Ukraine opens six humanitarian corridors after daylong ceasefire

Lviv, Ukraine, Mar 9 (EFE).- Ukraine Wednesday opened six humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians after a daylong ceasefire agreement with Russia, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.

Vereshchuk, who is also the minister for the reintegration of temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, said the ceasefire began from 9 am to 9 pm to evacuate the civilian population through the six humanitarian corridors.

“At half-past six in the morning, we received a message from the Russian Federation, approving our previously proposed routes, as well as a message from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) about the letter sent in their name with such approval,” she said.

The minister said she had informed the Red Cross about the safe evacuation paths and urged the military to stop firing for evacuations.

The areas where the ceasefire comes stop include the besieged southeastern port city of Mariupol, capital Kyiv, and the Kharkiv region.

“I appeal to the Russian Federation, you have made a formal public commitment to cease fire. We have seen a negative experience where even such commitments did not work. This is about the Mariupol–Zaporizhia and Volnovakha-Pokrovsk routes,” Vereshchuk said.

She said Volnovakha residents asked the Ukrainian government to ensure that the Russians keep their promise to allow people to get out of the shelters where they have been hiding from Grad rockets and devastating fire.

Vereshchuk touched upon the situation in Vorzel, a settlement just outside Kyiv, where a boarding kindergarten has 55 children and staff in it.

“A special operation will be carried out to evacuate the orphanage. We have asked the Russian armed forces to abide by their commitments and cease fire until 9 pm,” she said.

Ukraine has repeatedly denounced the ineffectiveness of the humanitarian corridors due to the alleged non-compliance by the Russian side, which continues to carry out attacks in the affected areas.

The United Nations says more than two million citizens have left Ukraine, most of them to neighboring nations of Poland, Moldova, and Romania since the Russian invasion on Feb.24. EFE

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