Red Cross denounces “great obstacles” to evacuate thousands of civilians from Mariúpol

The International Committee for Red Cross (ICRC) has warned this Friday that there are “major obstacles” to evacuate thousands of civilians from the port city of Mariupolwhich continues to be under siege by Russian troops and in which some 100,000 people remain trapped out of the 400,000 who lived there before the war.

Although the evacuation should have been speeded up after the diplomatic rapprochement between Russia and Ukraine, the humanitarian organization still does not see guarantees that it can be done avoiding great dangers. “Not everything is ready to carry out these evacuations in the safest way. It is not yet clear that this will happen today,” said his spokesman, Ewan Watson, during a press conference.

Three NGO vehicles were scheduled to leave Mariupol this Friday to escort a convoy with twelve buses and private vehicles with residents on board. Watson has indicated, however, that this operation has been hampered by two issues. The first is that it is unknown whether the troops on the ground are aware of the agreement between Russia and Ukraine to declare a ceasefire and open a humanitarian corridor.

The second is the lack of consensus on where to move the displaced. And that is not secondary, well Kyiv It has been denouncing for weeks that Russia is deporting Ukrainian citizens to its territory from cities where the creation of a humanitarian corridor has been agreed, such as Mariupol. “Time is running out for the people of Mariupol. They desperately need help,” Watson said before adding that “they are running out of adjectives to describe the horrors suffered by residents” of the city.

This Wednesday, the head of human rights of the Ukrainian Parliament, Liudmila Denisova, denounced that Russian troops had “deliberately” bombed a Red Cross building. A day earlier, the organization warned that the Russian disinformation campaign deployed in the media and social networks is endangering its personnel deployed in the country.

The complex evacuation operation in Mariupol has barely progressed since the Ukrainian authorities announced it on Thursday. However, the ceasefire in the area has come into force at 7:00 this Friday. On the other hand, local authorities have reported that some of the routes designated for evacuation are still blocked by Russian forces.