According to this source, this measure should facilitate the opening of a humanitarian corridor to the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhia. “For this humanitarian operation to be successful, we propose to carry it out with the direct participation of representatives of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Committee of the Red Cross,” the ministry added in the statement.
Beyond the decision to announce the ceasefire in Mariupol, the negotiations between the delegations of Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul on Tuesday did not lead to anything “very promising” or any “progress” in terms of ending the war, declared Wednesday the kremlinthrowing a bucket of cold water on hopes of progress to end the conflict, while in parallel kyiv denounced Russian bombing against Chernigovviolating the principle of agreement.
“For now, we cannot report anything very promising or a breakthrough. There is a lot of work to be done,” the spokesman for the Russian presidency, Dmitry Peskov.
In any case, Peskov described as “positive” the fact that the Ukrainian delegation “has finally begun to concretely formulate its proposals and put them in writing.”
Russia and Ukraine on Tuesday called the Istanbul talks “significant,” in contrast to previous rounds, raising hopes after more than a month of war that has left thousands dead and millions displaced.
However, Ukraine on Wednesday accused Russia of bombing the city of Chernigovdespite Moscow’s announcement that it would “radically” reduce its military activity against that city and kyiv as a gesture to the Ukrainian offer to be a neutral country, without nuclear weapons or participation in the NATO or other alliance.
On the ground the “situation does not change”, according to Ukrainian authorities. “Chernigov was bombed all night.” with artillery and planes, said Governor Viacheslav Chaus, who specified that the town was still without water or electricity.
This city, which had 280,000 inhabitants before the war, is “without communications and we can no longer repair them”, he added, mentioning that there were also attacks against Nizhyn, in the same region.
After Mariupol in the south, Chernigov is the city hardest hit by bombing since the start of the war launched by Moscow on February 24.
“In the last 24 hours, the Russians have bombed inhabited areas and civil infrastructure in the kyiv region 30 times,” said the region’s governor, Olaxander Pavliuk, on Telegram, specifying that the areas north of kyiv were the most affected (Bucha, Irpin, Vyshgorod, Brovary).
On Irpinwhich the Ukrainians announced on Monday that they had “liberated”, explosions could be heard on Wednesday morning, AFP journalists confirmed.
In the east, the Ukrainian army said it had regained control of a strategic route.
“Since the afternoon and throughout the night, there have been numerous air raid alerts throughout the territory of Ukraine. However, the night was calm in most regions,” the presidency said in a statement.
For United StatesTuesday’s advances in end-war talks only signify a “repositioning” and not a “true withdrawal,” according to Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.
“It is very likely that Russia will seek to divert fighting forces from the north to its offensive in the (separatist) regions of Donetsk and Lugansk in the east,” the British Ministry of Defense said on Twitter.
This was confirmed by the Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu. Russia has achieved its “goal”: “the military potential of the Ukrainian armed forces has been significantly reduced, which allows to focus attention and efforts on the main goal, the liberation of Donbas“.
Still, the face-to-face meeting in Istanbul was the first sign of progress in discussions to end the conflict. According to Ukraine, there are “sufficient” conditions for its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, meet with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
Some 20,000 people would have died in the conflict, according to Zelensky, although the number of casualties could not be independently verified.
The Mariúpol mayor’s office denounced this Wednesday the forced evacuation to Russia of more than 70 people – women and medical personnel – from a maternity hospital.
Total, More than 20,000 inhabitants of Mariupol have been evacuated “against their will” to Russiaaccording to the municipality, which claims that the Russians confiscated their documents and redirected them “to remote Russian cities.”
Russian forces have surrounded the city and their constant and indiscriminate bombardment has left at least 5,000 dead, although it could be 10,000, according to a senior Ukrainian official.
France, Greece and Turkey tried to organize a mass evacuation of civilians from that city, but talks on Tuesday between French President Emmanuel Macron and Putin ended without agreement.
Source: Ambito
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