Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that retreating Russian forces are creating “a complete disaster” by leaving mines on homes and corpses in their wake, as renewed missile strikes on Ukrainian cities were reported.

Ukraine’s president issued the warning on Saturday morning as the humanitarian crisis in the encircled city of Mariupol deepened, with Russian forces reportedly blocking evacuation operations for the second day in a row. Meanwhile, the Kremlin accused the Ukrainians of launching a helicopter attack on a fuel depot on Russian soil.

Ukraine denied responsibility for the attack in Belgorod near the border between the two countries, but if Moscow’s claim is confirmed, it would be the war’s first known attack in which Ukrainian aircraft penetrated Russian airspace.

Red Cross heading back to Mariupol after failed evacuation 

A Red Cross convoy heading to Mariupol will try again to evacuate civilians from the besieged port as Russian forces looked to be regrouping for new attacks in the southeast.

A spokesperson for the Red Cross said: “Our team is on the move this morning from Zaporizhzhia to Mariupol. I’m not able to give further information at this stage.”

Earlier today, Ukraine said that it expects good news over the weekend regarding evacuations of people from the besieged southeastern city of Mariupol, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelesnskiy has said.

Speaking on Ukranian television, Oleksiy Arestovych said:

“Our delegation has reached an agreement in Istanbul [during Ukraine-Russia peace talks] to provide evacuations,”

“I think that today or maybe tomorrow we will hear good news regarding the evacuation of the inhabitants of Mariupol.”

According to Reuters, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) sent a team on Friday to lead a convoy of about 54 Ukrainian buses and other private vehicles out of the city, but they turned back, saying conditions made it impossible to proceed.