Desk Report
Publish: 08 Mar 2022, 04:07 pm
Photo: Collected
Russia said Monday it would open
humanitarian corridors for civilians to flee pummelled Ukrainian cities, but
Kyiv accused Moscow of making it impossible for innocent people to escape.
The latest offer brought a
glimmer of hope for terrified civilians cowering under a hail of Russian
shelling and mortar fire, with numerous women and children among the hundreds
already killed.
Russia's defense ministry said it
would open the corridors from 0700 GMT Tuesday, subject to Ukraine's approval,
listing routes from Kyiv as well as the cities of Mariupol, Kharkiv and Sumy --
all of which have been under heavy attack.
Ukraine did not initially respond
to the offer, with President Volodymyr Zelensky instead accusing Moscow's
troops of scuppering evacuation efforts -- mining roads and destroying buses
meant to carry people to safety.
Kyiv had rejected a previous
proposal for evacuation corridors from the same four cities, as many of the
routes led straight into Russia or its ally Belarus.
Addressing the Security Council,
the UN's top humanitarian official Martin Griffiths said civilians must be
allowed to leave in the direction they wish, and safe passage be granted for
vitally needed humanitarian and medical supplies.
The carnage continued on day 12
of the war, with 13 people killed in shelling on an industrial bakery in the
town of Makariv and the mayor of the town of Gostomel killed while delivering
bread to civilians.
According to the latest tally
from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, which believes
the real figures to be "considerably higher", 406 civilians have died
since the start of Russia's assault on its ex-Soviet neighbour.
The invasion ordered by President
Vladimir Putin has pushed more than 1.7 million people across Ukraine's borders
in what the UN calls Europe's fastest growing refugee crisis since World War
II.
International sanctions intended
to punish Moscow have done little to slow the invasion, and energy-hungry
Western nations are still weighing whether to ban Russian oil imports.
The conflict pushed oil prices to
a near 14-year high, while gas prices also rocketed and stock markets around
the world plunged.
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Topic : Russia Ukraine Russia-Ukraine Crisis
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