The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it understands that the evacuation of civilians from Mariupol and Volnovakha, Ukraine, will not start this Saturday (5) because of the continuation of the conflict after the invasion of Russia.
“We continue to engage in dialogue with the parties on the safe passage of civilians from different cities affected by the conflict,” the ICRC said in a statement.
“The scenes in Mariupol and other cities today are heartbreaking. Any initiative by the parties that gives civilians a respite from the violence and allows them to voluntarily leave for safer areas is welcome.”
The Ukrainian government previously said the plan was to evacuate around 200,000 people from Mariupol and 15,000 from Volnovakha and that the ICRC is the guarantor of the ceasefire.
Ukraine accuses Russia of violating the ceasefire and announced the postponement of the withdrawal of civilians from Mariupol on Saturday (5).
Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, posted on his Twitter profile at 12:45 pm local time: “EVACUATION OF THE PACIFIC POPULATION OF MARIUPOL POSTPONED!”
“Due to the fact that the Russians do not observe the regime of silence and continue to bomb Mariupol and its surroundings, for security reasons, the evacuation of the population has been postponed,” he added.
The Russian Defense Ministry alleges that “Russian forces were attacked after establishing humanitarian corridors” and accused “Ukrainian nationalists” of preventing the evacuation of civilians.
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.”
A humanitarian corridor is basically a route – agreed between the authorities participating in the military conflict – on which military attacks will not be carried out, so that civilians can flee the scene.
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
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