First Successful Humanitarian Corridor Evacuates 160 Vehicles of Civilians in Ukraine – After weeks of negotiations, a convoy of 160 cars containing Ukrainian civilians successfully left the city of Mariupol on Monday. It was the first successful attempt at evacuating citizens through a humanitarian corridor.
While humanitarian corridors were technically agreed upon more than a week ago, Ukraine accused Russia of violating agreements, blocking convoys, and suggesting routes that would force Ukrainians to travel through Russian and Belarusian territory.
After days of failed efforts to deliver crucial supplies to residents still living in the city of Mariupol, the city council confirmed on Monday that a local ceasefire was implemented long enough to allow a convoy of 160 vehicles to leave the city. It means that residents who have been stuck in the city for the last two weeks, after Russian forces bombarded \the region, could finally leave their apartments and houses and escape to neighboring European countries.
“It is known that as of 1300 (1100 GMT) more than 160 private cars managed to leave,” the city council said in a statement.
Ukraine Update: Russian Forces Devastate Mariupol
Over the weekend, Russian forces stepped up their attacks on Ukrainian cities, with Mariupol witnessing yet more bombs and fighting in the street. An essential southeastern port in the city was blocked by Russian forces, and invading troops also took control of the primary inland gateway that leads to the city.
Civilians were directly targeted by Russian troops, too, with Associated Press footage showing an apartment block being fired at by tanks. It was just the latest example of Russian troops firing at civilian targets.
An Associated Press journalist, who was embedded with medical workers in Mariupol, witnessed tanks firing at the nine-story apartment building. The same journalist came under sniper fire on Friday as Russian soldiers completely surrounded the city.
The attacks have left Mariupol unrecognizable, with electricity saved only for operating tables, and medical facilities reportedly full of lines of people with no place to go for safety.
Civilian Casualties Continue to Increase in Ukraine
Mariupol has seen an untold number of civilian casualties, with one woman telling AP that her child was killed in shelling. Her brother’s child was also reportedly killed in a Russian attack.
“We came to my brother’s, all of us together. The women and children went underground and then some mortar struck that building. We were trapped underground, and two children died. No one was able to save them,” local resident Anastasia Erashova said.
Another report describes how a wounded pregnant woman was taken from a maternity hospital bombed by Russian troops last week on a stretcher. She was one of at least three other pregnant women who were inside of the Mariupol hospital when it was shelled by Russian troops on Wednesday.
Russia presumably understands the seriousness of shelling civilian targets, including maternity hospitals, given that the Russian Embassy in the United Kingdom wrongly claimed that the maternity hospital hit by Russian troops was no longer in use.
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and report on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.
