“Humanitarian corridors” were opened on Monday to allow the departure of civilians from several besieged cities in Ukraine, but they led to Russia and Belarus and were therefore rejected by the Ukrainian government.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday (March 7) accused the Russian army of having failed to evacuate civilians via the humanitarian corridors which were to be set up in the country following talks.
“There was an agreement on the humanitarian corridors. Did it work? Russian tanks worked instead, the Grad [lance-roquettes multiples] Russian mines, Russian mines”he said in a video posted on Telegram.
He accused the Russian forces of having “mined the route that had been agreed to bring food and medicine” in the besieged city of Mariupol in southern Ukraine, and “destroy the buses” to evacuate civilians from combat zones.
“They make sure that a small corridor to the occupied territory is opened, for a few dozen people. Not so much to Russia as to the propagandists, directly to the television cameras”, continued Volodymyr Zelensky, accusing Moscow of “cynicism”.
Moscow announced Monday morning the establishment of local ceasefires and the opening of corridors to allow the departure of civilians from several besieged cities in Ukraine, where the humanitarian situation is worsening day by day. But Ukraine has refused to evacuate civilians to Russia, with four of the six corridors proposed by the Russians going to that country or its neighbor and ally Belarus.
After new negotiations on Monday, Russia announced the establishment of local ceasefires in several Ukrainian cities from 8 a.m. (French time) on Tuesday to allow the evacuation of civilians.