The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has to further Defense of the port city of Mariupol called in south-eastern Ukraine. The humanitarian corridors for Mariupol and Volnovakha in the Donetsk region should be operational on Saturday to rescue women, children and the elderly, as well as deliver food and medicines to the embattled cities, Zelenskyy said in a video address. “Anyone who needs help should be given the opportunity to come out,” the president said. “Anyone who wants to defend their city should continue the fight.” According to Ukrainian information, however, the evacuation of people from Mariupol was initially postponed for security reasons, the Russian side is not adhering to the ceasefire.
The Ukrainian side is doing everything to keep the agreements on humanitarian corridors, said Zelenskyy. Then you have to see if you can get any further in the negotiation process. Ukrainian authorities expect more than 200,000 people to leave Mariupol during the ceasefire. For Wolnowacha they assumed 15,000 people. A ceasefire that lasted several hours came into force on Saturday morning.