The Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, which is surrounded by Russian troops, announced Sunday that it will resume efforts to evacuate civilians after previous efforts were thwarted by ceasefire violations.
The city council of Mariupol, Ukraine, said on Sunday that an evacuation of some of the 400,000 residents trapped by encircling Russian forces would begin at 12 p.m. local time (1000 GMT) under a temporary cease-fire that would last until 9 p.m.
A similar plan had to be scrapped on Saturday after the cease-fire was violated, with both sides blaming each other. Ukrainian authorities accused Russia of shelling even as civilians gathered to form an escape convoy, but Moscow’s defence ministry accused the city’s defenders of using civilians as a “human shield.”
Meanwhile, according to Reuters, British intelligence claims that Russian forces are targeting populated areas in Ukraine, but that the strength of opposition is slowing the Russian advance.
“The scale and strength of Ukrainian resistance continue to astound Russia,” said British military intelligence in an update.
“Russia has responded by targeting populated areas in a number of locations, including Kharkiv, Chernihiv, and Mariupol,” according to the BBC. Russia has denied multiple times that it is targeting civilian areas.
If Russian forces successfully capture Mariupol, which resisted rebel forces in the previous 2014 conflict, they will control the entire Azov Sea coast of Ukraine.
This would provide them with a land bridge from Russia to Russian-annexed Crimea, as well as an important supply route and port if they decide to push north and take all of eastern Ukraine.
