Officials in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, which is surrounded by Russian forces, have said they have delayed an evacuation of the civilian population, accusing Moscow’s troops of breaking a ceasefire that was agreed.
“Due to the fact that the Russian side does not adhere to the ceasefire and has continued shelling both of Mariupol itself and its environs and for security reasons, the evacuation of the civilian population has been postponed,” city officials, including deputy mayor Serhiy Orlov, said in a statement on social media.
The ceasefire in Volnovakha for evacuation of the town and nearby settlements was also short-lived, according to Ukrainian officials. Just 400 people were evacuated, though the plan was to evacuate more than 15,000 civilians from the area during the temporary ceasefire.
Donetsk Region governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said: “Although we had the intention and necessary transport to evacuate a lot more people, we had to stop the movement of the column, because the Russians once again started shelling Volnovakha mercilessly, and it was very dangerous to move there.”
