Ukraine hopes to evacuate women, children and elderly from Mariupol on Wednesday
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
A local resident walks past a damaged apartment building in the Mariupol, Ukraine, on April 19, 2022.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
KYIV (REUTERS) - A Ukrainian marine commander in the besieged city of Mariupol said his troops may be able to hold out for only a few hours longer as Ukraine tried to establish a humanitarian corridor to evacuate women, children and the elderly from the southeastern city on Wednesday (April 20).
Mayor Vadym Boichenko, who has left Mariupol, said 90 buses were waiting to head to what is left of the devastated city under a preliminary agreement with Russia – the first in weeks – on establishing a safe corridor.
In a video posted online hours earlier, Serhiy Volyna, commander of Ukraine’s 36th marine brigade which is still fighting in Mariupol, urged the international community to help evacuate wounded Ukrainian fighters and their families.
"This is our appeal to the world. It may be our last. We may have only a few days or hours left," he said, dressed in a camouflage jacket. "The enemy units are dozens of times larger than ours, they have dominance in the air, in artillery, in ground troops, in equipment and in tanks."
"This is our appeal to the world. It may be our last. We may have only a few days or hours left," he said, dressed in a camouflage jacket. "The enemy units are dozens of times larger than ours, they have dominance in the air, in artillery, in ground troops, in equipment and in tanks."
Reuters could not independently verify the video posted on the Telegram messaging app.
The last fighters are holed up at a vast steel works in Mariupol and have been issued an ultimatum by Russia to surrender.
Mayor Boichenko, who has left Mariupol, said about 100,000 civilians remained in the city on the Sea of Azov and tens of thousands had been killed there since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb 24. The numbers could not be verified by Reuters.
If the deal holds, it will be the first agreement reached on creating a safe corridor for civilians to flee Mariupol to other Ukrainian cities since March 5. That agreement, however, quickly collapsed, and many residents have been trapped there for weeks without power, running water and other supplies.
"Dear residents of Mariupol. Ukraine is waiting for you. We are waiting for you," he said in the appeal to residents to flee.
"We plan to send buses to Mariupol but for now it is only a preliminary agreement," Mr Boichenko said on national television.
He said tens of thousands of people had been killed in the city on the Sea of Azov which has been largely destroyed since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb 24. The number could not be verified by Reuters.
"We plan to send buses to Mariupol but for now it is only a preliminary agreement," Mr Boichenko said on national television.
He said tens of thousands of people had been killed in the city on the Sea of Azov which has been largely destroyed since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb 24. The number could not be verified by Reuters.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said the attempted evacuation would start at 2pm local time (7pm Singapore time).
"We managed to pre-agree a humanitarian corridor for women, children and older people," she wrote on Facebook. "Given the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Mariupol, this is where we will focus our efforts today."
Local authorities say thousands of people have been killed in the siege of Mariupol and that the port city on the Sea of Azov has been all but destroyed.
A previous agreement to create a humanitarian corridor for civilians to leave Mariupol collapsed on March 5. Since then, repeated efforts to create a safe corridor have failed, with each side blaming the other.
Russia denies intentionally targeting civilians. There was no immediate word from Moscow on whether a humanitarian corridor would be established out of Mariupol.
Civilians have been able to escape to other parts of Ukraine only in their own vehicles, while tens of thousands have been bussed to Russia in what Moscow calls humanitarian evacuation and Kyiv calls illegal forced deportation.
"Given the very difficult security situation, changes may occur during the corridor action. So, please follow the relevant official messages," Ms Vereshchuk wrote on Facebook.
Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb 24. Moscow has given the last Ukrainian defenders at a steel works in Mariupol an ultimatum to surrender.
Moscow denies targeting civilians in what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine, which it says is aimed at demilitarising Ukraine and rooting out dangerous nationalists.
Kyiv and the West dismiss Russia's stance as an unjustified pretext for an invasion.
Mariupol, home to more than 400,000 people before the war, is an important port for industrial and agricultural exports and the site of some of Ukraine’s biggest metals plants.
Its capture would give Russia full control of the Sea of Azov coast, and a secure overland bridge linking mainland Russia and pro-Russian separatist territory in the east with the Crimea peninsula that Moscow seized and annexed in 2014.
Liudmyla Denisova, Ukraine’s ombudswoman for human rights, said last week that Russia had taken 134,000 people from areas of Mariupol that it now controls and that 33,000 of those were forcibly deported.
Its capture would give Russia full control of the Sea of Azov coast, and a secure overland bridge linking mainland Russia and pro-Russian separatist territory in the east with the Crimea peninsula that Moscow seized and annexed in 2014.
Liudmyla Denisova, Ukraine’s ombudswoman for human rights, said last week that Russia had taken 134,000 people from areas of Mariupol that it now controls and that 33,000 of those were forcibly deported.
Reuters was unable to determine the accuracy of those statistics. Russia says it is offering humanitarian aid to those wanting to leave Mariupol.
