Kyiv sends 45 buses to evacuate civilians from Mariupol

According to Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, the Ukrainian government will dispatch 45 buses on Thursday to evacuate inhabitants from the besieged city of Mariupol, where the Russian defence ministry has declared a local truce.

“Tonight, we received a message from the International Red Cross Committee that the Russian Federation confirms its readiness to open access for the humanitarian convoy to the city of Mariupol with transit through the city of Berdiansk,” she said in video posted on Telegram.

“We are sending 45 buses to the Mariupol corridor”.

She reported seventeen buses had already left Zaporizhzhia, some 220 kilometres (136 miles) to the northwest, for Mariupol.

Another 28 awaited permission to cross through the Russian roadblock in Vasylivka, near Zaporizhzhia.

“We will do everything possible to ensure that buses arrive in Mariupol today and pick up people who have not yet been able to get out of the city,” Vereschuk said.

So far, with agreements on centralized evacuations not being respected, civilians have only been able to leave Mariupol in their own cars, which is extremely dangerous.

Since the end of February, the Russian military have encircled and shelled the vital southern port city.

People who have managed to flee and non-governmental organizations (ONGs) have described the situation as “catastrophic,” with civilians huddled in cellars, deprived of water, food, and communication, and dead bodies littering the streets.

From 10:00 a.m. (0700 GMT) on Thursday, a humanitarian corridor will be opened from Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia, via the Russian-controlled port of Berdiansk, according to the Russian defense ministry.

“For this humanitarian operation to succeed, we propose to carry it out with the direct participation of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Committee of the Red Cross,” the ministry statement said.

The Russian ministry asked Kyiv to guarantee the “unconditional respect” for the ceasefire through written notification to the Russian side, the UNHCR and ICRC before 6:00 am (0300 GMT) Thursday.

Moscow also asked the Ukrainian army to guarantee the safety of bus convoys travelling along the approved route.

Ukrainian soldiers have “assured they’ll guarantee the ceasefire,” according to Deputy Prime Minister Vereschuk.

On Thursday, two more evacuation lanes were agreed upon: one from Melitopol to Zaporizhzhia, and another from Energodar, Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant, to Zaporizhzhia.

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