Russia must not take advantage of an agreed humanitarian corridor to advance its troops, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk has warned.
She said her government was “verifying” information that Russian troops were using the ceasefire to move closer to Ukrainian positions in areas along the evacuation routes.
“We are using this channel to evacuate civilians – women and children – as well as to deliver humanitarian cargo to those remaining,” she said. “The whole world is watching.”
Vereshchuk also confirmed that the International Committee of the Red Cross mediated the talks on the ceasefire, and will head the evacuation columns along the agreed routes out of the cities.
She has also asked for the assistance of the Red Cross in repatriating the bodies of “thousands” of dead Russian servicemen, something the Russian government appears to have no inclination towards doing.
The ceasefire is in place around the cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha from 09:00 -16:00 local time (07:00-14:00 GMT).
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