Athens launched a new operation on Saturday to evacuate Greek expatriates and citizens from Odessa as Russia's defence ministry announced a ceasefire to allow civilians in Mariupol and Volnovakha to leave.

According to Athens News Agency quoting diplomatic sources, the evacuation coordinated by the Greek General Consul in Odessa involves 25 people. Among them, nine are members of the crew of a Greek-owned ship stranded at the port of Odessa since the beginning of the war. 

The evacuees, who left Saturday morning, are expected to reach Moldova by the end of the day. 

A convoy of 21 cars with over 80 people that had left Mariupol on Wednesday arrived in Budapest on Friday. 

A group of 26 Greeks and family members were relocated from Odessa to Moldova on Monday, and another 50 Greeks and Cypriots from Kyiv and Odessa were flown out of Romania with their families on Tuesday, according to the Greek Foreign Ministry.

The Greek migration ministry said on Saturday that from the beginning of the war in Ukraine, 3,155 people have fled to Greece. Among them, 906 are minors. 

Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi has said a former migrant camp near the northern town of Serres had been set aside to accommodate people.

A migration ministry source said the Sindiki camp can accommodate up to 700 people.

Greece says Russian airstrikes have killed nearly a dozen members of the ethnic Greek community of over 100,000 people. 

Russia has denied this and says Ukrainian forces are to blame.