The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Friday it is sending humanitarian aid from Zaporizhzhia to Mariupol in the form of “three cars and nine staff members.”
Speaking at a virtual United Nations briefing on Ukraine, ICRC spokesperson Ewan Watson said the teams traveling from Zaporizhzhia are hoping to “assist with the safe passage operation” but added that “this effort has been and remained extremely complex,” with a full plan not “yet in place to ensure that this happens in a safe manner.”
“Today, we remain hopeful we are an action moving towards Mariupol. That is obviously a good thing, but it’s not yet clear that this will happen today,” Watson said.
“If and when it does happen, the ICRC his role as a neutral intermediary will be to lead the convoy out from many of Mariupol to another city in Ukraine. We’re unable to confirm which city at the moment as this is something the parties must agree to. The latest information we have is that there will be potentially 54 buses, and we can expect many other civilian vehicles,” Watson added.
Watson reiterated that the evacuation from Mariupol — expected to include thousands of people — can only take place if specific criteria are fulfilled.
“The details that we insist on cemented in place include the exact safe passage route, its exact start time, and its duration. We have to be certain that the ceasefire holds of course we have to be certain that this humanitarian convoy can safely move through military checkpoints,” Watson said.
Watson went on to address the horrors seen in this conflict in Ukraine, particularly in Mariupol, while stressing the importance that “people be allowed to leave and aid supplied allowed in.”
We are running out of adjectives to describe the horrors that residents in Mariupol have suffered….
Source : cnn
