Ukraine announced this morning the evacuation of civilians from the strategically important port city of Mariupol, after Russian forces, which have surrounded the city and are advancing elsewhere in the country, announced a temporary ceasefire. At the same time fierce fighting is raging around Kyiv.
The announcement about evacuation of civilians from Mariupolwhich may pave the way for the Russian takeover of the city, came as Kyiv and Moscow prepare for a third round of talks over the weekend.
The civilians will be able to leave Mariupol from 12:00 to 17:00 (Moscow time, 11: 00-16: 00 Ukrainian and Greek time), the city authorities in eastern Ukraine announced, as reported by the RIA agency.
President Volodymyr Zelensky recently stated that the ceasefire had begun, but there were reports that it had not been fully complied with by the Russian side.
The Mariupol city council in Ukraine has complained that Russian forces are not adhering to the agreed ceasefire along the entire civilian evacuation route.
“We are negotiating with the Russian side to confirm the ceasefire along the entire road,” he said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed with his Belarusian counterpart Vladimir Makei plans to build humanitarian corridors in Ukraine, through which foreigners can leave the country, RIA Novosti reported quoting the Belarusian Foreign Ministry.
According to Mikhail Pontoliak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, third round of talks may take place today or tomorrow.
But the chances of progress are extremely slim, as Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that dialogue with Kyiv will only be possible if “all of Russia’s demands,” especially “neutral and non-nuclear,” are accepted. Ukraine’s regime and ‘its compulsory demilitarization’.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Herashenko said today that there would be other agreements with Russia on the establishment of humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians from cities on the front lines.
“There will definitely be other agreements like this for all other regions,” he said.
After ten days of war, the death toll is impossible to confirm from independent sources.
Kyiv says at least 350 civilians have been killed, as well as more than 9,000 Russian soldiers, without mentioning casualties among the Ukrainian military.
Moscow has said 2,870 people have been killed on the Ukrainian side and 498 on the Russian side.
More from 1.2 million refugees have already left Ukraineaccording to the latest report from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The occupation of Mariupol, which has been besieged and bombed by the Russians for almost a week, with the result that the electricity supply has been cut off and there is a shortage of food and water, will be a major turning point for the conflict.
It will allow Russian forces from Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014 and have already occupied the key ports of Berdyansk and Kherson, to join forces with pro-Russian separatist forces in eastern Ukraine.
In 2014, Mariupol, a city of about 450,000 people, had resisted attacks by pro-Russian guerrillas.
“The evacuation of the civilian population will begin at 11:00 (Greek time and time),” city officials said shortly after Moscow said it had reached an agreement with Kyiv on a temporary ceasefire to evacuate civilians. from Mariupol and Volnovacha, located about 60 km further north.
At 09:00 (local time) “the Russian side declared a state of silence (of weapons) and announced the opening humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of citizensThe Russian Defense Ministry said earlier today that the humanitarian corridors and exit points had been agreed upon jointly with Kyiv.
“Cowardly and terrorist”
This morning, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov posted on Facebook acknowledging that the Russians have made progress in many directions, but said they controlled “a small part” of the country, adding that Ukrainian fighters were “pushing them away”.
“The ‘big’ army shows its real, cowardly and terrorist nature, capable of attacking civilians – women, children, unarmed civilians”, but “the enemy will answer for every life that is lost, for every tear that is caused” , Reznikov stressed.
The Russian military, which continues to bomb Kiev on the outskirts of Kiev, mainly in the northwest and east, has said that pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine control six cities in the Donetsk region. Russian forces say they have made progress in the south as well, occupying ten villages and areas.
The Russian army has been controlling the Zaporizhia nuclear plant between Mariupol and Kiev since Friday, when it was set on fire by Russian artillery.
Moscow, for its part, blamed “groups of Ukrainian saboteurs with the participation of mercenaries” for the fire.
The G7 countries have announced that they will “impose new severe sanctions in response to Russian aggression.”
While stressing the need to “end” the conflict, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned that the Alliance could not respond to Kiev’s request to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
That would mean “sending NATO aircraft into Ukrainian airspace” to “shoot down Russian aircraft” and thus “could lead to a wide-ranging conflict,” said US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reacted strongly. NATO “gave the green light to continue bombing Ukrainian cities and villages by refusing to impose a no-fly zone,” he said.
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