Saturday 5 March, the tenth day of the war in Ukraine, opened with the announcement by Russia of a truce to allow the opening of humanitarian corridors in the town of Mariupol e Volnovakha. The stop to arms should have taken place at 10 in Russia, at 8 in Italy. But it appears to have been short-lived, with Ukraine accusing Moscow of systematically violating the ceasefire.
At the end of the morning, the mayor of Mariupol, engaged in the evacuation of about 200 thousand civilians from the port city, declared on Telegram the postponement of the operation “for security reasons”, given that the Russian bombings continued even after the truce. The operation is also proceeding slowly in Volnovakha, where it is always the Russian raids that prevent a rapid evacuation. At the moment, the Ukrainian authorities declare that they have let just 400 people out of the city and accuse Russia of violating the agreement, launching missiles and bombs “against Mariupol, Volnovakha, and other Ukrainian cities – denounced the foreign ministry in Kiev in a statement – The bombings in progress make it impossible to open humanitarian corridors for the safe evacuation of civilians and for the delivery of medicine and food ». Russian Foreign Minister Sergej Lavrov immediately rejected the accusations by counter-attacking: “The Kiev regime prevents civilians from leaving Mariupol”.
The tension is also growing on an international scale. China re-entered the debate, demanding that “the fighting be stopped as soon as possible, protecting human lives and avoiding large-scale humanitarian crises”. The appeal comes from Foreign Minister Wang Yi to the US counterpart Antony Blinken, in the telephone conversation he had “at American request”, regarding the crisis in Ukraine. «China believes that in order to resolve the Ukrainian crisis it is still necessary to act according to the aims and principles of the UN Charter. The first is to respect and protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, the second is to insist on the peaceful resolution of disputes through dialogue ”.
Putin: sanctions on Russia are declarations of war
The Russian president himself, Vladimir Putin, confirms the thesis on the Ukrainian “boycott” of humanitarian corridors. “The work of the humanitarian corridors, in particular that of Mariupol, is prevented by Ukrainian nationalists,” said Putin, also lashing out against the sanctions inflicted on Russia: a “declaration of war” against Moscow. If Kiev joins NATO, he added, the clash will be “between Russia and the Alliance”. The Russian president does not seem to have doubts about the outcome of the operation in Ukraine. “Everything is going according to plan in Ukraine.” In the background, the number of Ukrainian citizens seeking refuge outside the country continues to grow. The United Nations estimates a total of at least 1.3 million refugees as of March 5, with the possibility of reaching 1.5 million by March 6.
Instructions via Telegram for evacuation, then stop
This morning, a message also published on the Telegram channel of the Mariupol City Council explained that the “green humanitarian corridor” agreed with the Russian invasion forces would be articulated on the Mariupol-Nikolske-Rozivka-Polohy-Orikhiv-Zaporizhzhia route. The buses with the evacuees were supposed to leave from three locations in the city, with the possibility of traveling along the route indicated also for private vehicles.