Russia breaks promises of withdrawal from Kyiv and ceasefire from Mariupol
April 1, at 9:59 a.m. Russia is said to be repositioning its troops in the east of the country in preparation for “powerful attacks” on the Donbass, namely the separatist regions of Donetsk and Lugansk according to the latest statements by the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky. The head of state also anticipates assaults launched on Mariupol, the port city in southeastern Ukraine besieged for more than three weeks and in the process of falling. The hypothesis of the Ukrainian president corroborates the announcements made by Russia at the beginning of the week concerning the withdrawal of Russian military troops around kyiv and Chernihiv. Have the armed forces really withdrawn? Moscow has been accustomed to broken promises since the start of the war in Ukraine, so doubt is permitted as to the even temporary abandonment of military operations initiated near the Ukrainian capital, especially since the announcements of new air attacks and other bombings hit kyiv according to the April 1 morning report from British intelligence.
Russia could therefore not keep its word and take kyiv’s resistance from the back by attacking by surprise. The strategy has already been seen in Mariupol with the repeated impediments to the evacuation of civilians in Mariupol. For three weeks all attempts have failed because of the interruption by Russia of the ceasefires concluded around the humanitarian corridors with Ukraine. Yesterday again, the corridor initially planned failed to evacuate the civilians still stuck without water, without electricity, without heating and deprived of communication in Mariupol. This Friday, April 1, the International Committee of the Red Cross is again trying to organize the evacuation deemed “vital”.
Will the civilians stranded in Mariupol finally be able to be evacuated?
March 31 at 5:10 p.m. This Thursday, March 31, a big step was taken to evacuate civilians stuck in Mariupol since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine. Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk announced that the exit from the port city in southern Ukraine would be facilitated: “Last night we were informed by the International Committee of the Red Cross that Russia was ready to open access to humanitarian convoys from Mariupol.” So, 45 buses left from Kyiv. “We will do everything so that the buses can enter Mariupol and evacuate those who remain in the city,” said the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister.
Since this Thursday, at 10 a.m., a ceasefire has come into effect in Mariupol, as the Russian Minister of Defense had announced the day before. Only one request had been made by the latter, that the convoys leaving the port city be escorted by Ukrainian soldiers. “Our soldiers have confirmed that they guarantee the ceasefire,” replied Iryna Verechchuk.
IN PICTURES – War in Ukraine: Deaths while trying to flee
Funeral ceremony in Kramatorsk, March 30. A relative near the coffin containing the body of Mykola Goryainiv, 3, who died with his parents while trying to evacuate a combat zone by car in the Kharkiv region. Consult our slideshow on the War in Ukraine by clicking on the photo.