Ukraine has accused Russia of failing to respect the humanitarian corridor in Mariupol, a port city in the country’s southeast, almost two weeks after the start of the Russian invasion.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense denounced this Tuesday, March 8, on its Facebook page, that the Russian Army “did not let children, women and elderly people leave the city.”

“The enemy launched an attack exactly in the direction of the humanitarian corridor,” said the government entity in a statement released on the social network.

“Such actions (…) are nothing other than genocide,” the Defense Ministry said.

Ukraine claims that measures were taken, including demining roads towards Zaporizhia, 250 km northwest of Mariupol, to allow the evacuation of civilians from this port city of almost 450,000 inhabitants.

For several days, the Russian Army has been in Mariupol, a city of strategic importance due to its proximity to the annexed Crimea and the self-proclaimed Republic of Donbas (east), where the pro-Russian separatist troops are located.

In recent days there have been several attempts to evacuate some 300,000 civilians from Mariupol; however, they have failed, and Kiev and Moscow blame each other.

On the morning of March 8, Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky mentioned that “guarantees” had been given about the evacuation of Mariupol residents, but that “it had not worked”.