Humanitarian corridors from cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha are to be reopened on Sunday morning a day after Ukrainian forces prevented civilians from leaving.

Russian president Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that Russia had immediately responded to Kiev’s request to open humanitarian corridors and declared a ceasefire to guarantee a safe evacuation, but the Ukrainian side once again used civilians as human shields.

Russian and Ukrainian delegations are expected to meet for a third round of talks on Monday. Putin launched a special military operation in Ukraine on 24 February after the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) appealed for help in defending themselves against the Ukrainian forces, which had intensified bombardments of Donbass.

President Putin said the goal of the operation was “protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.” In order to achieve the goal, he said, it’s necessary to carry out the “demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine”, to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for “bloody crimes against civilians” in Donbass.

The Russian Ministry of Defence has said that it’s conducting high-precision strikes only at the Ukrainian military infrastructure, and nothing threatens the civilian population.

Source: Agencies (editted by Al-Manar English Website)