So begins a Twitter thread from the ICRC. They had been able to mediate another evacuation period for the citizens of Mariupol and Volnovakha, but it again failed to happen because of the resumption of shelling. As the ICRC points out in their thread, they can only be mediators for these things; it is up to the parties involved to carry them out. Ukraine has the motivation to do so; Russia does not.

ICRC on Twitter: “People are living in terror in Mariupol, desperate for safety. Today’s attempt to start evacuating an estimated 200,000 people has failed. The failed attempts underscore the absence of a detailed and functioning agreement between parties to the conflict. #Ukraine Thread 👇” / Twitter

As if strangling this city of a half-million people wasn’t enough, Russian shelling has also damaged a natural gas pipeline that supplies heat to Berdyansk and villages throughout the southeast part of the country. It’s still winter and it still gets cold, especially at night, and now that area is going to freeze until/unless the pipeline can be repaired. This is bad for the ordinary people, but it’s also an example of Russia’s “Ready, Fire, Aim” military strategy: Russian forces took control of Berdyansk several days ago.

A convoy of humanitarian assistance did leave Zaporizhia today, bound for Mariupol. In normal times the trip would only take 3-4 hours. As of the last reports I saw, the convoy has not yet arrived. Given the collapse of the green corridors, I would not be surprised to next read that it had to turn around, or that it had been shelled and destroyed. Hopefully it’s just being help up at some ridiculous checkpoint and it will arrive in Mariupol, eventually and safely.