New Delhi: To allow civilians to evacuate from Mariupol and Volnovakha cities of Ukraine, Russia has declared a ceasefire of six and half hours starting 11:30 PM Indian Standard Time to create a humanitarian corridor.
“Today, on 5 March at 10 a.m. Moscow time, the Russian side declares a ceasefire and opens humanitarian corridors for the exit of civilians from Mariupol and Volnovakha”, the Russian Defence Ministry told reporters on Saturday.
Mariupol’s authorities have since said that they want to use the ceasefire in order to restore critical infrastructure in the city, as well as provide it with essential food items and medicines.
The authorities also said that the ceasefire in Mariupol will be established from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Moscow time (7:00 GMT and 14:00 GMT, respectively), with the evacuation of the civilian population due to begin at 12:00 p.m. Moscow time (9:00 GMT).
Ukrainian presidential aide Mikhail Podolyak, for his part, said that about 200,000 people are trying to evacuate from Mariupol, while “20,000 people also want to leave [the city of] Volnovakha [in the Donetsk region]”.
At present, Volnovakha and Mariupol, one of Ukraine’s largest ports, are being blockaded by forces from the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. As indicated by Mayor Vadym Boychenko quotes on the blockade on Saturday after days of “ruthless” attack on the city.
The port city of Mariupol, with a population of 450,000 people, is of strategic importance to Russian forces, as by taking Mariupol, they can complete a land corridor that would link Crimea with southern Russia, reported CNN.
The ceasefire declaration follows a mutual agreement to organize humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians in the second round of talks held in Belarus on 3 March 2022(Thursday).
Russians had alleged that Ukrainian nationalists were keeping over 3,700 Indian citizens “by force” in Kharkiv and Sumy cities of eastern Ukraine. And stressed on creating humanitarian corridors.
Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia had also claimed that 130 buses were ready in the Belgorod region of Russia at the crossing points ‘Nekhoteevka’ and ‘Sudja’ to go to Kharkiv and Sumy to evacuate the Indian students and other foreign nationals’
Meanwhile, as the Ukraine-Russia crisis continues for over a week now, Ukraine plans to hold the third round of talks with Russian officials to try to end the fighting triggered by Moscow’s invasion this weekend, said one of Kyiv’s negotiators.
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