The desperate search for safety for a Ukrainian family ended in death.
The bridge was a shadow of its former self, having been blown up by Ukrainian(UKRAINE) soldiers attempting to halt the Russian assault on Kyiv, yet battered as it was, it provided a lifeline to civilians fleeing the battle.
On Sunday, while Ukrainian refugees milled outside the structure’s entrance, assessing their chances of crossing the Irpin River safely, a family with bags and a blue wheeled suitcase decided to take a chance.
Just as they crossed into Kyiv, they were hit by a Russian mortar. The early air was filled with a fog of concrete dust. When the dust fell, Ukrainians could be seen fleeing the site in a panic. The family, however, is an exception. A woman and her two children, as well as a family friend, lay motionless on the road.
Vladimir V. Putin, Russia’s president, has denied that his soldiers are attacking civilians fleeing conflict zones. On Sunday, he did so once more, the day after a rail route that used evacuate Ukrainians was hit by gunfire.
When mortar shells started falling, only a few Ukrainian forces were near the bridge. Soldiers were not fighting but assisting refugees in transporting their children and belongings to the capital.
A New York Times team, comprising photographer Lynsey Addario, a security adviser, and Andriy Dubchak, an independent journalist who filmed the situation, observed the attack on the bridge.
Hundreds of Ukrainians escaping conflict in three villages on Kyiv’s western outskirts have gathered at the bridge since Saturday, hoping to reach the capital, which is in Moscow’s crosshairs.
Crossing the bridge into Kyiv, civilians form small bands and sprint roughly 100 yards together, dangerously exposing themselves to Russian fire. Soldiers from Ukraine rush alongside people to assist them before returning to run for cover under a concrete wall.
- Russia has violated the cease-fire agreement: Zelensky
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Source : nytimes.com
Prez Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine voiced displeasure over Russia’s refusal to implement limited cease-fire agreements as one attempt after another to rescue people from towns and cities failed.
In an address delivered overnight, he stated, “They can only construct murderous corridors instead of humanitarian corridors.” He stated that the Russian soldiers who launched a mortar that murdered residents while attempting to leave Iprin, a township on the suburbs of Kyiv, would not be forgiven.
A New York Times team, comprising photographer Lynsey Addario, a security adviser, and Andriy Dubchak, an independent journalist who filmed the event, observed the attack.
Mr. Zelensky wondered how many other family members had died in this manner since the conflict began.
“Every Ukrainian who remains to protect our cities has my gratitude,” he stated. “However, I am aware that there are many who desperately need to leave.” Who is unable to remain. We also heard that humanitarian routes will be established. However, no humanitarian corridors exist.”
“Everyone who perpetrated atrocities in this conflict will be punished,” he declared. “There will be no tranquil place for you on this planet.” “With the exception of the cemetery.”
- Negotiators are gearing up for the third round of negotiations, as the Kremlin offers Ukrainians a way to flee to Russia.
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Source : nytimes.com
As Ukrainian and Russian diplomats prepared to begin a 3rd round of dialogue geared at halting the ongoing violence in Ukraine on Monday, the humanitarian situation in the country grew more anxious, with trapped civilians attempting to flee cities and towns increasingly targeted by Russian military advances.
Concerned with establishing secure routes through which civilian population could be evacuated that have ended in failure twice in recent days — could be revived once more, as the Russian Defence Department in Moscow announced Monday morning that its forces would maintain a cease-fire to allow evacuations in cities such as Mariupol, Kharkiv, Sumy, and Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital.
Ukrainian officials, on the other hand, made no such pronouncements and offered no quick response to Russia’s announcement. There were no obvious evidence of any large-scale evacuation plans on the ground.
The majority of the passageways mentioned in a statement released by the Russian Defense Department on Monday end in Russia. People in Kyiv may go via land to Gomel, Belarus, where they’d be flown into Russia by plane, according to the report. People in Mariupol were encouraged to travel by land to Rostov-on-Don, Russia, while those in Kharkiv and Sumy being advised they might travel to Belgorod, Russia.
Similar claims of a corridor connecting besieged sections of Ukraine to Russia have been met with disdain and mockery by Ukrainians in recent days.
According to Russia, the cease-fire decision was taken in response to a personal plea from French President Emmanuel Macron. Mr. Macron’s office stated on Monday that while he requested the measure to keep people safe and relief efforts, he never specifically requested humanitarian corridors into Russia.
Even limited evacuation operations failed on Saturday and Sunday. Russian shelling, according to Ukrainian officials, has put civilians in danger.
The Kremlin accused Ukraine, claiming that the country’s “Nazi” leadership was employing civilians as human shields. The failure of a plan to move 200,000 people from Mariupol on Sunday, according to the Red Cross, highlights “the lack of a precise and operational agreement among parties to the conflict.”
Edited by: Kiran Maharana
Published by: Pawan Rajput
