According to Interfax news agency, civilians departing the Ukrainian cities of Kyiv, Chernigov, and Kharkiv would travel to Russia, some via Belarus. The outlet cited a statement by a Russian committee charged with humanitarian coordination in Ukraine.
It comes a day after Kyiv rejected Russia’s offer to establish humanitarian corridors leading to the same countries. Monday’s announcement was Russia’s third attempt at creating humanitarian corridors in Ukraine, and came amid reports that its military had violated previous ceasefires.
Russia’s military said on Monday morning that humanitarian corridors would be opened in the cities of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Sumy, and Mariupol, effective from 10 a.m. Moscow time.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected that proposal to evacuate Ukrainian citizens into what he has described as “occupied territory” in Russia and Belarus.
A spokesperson for Zelensky called the move “completely immoral,” saying Russia was trying to exploit the situation for propaganda by using “people’s suffering to create a television picture.”
“They are citizens of Ukraine, they should have the right to evacuate to the territory of Ukraine,” the spokesperson told Reuters.
Tuesday’s proposal would allow people leaving the city of Sumy and Mariupol to depart to either Russia or to Ukrainian cities Poltava and Zaporizhia, Interfax reported.
Interfax said Ukraine had been given until 3 a.m. Moscow time to agree to the terms. Ukraine officials.
The Ukrainian ambassador to the United Nations Sergiy Kyslytsya told a U.N. Security Council meeting earlier that Russia had “undermined arrangements” for humanitarian corridors on Tuesday by insisting all routes would go through Russia or Belarus.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov outlined four conditions that it said Ukraine must meet in order to halt military action in the country.
He told Reuters on Monday that Russia is demanding that Ukraine halt military action, change its constitution to enshrine neutrality, acknowledge Crimea as Russian territory, and recognize the separatist republics of Donetsk and Lugansk as independent territories. He said that Russia had told Ukraine it was ready to stop its military action “in a moment” if Kyiv met the requirements.
Zelensky in an interview with ABC News said the requirements amount to an “ultimatum.”
“We are not prepared for ultimatums but we have the possible solution, resolution for these three key items,” Zelensky said. “What needs to be done is for President [Vladimir] Putin to start talking instead of living in the information bubble without oxygen.”
