The Russian army said it would establish a humanitarian corridor on Wednesday to evacuate hundreds of civilians from the Azot chemical plant in the city of Sievierodonetsk.
“Guided by the principles of humanity, the Russian armed forces and the formations of the Luhansk People’s Republic are ready to organise a humanitarian operation to evacuate civilians,” the Russian defense ministry said Tuesday.
The humanitarian corridor will be in place between 8 am (0500 GMT) and 8 pm Moscow time Wednesday, the defense ministry said, adding the evacuees would be transported to the city of Svatovo in the separatist-held region of Luhansk.
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Moscow also urged “militants of nationalist battalions and foreign mercenaries” at the plant to “stop senseless resistance” and lay down their arms.
Moscow has laid siege for weeks to the cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk, the last areas in the eastern Ukrainian region of Lugansk still under Kyiv control.
The Russian army said that Ukrainian authorities requested that civilians from the Azot plant be transported to Kyiv-controlled Lysychansk but said that the evacuation there was not possible because the last bridge linking the cities had been destroyed.
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