Nicolas Tonev 09:56, March 07, 2022
The Russian army announced the opening on Monday of several humanitarian corridors and the establishment of local ceasefires to evacuate civilians from the Ukrainian cities of Kharkiv, Kiev, Mariupol and Sumy.
Our special correspondent on the spot takes stock of the situation and tells about these civilians who are trying to flee the capital.
REPORT
On the twelfth day of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, the Russian army bombards the country's second city Kharkiv and tightens its grip on the capital Kiev, while a third Russian-Ukrainian negotiation session is scheduled for the day.
The Russian army also announced on Monday the opening of several humanitarian corridors and the establishment of local ceasefires to evacuate civilians from the Ukrainian cities of Kharkiv, Kiev, Mariupol and Sumy, plagued by heavy fighting.
Our special correspondent on the spot, Nicolas Tonev, takes stock of the situation in Kiev.
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In reality, it is still possible today to leave Kyiv without a humanitarian corridor.
If you want to escape the capital, you have to go south.
It is the only way still possible.
The trip is very long because of the checkpoints, and bombardments take place from time to time.
Ceasefires are therefore the main advantage to accompany these humanitarian corridors: people will be able to leave the city without the fear of hearing the rolls of falling bombs.
According to our special correspondent, in Kiev war also rubs shoulders with moments and areas of calm.
The city center, for example, is like a bubble of protection, with the distant sounds of artillery.
"You have to be rational"
However, the inhabitants of the capital did not wait for the humanitarian corridors promised by the Russians to leave the city.
This is particularly the case of Yulia, met by our special correspondent.
Her cat panics in the parking lot.
He understood that seven floors above, his mistress prepares the departure, exhausted by ten days of anguish.
"There is the tape stuck crosswise on the windows for shards of glass. Heavy objects have been removed so as not to become projectiles. And I sleep between the load-bearing wall and a sofa to protect myself with, in addition, two large cushions around the head," she explains.
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So it was time to leave with his cat.
"That's her business, and then mine. I would have liked to take a dress, at least one. But no, you have to be rational", regrets the young woman.
Without a glance behind her, Yulia closes her Kievan life.
"For now, it's over," she breathes.
The young woman leaves for Lviv.
She will join the volunteers there as soon as she arrives to support the war effort.