Around 200 evacuees had gathered at meeting point
AFP
An attempted Ukrainian evacuation of civilians from the shattered city of Mariupol, where many remain trapped, was "thwarted" by Russian forces on Saturday, a city official said.
"The evacuation was thwarted," Mariupol city official Petro Andryushchenko said on Telegram, adding that around 200 residents had gathered at the evacuation meeting point announced by Kyiv, but Russian forces "dispersed" them.
He claimed others were told to board buses headed to places controlled by Russia.
Meanwhile, a Russian strike killed at least five people, including a baby, and wounded 18 others in Ukraine's Black Sea city of Odessa on Saturday, Kyiv said, warning the toll would likely rise.
"Five Ukrainians killed and 18 wounded. And those are only the ones that we were able to find. It is likely that the death toll will be heavy," the head of Ukraine's presidential office Andriy Yermak said on Telegram.
"A three-month-old baby was among those killed."