Civilians were forced to walk in the icy wind and heavy snow
Kyiv:
Desperate civilians began fleeing Ukraine’s besieged cities on Tuesday after Russia offered a “humanitarian corridor”, as the number of refugees leaving the country since Moscow’s invasion surpassed two million people.
Evacuees from the Bucha and Irpin areas northwest of Kyiv were seen crossing the river on makeshift boardwalks and jagged metal at the site of a bridge that had been demolished to impede progress. of Russia.
A video posted by AFP news agency on Twitter shows civilians forced to walk with their belongings, children and pets, in cold winds and heavy snow.
Evacuate from #Irpin continues today in heavy snow | #Ukarine#Kyiv@AFPpic.twitter.com/Sf3KvuoOHS
– Dylan Collins (@collinsdyl) March 8, 2022
Intense shelling and air raids caused heavy damage in and around the town. The Russian army is slowly encroaching on Kyiv despite the intense efforts of superior Ukrainian forces, and is moving faster through the east and north of the country.
Russia on Tuesday opened a “humanitarian corridor” so that people can be evacuated from Kyiv and four other Ukrainian cities: Cherhihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Mariupol.
However, Ukraine accused Russia of attacking a corridor from the southern port city of Mariupol, where aid workers say tens of thousands of people are living in “apocalyptic” conditions.
Kyiv has seen these corridors as a publicity stunt because many of the exits lead into Russia or its ally Belarus. Both sides accuse each other of violating the ceasefire.
Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on 24 February, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine’s breakaway regions – Donetsk and Luhansk – as independent entities.
