Ukrainian officials are accusing Russian forces of breaching a ceasefire agreement set up to evacuate civilians from the city of Mariupol for the second day in a row.
The city of Mariupol has suspended evacuation efforts for security reasons, as alleged shelling from Russian forces is ongoing, Donetsk region Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko wrote on Twitter, according to CNN.
EVACUATIONS STOP IN SOUTHERN UKRAINIAN CITY DUE TO ALLEGED VIOLATION OF CEASEFIRE
“People are living in terror in Mariupol, desperate for safety. Today’s attempt to start evacuating an estimated 200,000 people has failed,” the International Committee of the Red Cross wrote on Twitter. “People urgently need water, food, shelter. The basics of life. We need safety guarantees to be able to bring them aid. ”
People are living in terror in Mariupol, desperate for safety.
Today’s attempt to start evacuating an estimated 200,000 people has failed.
The failed attempts underscore the absence of a detailed and functioning agreement between parties to the conflict. #Ukraine
Thread ?
— ICRC (@ICRC) March 6, 2022
A Russian official pushed the blame on to Ukrainian forces for breaching the limited ceasefire, according to Reuters.
The failed evacuation efforts in the past two days underscore an agreement by Ukrainian and Russian officials on Thursday that would have provided for a humanitarian corridor to evacuate citizens.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky repeated a plea for assistance to enact a “no-fly” zone over Ukraine in a video posted on his Twitter.
“We repeat everyday: Close the sky over Ukraine!” Zelensky said. “We are people and it is your humanitarian duty to protect us, protect people.”
NATO indicated on Friday that it has no intentions of establishing a no-fly zone over Ukrainian airspace. Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the alliance is “not part of” the ongoing warfare between Ukraine and Russia, signaling an unwillingness to escalate the conflict to involve other countries.
“We understand the desperation, but we also believe that if we did that, we would end up with something that could lead to a full-fledged war in Europe involving much more countries and much more suffering,” Stoltenberg said.
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The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reported Thursday that more than a million refugees have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded the country on Feb. 24.
