Mariupol residents wait to be evacuated: "There are no adjectives to describe the horrors they have suffered"

Residents of the southern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol are still waiting Friday to be evacuated following Russian promises of a ceasefire in the area.

The bus convoy that was to transport the inhabitants was

on Thursday by Russian forces, according to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.

In addition, they seized 14 tons of food and medicine intended for civilians.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Friday that

 "This effort has been and continues to be extremely complex," he said in a statement, adding that it was not yet clear if the evacuations could move forward on Friday. 

Mariupol has been virtually flattened by Russian attacks since the beginning of the invasion, with harrowing stories of civilians, including children, bearing the brunt.

The city is facing a humanitarian crisis, with residents lacking access to basic items such as food and water. 

[Satellite Images Reveal Devastation of Mariupol After Russian Bombing]

A man walks with his dog near a building damaged by shells on the outskirts of Mariupol, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 29, 2022.Alexei Alexandrov/AP

The Red Cross said it had a team of three cars and nine staff members on their way to Mariupol from Zaporizhzhia to help with the operation.

“We are running out of adjectives to describe

that residents of Mariupol have suffered.

The situation is dire and deteriorating, and it is now a humanitarian imperative that people be allowed out and relief supplies in,” the Red Cross warned.

In the last month, Ukraine has accused Russia of bombing not only residential areas of Mariupol, but also hospitals and medical wards.

One of the latest deadliest attacks was on a theater where more than a thousand people were sheltering, according to Ukrainian authorities.

It left a balance of at least 300 dead.

Russia does not stop its bombing and now it attacked a building of the International Red Cross

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Peace talks: Russia regroups

Meanwhile, peace talks are expected to resume by video on Friday, Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia said.

Russia has said it will reduce fighting in northern Ukraine and in urban areas around kyiv, the country's capital.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that after Russian soldiers withdrew from the north and center of the country, the situation has intensified in the southeast, where Russian forces are preparing for new powerful attacks.

“We know your intentions.

We know what they are planning and what they are doing,” Zelenskyy said.

“We know that they are moving away from those areas where we attack them to focus on other very important areas.

Where it could be difficult for us, ”he added, as reported by The Associated Press.

Western military experts have also indicated that they believe

and redeploy them for a new offensive, likely focused only on the eastern part of the country.

Biden considers that Putin is isolated and is being poorly advised

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Separately, a Russian official blamed an airstrike by two Ukrainian helicopters for the explosion on Friday at an oil depot in his city, Belgorod. 

Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Belgorod, near the Ukrainian border, said the warehouse fire was the result of "an airstrike by two Ukrainian armed forces helicopters, which entered the territory of Russia at low altitude." .

No one was killed or injured in the attack.

Russian troops loot Chernobyl

Russian troops began withdrawing from Chernobyl on Thursday after their soldiers received "significant doses" of radiation.

Before leaving the facility, they looted it.

"The Russian military stole computers, kettles, coffee pots and other assets from the nuclear power plant," Yevhen Kramarenko, head of the State Agency for the Management of the Exclusion Zone, said in an interview on Ukrainian television on Friday.

And he added that they ransacked a nearby hotel for kitchen utensils.

With information from AP and