Officials also asked the citizens to strictly adhere to the evacuation routes and said it is “strictly prohibited” to go off course. They added the ceasefire will be on for several days.
New Delhi: Even as Russia announced a ceasefire Saturday, sporadic incidents of violations were reported by various international media outlets. This comes hours after Moscow announced a ceasefire in order to allow evacuation of citizens from strategic locations of Ukraine.
Reports also suggested that people had to return to shelters amid continuous shelling and bombing by Russia. The Mirror quoted Alexander, a 44-year-old engineer who said, “Right now I’m in Mariupol, I’m on the street. I can hear shelling every three to five minutes,”
Russia’s Defence Ministry in a statement had said it has agreed on the evacuation routes with the Ukrainian forces to allow civilians to leave the strategic port of Mariupol in the southeast and the eastern town of Volnovakha “from 10 a.m. Moscow time” (8 am GMT.)
A top official in Mariupol told the Associated Press that the ceasefire there is to last until 4 pm (2 pm GMT) and an evacuation along a humanitarian corridor would begin at 11 am (9 am GMT). Pavlo Kirilenko, the head of the Donetsk military-civil administration that includes Mariupol, said the humanitarian corridor would extend from the city to Zaporizhzhia.
A statement on this read, “A huge request to all drivers leaving the city, to contribute as much as possible to the evacuation of the civilian population — take people with you, fill vehicles as much as possible.”
Officials also asked the citizens to strictly adhere to the evacuation routes and said it is “strictly prohibited” to go off course. They added the ceasefire will be on for several days.
Meanwhile, spokersperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Arindam Bagchi took to Twitter over concerns regarding Indian students in Sumy, Ukraine. He tweeted, “ Have strongly pressed Russian and Ukrainian governments through multiple channels for an immediate ceasefire to create a safe corridor for our students.”
In the same thread he wrote, “Have advised our students to take safety precautions, stay inside shelters and avoid unnecessary risks. Ministry and our Embassies are in regular touch with the students.”
