Ukraine starts evacuating civilians from Sumy and Irpin
March 8, 2022, 10:36 am

Ukraine starts evacuating civilians from Sumy and Irpin

Euromaidan Press wrote yesterday that during the evacuation from Irpin, Russian troops opened fire on civilians. At least three people were killed, incl two children; possibly the members of one family, as informed by the correspondent of Radio Liberty (File photo: Euromaidan Press)

The Straits Times reported, citing Reuters and the AFP, Ukrainian officials said that Ukraine began evacuating civilians from the northeastern city of Sumy and from the town of Irpin near the capital Kyiv on Tuesday (March 8).

The evacuations began after Russian and Ukrainian officials agreed to establish "humanitarian corridors" to allow civilians out of some towns and cities besieged by Russian forces.

Kyiv region's governor Oleksiy Kuleba said: “As of 0930 (3.30pm Singapore time), more than 150 people have been evacuated and (evacuation) activities are underway."

Civilians have been trapped by fighting since Russian troops invaded Ukraine on Feb 24 which Moscow calls a “special military operation”.

The Interfax news agency quoted the Russian defence ministry as saying that Russia opened humanitarian corridors on Tuesday so that people can be evacuated from Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Mariupol.

Russian missiles destroy lyceum school in Zhytomyr, a lovely town not too far from Kyiv (File photo and text: Euromaidan Press)

Interfax reported that the defence ministry added that Russian forces in Ukraine had introduced a “silent regime” from 0700 GMT (3pm Singapore time).

Ukraine on Monday rejected Russian proposals to evacuate Ukrainians to Russia or Belarus.

Sumy, 350km east of Kyiv and near the Russian border, has experienced heavy fighting for days, but no other details about the attack were immediately available.

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The air strike in Sumy took place late on Monday, Ukraine’s rescue services said. "Enemy planes insidiously attacked apartment buildings,” they said on Telegram after arriving on the scene at 11pm.

At least nine people, including two children, have died in the air strike.

The corridor from Sumy to Poltava, a city in central Ukraine, is designed to evacuate civilians, including Chinese, Indians and other foreigners, but Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk accused Russia of planning to disrupt the route.

“We have information that the Russian side has planned to disrupt the corridors,” she added. “Manipulations are being prepared to force people to take another route, which is not coordinated and dangerous."

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She said the corridor was also designed to channel the delivery of food and medicine.

Ms Vereshshuk called on Russia to urgently coordinate humanitarian corridors from the cities of Volnovakha, Maripuol, Mariupol, as well as from Kyiv, Kharkiv and their surrounding regions.

Source: straitstimes

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Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.