The Russian Armed Forces announced on Monday a temporary ceasefire and the opening of humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians from the cities of Kharkov, Kiev, Mariupol and Sumy.
“Russian forces, for humanitarian purposes, declare a ‘regime of silence’ starting at 10:00 (07:00 GMT) on March 7 and the opening of humanitarian corridors,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
The Russian defense agency pointed out that the measure was taken due to the sharp deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the aforementioned Ukrainian cities, and also at the request of French President Emmanuel Macron before Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to the Russian armed forces, a corridor will be opened from Kiev, which will pass through the cities of Gostomel, reach Chernobyl and the Belarusian towns of Gden and Gomel for its subsequent transfer by air to the Russian Federation.
From Mariupol, the evacuation will take place in two ways. The first route is from Mariupol to Rostov-on-Don, already in Russia, and then by air, rail and road transport to selected destinations or temporary accommodation points. The second would go from Mariupol to Mangush, in the Donetsk basin.
The Kharkov route would go as far as Belgorod in Russia and then transport the refugees by air, rail and road transport to selected destinations or temporary accommodation points. While from Sumi two routes would leave: the first to Belgorod and the second to Poltava.
In parallel, the Russian side notified about the opening of humanitarian corridors in Ukraine to the UN, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the International Committee of the Red Cross together with “other international organizations throughout all information resources available, including the media”.
The Russian Armed Forces demanded that Ukraine comply with all the conditions for the creation of humanitarian corridors that guarantee an organized withdrawal of civilians and foreign citizens.
