Ukraine reached a preliminary agreement with Russia to establish a humanitarian corridor to evacuate women, children and the elderly from the besieged city of Mariupol on Wednesday, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.
Russian attacks on the besieged port city of Mariupol continue and the situation remains “brutal and unchanged”, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Conditions could soon worsen, with a Ukrainian military commander telling the CNN from one of the remnants that they may have “only a few days or even hours left”.
“Given the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Mariupol, this is where we will focus our efforts today,” wrote Deputy Prime Minister Vereshchuk on social media.
“We were able to arrange in advance a humanitarian corridor for women, children and the elderly. Gathered in Mariupol today, April 20, from 2pm on the corner of Taganrog Street and Taganrog 130th Division,” she added.
The convoy would move from Mariupol to Manhush and then through the Russian-controlled city of Berdyansk and then north towards the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporizhzhia, he said.
“Given the very difficult security situation, changes may occur during the action. So please follow the relevant official messages.”
The city’s mayor, Vadym Boichenko, said he expected to evacuate about 6,000 people in 90 buses on Wednesday. Boichenko said around 100,000 civilians remain in Mariupol, and tens of thousands of people have died in the region since the Russian invasion began.
Local authorities say the port city has been virtually destroyed.
A previous agreement to create a humanitarian corridor for civilians to leave Mariupol was scrapped on 5 March. Since then, repeated efforts at a safe exit have failed, with one side blaming the other.
Source: CNN Brasil

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