Report # 34. Kiev still blocks humanitarian routes

April 2nd, 2022

 

1. Humanitarian situation is continuing

The Russian Federation carries out coordinated work to evacuate civilians and foreign citizens from dangerous areas, and also carries out large-scale measures to provide comprehensive assistance to the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, as well as to the population in controlled areas of Ukraine.

Every day from 10:00AM (Moscow time), the opening of humanitarian corridors continues in the Kiev, Chernigov, Sumy, Kharkov and Mariupol directions: one to Russia and one through the territories controlled by the Kiev authorities towards the western borders of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian side has announced nine more corridors on the Zaporozhye and Donetsk directions for the current day, of which, as before, none are in the direction of the Russian Federation.

The Armed Forces of Russia, as well as the formations of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, strictly observe the ceasefire on all routes, including those declared by the Ukrainian side.

The Russian side does not ignore any positive humanitarian initiatives coming from both foreign states and international organizations.

At the personal requests of the President of France and the Federal Chancellor of Germany to the President of the Russian Federation V. Putin, on April 1st, 2022, the Russian Armed Forces opened an additional humanitarian corridor for the evacuation of civilians and foreign citizens from Mariupol to Zaporozhye (with an intermediate point in Berdyansk).

Currently, this humanitarian operation is continuing, we hope for its successful completion in case of guaranteed and strict fulfillment of the obligations to observe the ceasefire by the Kiev authorities.

The Joint Coordination Headquarters of the Russian Federation for Humanitarian Response in Ukraine, in cooperation with the authorized federal executive authorities, continues to carefully record numerous facts of the inhumane attitude of the Kiev authorities to civilians.

Here are some of them for the past day:

in the Kiev region, units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from large-caliber artillery systems Pion and Hyacinth continuously shelled the settlement of Novaya Basan for 2.5 hours, which led to numerous casualties among local residents; in the Nikolaev region, nationalist formations have mined the floodgates of the Alexandrovskaya hydroelectric power station (the Southern Bug river), which the neo-Nazis plan to blow up. During the implementation of these criminal actions, more than ten settlements and the area adjacent to the city of Voznesensk will be in the flood zone.

These facts once again demonstrate the inhumane attitude and indifference of the Kiev authorities to the fate of their own citizens.

The Russian Federation continues to fulfill its humanitarian obligations to rescue civilians (ensures the safety of the passage of people, as well as the passage of bus convoys and civilian motor transport).

Over the past day, the Russian Armed Forces, without the participation of the Ukrainian authorities, evacuated 15,790 people to Russia from dangerous areas of Ukraine, as well as the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, 2,760 of them children, and a total of 543,397 people, of whom 110,979 are children, since the beginning of the special military operation.

66,067 units of personal vehicles crossed the state border of the Russian Federation, of which 1,840 units per day.

From Mariupol through the humanitarian corridor in the eastern direction, without any participation of the Ukrainian side, 118,765 people have already been rescued from the lawlessness organized by the nationalists, including 3,046 people over the past day.

A significant part of the population forcibly held by radicals in Ukrainian cities is still looking for any opportunities for evacuation to Russia, as evidenced by numerous requests of citizens through various channels to official structures and public organizations of the Russian Federation.

Over the past day, another 1,378 such requests have been received, and in total there are already 2,733,575 of them in the database from 2,123 settlements in Ukraine.

Neo-Nazis continue to hold over 4.5 million civilians as a "human shield" in Kiev, Kharkov, Chernigov, Sumy and more than two dozen other large settlements.

6,472 foreigners from 17 states remain hostage to the militants of the territorial defence battalions.

Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to shell civilian residential areas in Donbass. From February 24th, 2022 in Donetsk People’s Republic 72 civilians have been killed and 949 wounded, including 59 children.

2. Distribution of humanitarian aid

In the regions of the Russian Federation, more than 9.5 thousand temporary accommodation facilities continue to function normally. They are equipped with everything necessary, there are places for rest and hot meals. Individual work is carried out with arriving refugees, they are provided with qualified medical and psychological assistance.

There are enough buses at the checkpoints to transport people to their chosen places of residence or to temporary accommodation.

The federal executive authorities, together with the subjects of the Russian Federation, various public organizations and patriotic movements, continue to accumulate humanitarian aid.

Over 22.5 thousand tons of food, medicines and basic necessities have been prepared at the collection points.

