Convoy of cars leaves encircled Ukrainian city of Mariupol, says city officials

A convoy of over 160 cars left Mariupol on Monday, local officials said, in what appeared to be the first successful attempt to arrange a “humanitarian corridor” to evacuate civilians from the encircled Ukrainian city.

Civilians have been trapped in the Black Sea port city for more than two weeks and are running out of supplies after being surrounded by Russian forces, the Ukrainian authorities say.

After several days of failed attempts to deliver supplies to Mariupol and provide safe passage out for trapped civilians, the city council said a local ceasefire was holding and the convoy had left for the city of Zaporizhzhia.

“It is known that as of 1300 (1100 GMT) more than 160 private cars managed to leave,” it said in an online post.

It said the convoy had reached the nearby city of Berdyansk and was heading on towards Zaporizhzhia.

“There is also confirmation that a ceasefire is currently holding along the humanitarian corridor that has been established,” it said.

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The toll could not be independently verified by Reuters. Russia says it does not target civilians.