No humanitarian corridors are expected to operate, this Friday (22), in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol. According to the country’s deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, it was not possible to reach an agreement on the withdrawal of civilians with the Russians because of the “danger on the routes”.
“To all those waiting to be evacuated: be patient, please wait!” he wrote on Facebook.
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly urged Russians to ensure safe passage for civilians, particularly those trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol.
Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the Donetsk region, said 79 residents of the besieged city of Mariupol were safely evacuated to Zaproizhzhia on Thursday, adding that nearly 100,000 residents of Mariupol had already arrived in Zaporizhzhia.
However, evacuation operations from Mariupol were fraught with danger as safe passage corridors failed on several occasions due to attacks by Russian forces in the area.
The mayor of Mariupol on Friday called for a “total evacuation” of the devastated city in southern Ukraine, which President Vladimir Putin says is now controlled by Russian forces.
“We only need one thing: the total evacuation of the population. About 100,000 people remain in Mariupol,” Mayor Vadym Boichenko said on national television.
Boichenko, who is no longer in Mariupol, did not provide any updates on any fighting in or around the Sea of Azov port city.
The mayor told Reuters on Thursday that Putin alone could decide the fate of civilians still trapped in Mariupol, the scene of the worst humanitarian crisis of the Ukrainian war, which began on February 24.
Putin said on Thursday that Russian troops had “liberated” Mariupol, which would make it the largest city to fall into Russian hands since the start of what Moscow calls a “special military operation”.
But a contingent of Ukrainian fighters is still holding out in the underground bunkers of the Azovstal steelworks, alongside hundreds of civilians in desperate conditions, according to Ukrainian officials.
Despite Boichenko’s appeal, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Ukraine was not trying to establish any humanitarian corridors for civilians on Friday “due to the danger on the routes”.
Hopes of evacuating more civilians from the eastern city of Rubizhne, where there was intense fighting, were dashed by Russian artillery fire, regional governor Serhiy Gaidai said.
Russia did not immediately comment on Vereshchuk’s or Gaidai’s remarks. Moscow has denied targeting civilians and blames Ukraine for the repeated failure of efforts to organize humanitarian corridors for civilians.
Source: CNN Brasil
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