Russia Declares Partial Ceasefire In Ukraine

Russia has declared a partial ceasefire in the war in Ukraine to allow residents of two cities that were surrounded by Russian forces, including the strategic port city of Mariupol, to evacuate.

“Today, March 5, from 10 am Moscow time (0700 GMT), the Russian side declares a regime of silence and opens humanitarian corridors for the exit of civilians from Mariupol and Volnovakha,” it said.

Civilians will be allowed to leave Mariupol between noon and 5pm (0900 – 1400 GMT), Russia’s RIA news agency quoted city authorities as saying.

The Mariupol city council said in a statement that civilians will be able to proceed towards the city of Zaporizhzhia and will be able to use specially arranged bus routes as well as their own cars. Saturday’s evacuation will be the first of several stages, it said.

“This is not an easy decision, but, as I have always said, Mariupol is not its streets or houses. Mariupol is its population, it is you and me,” mayor Vadim Boychenko was quoted as saying in the statement. With Russian troops surrounding the city, he said, “there is no other option but to allow residents – that is, you and me – to leave Mariupol safely,” he said.

The decision by Russia to declare the ceasefire in Ukraine came as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday hit at NATO for ruling out a no-fly zone, saying it gives a “green light for further bombing of Ukrainian cities and villages,” as Russia intensifies strikes on civilian areas.

“All the people who die from this day forward will also die because of you, because of your weakness, because of your lack of unity,” the Ukrainian president said in an emotional address, where he praised the bravery of the Ukrainian resistance.

In ruling out a no-fly zone, NATO said it could worsen situations and escalate to a full scale war in Europe.

“The only way to implement a no-fly zone is to send Nato fighter planes into Ukraine’s airspace, and then impose that no-fly zone by shooting down Russian planes,” Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said. “If we did that, we’ll end up with something that could end in a full-fledged war in Europe, involving many more countries and causing much more human suffering.”

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