The Ukrainian government denounced Russia’s claims that it will open and operate humanitarian corridors in four Ukrainian cities on Monday morning after a bloody weekend in which Russian gunfire and shellings prevented thousands of civilians from evacuating the southeastern part of the country and the capital city of Kyiv.
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that it will open humanitarian corridors in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mariupol, and Sumy beginning Monday at 10:00 a.m. Moscow time. The new evacuation routes, however, will be limited and tightly controlled by Russia, with most pathways only allowing Ukrainians passage to Russia and Belarus.
A spokesperson for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the terms of the ceasefire “completely immoral” and told Reuters, “They are citizens of Ukraine, they should have the right to evacuate to the territory of Ukraine.”
The evacuation routes available to civilians in the war-torn cities are limited and will be monitored by Russian drones, the Russian Defense Ministry added. The ceasefire decision was made at the request of French President Emmanuel Macron, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
UKRAINE SAYS GUNFIRE PREVENTS EVACUATION ATTEMPTS FOR SECOND DAY IN A ROW
“Attempts by the Ukrainian side to deceive Russia and the whole civilized world … are useless this time,” the ministry said, according to Reuters.
Evacuees from Kyiv must follow corridors leading to Russian ally Belarus, and civilians from Kharkiv will only have a safe pathway leading to Russia. The corridors established by Russia from Mariupol and Sumy will lead to other Ukrainian cities and to Russia.
“This is one of the problems that is causing the humanitarian corridors to break down. They seem to agree to them, but they themselves want to supply humanitarian aid for a picture on TV and want the corridors to lead in their direction,” the Zelensky spokesperson told Reuters.
The Russian Defense Ministry made no mention of when the ceasefire would end or what it would do if civilians attempted to flee via other routes.
Over the weekend, Ukrainian officials accused Russia of violating a ceasefire agreement reached on Thursday to evacuate civilians in the cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha. The cities suspended evacuation efforts on Sunday as alleged shellings from Russian forces continued, Donetsk Oblast Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said.
While ?? makes the evacuation impossible, Ukrainians are continuing to be responsible for those who they love.
?Irpin, attempt to create a “green corridor”, 8 civilians were killed, many wounded, including the Mayor of Bucha. pic.twitter.com/dcJBwtycDM
— MFA of Ukraine ?? (@MFA_Ukraine) March 7, 2022
In the city of Irpin, about 15 miles northwest of Kyiv, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said eight civilians were killed and many were wounded, including the mayor of Bucha, when a Russian military strike hit an evacuation route on Sunday. An Associated Press photographer captured images of bodies in the street along the evacuation route in the immediate aftermath of the shelling.
As the ceasefire was announced Monday morning, Russian forces continued with rocket attacks on the southern city of Mykolaiv, not covered by the limited ceasefire agreement, according to the Associated Press. Russia and Ukraine planned to engage in a third round of peace talks on Monday.
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The Russian military has conducted roughly 600 missile launches since invading Ukraine on Feb. 24, a Pentagon official said on Sunday.
More than a million people have fled Ukraine since the invasion began, according to the United Nations.
