Ukraine dismissed Moscow’s third promise of safe evacuation corridors for civilians from cities Russia is pummeling with artillery fire on Monday as it emerged that most of the routes led straight into Russia or its ally Belarus. Localized cease-fires announced over the weekend were meant to allow civilians to escape from hard-hit cities in Ukraine’s south and east, but the plans collapsed as Ukraine accused Russia of continuing to fire during the time windows.
Russia announced unilaterally on Monday that it would halt military action to allow civilians to flee the capital Kyiv, along with the battered northeast cities of Kharkiv and Sumy and Mariupol in the south. But evacuation routes published online by Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency showed most of the escape routes leading into Russia and Belarus, rather than west into government-controlled Ukraine.
“This is not an acceptable option,” Deputy Ukrainian Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.
The United Nations says Russia’s attack on Ukraine has killed hundreds of civilians and driven more than 1.5 million to flee into neighboring nations, and the onslaught continued over the weekend. While Russia’s ground forces seem to have advanced little toward Kyiv, the capital’s suburbs have been decimated by increased shelling, along with other major cities in the south and east.
