Ukraine in fresh effort to evacuate Mariupol after Red Cross warnings

Ukraine has launched a fresh attempt to rescue civilians from Mariupol after warnings from the Red Cross that thousands of lives depend on the successful evacuation of people trapped in the besieged city by Russian forces.

A total of 45 buses were en route to the nearby southern coastal town of Berdyansk, the Ukrainian deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, said, along with a team from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delivering humanitarian aid and assisting evacuations. The convoy was expected to enter the city on Friday morning after Russian promises of a limited ceasefire along the route from Mariupol to the Ukraine-held city of Zaporizhzhia.

Repeated efforts to set up humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of up to 170,000 people who remain in Mariupol, which has suffered four weeks of bombardment and dwindling supplies, have failed. Ukraine has accused Russian forces of shelling supposedly safe routes outside of several fighting hotspots; claims that Moscow denies.

Water, food and medicine are running low, and many families have been unable to bury loved ones killed by airstrikes and shelling because of the ferocity of the Russian attack. A maternity hospital, an arts centre housing displaced people and a Red Cross warehouse have all been struck, while residents who have managed to find fuel and undamaged cars have taken their lives into their own hands to flee.

A successful evacuation on Friday morning would greatly improve the chance of progress in peace talks, which are also planned to resume online tomorrow. By the same token, if the humanitarian corridor was again attacked, the prospect of any major breakthrough would diminish.

Ukrainian officials said there had been artillery barrages in and around the north-eastern city of Kharkiv over the past day, and heavy fighting had continued in several suburbs of the capital, Kyiv, where Ukrainian forces have counterattacked.

In another sign of Russian intent, the top rebel leader in Donetsk, Denis Pushilin, issued an order to set up a rival city government for Mariupol, according to Russian state news agencies.

In the face of fierce Ukrainian resistance, as well as substandard equipment and poor morale among Russian troops, however, Moscow has struggled to take control of any significant territory.