Thursday, March 28

Ukraine evacuations halted for 2nd time due to Russian shelling


Lviv, Ukraine – Plans to evacuate civilians from a besieged port city in Ukraine failed to materialize Sunday for the second time along with an expected Russian ceasefire, a Ukrainian official said, as officials tried to persuade Russia to agree on establishing other evacuation routes near Ukraine’s capital.

Residents expected to leave the port city of Mariupol during a 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. local ceasefire, Ukrainian military authorities said earlier in the day. Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko said the planned evacuations were halted because of an ongoing assault by Russian troops.

“There can be no ‘green corridors’ because only the sick brain of the Russians decides when to start shooting and at whom,“ Gerashchenko said on Telegram.

Displaced Ukrainians queue to board a bus to Poland outside Lviv train station in western Ukraine on Saturday, March 5, 2022.

The news dashed hopes of progress in easing, nevertheless ending the war in Ukraine, which is now in its 11 day and has caused 1.5 million people to flee the country. The head of the U.N. refugee agency on Sunday called the exodus “the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.

The presidents of Turkey and France, as well as Pope Francis, appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate to end the conflict.

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