Macron announces plan to help citizens flee besieged Ukrainian city

France is to launch a humanitarian operation, with the support of Greece and Turkey, to evacuate citizens from the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol in the “next few days”.

The aim is to help “all those who wish to leave the city”, French President Emmanuel Macron said yesterday (March 25) following a European Summit in Brussels.

“I will have a new discussion with [Russian President Vladimir Putin] within 48 to 72 hours to work out the details,” he said.

He said that the French government had spoken on Friday with the mayor of Mariupol

Around 100,000 civilians are thought to be trapped in the city in southeastern Ukraine. It is considered to be strategically important as part of Russia’s invasion as whoever occupies it gains further access to the Black Sea coastline.

Reports on the total number of civilians killed in Mariupol since the beginning of the invasion vary, but are estimated to be over 2,000. Around 300 were killed when a bomb struck a theatre sheltering civilians last week.

Patrick Dutartre, a French Air Force general said today that it seems there has been “a loss of momentum in the Russian offensive, and even, in several places, a retreat”.

“I think we have to be extremely careful about all the announcements that are made. Having said that, there are some signs of encouragement…that this multipoint attack that we have been seeing for some time is ending,” he told Franceinfo this morning (March 26).

Russia announced yesterday that it was changing its approach to the invasion to concentrate on “liberating the Donbass region” in eastern Ukraine. This suggests a shift in approach towards a more limited invasion of the country.

Related stories

How can I help Ukraine from France: Host, donate, support

French companies in Russia ‘sponsoring war machine’ says Zelensky

France ups defence and deploys three of its four nuclear submarines