Ukrainian officials have dismissed the Kremlin’s unilateral proposal for civilian evacuation corridors as unacceptable. Most of the routes lead to Russia or its staunch ally Belarus and require people to pass through areas of active hostilities.
A spokesman for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Moscow’s proposal “absolutely immoral” and said Russia was trying to “use people’s suffering to create a television picture,” Reuters reported.
Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Irina Vereshchuk reacted to Russia’s statement by demanding that Moscow “accept the options for our routes, and also … establish a ceasefire, which we will agree on.” Ukraine has demanded the opening of evacuation corridors, which basically keep citizens inside Ukraine’s borders.
However, skepticism about such corridors grew after the evacuation of civilians was suspended for several hours on Saturday and Sunday when Russian forces were accused of shelling escape routes.
Last weekend, two unsuccessful attempts were made to open a corridor from the besieged Mariupol port. And on Sunday, a Russian military strike killed a family with two children, as well as several other civilians trying to escape from the Kiev suburb of Irpin, according to the mayor. Ukrainian authorities said two mortar or artillery shells hit a checkpoint in Irpen, northwest of the capital, which has been the site of heavy shelling by the Russian military in recent days. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said over the weekend that America had received “very credible reports of deliberate attacks on civilians” in Ukraine that could be considered a war crime.
The controversy over evacuation corridors comes as Russia steps up its efforts to attack Ukraine. Attacks on the capital Kyiv have intensified, and residents of Mariupol and other key cities have been unable to flee without water and food for several days.
Dominic Stillhart, director of operations for the International Committee of the Red Cross, said on Monday that problems remain with confirming the details of any ceasefire agreement.
Stillhart said on BBC Radio 4’s Today program that the challenge was to get an agreement from Russia and Ukraine that was “concrete, actionable and precise”.
He added that so far there have only been “fundamental” agreements, which were immediately violated due to a lack of clarity regarding the routes and who can use them. Illustrating his point, he said that some ICRC staff tried to get out of Mariupol along the agreed route on Sunday, but soon realized that “the road he indicated was in fact mined.”
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement Monday morning that civilian corridors leading directly to Russia were part of a personal request from French President Emmanuel Macron to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
But the Elysee Palace responded by stating that this was a lie. It added that “the personal demand of the President of the (French) Republic, as well as of the rest of the allies and partners, is that the Russian offensive should cease.”
Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Vereshchuk criticized the Kremlin for this statement.
“We call on the Russian Federation to stop manipulating and abusing the trust of world leaders like Emmanuel Macron, such as the leaders of China, Turkey or India, and to open the paths we have identified,” Vereshchuk said in a video message released. government.