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Ukraine said on Saturday that there were open corridors for humanitarian evacuation around Mariupol, but warned that Moscow was following “parallel” routes to Russia.
“I have just received information that the occupiers may try to organize their own corridor in parallel with us for evacuation to Russia,” Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk warned on Facebook. “So please be careful. Don’t succumb to deception and provocation.”
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A resident examines a damaged apartment building in Mariupol, Ukraine, on Saturday. (AP / Alexey Alexandrov)
Vereshchuk has been working for days to secure an evacuation route from the partially besieged city, but her attempts have repeatedly been thwarted by Russian troops.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said victory over Mariupol this week despite thousands of civilians and resistance fighters hiding under the city’s Azovstal steel plant.
The invading forces have repeatedly tried to eradicate the fighters, who were bunkers deep in the tunnels under the plant, claiming that they would allow them to live if they surrendered voluntarily.
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A convoy of pro-Russian troops is moving on the road in Mariupol, Ukraine, on Thursday, April 21. (REUTERS / Chingis Kondarov)
But Vereshchuk criticized Russia’s claims on Friday that a separate evacuation route was unnecessary for civilians left in the war-torn city.
In addition, there have been reports for weeks that Russian troops are forcibly deporting Ukrainians to camps in Russia.
The Deputy Prime Minister clarified that the organized routes for evacuation of Kyiv will be directed to Zaporozhye through four additional stops along the Sea of Azov, before heading inland.
Zaporozhye, located just west of Donetsk over the Sea of Azov, has become a destination for evacuees fleeing the port city of Mariupol in Donetsk.
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Locals gather near a generator to charge their mobile devices in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces in Mariupol, Ukraine, Friday, April 22, 2022 (AP Photo / Alexei Alexandrov) (AP Photo / Alexei Alexandrov)
But on Friday he also became a target of further Russian aggression,
A spokesman for Ukraine’s defense ministry warned that Moscow was seeking to annex Zaporizhia along with its neighboring Kherson region, just above the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula.
Ukrainian officials have warned that Russia not only wants to hold a referendum on the seizure of parts of southern Ukraine, but will forcibly call on Ukrainian men in the regions to “replenish” its personnel losses.
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