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

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.

• On April 21, Putin allegedly ordered Russian troops not to storm Mariupolʼs "Azovstal".
• On April 23, at a press conference in the metro, Volodymyr Zelenskyy once again stressed that in the event of Russiaʼs destruction of the Ukrainian military defending Mariupol, peace talks with Russia will end.
• Yesterday, April 24, Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to the head of the Presidentʼs Office, offered Russia three "Mariupol steps" to save people at "Azovstal".