The International Red Cross announced Sunday that its teams have been trying to reach the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol, where thousands of civilians are trapped amid daily Russian attacks.
The United Nations also said that since the Russian attack on Feb. 24, 1,417 civilians have been killed and 2,038 injured in Ukraine, but the real toll is much higher.
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) spokesperson Sam Smith told Anadolu Agency (AA): "An ICRC team left Zaporizhzhia (northwest of Mariupol) on Saturday."
It was still on its way to the southern border Ukrainian port on Sunday, where people are deprived of food, water, and necessities.
"The situation is very tense," said Smith explaining that the team trying to reach Mariupol consists of three vehicles and nine personnel.
By April 2, the number of people fleeing Ukraine since the Russian-Ukrainian war began reached 4.2 million, primarily women and children and nearly one-tenth of the population, said the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR).
More than 2.4 million of those fleeing have gone to Poland.
A Red Cross team on its way to Mariupol to facilitate the safe passage of some 100,000 civilians had to backtrack Friday after conditions made it impossible to proceed, said the humanitarian group.
Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko had said on Monday that up to 160,000 civilians are stranded in the city.
The ICRC said earlier that it is communicating with Ukrainians and Russians on the final details of how tens of thousands of civilians stranded in Mariupol will be evacuated.
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