Ukrainian police refute Mariupol evacuation appeals

11:44, 28.01.2015 1 min read

The Donetsk region police department has refuted alleged appeals for Mariupol evacuation and a pending attack on that city.

"Reports saying that police officers and some other unknown persons are driving around Mariupol and notifying the population via loud hailers about the danger of new bombardments of residential areas are nothing but an attempt to cause panic amongst residents and to destabilize the situation," the public relations division of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry's department in the Donetsk region said on Tuesday.

The Mariupol city police station received an anonymous call in the evening of January 26, which claimed that citizens were urged via a loud hailer from an unknown car to leave the Ordzhonikidzevsky district because of the possibility of new bombardments.

The Mariupol Skhidny neighborhood was bombarded by militants on January 24. Thirty people died and another 105 were taken to hospital.