Ukraine: Evacuation of civilians from Mariupol begins, fierce fighting rages in Kyiv

Ukraine announced this morning the evacuation of civilians from the strategically important port city of Mariupol, after Russian forces, which have surrounded the city and are advancing elsewhere in the country, announced a temporary ceasefire. At the same time fierce fighting is raging around Kyiv.

The announcement of the evacuation of civilians from Mariupol, which may pave the way for the Russian takeover of the city, came as Kyiv and Moscow prepared for a third round of talks over the weekend.

According to Mikhail Pontoliak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the third round of talks could take place today or tomorrow.

But the chances of progress on them are extremely slim, as Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that dialogue with Kyiv will only be possible if “all of Russia’s demands” are accepted, especially “neutral and non-nuclear” “Ukraine’s regime and” its compulsory demilitarization “.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Herashenko said today that there would be other agreements with Russia on the creation of humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians from cities on the front lines.

“There will definitely be other agreements like this for all other regions,” he said.

After ten days of war, the death toll is impossible to confirm from independent sources.

Kyiv says at least 350 civilians have been killed, as well as more than 9,000 Russian soldiers, without mentioning casualties among the Ukrainian military.

Moscow has said 2,870 people have been killed on the Ukrainian side and 498 on the Russian side.

More than 1.2 million refugees have already fled Ukraine, according to the latest report from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The occupation of Mariupol, which has been besieged and bombed by the Russians for almost a week, with the result that the electricity supply has been cut off and there is a shortage of food and water, will be a major turning point for the conflict.

It will allow Russian forces from Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014 and have already occupied the key ports of Berdyansk and Kherson, to join forces with pro-Russian separatist forces in eastern Ukraine.

In 2014, Mariupol, a city of about 450,000 people, had resisted attacks by pro-Russian guerrillas.

“The evacuation of the civilian population will begin at 11:00 a.m. (Greek time and local time),” city officials said shortly after Moscow said it had reached an agreement with Kyiv on a temporary ceasefire to evacuate civilians. from Mariupol and Volnovacha, located about 60 km further north.

As of 09:00 (local time) “the Russian side declared a state of silence (of weapons) and announced the opening of humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians” of the two cities, the Russian Ministry of Defense pointed out earlier today, clarifying that the humanitarian corridors and the exit points were agreed jointly with Kyiv.

“Cowardly and terrorist”

This morning, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov admitted in a Facebook post that the Russians had made progress in many directions, but clarified that they controlled “a small part” of the country and added that Ukrainian fighters were “pushing them away”.

“The ‘big’ army shows its real, cowardly and terrorist nature, capable of attacking civilians – women, children, unarmed civilians”, but “the enemy will answer for every life that is lost, for every tear that is caused” , Reznikov stressed.

The Russian military, which continues to bomb Kiev on the outskirts of Kiev, mainly in the northwest and east, has said that pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine control six cities in the Donetsk region. Russian forces say they have made progress in the south as well, occupying ten villages and areas.

The Russian army has been controlling the Zaporizhia nuclear plant between Mariupol and Kiev since Friday, when it was set on fire by Russian artillery.

Moscow, for its part, blamed “Ukrainian saboteur groups with mercenaries” for the fire.

The G7 countries have announced that they will “impose new severe sanctions in response to Russian aggression.”

While stressing the need to “end” the conflict, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned that the Alliance could not respond to Kiev’s request to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

That would mean “sending NATO aircraft into Ukrainian airspace” to “shoot down Russian aircraft” and thus “could lead to a wide-ranging conflict,” said US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reacted strongly. “NATO has given the green light to continue bombing Ukrainian cities and villages by refusing to impose a no-fly zone,” he said.