Evacuation disrupted in Ukraine’s Mariupol after Russian shells killed 2 children

Fears
grew on Sunday as civilians in the besieged southeastern Ukrainian cities of
Mariupol and Volnovakha were trapped without electricity and water, and three
people were reported killed Sunday in a blast at an evacuation crossing point.

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Two
artillery shells hit the checkpoint in the suburb of Irpin, northwest of Kyiv,
Ukrainian authorities said, and two children were among those killed. It caused
massive destruction.

International
media filming at the checkpoint reported that a shell landed among the
civilians who were coming towards the checkpoint.

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Due to the shelling, Ukraine’s hopes of evacuating civilians trapped in Mariupol were dashed within
hours.

‘Extremely dangerous’

The
governor of the Donetsk region, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said that the planned “evacuation convoy with local residents was never able to
leave Mariupol today: the Russians began to regroup their forces and heavy
shelling of the city. It is extremely dangerous to evacuate people in such
conditions.”

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The
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) also said Sunday’s planned
evacuation in Mariupol had failed.

“Today,
our team began opening up the evacuation route from Mariupol before hostilities
resumed. We remain in Mariupol and are ready to help facilitate further
attempts — if the parties reach an agreement, which is for them alone to
implement and respect,” the ICRC said on Twitter.

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“People
in Mariupol and in other places across #Ukraine are living in desperate
situations. They must be protected at all times. They are not a target. People
urgently need water, food, shelter. The basics of life. We need safety
guarantees to be able to bring them aid.”

Gas pipeline damaged

Ukrainian
lawmaker Inna Sovsun, meanwhile, claimed that Russian shelling had damaged a gas
pipeline, leaving hundreds of thousands of people
without heating in bitter temperatures.

“Donetsk-Mariupol
gas pipeline was damaged by #Russian occupants. Now, more than 750,000 of
people are left without any heat, while it’s still often below 0°C (32 degrees
Fahrenheit) outside,” Sovsun said on Twitter.

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Earlier
Sunday, heavy shelling was reported to the west and northwest of Kyiv. The
impact of explosions wreaked havoc on Kyiv and its nearby rural areas, reported
AP.