Ukraine has denounced the Russian proposal for humanitarian corridors as "totally immoral", after Moscow announced that it would allow civilians to leave on condition that they flee to Russia or Belarus. A spokesman for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky noted that Ukrainian citizens should be allowed to flee to Ukrainian territory, and accused Moscow of blocking previous attempts to evacuate Ukrainian cities.
"It is a completely immoral story. People's suffering is being used to create the desired TV image," the spokesman denounced in a written message. "These are citizens of Ukraine, they should have the right to take refuge on Ukrainian territory," he added."
Earlier today, the Russian military announced that it would observe a temporary ceasefire from 09:00 (Ukrainian time and Cyprus time) today in order to open humanitarian corridors in the cities of Kiev, Kharkiv, Mariupol and Sumy at the request of French President Emmanuel Macron. The Russian military added that it will open a corridor between Kiev and the Belarusian town of Gomel, located near the Ukrainian border.
Two other corridors will start from Mariupol through which civilians can head either to the Russian town of Rostov-on-Don or to the Ukrainian town of Zaporizhzhya. Moscow clarified that another corridor will start from Kharkiv to the Russian town of Belgorod.
Finally, two corridors will be created to evacuate civilians from Sumy: one towards Belgorod and the other towards Poltava in Ukraine. Two previous attempts to remove civilians from Mariupol and Volnovakh over the weekend failed due to ceasefire violations, with Kiev and Moscow blaming each other.
Today Oleksii Arestovich, an adviser to Zelensky, said negotiations were underway with Russia to create humanitarian corridors, but added that they were difficult to create as Russian troops continued their advance.
Arestovich also added that Ukrainians should be able to decide where to go, but advised them not to flee to Russia.
Pro-Russian separatist rebels attacked Mariupol
Pro-Russian separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine have launched an attack on Mariupol, a port city on the Sea of Azov, with fighting taking place mainly in its western part, the Russian Defense Ministry said today.
The ministry added that Russian troops have declared a temporary ceasefire in order to open a humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians from the city, which normally has 400,000 inhabitants.
Meanwhile, ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov noted that six humanitarian corridors will be set up today around Ukrainian cities.
"Detailed information about the humanitarian corridors has been given in advance to the Ukrainian side," he explained."
He said Russia has shot down three Ukrainian Su-27 fighter jets, one Su-25, two helicopters and some drones. This information could not be confirmed by an independent source.
Tightening grip on Kiev, escalating shelling of Kharkiv
The Russian military continues its all-out offensive in Ukraine today, bombing the country's second largest city, Kharkiv, and tightening its grip on the capital, Kiev, while the third round of Russian-Ukrainian negotiations is expected to take place later today, with little hope of bearing fruit.
The worsening armed conflict and the possibility of an embargo on Russian oil further raised the fever in international markets today, with oil soaring, many investors opting for gold with the price of that safe-haven asset soaring, and Asian stock markets falling.
Heavy aerial bombardment occurred in the early hours of today in Kharkiv, in northeastern Ukraine, targeting a local university sports complex and civilian buildings among other things, a French News Agency reporter reported.
According to the Ukrainian headquarters, Russian forces are concentrating their efforts in Kharkiv, Chernigiv (north), Sumy (northeast) and Mikolayev (south), while "gathering resources to launch an assault" on Kiev.
"Within days"
In the capital, the Ukrainian army says it is ready to destroy the last bridge linking the city to the western provinces to put the brakes on the advance of Russian tanks. The staff expects the Russian assault "within days". "If we receive an order, or if we see the Russians advancing, we will blow it up () with as many enemy tanks on it as possible," said Sergeant "Casper", a member of a unit of Ukrainian volunteers.
Fierce fighting was going on all day yesterday in the Kiev region, according to local authorities, especially around the roads leading to Zhitomir (150 km west) and Chernigiv (150 km north). In western suburbs of Kiev, particularly in Irpin, buildings were shelled 'from morning to night', then 'a tank was brought in'. 'It was frightening, we were very scared. We thought we wouldn't make it out" alive, said Tatyana Vozniuchenko, a 52-year-old resident of that suburb.
At the same time, the Russian army continues its siege of the strategic port of Mariupol, on the Sea of Azov in the southeast of the country, where a second attempt to evacuate civilians for humanitarian reasons failed yesterday, Sunday. While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of preparing to bomb the Black Sea port of Odessa.
Russian missiles fired from the sea hit the village of Tuzhly, on the outskirts of Odessa, today, Ukrainian army spokesman Sergei Brchuk said in the region. He explained that the missiles had targeted "critical infrastructure". However, no injuries were reported.
US officials, cited by the Wall Street Journal, claimed that Russia has recruited Syrian mercenaries, experienced in counter-insurgency urban warfare, to fight in Ukraine. On the other side, Kiev claims tens of thousands of foreign "volunteers" have gone to Ukraine to join the ranks of its forces.
The third round of Russian-Ukrainian negotiations is scheduled to take place today, but the chances of success of the talks are described as infinitesimal, given that Russian President Vladimir Putin is making it a necessary condition for Kiev to accept all Russian demands, especially those for the demilitarization of Ukraine and the declaration of the country's neutrality.
In the two previous rounds of talks, on the Ukrainian-Belarusian and Polish-Belarusian borders respectively, the only tangible result was practically the agreement to create "humanitarian corridors" to evacuate civilians.
Nuclear (in)security
Last night, during a telephone conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, Mr. Putin indicated that he meant to "achieve his goals" in Ukraine "either by negotiation or by war," according to Elise.
However, he assured his interlocutor that he "has no intention of launching attacks against nuclear power plants" and said he was "ready to respect the IAEA rules for the protection of (nuclear) plants" and agreed to "a dialogue between the IAEA, Ukraine and Russia" to provide guarantees for their "safety", always according to the French presidency's statement.
Following the bombing - Moscow denied it - on 4 March at the nuclear plant in Zaporizhzhya (south), the largest in Ukraine and Europe, which raised concerns about a nuclear disaster, the IAEA was informed by Kiev that the management of this plant is now under the command of Russian forces.
According to the Ukrainian authorities, only mobile phone communications are still possible, but even these are of poor quality. IAEA chief Raphael Grossi expressed "deep concern" about the "deteriorating situation regarding vital communications between the (Ukrainian) regulator and the station."
The Russian military, for its part, accused Ukraine of seeking to cause a radiation leak at Kharkiv and then blame Moscow.
During his meeting with Emmanuel Macron, Vladimir Putin also again denied that the Russian military was "targeting civilians" and insisted that "it is up to the Ukrainians to let the population leave the surrounded cities," according to the French presidency.
The International Criminal Court has opened an investigation into the commission of war crimes in Ukraine, the World Health Organization has referred to attacks on health facilities, the US has cited "credible intelligence" that Russia has committed "war crimes" since the start of the invasion on February 24.
During a speech yesterday Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russian servicemen of "deliberate murders" and asserted that "we will punish anyone who committed atrocities during this war on our territory."
Source: protothema.gr
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