He said that the evacuees are set to arrive in southern Ukraine's city of Zaporizhzhia on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported.
The Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty report said the pictures by Planet Labs, a San Francisco-based Earth imaging company, showed the appearance of a 200-metre-long grave in the village of Staryi Krym, 5 km from the devastated south-eastern city.
Shoigu said that the Russian forces had announced ceasefires and opened humanitarian corridors for two hours a day for the past two days on Putin's orders to allow those inside the Azovstal plant to leave.
Mariupol, a key Azov Sea port city in eastern Ukraine, saw one of the worst violence in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
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