Volunteers and emergency services are working at full speed as they try to evacuate people from the besieged city of Volnovakha, after the Russian Defense Ministry announced it would stop bombing the site, as well as Mariupol, both in southeastern Ukraine.
“We heard from a friend who lives there that there are so many people inside, under the buildings, actually under the destroyed buildings,” Denys Tsutsayev, one of the volunteers collecting information about the area, told CNN. “There are problems with water, energy. There are many people without heat and anything that has been in Volnovakha all these days,” said the volunteer.
“The connection is very bad in the area, so it is difficult to reach people,” he added.
THE CNN received a report from Marina Gasanova, a resident of a village near Volnovakha, whose husband has been trying to evacuate people from the town for the past few days. Earlier this week, she wrote:
The situation in the city is very frightening. There’s almost nothing left in the city, something comes every minute from all sides, it’s not clear what… and it’s not clear where it comes from. Scary, crazy!
“My husband said: ‘I go in, there’s a car parked there, I go and come back, I take people out, when I come back, the car is already on fire’. There, every minute, every second, everyone is shooting. From all sides. It’s just impossible! There are dead bodies lying around, arms ripped off, legs ripped off.”
Understanding the ceasefire
The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Saturday (5) a ceasefire in the Ukrainian cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha to allow the release of humanitarian corridors for civilians to flee.
According to the Russian government, the interruption of attacks and bombings began at 10 am Moscow time (04 am GMT), and will help civilians to escape safely from their homes.
“Today, March 5, from 10 am Moscow time, the Russian side declares a ceasefire regime and opens humanitarian corridors for the departure of civilians from Mariupol and Volnovakha,” the ministry said in a statement. “Humanitarian corridors and exit routes have been agreed with the Ukrainian side.”
This is, to date, the first ceasefire by the Russian army since Russian troops began their invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
Mykhailo Podoliak, chief of staff to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, confirmed that evacuation corridors are being prepared in regions of the country. “The parties temporarily ceased fire in the corridors area,” Podoliak said on his official Twitter account.
Mariupol, in southern Ukraine, is considered a strategic point due to its outlet to the sea, becoming a potential target in the conflict. The port city’s mayor, Vadym Boichenko, announced that Russian troops have blocked the entire region and are blocking power, water and heating supplies, as well as damaging roads.
City officials said the two sides had agreed that Ukrainians would have five hours to cross humanitarian corridors while the firing was stopped.
Last Thursday (3), at a meeting for negotiations between the two countries, representatives of Ukraine and Russia had already agreed on humanitarian corridors – places that would not be targets of Russian attacks and would serve for the passage of refugees and resources. .
“Russian and Ukrainian defense ministries have agreed to provide humanitarian corridors for civilians and a possible temporary ceasefire in areas where evacuation is taking place,” declared Russian delegation chief Vladimir Medinsky last Thursday (3) .
Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko said on Saturday that there would be further agreements with Russia on establishing humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians from frontline communities.
*With information from CNN International and Reuters
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
