(Moscow) Russia’s Defense Ministry announced a “silence regime” Wednesday night, or local ceasefire, starting at 10 a.m. Thursday (3 a.m. EDT) in the besieged Ukrainian port of Mariupol in order to evacuate civilians.
Posted at 4:38 p.m.
Updated at 4:55 p.m.
This measure should make it possible to open a humanitarian corridor to the Ukrainian city of Zaporijjia with a stopover via the port of Berdiansk, under Russian control.
“For this humanitarian operation to succeed, we propose to conduct it with the direct participation of representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)”, added the ministry in a statement.
The Russian ministry also demands that Kyiv guarantee “unconditional respect” for this local ceasefire via a written notification sent to the Russian side, UNHCR and the ICRC by 6 a.m. Thursday (11 p.m. Wednesday EDT).
Moscow is also asking the Ukrainian army to commit to ensuring the safety of the bus convoys that will travel along the agreed route for this corridor.