Here they are safe and sound. More than 3,000 civilians managed, on Friday April 1, to flee the hell of Mariupol. They took to the road at their peril, on their ownby bus or private car. The announcement was made by the Ukrainian President himself: “Humanitarian corridors worked in three regions: Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhia. We managed to rescue 6,266 people, including 3,071 from Mariupol.” The Red Cross is to attempt a new evacuation operation this Saturday, April 2. Follow our live.
Another attempt by the Red Cross on Saturday. The ICRC, which was to take part in the evacuation, announced that its team sent to Mariupol had had to turn back, the planned evacuation of thousands of civilians from this port city besieged by Russian forces being “impossible” this day. A new operation must be attempted this Saturday.
The President of the European Parliament visits Zelensky in person. The President of Ukraine said his “acknowledgement” to Roberta Metsola for coming “heroically” and “personally” in kyiv where he has been entrenched since the end of February. The Maltese President of the European Parliament is the first leader of a European institution to visit the Ukrainian capital since the start of the Russian invasion.
Beijing assures not to circumvent Western sanctions against Moscow. “We are not doing anything to deliberately circumvent the sanctions imposed on Russia”said Saturday the head of European affairs with Chinese diplomacy, Wang Lutong. Westerners are urging the Asian giant to clearly demonstrate its opposition to the Kremlin offensive. A close partner of Moscow, Beijing has so far refrained from condemning the Russian invasion, contenting itself with calling on all parties to exercise restraint.