The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said a Red Cross convoy traveling to Ukraine’s Mariupol port overturned as it became impossible to proceed with its mission to evacuate civilians on Friday.
“They will try again on Saturday to ensure the safe movement of civilians to and from Mariupol,” the ICRC said in a statement. It said the convoy returned to Zaporizhzhya, northwest of the southern port, “after arrangements and circumstances made it impossible to proceed.”
Mariupol has been surrounded since the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on 24 February. A previous attempt by the Red Cross to reach it in early March failed as the route was found to be unsafe.
According to the mayor, a three-car Red Cross team carrying nine staff members aimed to lead a convoy of about 54 Ukrainian buses and several private vehicles out of the city, where 170,000 people are without electricity and have limited access. There is food. ,
An ICRC spokesman insisted earlier on Friday that the operation had been approved by both Ukraine and Russia, but that key details were still being worked out such as the exact time and destination, which would be an undetermined location in Ukraine. .
ICRC spokesman Evan Watson said: “Putting together this safe passage convoy has been and still remains extremely complex.”
Watson said the Red Cross was not allowed to take humanitarian aid with the convoy, and it went without the medical and other supplies it had already deployed in Zaporizhzhya.
“The situation is getting dire and worsening. Now it is a humanitarian imperative to let people go and allow aid supplies,” Watson said.
After Friday’s mission was declared unsuccessful, the ICRC renewed its appeal to all parties to honor agreements and provide “prerequisites and security guarantees” before the next attempt.
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