Planned Evacuation from Mariupol Was Disrupted by Russian Troops Who Dispersed the Refugees
On April 23rd, around 200 Mariupol residents gathered at the assembly point waiting for announced evacuation to Zaporizhzhia. However, the planned evacuation was disrupted by Russian troops. The invaders forced the people to scatter, threatened with artillery attacks and claimed that the only possible evacuation route was to the occupied town of Dokuchaievsk.
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Around 11:00 a.m., the Mariupol residents gathered near the Port-City shopping mall waiting for evacuation to Zaporizhzhia previously announced by the Ukrainian government. However, instead of the evacuation buses promised by the Russian side, the refugees were met by the enemy troops, who ordered them to scatter because of upcoming Russian artillery attack, as Petro Andriushchenko, the Adviser to the Mayor of Mariupol, reported.
"The people were essentially scared away by Russian troops, who used the brute force to disperse the crowd. The evacuation buses for refugees were not arranged", the official message reads.
Andriushchenko added that the Russian side, however, dispatched the buses to a second assembly site near Metro mall, around 200 meters away from the agreed evacuation point, and allowed the refugees to get into the vehicles. After the buses were full, the invaders announced that the only possible “evacuation” route was to the occupied town of Dokuchaievsk. “The people were not allowed to leave the buses. When asked what was going on, the invaders answered that “the Nazis” allegedly “attacked the evacuation point”. It was another false statement by the invasion army. Indeed, once again Russians disrupted confirmed evacuation ruthlessly ignoring the Mariupol residents’ desire to return home, abusing the honesty and willingness to cease fire demonstrated by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and acting exclusively in their own deprived interests”, the Mayor’s Adviser emphasized.
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