Russian forces have entered Ukraine’s Mariupol
Moscow:
AFP news agency reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed the “successful liberation” of Mariupol. He ordered a siege instead of an attack on a steel plant in the Ukrainian city.
The government said on Thursday that four buses carrying evacuees from Mariupol had left the besieged and destroyed port city, where Ukrainian forces are fighting for control.
Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on social media: “Four evacuation buses left the city yesterday through the humanitarian corridor,” Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on social media, adding that The evacuation of women, children and the elderly will continue on Thursday.
“The security situation is tough. Things can change,” she added.
The battle for Mariupol was nearing its climax after nearly two months of brutal fighting with countless civilians trapped and killed.
Control of Mariupol and the separatist-controlled eastern Donbas would allow Moscow to complete the southern corridor to Crimea, which it annexed in 2014, depriving Ukraine of much of Ukraine’s coastline.
On Wednesday, senior Ukrainian negotiator and presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak proposed a “special round of negotiations” in the city to “save our people”.
