An evacuation from Mariupol could take place today, according to local officials. According to Reuters the besieged port city’s council and governor told residents who wanted to leave for the city of Zaporizhzhia to gather at 4pm.
Meanwhile, Russia on 24th February launched the war on Ukraine. And, according to the latest updates, Ukraine president Zelenskiy says Ukrainian forces have destroyed about 1,000 Russian tanks, 2,500 armoured vehicles, and almost 200 aircraft. Twenty wounded civilians were able to evacuate from the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, and are likely on their way to Zaporizhzhia. This comes as satellite images released today showed that nearly all the buildings of the steel plant had been destroyed. Ukraine carried out a prisoner exchange with Russia, with seven soldiers and seven civilians coming home. One of the soldiers was a woman who is five months pregnant. However, a Russian missile strike on Odesa airport has damaged the runway, rendering it unusable, but there were no casualties from the attack.