Russia announced on Wednesday that a ceasefire will begin in Mariupol on Thursday morning to evacuate people trapped in the city. Ukraine’s deputy prime minister considers the speeches “manipulation.” Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine are scheduled to resume on Friday, the Ukrainian negotiator said.
31.3. 06:19 • Updated March 31st. 06:20
We gathered the key news from last night and last night in connection with the war in Ukraine.
Fighting continued near Kiev, says the mayor
Despite Russia’s claims to reduce hostilities near Kiev, the mayor of Irpin says the city is facing constant and deadly firing, says the BBC.
Mayor Oleksandr Markushynin according to Wednesday, the city was attacked using rockets, grenade launchers and artillery.
The mayor says many people have died in the attacks. Markushyn also claimed that on two streets, Russian forces had shot women and then driven over them in tanks. The BBC has not been able to confirm these allegations.
Irpin, about a 20-minute drive from Kiev, has been on the battlefield for weeks.
According to Ukraine, peace talks will resume on Friday
Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine resume remotely on Friday, Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia says.
The last time the parties negotiated a solution to the Ukrainian crisis in Turkey on Tuesday.
According to Arakhamia, Ukraine has proposed a meeting of the leaders of the countries, but Russia rejected the proposal and said that work still needs to be done on the draft agreement, the BBC reported.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi said he saw some positive signs after the talks, but said he expected Russia to take practical steps to reduce hostilities.
Contradictory information about the ceasefire in Mariupol
Russia’s defense ministry said on Wednesday that a ceasefire would begin on Thursday morning in the badly-hit city of Mariupol to evacuate civilians.
According to the news agency AFP, the Ministry of Defense proposed that the evacuation be carried out in conjunction with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk calls Russia ‘s announcement of a ceasefire in Mariupol a “manipulation”, according to Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform.
According to the Deputy Prime Minister, only the humanitarian corridors declared by Ukraine are valid.