Mariupol, which has been under siege for five weeks since the first days of the Russian invasion, has been Moscow’s main target in the southeastern Donbass region of Ukraine. Tens of thousands are trapped there with minimal access to food and water. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) sent a team on Friday to escort about 54 Ukrainian buses and other private vehicles out of the city, but turned back, saying conditions made it impossible to continue. read more Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “They will try again on Saturday to facilitate the safe passage of civilians,” the ICRC said in a statement. An earlier attempt to evacuate the Red Cross in early March failed because the route was found to be unsafe. Russia and Ukraine agreed on humanitarian corridors during the war that facilitated the evacuation of thousands of civilians. The ICC says the Mariupol operation has been approved by both sides, but important details are still being considered, such as the exact time and destination of the escort, which would be an unspecified location in Ukraine. In a video speech early in the morning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned that Russian troops had moved towards the Donbas region and northeast in the direction of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, where previous Russian strikes had caused severe damage to areas. “I hope there are still solutions to the situation in Mariupol,” Zelenski said. “Everyone must react to this humanitarian catastrophe.” In Chuhuiv, a city in Kharkiv province, victims of debris and gunfire flooded a hospital. Two women sat on adjacent beds, with their ends tied and nailed to metal braces. “An entire bus was shot. We were on a civilian bus. There were about 20 people on board, 14 people survived. Eight bodies,” a woman who identified herself as Julia told Reuters TV. Sitting next to her, Alina Shegurets remembered her own screams when the bus was attacked and showed her injured legs and hip. “The windows started to tremble. Then I saw something that looked like holes. Then they started throwing bullets at me. Dust, smoke … I was screaming and my mouth was full,” Shegurets said. PROCESSING FROM KIEV Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops on February 24 for what he called a “special operation” to demilitarize Ukraine and “seek out” its leadership. The West calls it an unprovoked offensive war that has killed thousands, uprooted a quarter of Ukraine’s population and brought tensions between Russia and the United States to their worst point since the Cold War. Aiming to reduce nuclear tensions with Russia, the U.S. military has canceled a test of an intercontinental ballistic missile that was initially intended to delay only, the Air Force told Reuters. read more However, the United States and its European allies have sent military aid to Ukraine, including an additional $ 300 million in aid announced by the Pentagon late Friday. The new aid includes laser-guided and anti-drone missile systems. Washington will also work with allies to move Soviet-made tanks to Ukraine to bolster its defenses in Donbass, the New York Times reported, citing a US official. The Pentagon declined to comment to Reuters, but the White House did not immediately respond. read more In peace talks this week, Russia said Donbass, which has supported separatists fighting Ukrainian forces since 2014, would now be at the center of its war effort. Russian troops left behind devastated villages and their own abandoned tanks as they drove away from the capital, Kyiv. read more After failing to capture a single major city, Russia described the withdrawal of its forces near Kyiv as a gesture of goodwill in the peace talks. Ukraine and its allies say Russian forces have been forced to reorganize after suffering heavy losses due to determined Ukrainian resistance. Across the border from Kharkov to the Russian city of Belgorod, Moscow said Ukrainian helicopters struck a fuel depot on Friday, setting it on fire. Ukraine has denied responsibility for the incident, the first of its kind in the war. Russia will strengthen its western border so that “it does not cross anyone’s mind to attack,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peshkov. read more As the sirens sounded throughout Ukraine before dawn on Saturday, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported Russian airstrikes on the cities of Sievierodonetsk and Rubizhne in Luhansk. In this eastern region and neighboring Donetsk, pro-Russian separatists proclaimed secessionist democracies that Moscow recognized shortly before its invasion. ODESSA IS STRIKE As Ukrainian forces recaptured more territory around Kyiv on Friday, officials in the Black Sea port of Odessa said air defenses had thwarted an attempt to attack critical infrastructure. Reuters could not immediately verify the account. Odessa Governor Maksym Marchenko said three rockets hit a residential area, causing casualties. He said the missiles were fired from an Iskander missile system in Crimea, the southern Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014. Russia denies targeting civilians. Odessa and Mariupol cross the Black Sea and have been Russia’s primary targets, in part because of their strategic locations. Faced with unprecedented sanctions, Russia has threatened to cut off gas supplies to Europe unless buyers pay in rubles. Europe has pledged to remain united against Russia’s request, and Moscow has said it will not suspend supplies until new payments are made later in April. read more China is not deliberately circumventing sanctions against Russia, Wang Lutong, director general of European affairs at China’s foreign ministry, said on Saturday, although Beijing and Moscow have pledged to deepen ties in recent weeks. read more Mediators from Turkey, where the latest round of face-to-face peace talks have taken place, and the United Nations are pushing for a ceasefire. UN Assistant Secretary-General Martin Griffiths will travel to Moscow on Sunday and then to Kyiv as the UN seeks a humanitarian ceasefire, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Additional reports from Reuters’s offices. Written by Rami Ayyub and Simon Cameron-Moore. Edited by: Daniel Wallis and William Mallard Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
