Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for continued defense of the port city of Mariupol 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 on Saturday. “Anyone who needs help should be given the opportunity to come out,” the president said. “Anyone who wants to defend their city should keep fighting.” 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.
Ukrainian President/telegram/dpa
The Ukrainian side is doing everything to ensure that the agreements on humanitarian corridors hold, said Zelenskyy. Then you have to see if you can get any further in the negotiation process.
The Ukrainian authorities expect that more than 200,000 people will leave Mariupol during the ceasefire. For Wolnowacha they assumed 15,000 people. A ceasefire that lasted several hours came into force on Saturday morning.
The Russian army did not achieve its goals, but almost 10,000 were killed, Zelenskyj said. The Armed Forces of Ukraine held the defenses in all key directions. Counterattacks were launched near Kharkiv. The information could not be independently verified.
Zelenskyy thanked the hundreds of thousands of people in European cities who took to the streets in support of Ukraine.