The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that Moscow had evacuated “over 187,000” civilians in Russia.
Moscow:
Moscow said on Thursday it would open daily humanitarian corridors from Ukraine to evacuate civilians fleeing into Russian territory, although Kyiv insisted that no evacuation route should lead to Russia.
“The humanitarian corridors towards the Russian Federation will now be opened every day from 10:00 a.m., without any agreement,” Defense Ministry official Mikhail Mizintsev was quoted as saying by Russian agencies. He said evacuation routes in other directions would proceed “in agreement with the Ukrainian side”.
“We ask the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations to work closely with the Ukrainian authorities on the ground to inform the population about this Russian imitation,” he said.
He also said that the Russian military is working “together with Ukrainian representatives” to open three more humanitarian corridors.
Mizhintsev claimed that more than 2.5 million Ukrainians have asked Russia to evacuate.
He also claimed that Moscow had evacuated “over 187,000” civilians in Russia, a number that could not be verified.
Mizhintsev accused Ukrainian forces of blocking the evacuation of civilians in the southern port city of Mariupol, besieged by Russian forces.
As a result of three rounds of talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators, several humanitarian corridors have been opened to evacuate civilians from the fighting.
Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine on 24 February.
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