A man walks past a destroyed residential building, Mariupol, Ukraine April 17, 2022 (Reuters)

More than 100 refugees have been rescued over the weekend from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

The Ministry said that on Saturday alone, 21 people left the plant, and another 25 left their houses, which were located nearby, with all 46 deciding to stay in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).

Since Saturday, 101 hostages left Mariupol over the weekend, with 32 of them deciding to stay in the DPR.

"On the second day of the operation, May 1, another 80 civilians held by Ukrainian nationalists were rescued from the plant; they were given shelter and food and offered medical assistance as needed. Eleven rescued citizens made a voluntary decision to remain in the Donetsk People's Republic," the Ministry told reporters on Sunday.

Another 69 civilians decided to go to Ukraine and were transferred to officials from the UN and the Red Cross. The Ministry said the convoy was being protected by Russian troops.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Sunday that Ukraine's "hysterical" desire to take militants out of Mariupol's Azovstal plant is related to the fact that these militants can confirm the presence of active officers, as well as mercenaries, from Western armies.

"The situation with the confrontation at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol and the persistent, even hysterical desire of Zelenskyy, his team and his Western patrons to achieve the withdrawal of all these people and send them to the territory of Ukraine is due to the fact that there are many characters who will confirm the presence of mercenaries, maybe acting officers of Western armies on the side of Ukrainian radicals," Lavrov told Italian broadcaster Mediaset.