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06th Mar 2022

Ukrainian city to attempt evacuation following ceasefire violations

Hugh Carr

A third round of peace talks are set to happen on Monday.

A Ukrainian city is set to attempt another evacuation on Sunday (6 March) following a violation of planned ceasefire.

Mariupol, a large city in the south east of Ukraine was set to evacuate civilians on Saturday (5 March) following an agreement with Russian forces for temporary peace.

The evacuation was delayed, however, following a continued assault against the city.

Oleksiy Danilov, Head of the National Security and Defense Council in Ukraine, said that Russian occupiers were blocking the setup of humanitarian corridors, and that shelling continued around the city and neighbouring areas.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said that Ukrainian forces were using the civilian population as a “human shield” and wouldn’t let them leave, which is why they continued with the assault.

The second attempted evacuation is set to take place today at 12pm local time (10am Irish time).

1,368,864 refugees have fled Ukraine since the conflict first began according to the United Nations.

55% of all refugees have moved to Poland, with the remaining 45% spreading across Europe.

On Friday night, Ryan Tubridy was joined by Micheál Martin for a fundraising appeal for The Red Cross on the Late Late Show, which saw over €2 million being raised.

During the night, the Taoiseach said he has never met Russian President Vladimir Putin but stated he does not think much of him.

“I get very angry when I think about him,” he revealed.

“He’s an evil man as far as I’m concerned.

“Absolutely, dangerous and doing untold damage to people… to the people of Ukraine but also changing fundamentally the multilateral rules-based order that we all adhere to and cherish so much.”

At the end of the show, the programme revealed that €2.2 million had been raised for the fundraiser.

“Once again, the Irish people have shown their overwhelming generosity. We cannot thank you enough,” it said.

Featured Image: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

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