It is a hope of respite for civilians.
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on Wednesday evening a "regime of silence", i.e. a local ceasefire, from 10:00 a.m. Thursday (9:00 a.m. Paris time) in the besieged Ukrainian port of Mariupol in order to evacuate civilians.
This measure should make it possible to open a humanitarian corridor to the Ukrainian city of Zaporozhye with a stopover via the port of Berdiansk, under Russian control.
"For this humanitarian operation to succeed, we propose to carry it out with the direct participation of representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)," added the ministry in a statement.
Ukrainian pledge requested
The Russian ministry also asks that kyiv guarantees the “unconditional respect” of this local ceasefire via a written notification sent to the Russian side, to the UNHCR and to the ICRC before 06:00 am Thursday (5:00 am, Paris time).
Moscow is also asking the Ukrainian army to commit to ensuring the safety of the bus convoys that will travel along the agreed route for this corridor.
On Tuesday, Emmanuel Macron had demanded a humanitarian truce while acknowledging that the conditions were "not met".
The situation is "dramatic" and "catastrophic" in Mariupol for the approximately 150,000 inhabitants who remain there, according to the Elysée.
World
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