Russia opens humanitarian corridors in several Ukrainian cities

Russia has opened humanitarian corridors in five Ukrainian cities to allow the safe evacuation of people from the Ukrainian capital of Kiev and other cities in the crisis-stricken country.

According to the Interfax news agency, the Russian defense ministry said the other four cities included Cherhihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Mariupol.

The ministry further said that Russian troops in the former Soviet republic had introduced a "silent regime" from 0700 GMT.

The latest development came as Moscow on Monday announced new humanitarian corridors to transport civilians from Ukraine to neighboring Russia and Belarus.

The corridors are being set up at the request of French President Emmanuel Macron, the Interfax news agency cited Russia's defense ministry as saying on Monday.

The development after a phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart. During the conversation, Putin said Moscow plans to achieve its objectives in Ukraine, either through diplomacy or military means.

Those who leave Kiev will be airlifted to Russia, the ministry said, stressing that it would use drones to monitor the evacuation process, terming “attempts by the Ukrainian side to deceive Russia and the whole civilized world” as “useless”.

'Global collapse'

Russia also warned the West against supplying Ukraine with weapons and mercenaries, saying the move would lead to a "global collapse".

The Russian foreign ministry said sending foreign weapons to Ukraine will result in a "global collapse", according to Interfax news agency.

TASS quoted Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the ministry, as saying that the sending of mercenaries and military equipment to Ukraine by the Western countries would cause a catastrophic development of the situation there.

Deputy Prime Minister of UK Dominic Raab on Sunday urged world leaders to provide Ukraine with "everything from military hardware through to cyber resilience" to support Kiev in its fight against Russia.

Ukraine conflict: Russia says military operation will stop ‘in a moment’ if Ukraine meets its conditions

Kremlin says Russian military action will stop ‘in a moment’ if Ukraine meets conditions.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” aimed at “demilitarization” of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in eastern Ukraine.

The regions broke away from Ukraine in 2014 after refusing to recognize a Western-backed Ukrainian government that had overthrown a democratically-elected pro-Moscow administration.

More than 14,000 people have been killed in the restive regions due to protracted conflict between the Ukrainian military and pro-Russian separatists.

Announcing the operation, Putin said the mission was aimed at “defending people who for eight years are suffering persecution and genocide by the Kiev regime.”

Ukraine calls for direct talks between Zelenskiy, Putin

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called for direct talks between Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

"We have long wanted a direct conversation between the president of Ukraine and Vladimir Putin, because we all understand that it is he who makes the final decisions, especially now," he said in a live television broadcast.

"Our president is not scared of anything, including a direct meeting with Putin," Kuleba added.

‘Ukraine refugees to exceed 2 million by tomorrow’

The UN refugee agency on Tuesday said the number of refugees fleeing the raging conflict in Ukraine is likely to exceed two million in the coming two days.

"I do think that we will pass the two million mark today or maybe at the latest tomorrow," Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said at a news conference in Oslo. "So, it doesn't stop."

For comparison, he said the Balkan wars in Bosnia and Kosovo saw "maybe two to three million people, but over a period of eight years." 

Grandi noted that the mass exodus from Ukraine is unprecedented, adding that in Europe "it's the first time since the Second World War".

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