Ukraine Rejects Russia's Plan For Evacuation Corridors : 10 Points

The third round of talks between Russia and Ukraine about ending hostilities are expected to be held today.

Ukraine Rejects Russia's Plan For Evacuation Corridors : 10 Points

Ukrainian armed forces self-propelled howitzers fire at positions near Makariv

New Delhi: The Russian plan for a humanitarian corridor to three Ukrainian cities fell through as Ukraine vetoed the idea, calling it an "unethical stunt". The "corridors" were to be opened from Kyiv, Mariupol and the eastern cities of Kharkiv and Sumy.

Here are the 10 latest developments of Russia's invasion of Ukraine:

  1. Russia had announced "humanitarian corridors" to transport Ukrainians trapped under its bombardment -- to Russia and ally Belarus.  The "corridors" -- set up at the personal request of French President Emmanuel Macron -- were to be opened at 10 am Moscow time (12.30 pm IST) from Ukrainian capital Kyiv and the eastern cities of Kharkiv and Sumy, as well as Mariupol, Russia's defence ministry said.

  2. According to maps published by the RIA news agency, the corridor from Kyiv would lead to Belarus, while civilians from Kharkiv would be permitted to go only to Russia. Russia also said it would begin airlifts to take Ukrainians from Kyiv to Russia.

  3. A spokesperson for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, however, called the move "completely immoral" and said Russia was trying to "use people's suffering to create a television picture".

  4. "They are citizens of Ukraine, they should have the right to evacuate to the territory of Ukraine," news agency Reuters quoted the spokesperson as saying. "This is one of the problems that is causing the humanitarian corridors to break down. They seem to agree to them, but they themselves want to supply humanitarian aid for a picture on TV, and want the corridors to lead in their direction," he added.

  5. Russia announced a ceasefire in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mariupol and Sumy from 12.30 pm IST on Monday. But this has also fallen through now.

  6. The third round of talks between Russia and Ukraine about ending hostilities are expected to be held today. Last week, both sides agreed to open humanitarian corridors to allow civilians out of some combat zones, but none of them has worked so far, with the sides accusing each other of violating local ceasefire.

  7. Earlier today, PM Modi spoke to President Putin of Russia and President Zelensky of Ukraine. Government sources said PM Modi has urged President Putin to hold direct talks with President Zelensky, in addition to the ongoing negotiations between their teams. Mr Putin had earlier said that he would achieve his goals in Ukraine "through negotiation or through war".

  8. PM Modi had also stressed on the importance of safe evacuation of Indian citizens from Sumy at the earliest. President Putin had assured PM Modi of all possible cooperation in their safe evacuation, government sources said.

  9. The United Nations' top court is hearing Ukraine's appeal for an emergency ruling requiring Russia to stop its invasion. Kyiv lodged the urgent case on February 27, saying Russia had illegally justified its war by falsely alleging genocide in Ukraine's Donetsk and Lugansk regions. Russia has declined to attend the hearing.

  10. Russia's invasion of Ukraine, now in its twelfth day, has seen more than 1.5 million people flee the country in what the UN has called Europe's fastest-growing refugee crisis since World War II.



Comments
.