and nearly 500 wounded soldiers are believed to be trapped in the facility, Ukrainian National Guard Brig. Cmdr. Denys Shlega said, according to the Associated Press.

"As soon as the evacuation of civilians was completed yesterday, the enemy began using all kinds of weapons. The night was restless," said Shlega, according to CNN.

Russian forces allegedly took some of the plant evacuees to a nearby village held by Russian separatists, the Associated Press reported. Previously, Ukraine has accused Russian forces of taking civilians against their will to Russia. The Kremlin has denied the claims, saying that some have wanted to go to Russia.

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Evacuations at the Mariupol plant are scheduled to continue Monday, though previous attempts have either been dashed or delayed by fighting.