Speaking to the United Nations’s virtual briefing on Ukraine, ICRC spokesman Ewan Watson said the groups traveling from Zaporizhzhia hoped to “assist in the safe passage operation” but added that “this effort was and remains extremely complex”. with a complete plan not “yet able to ensure that this happens safely.” “Today, we remain optimistic that we are an action that is moving towards Mariupol. That’s obviously good, but it’s not yet clear that this is going to happen today, “Watson said. “If and when it happens, the role of the ICRC as a neutral intermediary will be to lead the escort from several cities in Mariupol to another city in Ukraine. We are not in a position to confirm which city at this time, as this is something the parties have to agree on. “The latest information we have is that there will potentially be 54 buses and we can expect many more civilian vehicles,” Watson added. Watson reiterated that the evacuation from Mariupol – which is expected to involve thousands of people – can only take place if certain criteria are met. “The details that we insist on being cemented in place include the exact route of safe passage, the exact start time and its duration. “We have to make sure that the ceasefire is in place naturally and we have to make sure that this humanitarian escort can move safely through military checkpoints,” Watson said. Residents of the area pass in front of a destroyed apartment building in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, on March 31. (Alexander Ermochenko / Reuters) Watson went on to describe the horror of the conflict in Ukraine, especially in Mariupol, and stressed the importance of “allowing people to leave and allowing aid to be provided.” We are running out of adjectives to describe the horror that the residents of Mariupol have suffered. “The situation is dire and it is deteriorating and it is now a humanitarian imperative to allow people to leave and to allow aid.” “The people of Mariupol have suffered weeks of fierce fighting with dwindling water, food and medical supplies,” Watson added. Some background: Residents in the southern port city are facing a deteriorating humanitarian situation amid Russian airstrikes, weeks of Russian bombardment and drowning evacuation efforts. Statistics released by Ukrainian officials on Sunday give a grim picture of what emerged from weeks of disaster in Mariupol. About 90% of residential buildings in the city were damaged, the data show. Of these, 60% were hit immediately and 40% were destroyed. Seven of the city’s hospitals – 90% of the hospital’s capacity – were damaged, three of which were destroyed. Three maternity hospitals (one damaged), seven higher education institutions (three damaged) and 57 schools and 70 kindergartens were also damaged, with 23 and 28 damaged, respectively. Many factories were damaged and the city’s port was damaged. According to official statistics, up to 140,000 people fled the city before the siege and about 150,000 managed to flee during the blockade. Ukrainian officials claim that 30,000 people from Mariupol have been deported to Russia. CNN’s Nathan Hodge and Julia Presniakova contributed to the report in this post.
