Ukraine deputy PM: Mariupol evacuations not carried out as initially planned

Ukraine’s deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk says agreed humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians from Mariupol did not work as planned, blaming Russian forces for not holding their ceasefire

Hopes were dashed for a large number of civilians attempting to flee Mariupol after evacuation plans were not carried out as initially planned.

Ukraine’s deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said an agreed humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians from Mariupol had not worked as planned, blaming Russian forces for not holding their ceasefire.

She said Russian-organised buses failed to deliver evacuees on time to the point where Ukrainian buses and ambulances were waiting.

Reports come as Russian renewed its offensive on the eastern border of Ukraine.

This follows several recent failures. Donetsk's governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said the region planned for buses to evacuate some 6,000 women, children and elderly people. Without divulging figures, he said not many had left.

“People of course gathered at the agreed meeting points, but few of them got onto the buses,” Kyrylenko said.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Finnish parliament began debating on whether to seek NATO membership.

The parliament session comes despite warnings by Russia of a nuclear build-up in the Baltic should Finland and Sweden join NATO.

“I think it will happen quite fast. Within weeks, not within months,” Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin said last week.

Finland’s 200 members of parliament have received a government-commissioned “white paper” that assessed the implications of NATO membership.