100,000 civilians waiting for urgent evacuation from Mariupol: Ukraine's deputy premier

By Ruslan Rehimov

KYIV, Ukraine (AA) – Some 100,000 civilians are waiting for urgent evacuation from the besieged city of Mariupol, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister said on Thursday.

“Right now, 100,000 civilians are waiting for urgent evacuation (from Mariupol). These are women, children, the elderly and the disabled,” Iryna Vereshchuk said in an online briefing.

Earlier, Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko said 5,000 people have been killed in the city since it was besieged by Russian forces.

He said the Russians have made promises of safe evacuation but they are the ones hindering the process.

Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross plans to evacuate more civilians from Mariupol using 45 buses on Thursday.

Russia’s war on Ukraine, which started Feb. 24, has drawn international outrage, with the EU, US, and UK, among others, implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.

At least 1,232 civilians have been killed and 1,935 injured in Ukraine, according to estimates by the UN, which has said that the true figure is likely far higher.

More than 4 million Ukrainians have also fled to several European countries, with millions more displaced inside the country, according to the UN refugee agency.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar