Russia again said it would honor a ceasefire on Wednesday morning to allow safe passage for Ukrainians fleeing Kyiv and four other major cities.
Promised humanitarian corridors from the capital, as well as from Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Mariupol, are emerging as crowds of citizens remain trapped in those cities amid continued Russian attacks in the area.
It remains to be seen whether Russia will keep its word, but a similar promise on Tuesday saw the aggressors charged with new war crimes for firing on dozens of refugees trying to evacuate along safe routes.
Mikhail Mizintsev, head of Russia’s National Defense Control Center, said Russian troops would “observe a regime of silence” from 10 a.m. Moscow time on Wednesday.
A few hours earlier, the people of Kyiv had woken up to an air raid alert calling them to go to bomb shelters.
The alarm was later lifted without any attack in the capital, which has generally remained calm amid the war, which is now in its 14th day.
But the northern outskirts of the capital were besieged by heavy Russian artillery.
An elderly woman is wheeled in a cart after being evacuated from Irpin on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, March 8, 2022. Photo by AP/Vadim Girda
Civilians flee Irpin due to ongoing Russian attacks in Irpin, Ukraine March 8, 2022. Emin Sansar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Firefighters respond to a fire caused by a Russian bombing of a storage facility on the outskirts of Kalinovka, Ukraine, on March 8, 2022. MARKUS YAM / LOS ANGELES TIMES
The head of the Kiev Regional State Administration Oleksiy Kuleba accused Russia of “artificially creating a humanitarian crisis in the Kiev region.”
Kuleba said that the aggressors “threatened the evacuation of people and continue to shell and bomb small settlements.”
Two million refugees have fled Ukraine to date, according to the UN, and thousands of people, civilians and soldiers, are believed to have died across the country.
Get the latest updates in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict live on The Post.
In addition to the dire situation in the northern suburbs of Kyiv, the port city of Mariupol is facing a humanitarian crisis.
Within a few days, the southern city of 430,000 people was surrounded by Russian soldiers.
Corpses lie on the streets of Mariupol, while the rest break into stores in a desperate search for food.
Thousands hide in cellars as Russian shells pound the strategic port city.
The city was hit by airstrikes on Tuesday despite one Russian force saying it would allow those who wish to leave the city to leave safely.
The Russian military denies shelling the convoys and claims that the Ukrainian side is blocking the evacuation.
Despite being heavily outnumbered, Ukrainian soldiers fought fiercely against the Russians, especially in the northern suburbs of Kyiv.
US and NATO allies have supplied Ukraine with thousands of anti-tank weapons.
On Tuesday, Poland said it was ready to deploy 28 MiG-29 fighter jets to a base in Germany so the US could deliver them to Ukraine, but the plan was rejected by the United States.
Russian invasion of Ukraine on March 8, 2022. NY Post Graphics
A woman rests her head in her hands as she sits on a bunk at a shelter set up for displaced people fleeing Ukraine at a school gym in Przemysl, Poland March 8, 2022. Photo by AP/Markus Schreiber
A soldier of the Territorial Defense Forces of Ukraine walks next to the remains of a Russian Su-25 attack aircraft that crashed into a GNPP in Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv. Photo by SERGEY BOBOK/AFP via Getty Images
The Polish proposal, which involved Soviet-era aircraft owned by NATO allies, “raises serious concerns” and “is untenable,” US Department of Defense officials said.
The US has rejected Zelenskiy’s calls for a no-fly zone over Ukraine, saying it could lead to “potential direct war with Russia.”
At the same time, Russia said that US efforts to bolster Ukraine’s small air force would be seen as direct involvement in the conflict, something Washington wants to avoid.
With mail wires