Moscow: Russian Defence ministry informed that a humanitarian corridor would be opened Friday morning to allow civilians out of the besieged port city of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine.
‘The Russian armed forces will reopen a humanitarian corridor from Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia on April 1 from 10:00 am’, or 0700 GMT, the ministry said. The decision came after ‘a personal request’ from the French president (Emmanuel Macron) and German chancellor (Olaf Scholz) to Russian President Vladimir Putin, it added in a statement.
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‘To guarantee the success of this humanitarian operation, it has been suggested it be conducted with the direct participation of the representatives of the UNHCR and the International Committee of the Red Cross’, the statement added, referring first to the UN refugee agency. Zaporizhzhia is located around 220 kilometres (140 miles) to the northwest of the port city on the Sea of Azov.
Ukraine said that it was sending dozens of buses to evacuate civilians from Mariupol after a Russian ceasefire announcement. The ICRC said earlier it was preparing to facilitate the safe passage of civilians from Mariupol. Aid groups say tens of thousands of civilians are trapped in the city with little food, water or medicine, but previous attempts to agree on a humanitarian corridor have failed, despite international pressure.
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