Russia’s troops will “go silent” in two key cities from 9am today to allow civilians to evacuate.
The ceasefire in Mariupol will last until 2pm and an evacuation along a humanitarian corridor will begin at 9am, a top official in city official has confirmed.
Pavlo Kirilenko, head of the Donetsk military-civil administration that includes Mariupol, said the humanitarian corridor would extend from the city to Zaporizhzhia.
But Russia’s RIA news agency has since quoted the Russian defence ministry as saying its troops will continue its “broad offensive” in the country.
Meanwhile, president Volodymyr Zelensky has said Nato would be responsible for the deaths of Ukrainians due to its refusal to help Kyiv protect its skies from Russian warplanes.
“All the people who die from this day forward will also die because of you, because of your weakness, because of your lack of unity,” he said in a nighttime address.
Nato turned down Mr Zelensky’s request for a no-fly zone to avoid being drawn into conflict with Russia, but the Ukrainian president said the alliance “has given the green light” to an escalated Russian aerial campaign.
Source: Independent
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