Ukraine said Monday it was pausing evacuations of civilians from war-scarred regions of the country because intelligence reports suggested invading Russian troops were planning attacks on humanitarian routes.
“Our intelligence has reported possible provocations by the occupiers on routes of humanitarian corridors,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a statement on social media.
“Therefore, for reasons of public safety, we are not opening humanitarian corridors today.”
On Sunday, Vereshchuk said that Russia and Ukraine agreed to establish two humanitarian corridors in the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
The planned corridors aimed to allow Mariupol residents to evacuate to the city of Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine through their personal vehicles.
The official added that buses would also transport people from Berdyansk to the city, and that Rubizhne residents will be evacuated to Bakhmut.
However, attempts at establishing safe humanitarian corridors between Ukraine and Russia have largely faltered amid reports from Kyiv that Moscow’s troops are attacking the evacuation routes.
The mayor of Chernihiv, Vladislav Atroshenko, said on Saturday that a pedestrian crossing used by civilians departing from the locality was under “constant” attack by Moscow’s military forces – hindering humanitarian corridors and preventing the evacuation of the wounded.
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