離開
進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Ukraine delays evacuation of besieged port
A man gestures to a child in front of an evacuation train at Kyiv’s central train station on Friday. Photo: AFP
/ AFP, KYIV
The Ukrainian port city of Mariupol yesterday delayed a planned evacuation of residents, blaming Russian forces for breaking their temporary ceasefire to allow civilians to flee one of the war’s fiercest battles.
Russia has besieged the strategic city, which proudly resisted Moscow-backed rebels during a 2014 conflict, cutting off electricity, food and water in the dead of winter.
“Due to the fact that the Russian side does not adhere to the ceasefire and has continued shelling both Mariupol itself and its environs, and for security reasons, the evacuation of the civilian population has been postponed,” city officials said in a statement on social media.
Civilians who gathered to leave were told to return to shelters.
Negotiations were under way “to establish a ceasefire and ensure a safe humanitarian corridor,” Mariupol authorities added.
An evacuation had been seen as a prelude to a final assault that, if successful, would see the Russian army push north from occupied Crimea and link up with its forces from the east and take control of Ukraine’s coast on the Sea of Azov.
After the Russian Ministry of Defense declared a ceasefire to allow humanitarian corridors out of Mariupol and neighboring Volnovakha, officials announced that the port city’s 450,000-strong population could begin to leave by bus and private vehicles.
“This is not an easy decision, but ... Mariupol is not its streets or houses. Mariupol is its population, it is you and me,” Mariupol Mayor Vadim Boychenko said.
“Last night the shelling was harder and closer. We collected snow and rainwater yesterday... We tried to get free water today but the queue was huge,” a Doctors Without Borders aid worker in the city said.
The Mariupol siege came as more Russian forces inched closer to the capital, Kyiv, encountering stiff resistance and shelling in the western suburbs and the northern town of Chernihiv, where there have been heavy civilian casualties in the past few days.
Agence France-Presse reporters who yesterday visited the town saw scenes of devastation — despite Moscow’s insistence it is not targeting civilian areas.
Fears are rising in Kyiv that the capital would suffer the same fate once Russian missile artillery is deployed within range.
Ukrainian Minister of Defense Oleksiy Reznikov alleged that Russia had changed tactics after encountering tough resistance.
Ukraine, he said, had ended Russia’s plan to quickly storm major cities and overthrow Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s government, forcing Moscow to resort to “cowardly” attacks on civilians.
Zelenskiy remained defiant and announced that Ukrainian forces were counterattacking around Kharkiv, the country’s second largest city, which has seen incursions by Russian forces and fierce bombardments.
“Ukrainian armed forces bravely hold all the key areas of our defense,” he said. “We inflict such losses on the invaders that they have not seen even in their worst dream.”
Since Putin’s army invaded on Thursday last week, Russia has pummelled Ukrainian cities, with officials reporting hundreds of civilians killed.
However, Moscow has so far only seized two key cities in its 10-day-long invasion — Berdiansk and Kherson on Ukraine’s southern Black Sea coast.
Capturing Mariupol represents a bigger prize for Russian forces, as it would deal a severe blow to Ukraine’s maritime access and connect with troops coming from annexed Crimea and Donbas.
Zelenskiy was yesterday to appeal to Washington for more assistance with an address to the US Senate, after some lawmakers urged US President Joe Biden to take tougher measures, including banning Russia’s oil imports.
Zelenskiy earlier criticized NATO for ruling out imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine, saying the Western military alliance had essentially given “the green light for further bombing of Ukrainian cities and villages.”
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
Fires burn after a residential area of Mariupol, Ukraine, was shelled on Thursday. Photo: Twitter @AyBurlachenko via Reuters
