'There were no green corridors': Ukraine says Mariupol evacuations halted by Russian shelling

euronews.com:

No residents could be evacuated from the encircled city of Mariupol on Thursday due to continuing Russian shelling of agreed-to humanitarian corridors, Ukrainian deputy PM Iryna Vereshchuk said in a Telegram post on Thursday evening.

“No happy news out of Mariupol. Everything has been hard-going,” she wrote. “On the Russian side, everything has been very difficult, chaotic, slow, and of course, dishonest.”

“We apologise to the residents of Mariupol who did not get to be evacuated today. Shelling began at the evacuation point, which is why the humanitarian corridor had to be closed.”

In the same post, Vereshchuk acknowledged that on Wednesday, a four-bus convoy was allowed to transport 79 civilians from Mariupol to Kyiv-controlled territory in Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhzhia region - a development she said “gave her hope.”

AFP journalists witnessed those evacuees arrive in Zaporizhzhia aboard three school buses after crossing through territory held by Russian forces having left Mariupol.

Women and children could be seen on the buses as they arrived after attempts to open a humanitarian corridor from Mariupol that has been delayed multiple times because of fierce fighting in southern Ukraine.

Exhausted evacuee Valentina, 73, told AFP she urgently needed medication for her back as she clutched onto an electricity pole with dirt-covered hands to stop herself falling over.

"My apartment has been destroyed just like the house of my son," she said, still wearing her slippers along with a torn black coat.

"From day one we were in a basement. It was cold. We were praying to God. I was asking him to protect us."

Iryna Vereshchuk, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister who was present to receive the buses, said the number of evacuees was far