Pope calls for humanitarian corridors for evacuation of Mariupol civilians
Pope Francis today reiterated the call for establishment humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians from the Ukrainian city Mariupol, who, he said, was "barbarically bombed and destroyed."
"My thoughts are with the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, a city that has been barbarically bombed and destroyed. "I reiterate my call for the opening of secured humanitarian corridors," the pope said during a Sunday prayer service at the Vatican.
From Mariupol, which was almost completely destroyed after weeks of siege, the first group of civilians emerged yesterday from the Azovstal steel plant, the last stronghold of the Ukrainian resistance in the city.
According to the Ukrainian Azov Battalion, about twenty civilians have been evacuated, the first successful evacuation since previous failed attempts. Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Ministry said today that two groups of 25 and 21 civilians had managed to leave Azovstal, where hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians had taken refuge in underground passages to Kyiv.
Speaking of the war in Ukraine, the Pope condemned the "dark regression of humanity."