Kyiv, Mar 15 (UNI): The civilians trapped in the besieged Mariupol are “essentially being suffocated with no aid”, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Tuesday.
The people are “facing the impossible choices of how to feed their families and themselves and are trapped,” the spokesperson said. The Guardian quoted Ewan Watson as saying that the Red Cross is hoping to organise the evacuation of civilians in two convoys of some 30 buses out of the north-eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy and their passage to a safe area.
He said, “We are moving towards Sumy with a view to facilitate safe passage of civilians out, we are hoping that does take place as planned. We know of families undoing oil heaters to take water out as a last resort to have something to drink.”
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Vinnytsia district has been preparing for past two weeks for a potential Russian invasion. According to CNN, government buildings stacked high with sandbags, road signs with colorful language denouncing Russian occupation, and many checkpoints. However, people are going around their businesses such eating at cafes. Vladyslav Kryveshko, the district’s head, said, “If we don’t keep economy, we don’t keep army. We must do this. “Time is like gold. Today, we are ready … but we don’t want this.”
