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Deputy Prime Minister Vereshchuk refutes Russiaʼs statement on the “Azovstal” humanitarian corridor in Mariupol

Author:
Anna Kholodnova
Date:

Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk denied the existence of a humanitarian corridor from the "Azovstal" plant in Mariupol, which was announced on Monday by the Russian Defense Ministry.

She wrote about this in her Telegram.

"Officially and publicly, I declare that unfortunately there are no agreements on humanitarian corridors from "Azovstal" today," Vereshchuk said.

She explained that the humanitarian corridor is opened by agreement between the two sides. The corridor, announced unilaterally, does not provide security, and therefore, in fact, is not a humanitarian corridor.

Vereshchuk said that Ukraine had asked UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to initiate and guarantee the "Azovstal" humanitarian corridor for civilians. In particular, we ask that representatives of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross be present in the humanitarian column.

"We hope for the effectiveness of the UN Secretary Generalʼs talks with Russian representatives," she added.