Ukraine has accused Moscow of trying to manipulate the international community by forcing refugees from conflict zones to evacuate only into Russia or Belarus after the Russian military ordered a cease-fire to allow civilian evacuations from the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and the cities of Mariupol, Kharkiv, and Sumy.
Ukraine called the move “completely immoral,” with a spokesman for President Volodymyr Zelenskiy saying Ukrainian citizens should be allowed to leave their homes through Ukrainian territory.
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Routes for the evacuation, which should have opened at 9 a.m. local time, were published by the RIA Novosti news agency, citing the Russian Defense Ministry, showing that people will only be allowed to leave for Russia and Belarus.
“This is a completely immoral story. People’s suffering is used to create the desired television picture,” the spokesman said in a written message.
“These are citizens of Ukraine. They should have the right to evacuate to the territory of Ukraine,” the spokesman said, accusing Russia of deliberately hampering previous evacuation attempts.
Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Ukraine was calling on Russia to agree to a cease-fire from March 7 to allow Ukrainians to evacuate toward the western Ukrainian city of Lviv instead.
The task force said the pause was decided following a request by French President Emmanuel Macron, who talked on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the weekend.
Vereshchuk said Russia is trying to manipulate Macron and other Western leaders by demanding that any humanitarian corridors in Ukraine exit through Russia or Belarus.
The Russian Defense Ministry said a task force will monitor the evacuations with drones.
It also wasn’t immediately clear if fighting would stop beyond the areas mentioned in the task force’s statement.
Ukraine also said a third round of negotiations was taking place with Russia in Belarus on establishing humanitarian corridors but that they were unlikely to be set up while Russian forces keep trying to advance.
The two sides had already met twice in Belarus since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
Russian forces continued their offensive on March 7, opening fire on the city of Mykolayiv, 480 kilometers south of Kyiv. Rescuers said they were putting out fires in residential areas caused by rocket attacks.
Shelling also continued in the suburbs of Kyiv, including Irpin, which has been cut off from electricity, water, and heating for three days. Residents tried to flee Irpin, and Bucha, another Kyiv suburb, as they were pounded by air strikes.
“Russia continues to carry out rocket, bomb and artillery strikes on the cities and settlements of Ukraine,” the Ukrainian General Staff said. “The invaders continue to use the airfield network of Belarus to carry out air strikes on Ukraine.”
Ukraine’s military said on March 6 that it was fighting “fierce battles” with Russian forces on the edge of the southern city of Mykolayiv, which controls the road to the key Black Sea city of Odesa in the west.
Soldiers in Kyiv bolstered defenses by digging trenches, blocking roads, and liaising with civil defense units.
WATCH: Shells rained down on Ukrainian civilians as they fled from Russian troops advancing on the town of Irpin, northwest of Kyiv. Cameraman Andriy Dubchak captured the moment a shell landed on March 6, killing at least three people, including two children. (WARNING: Viewers may find the content of this video disturbing.)
Evacuations on March 6 along designated humanitarian corridors were halted because of continued Russian shelling.
Despite ample, concrete evidence of Russian attacks on civilian areas documented by reporters, including RFE/RL correspondents on the ground, Moscow denies targeting civilian areas, calling its campaign a “special military operation.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on March 7 renewed his appeal to Western leaders to give Kyiv military aircraft. Zelenskiy has also pressed his demand for foreign countries to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine. Zelenskiy said in a video address that “the world is strong enough to close our skies.”
NATO has ruled out such a closure over fears that a direct confrontation with Russia could spark a world war.
Kyiv has also appealed to the West to toughen sanctions.
Zelenskiy also described some of the destruction from Russian bombardments. He said Russian rockets had “completely destroyed” the civilian airport in Vinnytsya in central Ukraine on March 6.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is on a visit to Eastern Europe, said the United States and its allies are having a “very active discussion” about banning the import of Russian oil.
In Photos: Russian Artillery, Bombs Pound Ukrainian Cities As Civilians Continue To Die
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continued unabated over the weekend, with Ukraine saying Russian forces had launched hundreds of missiles and artillery attacks across the country, including dropping powerful bombs on residential areas of Chernihiv, a city north of the capital, Kyiv.
Speaking in Moldova, which has a long border with Ukraine, Blinken said Washington was considering how it could resupply aircraft to Poland if Warsaw decided to send its Russian-made warplanes to Ukraine.
Putin on March 6 held phone calls with Israeli Prime Minster Naftali and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in addition to his call with Macron.
In the call with Erdogan, Putin said the invasion could be halted only “only if Kyiv ceases hostilities,” according to a Kremlin statement on the phone call. He said Ukraine had to fulfill “the well-known demands of Russia,” which include what he calls the “demilitarization” of Ukraine and a guarantee that it will not be able to join NATO.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on March 7 urged China to join the effort to stop Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, warning that the world was in danger of being reshaped by an “arc of autocracy.”
China, which has close ties with Moscow, has declined to call the Russian attack on Ukraine an “invasion” while asking Western countries to respect Russia’s “legitimate security concerns.”
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on March 7 that Beijing’s friendship with Russia is “rock solid” and the prospects for cooperation are very broad.
Beijing has called for a solution to the crisis through negotiations.
The number of people who have left Ukraine since fighting began has now reached 1.5 million, according to the UN refugee agency, as refugees continued to pour into neighboring countries, including Poland, Romania, and Moldova.
