Russia Says It Will Open Humanitarian Corridor From Mariupol Today

Ukraine said it was sending dozens of buses to evacuate civilians from Mariupol.

Moscow:

Russia said a humanitarian corridor would be opened Friday morning to allow civilians out of the besieged port city of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine.

“The Russian armed forces will reopen a humanitarian corridor from Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia on April 1 from 10:00 am,” or 0700 GMT, the Russian defence ministry said.

The decision came after “a personal request from the French president (Emmanuel Macron) and German chancellor (Olaf Scholz) to Russian President Vladimir Putin”, it said in a statement.

Zaporizhzhia lies some 220 kilometres (140 miles) to the northwest of the port city on the Sea of Azov.

“To guarantee the success of this humanitarian operation, it has been suggested it be conducted with the direct participation of the representatives of the UNHCR and the International Committee of the Red Cross,” it added, referring first to the UN refugee agency.

The ICRC said earlier it was preparing to facilitate the safe passage of civilians from Mariupol.

Ukraine said it was sending dozens of buses to evacuate civilians from Mariupol after a Russian ceasefire announcement.

Aid groups say tens of thousands of civilians are trapped in the city with little food, water or medicine, but previous attempts to agree on a humanitarian corridor have failed, despite international pressure.

Both sides accuse each other of impeding the evacuations.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a press release)