Russian armed forces said on Monday that it will hold fire and open humanitarian corridors in some Ukrainian cities from 10 a.m. (Moscow time, about 12.30 p.m. IST) to allow civilians to escape, state media reported. According to Russia’s military, the decision was taken at the “personal request” of French President Emmanuel Macron to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Sputnik News reported
In a statement, the military said: “Given the catastrophic humanitarian situation and its sharp aggravation in the cities of Kiev, Kharkov, Sumy and Mariupol, as well as at the personal request of the President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron to the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, the Russian Armed Forces announce a ceasefire and open humanitarian corridors…”
The four mentioned cities are currently under a “significant” Russian assault operation, said the BBC.
ALSO READ: Russia Goes Full Throttle to Cut Off Ukraine from Black Sea Coast
However, authorities in Ukraine are yet to confirm this development.
Over the weekend, two efforts to open a route to allow civilians to evacuate from Mariupol in the country’s south-east collapsed, said the BBC report.
Ukrainian officials said this was because Russia continued to shell the city during the agreed ceasefire hours.
(This story has been sourced from a third-party syndicated feed, agencies. Raavi Media accepts no responsibility or liability for the dependability, trustworthiness, reliability, and data of the text. Raavi Media management/ythisnews.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content at its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.)
