Kyiv announced on Monday that it would give up any evacuation corridor for civilians for fear of Russian “provocations”, before a new session of face-to-face talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators in Turkey.
“Our intelligence has reported possible provocations by the occupiers on the routes of the humanitarian corridors. Therefore, for security reasons for civilians, no humanitarian corridors will be opened today,” Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk wrote on Telegram.
Humanitarian corridors are usually organized daily from the towns most affected by the fighting to allow the evacuation of civilians.
Ukraine has repeatedly denounced Russian attacks on these corridors, especially around the besieged and devastated city of Mariupol (south).