Russia: Ceasefire on Thursday in Mariupol to allow civilians to leave

Provisional ceasefire in Mariupol as of 10 a.m. Thursday morning, the Ministry of Defense announced Russia, in order to evacuate civilians from the besieged Ukrainian port city.

This measure will allow the opening of a «humanitarian corridor» to the Ukrainian city Zaporizhzhya, according to the Russian Ministry of Defence.

«In order for this humanitarian operation to succeed, we propose that it be conducted with the direct participation of representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Committee of the Red Cross», underlined the statement of the Russian Ministry of Defence.

The Russian ministry is also asking Kiev to guarantee «unconditional respect» of this local ceasefire by means of a written notification addressed to the Kremlin, the UNHCR and the ICRC before 6 a.m. on Thursday.

At least 15 dead in the Russian missile strike on Mikolayf

At least fifteen people died in the Russian missile strike on a local government building in the Ukrainian city of Mikolayf (south) the day before yesterday, Tuesday, according to a post by regional governor Vitaly Kim on the Telegram platform. The missile destroyed a section in the middle of the building. Kim said his office was located in the section that was destroyed, clarifying that he was not in the building when it was hit.

Initially, rescue crews were able to recover three bodies. But yesterday the death toll reached 15 dead and 34 injured, always according to Mr Kim. Moscow is also asking the Ukrainian military to commit to the safety of buses travelling along the agreed route in this «humanitarian corridor».

Oil storage tank in Dnipro and factory hit by Russian missiles

Tank filled with petroleum was destroyed in a missile attack in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro (southeast), local official Mikola Lukashuk announced via Telegram late last Wednesday night.

There is no information on casualties, he added. Lukashuk called it a strike by the Russian army.

A factory in Novomoskovsk, northeast of Dnipro, was also hit by a missile yesterday, Wednesday, with no deaths reported, according to Valentin Reznichenko, a local government official in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Until yesterday, Dnipro had not suffered systematic shelling since the outbreak of war on 24 February. However, Ukrainian sources note that the other day Russian forces hit a military unit near the city with missiles, causing extensive damage to the facilities.

This information cannot be independently confirmed.