Mariupol Mayor Vadim Boychenko called on residents to leave the besieged port city of southern Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Boychenko called on people who have already left Mariupol to contact relatives still in the city and call on them to evacuate. He said about 200,000 people had already left the city, which had a pre-war population of more than 400,000.
“Do not be afraid and evacuate to Zaporozhye, where you can get all the help you need – food, medicine, essentials – and most importantly, you will be safe,” he said in a statement issued by the city council.
Boychenko said buses would be used for the evacuation and there would be three removal points, one near the Azovstal steel plant, which has become the last stronghold of Ukrainian forces in the city.
Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk said on Wednesday that there was a “preliminary” agreement to manage the so-called humanitarian corridor to the west of the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporizhia. It will apply to women, children and the elderly from Wednesday afternoon local time, she said in a statement on the Telegram news app.
WATCH Ukraine hopes to evacuate 6,000 people from Mariupol on Wednesday:
Ukraine hopes to evacuate 6,000 from Mariupol on Wednesday
Russian forces have proposed a ceasefire to allow residents to evacuate Mariupol, but have demanded the surrender of Ukrainian forces stationed at the city’s steel plant. 5:05
She added that Mariupol had been at the center of Ukraine’s efforts to help the civilian population due to the “catastrophic humanitarian situation” in the city, which has been the scene of intense fighting for weeks as Russian troops pushed Ukrainian forces back and now surrounded them. the complex for a steel factory. .
Earlier, Vereshchuk said there would be no agreed evacuation route from Mariupol every three days, saying at the time that no agreement had been reached with Russia. There was no immediate confirmation from the Russian side. Ukraine and Russia often blame each other for obstructing the evacuation from Mariupol or for firing on the agreed route, which is usually only open to people traveling in personal vehicles.
Mariupol, Ukraine’s tenth largest city, was attacked by Russian forces almost immediately after the invasion began in late February. The port city has strategic value as a link between the regions of southern Crimea and eastern Donbass, which are held by Russian forces or Russian-backed separatists.
The Ukrainian General Staff said in a statement on Facebook on Wednesday that Russia continues to carry out offensives in various places in the east, while its forces are investigating weaknesses in Ukrainian lines. The General Staff added that overcoming the latest resistance at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol remains a top priority for Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that about 1,000 civilians are trapped in the steel plant. He also said a total of 120,000 civilians remain in the city.
The Kremlin claims the launch of the ICBM
Russia’s Defense Ministry has announced the first launch of its new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile. President Vladimir Putin has said that these weapons are unique and will make those who threaten Russia think twice.
The ministry said the missile was fired Wednesday from the Plesetsk facility in northern Russia and its warheads hit certain targets at the Kura test site in the far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula.
The Sarmat is a heavy rocket designed to replace the Soviet Voevoda rocket, codenamed Satan by the West. Putin said he could break through any future missile defenses.
The Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile was launched during a test in the Russian Arkhangelsk region of this still image, taken from a video released on Wednesday. (Russian Ministry of Defense / Reuters)
Putin called the event a “big, significant event” for Russia’s defense industry. He said that “Sarmat” will guarantee Russia’s security from external threats and “made those who, in the midst of frantic, aggressive rhetoric, are trying to threaten our country, think.”
Russia relies on ground-based ICBMs as the core of its nuclear deterrence and has relied on Sarmat for decades to come. The United States has its own nuclear-capable ICBM, but recently canceled a test to avoid escalating tensions.
Dmitry Rogozin, head of the state agency Roscosmos, which oversees the Sarmat missile factory, described Wednesday’s test as a “gift to NATO” in a comment on his messaging channel.
The head of the UN wants a meeting with Putin, Zelensky
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wants to meet with Russian and Ukrainian leaders in Moscow and Quiv to push for peace.
He requested a letter Tuesday to Zelensky and Putin, asking them to “discuss any urgent steps that can be taken to stop the fighting.”
As of Wednesday, his spokesman, Stefan Dujarric, said the UN had not received a response.
Guterres called on Tuesday for a four-day “humanitarian pause” in hostilities Thursday through Sunday, Orthodox Easter, to allow for the evacuation of civilians and aid.
The UN leader is facing questions about whether he will get involved in person. A spokesman told him that Guterres “is doing what he thinks is the most practical and best way forward”.
A Kremlin spokesman, meanwhile, said Russia had submitted a draft document to Ukraine outlining its demands as part of peace talks and is now awaiting a response from Kyiv.
This aerial view shows a ruined residential area in the village of Moshchun, northwest of Kyiv, on Wednesday. (Genya Savilov / AFP / Getty Images)
An adviser to the Ukrainian president said Kyiv was considering the proposals.
Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a conference on Wednesday that Russia had handed over to Ukraine a draft document containing “absolutely clear, detailed wording” and now “the ball is in their court, we are waiting for an answer”.
Peskov did not give more details. He blamed Ukraine for the slow progress, arguing that Kyiv was constantly deviating from confirmed agreements. Ukrainians do not show much inclination to intensify the negotiation process, he said.
Ukraine presented its own project to Russia last month in Istanbul. Moscow has long demanded, among other things, that Ukraine renounce any bid to join NATO. Ukraine has said it will agree to this in exchange for security guarantees from a number of other countries.
Millions of refugees
The UN refugee agency says more than five million people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on February 24.
The Geneva-based UN High Commissioner for Refugees on Wednesday set the total number of refugees at 5.01 million.
More than half of the total, more than 2.8 million, fled at least initially to Poland. Although many remained there, an unknown number traveled on. There are few border checks within the European Union.
Ukrainian refugees are seen at a station in Przemysl, Poland, on Wednesday. (Darin Zamit Lupi / Reuters)
UNHCR announced on March 30 that four million people had fled Ukraine. The eviction has been a little slower in recent weeks than at the start of the war.
In addition to refugees, the UN says more than seven million people have been displaced in Ukraine.
Ukraine had a pre-war population of 44 million.
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