Humanitarian aid has not yet arrived in the city of Mariupol in the Donetsk region, which remains blockaded by the Russian occupying forces. An aid shipment is currently halted in one of the towns in the Zaporizhia region.
In the Mariupol sector, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have launched a successful counterattack and destroyed three enemy tanks, 4 military armoured personnel carriers, 2 Tigers (Russian 4x4, multipurpose, all-terrain infantry mobility vehicle – ed.), and ca. 30 troops. Two Russian soldiers were captured.
Russian troops have broken the ceasefire and shelled the "green corridor" established on 5 March for the evacuation of residents from the besieged Mariupol.
The Russian Ministry of Defence states that no one is arriving at the open humanitarian corridors in Mariupol and Volnovakha because “nationalists are holding the civilians back”.
Russian shelling of the evacuation of Mariupol has forced its postponement, and has violated the bilateral agreement to establish a humanitarian corridor leading out of the city.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged all those Ukrainians in Mariupol, Volnovakha, and other cities who are able to stay, to stay and defend their cities.
The ceasefire promised by the Russian troops to allow for the evacuation of civilians from Mariupol and Volnovakha has not yet been confirmed. Negotiations with the Russian military continue.
Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the Ministry of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories Iryna Vereschuk confirmed the evacuation routes from Mariupol and Volnovakha. The Armed Forces report that Russian troops may use the ceasefire to advance.
Russian troops have been mercilessly shelling Mariupol for five days, destroying its infrastructure – the city has been left without heat, water and electricity, there are 300 injured people in hospital, but these are being targeted as well.
Mariupol is being shelled for the fourth day. The city is without communications, electricity, water and heating. There are almost no windows left in the houses.
Russian troops have advanced in Enerhodar in the Zaporizhia Region, and near the town of Voznesensk in the Mykolaiv Region, but in general Ukrainian forces maintain control of the situation.
According to preliminary police data, at least one person was killed and three were injured in the artillery shelling executed by the Russian invaders in the centre of Mariupol.
The Russian army has shelled residential neighbourhoods in Mariupol. As a result of this military terrorist operation, several houses and a school were damaged.
Olga Gluschenko – Saturday, 26 February 2022, 7:38 PM
Russian invaders executed an airstrike on the town of Sartanav near Mariupil. At least four persons were killed, and nine, among them a child, wounded.
Part of the special forces that belong to the Azov regiment of the National Guard were relocated to reinforce control of the Azov shore and prevent sabotage and reconnaissance groups from entering government-controlled territory in this area.