Safe corridors intended to allow civilians to flee the Russian onslaught in Ukraine could open on Tuesday, according to officials from both sides. However, previous efforts to establish evacuation routes have failed due to renewed attacks, and it is unclear how large the operation would be if it were to take place.
Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Tuesday that all sides had agreed to a cease-fire from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Ukraine time (0700-1900 GMT) to allow residents to be evacuated from the city of Sumy in the country’s eastern province of Donetsk.
Beginning at 10 a.m. (0800 GMT), the first convoy of evacuated residents in buses or private automobiles will depart on a single path toward the Ukrainian city of Poltava.
This, she said, was approved upon by the Russian Defense Ministry in a letter to the International Red Cross. The number of people being evacuated from Sumy includes international students from India and China, according to her.
According to her, the corridor would also be utilised to transport humanitarian assistance into Sumy. In addition, she said that Russian suggestions to remove residents to Russia and Belarus were too harsh. She didn’t go into detail on the potential of relocating Ukrainians to the western part of the country.
