163,000 people evacuated from Russian operation areas
Alongside reports that the Ukrainian army has been blocking evacuation corridors, numbers of evacuees have been revealed from the Russian side.
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A Ukrainian woman and her son through a bus window arriving at a temporary accommodation center (Reuters)
On Sunday, the Russian Ministry of Defense accused Kiev of not fulfilling its commitments regarding organizing humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of residents from Mariupol.
Read more: Ukrainian Azov shoots civilians during Mariupol evacuation, kills two
Earlier in the day, another attempt was made to evacuate civilians from Mariupol; in a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, Putin accused Ukraine of not adhering to the ceasefire agreements.
"Russia created all conditions for setting up a humanitarian corridor. We have to conclude that the Ukrainian side did not fulfill its obligations," the Ministry said in a statement.
The Russian interagency coordination center on humanitarian response, on Sunday, reported that more than 163,000 people, including 42,729 children, were evacuated from areas where Russia was conducting its operation in Ukraine.
"From the zones of the special military operation evacuated ... 163,218 people, including 42,729 children, including 6,897 in the last 24 hours, including 1,133 children," the center said in a statement.
On the same note, the Donestk People's Republic military helped evacuate 67 civilians out of Mariupol.
In terms of deaths and injuries, the Ukrainian army has killed 26 civilians and injured 109 since the start of the escalation in Donbass, according to Donetsk People's Republic Head Denis Pushilin.
"For that period, 26 civilians have died. One hundred and nine civilians, including seven children, have received injuries of different levels of severity," Pushilin said.
In terms of infrastructure, in the last 16 days, according to Pushilin, "514 residential buildings and 198 civilian infrastructure facilities have been damaged."
Russia had for months been warning of the threat posed against it by NATO's attempts to expand eastward, which happened simultaneously with an increase in NATO military activity along Russia's borders and batches of lethal weapons being sent to Ukraine, prompting Russia to request security guarantees from the West. Washington failed to provide the guarantees.
After the West did not respond to Russia's demands, and amid Ukrainian shelling on the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, President Vladimir Putin initiated a special military operation in Donbass.
