Kyiv: Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, at noon on Saturday, announced a new attempt to evacuate civilians from the heavily damaged city of Mariupol.

Vereshchuk said on Telegram, urging people to gather near the Port City shopping center.

“If everything happens as planned, we will start the evacuation around noon.”

In recent days, Ukraine has had to cancel evacuation attempts from Mariupol due to Russian opposition.

On Friday night, Vereshchuk vowed Ukraine would keep trying to evacuate civilians.

“I understand how difficult it is for you. Corridors have been broken so many times. But you and I should try as many times as necessary until it works, “she said on Telegram.

There was hope for a weekend truce between Ukraine and Russia.

It controls Mariupol, except for the massive Azovstal steel plant, where hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers and alleged civilians are holed up.

Ukraine has repeatedly requested a ceasefire to evacuate civilians from the stricken port.

The Azov battalion, a nationalist Ukrainian regiment leading the city’s defence, posted a video this week showing civilians hiding on the Azovstal plant’s grounds.

One of the women in the video says they’ve been there for two months.

The video could not be verified.

This week, Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded that the trapped Ukrainian defenders be sealed in.

In a phone call with Putin on Friday, EU chief Charles Michel urged him to allow safe passage from Mariupol.

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