Russia on Tuesday opened new humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians in Ukraine. Residents of Sumi (northeast) and Irpin (near Kiev) managed to leave the cities, according to Ukrainian officials.
The temporary ceasefire agreement took effect at 10 am (4 am GMT). Shortly afterwards, the Ukrainian government released footage of civilians boarding a humanitarian convoy bus.
“We have already started the evacuation of civilians from Sumi to Poltava [região central da Ucrânia]. We urge Russia to accept other humanitarian corridors in Ukraine,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba said on social media.
In addition to Sumi, humanitarian corridors were planned in the capital Kiev and three other Ukrainian cities: Cherhihiv, Kharkiv and Mariupol, according to the Interfax news agency.
The operation to remove the residents was agreed on this Monday (7), during the third round of negotiations on the conflict. Earlier, the organization of humanitarian corridors in Ukrainian cities, agreed at the second meeting of negotiations, failed due to the continuation of the attacks.
Also on Monday (7), a proposal made by Moscow to evacuate civilians was rejected by Kiev. In the proposed model, six routes would be established and, in some of them, the destination of civilians would be Russian and Belarusian cities. Kiev described the plan as unacceptable and immoral.
“Let’s try again,” Mikhailo Podolak, chief of staff to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, wrote on social media. According to him, the agreement for the Sumi humanitarian corridor on Tuesday was accepted by both parties.
According to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk, the Russian Defense Ministry pledged, in a letter sent to the Red Cross, to respect the corridor on Tuesday. The truce was supposed to take place from 9 am to 9 pm local time (4 am to 4 pm GMT).
She warned, however, of the risk of attacks even with the entry of the corridors in force. “We have information that the Russian side plans to disrupt this corridor and that there are manipulations to force people to follow another itinerary that is not coordinated. [com os ucranianos] and it’s dangerous,” he said.
Before the opening of the humanitarian corridors, at least 21 people – including two children – died during the bombing in Sumi. The city, located 350 km east of Kiev, has been the scene of fierce fighting for several days.
“Enemy planes insidiously attacked residential buildings,” the Ukrainian emergency services said. Rescuers managed to rescue at least one woman who was trapped under the rubble.
