Withdrawal of civilians from besieged Mariupol fails again in Ukraine

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Besieged, without access to humanitarian aid and the main example of the impacts of the war, the port city of Mariupol saw this Friday (1st) another attempt to evacuate civilians being frustrated. The Red Cross team that was heading to the scene, in order to allow the safe passage of people, had to retreat.

In a statement, the humanitarian organization explained that the team, made up of three vehicles and nine people, returned to the city of Zaporíjia because “conditions made it impossible” to continue the mission. He declared: “For the success of the operation, it is essential that the parties respect the agreements and provide security guarantees”.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Thursday (31) that it would open a humanitarian corridor in the city located in southern Ukraine. Moscow claimed to be heeding requests from French President Emmanuel Macron and German Prime Minister Olaf Scholz. The Red Cross was also demanding that the operation be carried out.

Throughout this Friday, however, signs began to emerge that the withdrawal of civilians would once again be impossible. The governor of the Donbass region of Donetsk, Pavlo Kirilenko, accused Russian troops of preventing the humanitarian corridor from being operational.

Until the Red Cross confirmed the new failure in the ceasefire overnight, late in Brazil. The organization, a neutral agent in the conflicts, had to leave Mariupol two weeks ago due to lack of operational capacity and still does not know when it will be able to return.

Although the larger operation failed, it was possible to evacuate around 3,000 people from the pre-war city of 400,000, the Ukrainian presidency said. In all, 6,266 civilians were evacuated from bombed cities during this Friday.

On Thursday, the Red Cross headquarters building in the port city was bombed, and the organization itself confirmed the authenticity of the images that recorded the attack. No personnel were on site, and medical supplies stored there had been fully distributed by early March.

The fact aroused concern. Intentionally attacking teams, installations or equipment involved in humanitarian assistance missions is an action typified as a war crime by the State of Rome and by the Geneva Conventions, important beacons of international law when it comes to armed conflicts.

“We are concerned that a building with a red cross could be seriously attacked,” the Red Cross said in a statement. “Civilian infrastructure, hospitals and medical staff cannot be targeted.”

This is not the first time that the attempt to establish a humanitarian corridor at the site has failed. In the first week of March, Moscow and Kiev agreed to a ceasefire to evacuate civilians, but the agreement was not put into effect.

Russian officials had announced that they would stop bombing the site for a few hours on Thursday. Then they went back and said that it would only be done this Friday.

Thousands of civilians have been trapped in Mariupol for weeks under constant Russian bombardment. Access to basic resources such as water and electricity is limited, and there is also no food resupply.

In an interview with the American network CNN, Deputy Mayor Sergei Orlov said that the city is “completely destroyed”. “I can’t even describe in words what life is like in Mariupol,” he said. “It’s common to only have three meals a week.”

The city is considered strategic by Moscow, as it would allow the creation of a land bridge between the Crimean peninsula, annexed in 2014, and the self-proclaimed breakaway republics of Donbass, which Moscow recognized days before starting the invasion.

Local officials say more than 5,000 civilians have died in the city since February 24, when the war broke out. The attack on a theater that served as a shelter for internally displaced people alone would have left 300 people dead. Confirmation of the figures by international organizations, however, is difficult, precisely because of the impossibility of accessing the region.

The city government says it estimates that 90% of the buildings were damaged and 40% completely destroyed. Some 290,000 people have reportedly left Mariupol since the start of the war, but another 170,000 are still trapped there.

The United Nations human rights office says that, as of Thursday night, 1,276 civilians had died across the country and another 1,981 were injured — but it acknowledges that the figures are underreported. Of the victims, at least 115 would be children.

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