Russia declares ceasefire for humanitarian corridor
About 200,000 people are expected to leave the city, with the Red Cross to guarantee the temporary ceasefire, authorities said.
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Moscow, Mar 5: Evacuations began on Saturday morning from the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol after Russia agreed on a ceasefire to allow the creation of a “humanitarian corridor”.
About 200,000 people are expected to leave the city, with the Red Cross to guarantee the temporary ceasefire, authorities said.
Breaking: Russia declares ceasefire in Ukraine for creation of humanitarian corridor for civilians to be evacuated.
— Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) March 5, 2022
Ceasefire comes into force at
8 am Kyiv time
11.30 am Delhi time
6 am GMT
10am Moscow time
The first departures were scheduled to take place at 0900 GMT (4pm Thailand time), city hall announced on social media. “It will be possible to leave the city by private transport,” the message added. “A huge request to all drivers leaving the city, to contribute as much as possible to the evacuation of the civilian population — take people with you, fill vehicles as much as possible,” the statement said.
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The evacuation is expected to last several days to allow the entirety of the civilian population to exit the city. Municipal buses were also departing from three locations in the city. Ukrainian interior ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko said there would be further agreements with Russia to establish humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians from other frontline communities. “There will definitely be more agreements like this for all other territories,” he said.
The ceasefire took effect at 10am Moscow time (2pm Thailand time) “to allow civilians to leave Mariupol and Volnovakha”, a small town nearby, Russian news agencies quoted the defence ministry in Moscow as saying.
The ministry said the location of the corridors and exit points had been determined in agreement with Ukrainian authorities, according to Russian news agencies. Mariupol Mayor Vadim Boychenko said on Saturday that his city was under “blockade”. Pro-Russian separatist forces and the Russian military said the town was surrounded.
The capture of Mariupol, a port city of 450,000 people on the Azov Sea, could enable Russian troops coming from annexed Crimea to connect with the forces of separatist-controlled Donbas. The ceasefire announcement came as Moscow sought to gain control of the narrative about the invasion, even as it steps up military pressure on a number of Ukrainian cities.