Evacuation from Mariupol, Melitopol, Enerhodar expected on Thursday - Ukrainian Deputy PM Vereshchuk

KYIV. March 31 (Interfax-Interfax) - Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories Iryna Vereshchuk expressed hope that a humanitarian convoy will be able to reach Mariupol via Berdyansk, adding that two humanitarian corridors from Melitopol and Enerhodar have been approved in the Zaporizhzhya region, the Ukrainian presidential office quoted Vereshchuk as saying on Thursday.

"We will do everything we can so that buses arrive in Mariupol today and pick up people who have been unable to leave the city," Vereshchuk said. According to her, 45 buses have been sent to Mariupol.

Two humanitarian corridors have been approved in the Zaporizhzhya region in order to bring humanitarian aid and to evacuate people from Melitopol. A convoy of personal vehicles is due to leave Enerhodar for Zaporizhzhya, she said.

Personal vehicles may join humanitarian convoys on their way from Mariupol and Melitopol to Zaporizhzhya, Vereshchuk said.

"We are beginning the evacuation," she said.