The invaders disrupted the delivery of humanitarian cargo to Mariupol and the evacuation from the city by launching a tank attack at the place where the convoy passed, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

"I decided… to send a convoy of trucks to Mariupol. With food, water, medicine. I am grateful to the drivers – brave people who were ready to carry out this mission. Overwhelming mission. But the occupiers launched a tank attack exactly where this corridor should have been. The corridor of life," he said in a video message on Thursday evening.

According to him, "they did it deliberately. They knew what they were doing."

"They have a clear order to hold Mariupol hostage, to mock it. Constant bombardment, shelling. Today they destroyed the building of the main department of the State Emergency Service in Donetsk region. It was right next to this building that was the place where Mariupol residents were supposed to gather for evacuation," Zelensky said.

He called it "outright terror". "The world needs to know this. I must admit it. We are all dealing with a terrorist state," the president said.

At the same time, he noted that he would continue trying to bring to Mariupol the help that people so desperately need.