(Kyiv) Ukraine was expecting local ceasefires in several of its cities on Tuesday morning, supposed to allow the evacuation of civilians via humanitarian corridors, as the Russian army continues, according to Kyiv, to deploy to major combat areas.
Updated yesterday at 8:54 p.m.
Russia announced on Monday evening the establishment of these ceasefires “from 10 a.m. Moscow time (7 a.m. GMT) on March 8” for the evacuation of civilians from Kyiv, as well as cities from Sumy, Kharkiv, Cherniguiv and Mariupol, the cell of the Russian Ministry of Defense, in charge of humanitarian operations in Ukraine, said in a press release.
According to Moscow, the new evacuation routes should be communicated to the Ukrainian authorities, so that they can give their agreement before 00:00 GMT on the night of Monday to Tuesday. However, no information concerning this response had filtered past this deadline.
On Monday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused the Russian army of having repeatedly failed to evacuate civilians via humanitarian corridors.
“There was an agreement on the humanitarian corridors. Did it work? Russian tanks worked instead, Russian Grads, Russian mines,” Zelensky said in a video posted on Telegram.
He accused Russian forces of ‘mining the route that had been agreed to bring food and medicine’ into the beleaguered city of Mariupol in southern Ukraine and of ‘destroying the buses’ due to evacuate. civilians in combat zones.
“They ensure that a small corridor to the occupied territory is open, for a few dozen people. Not so much to Russia as to propagandists, directly to television cameras,” Mr Zelensky continued, accusing Moscow of “cynicism.”
The Ukrainian president, however, indicated that Kyiv will continue to negotiate with Russia until a peace agreement is found.
“I stay here, I stay in Kyiv […] I’m not afraid,” Mr. Zelensky said again.
And according to the Ukrainian general staff, Russia continues to deploy soldiers and equipment on the fronts of Kyiv, Mariupol in the south and Kharkiv in the northeast, the main combat zones in Ukraine.
Russia, he said, suffered losses trying to take the city of Izium (east) and had to retreat. “The occupiers have reigned terror in the city, by bombing civilian premises and infrastructure,” said the staff, which also ensures that the Russian forces are “demoralized”.
And according to the Ukrainian Parliament, President Volodmyr Zelensky ordered the recall of all Ukrainian servicemen participating in operations abroad to strengthen the national army.
The Russian army continued its offensive and its bombardments on Monday, causing in particular, according to Ukrainian relief, thirteen deaths in a strike on an industrial bakery, in Makariv, a locality located on one of the main axes leading from the west of Ukraine to Kyiv.
On the thirteenth day of the invasion launched by Vladimir Putin, the Russian army continued its advance towards the capital, which expects an attack “in the days to come”, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of the Interior.
“Every house, every street, every checkpoint will resist until death if necessary,” promised the mayor of Kyiv, former boxing champion Vitali Klitschko.
UN appeal
The humanitarian situation is also worsening day by day, with several towns under siege where food is running out.
The UN “needs safe corridors to provide humanitarian aid in areas of hostilities” in Ukraine, in this context hammered Monday at the UN Security Council the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for Foreign Affairs humanitarians, Martin Griffiths.
Following Monday’s talks with the Russian side, the Ukrainians spoke of “some positive results” on the humanitarian corridors. “We will provide more effective help to people who are suffering from the aggression of the Russian Federation,” declared Mykhaïlo Podoliak, a member of the Ukrainian delegation.
PHOTO MAXIM GUCHEK, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
A third round of Russian-Ukrainian negotiations ended Monday evening in Belarus.
On key issues, such as those relating to a ceasefire, “intensive dialogues will continue”, he added.
Moscow had already announced on Monday morning the establishment of local ceasefires and the opening of corridors to allow the departure of civilians from several cities in Ukraine – including Kyiv and Kharkiv, the second largest city, in the north. -est – under heavy fire for several days.
But Ukraine refused to evacuate civilians to Russia – four of the six corridors proposed by the Russians went to that country or its neighbor and ally Belarus.
PHOTO SERGE SUPINSKY, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
A man stacks sandbags to protect the entrance to a Kyiv metro station.
In an exchange with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, Vladimir Putin accused the “Ukrainian nationalist battalions of hindering (the evacuations) by resorting to violence and various provocations”.
French President Emmanuel Macron for his part denounced “the moral and political cynicism” expressed in this Russian proposal to offer humanitarian corridors to Ukrainians to “bring them to Russia”.
” Short of money ”
In Irpin, the last city-lock before Kyiv arriving from the west, 10,000 people have marched in recent days on an improbable plank of wood, half sunk in water, to escape the bombardments.
PHOTO DIMITAR DILKOFF, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
A soldier helps a woman cross a bridge in Irpin.
The concrete bridge, gaping over the river, was destroyed by Ukrainian forces to prevent the passage of Russian armor.
Children, the elderly – some carried on carpets serving as stretchers – and families abandon pushchairs, too heavy suitcases to rush into buses and vans.
“I’m so happy I made it through, it’s going to be fine now,” says Olga, 48, who took this route with her two dogs.
Odessa, on the shores of the Black Sea, is also increasingly threatened. Distraught families have entrusted sick old parents, too weak to flee the port city, to the Archangelo Mikhailovsky monastery, with golden and gray domes, AFP noted.
Ukrainians also continue to take the road to exile en masse. The war has already pushed more than 1.7 million people to seek refuge in neighboring countries, according to the UN.
PHOTO ANDREEA ALEXANDRU, ASSOCIATED PRESS
A firefighter holds the baby of a refugee who arrived at the Romanian-Ukrainian border, in Siret, Romania.
Europe can expect to receive five million exiles if the bombardments of cities continue, estimated the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell.
Since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, described as a “special military operation” by Moscow, at least 406 civilians have been killed and 801 injured, according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The UNHCR stresses, however, that its assessments are probably much lower than the reality.
“Catastrophic consequences”
Diplomacy is also trying to regain its rights, with an announced meeting of Russian Foreign Ministers Sergei Lavrov, Ukrainian Dmytro Kouleba and their Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Cavusoglu Thursday in Turkey.
However, hopes of success are slim, Vladimir Putin continuing to set as a precondition for any dialogue Kyiv’s acceptance of all Moscow’s demands, in particular the demilitarization of Ukraine and a neutral status for this country.
US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson have also said they are “determined to continue to increase the cost” inflicted on Russia, according to a press release released on Monday. by the White House after a videoconference.
PHOTO ADAM SCHULTZ, THE WHITE HOUSE VIA AP
Joe Biden spoke by videoconference with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
A possible embargo on Russian gas and oil was mentioned on this occasion, but Joe Biden “has not made a decision at this stage,” said Washington.
The European Union also launched on Monday the long and complex procedure for examining the membership applications of Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, submitted last week, which could further exacerbate the tensions with Moscow.