Ukraine: Red Cross team detained in Russia-held town near besieged Mariupol released
- Red Cross, trying for days to reach Mariupol to help trapped civilians leave, said its team was stopped in town of Mangush, under Russian control
- The staff have now been allowed to leave and are ‘focused’ on continuing ‘volatile’ and ‘complex’ humanitarian evacuation operation
The Red Cross said on Tuesday the team that had been detained on its way to help evacuate civilians from the besieged southern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol had been released.
The International Committee of the Red Cross, which for days has been trying to get a team to Mariupol to help provide safe passage for tens of thousands of civilians seeking to leave, said on Monday its staff had been stopped in the nearby town of Mangush, currently under Russian control.
The team “that was held by police in Mangush on Monday was released last night”, the Geneva-based organisation said in a statement, adding, “This is of great relief to us and to their families.”
“The team is focused now on continuing the humanitarian evacuation operation. This incident yesterday shows how volatile and complex the operation to facilitate safe passage around Mariupol has been for our team, who have been trying to reach the city since Friday.”
Mariupol has been under siege from Russian forces for over a month, leaving the population to fend for themselves in conditions which have been denounced by the international community.
Previous attempts to evacuate residents have collapsed, although some have made the dangerous dash to freedom alone from the city, which housed around half a million people before Russia’s invasion began on February 24.
Mariupol’s mayor said on Monday a full 90 per cent of the city had been destroyed. He said around 130,000 people remained trapped there, as it continued to be pounded by Russian bombardments.