A major evacuation of the port city of 450,000 began on Saturday morning. (Twitter @AyBurlachenko via Reuters)Officials in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, surrounded by Russian forces, on Saturday delayed an evacuation of the civilian population, accusing Moscow’s troops of breaking a ceasefire. It also said it had respected the ceasefire and accused Ukrainian forces of shoring up defences during the halt in fighting. The capture of Mariupol, a port city of 450,000 people on the Azov Sea, could enable Russian troops coming from annexed Crimea to connect with the forces of separatist-controlled Donbas. Russian forces have made their biggest advances in the south, where they captured their first sizeable Ukrainian city, Kherson, this week.

Source: Bangkok Post March 05, 2022 13:00 UTC