The Russian Federation (since March 2) has already delivered 7,127.3 tons of humanitarian supplies to Ukraine, 724 humanitarian actions have been carried out, including 15 in the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics, Zaporozhye, Kiev, Chernigov, Kharkov and Kherson regions over the past day, during which 358 tons of basic necessities were transferred to the civilian population, food and medicines.

On April 1st, 2022, 11 humanitarian actions are being carried out in the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics, Kiev, Chernigov, Zaporozhye, Kharkov and Kherson regions, during which 412 tons of basic necessities and food are being transferred to the population.

Russia has arranged hospital for Ukrainian POW in Crimea. It has conducted medical treatment for six Ukrainian nationals. Ukrainian POW are released to go home.

On the contrary, Kiev does not honor and respect the Geneva Convention on protection of prisoners of war and detainees. There are at least two video-recorded cases showing: crucifixion – the execution of a person by binding him to a cross on a wooden cross with subsequent burning him alive; and shooting a number of persons in military attire at their legs by assault rifles.

The rules protecting prisoners of war (POWs) are specific and were first detailed in the 1929 Geneva Convention. They were refined in the third 1949 Geneva Convention, following the lessons of World War II, as well as in Additional Protocol I of 1977. In non-international armed conflicts, Article 3 common to the 1949 Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocol II provide that persons deprived of liberty for reasons related to the conflict must also be treated humanely in all circumstances. In particular, they are protected against murder, torture, as well as cruel, humiliating or degrading treatment. Those detained for participation in hostilities are not immune from criminal prosecution under the applicable domestic law for having done so.

3. Navigation at the Black Sea is endangered by Kiev

The Ukrainian side continues to block more than 60 foreign vessels in its ports. The threat of shelling and high mine danger created by official Kiev in its internal waters and territorial sea do not allow ships to safely go to the open sea. The Ukrainian side does not confirm its readiness to ensure the safety of the exit of foreign vessels to the assembly area and in every possible way avoids cooperation on resolving this issue.

There is no danger to freedom of civil navigation on the part of the Russian Federation. Once again, we warn about the threat of the drift of Ukrainian mines torn from their anchors along the coast of the Black Sea states.

The Russian Armed Forces open a humanitarian corridor daily from 08:00 to 19:00 (Moscow time), which is a safe lane in the south-west direction from the territorial sea of Ukraine with a length of 80 and a width of 3 nautical miles.

Information about the operation of the maritime humanitarian corridor is announced in navigation warnings through the world navigation warning service (district No. 3, Cadiz, Spain).

In addition, every 15 minutes, messages containing detailed information on the functioning of the maritime humanitarian corridor are transmitted in English and Russian by the forces of the Russian Navy on international channels No. 14 and No. 16 of VHF radio communication.

Moreover, the Russian side has recorded cases of an unknown subscriber working on the 16th international VHF radio channel transmitting false information in Ukrainian about possible provocations by the Russian Navy and calls to abandon the use of the maritime humanitarian corridor. Such actions of the Ukrainian authorities are regarded solely as a cover for their inhumane decisions – to leave foreign ships and crews in the ports of Ukraine as a "human shield".

Written by Vladimir P. Kozin 

Once again, Russia calls on the International Maritime Organization and the management of shipowners' companies to influence official Kiev to take measures aimed at unblocking and ensuring the safety of the exit of foreign vessels from the ports of Ukraine.

4.  Situation on the battlefield

Units of the armed forces of the Donetsk People's Republic have captured most of Novobakhmutovka and are fighting retreating units of the Ukrainian 25th Separate Airborne Brigade. During the night, a tank platoon and 2 mechanized infantry platoons, as well as a mortar battery, were destroyed in this area.

High-precision long-range air-based and sea-based weapons destroyed gasoline and diesel fuel storages at the Kremenchuk oil refinery, from which Ukrainian troops in central and eastern parts of the country had been supplied.

High-precision air-based missiles have disabled military airfields in Poltava and Dnepropetrovsk.

Russian air defence means have shot down two Ukrainian Mi-24 helicopters near Sumy and Urozhainoe. 24 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles have also been destroyed in the air.

During the night, operational-tactical and missile troops hit 67 military assets of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Among them: 2 command posts, 2 depots of missile and artillery weapons and ammunition, 9 field artillery guns and mortars, as well as 54 areas of concentration of Ukrainian weapons and military equipment.

In total, from February 24th, 2022, 125 aircraft and 88 helicopters, 381 unmanned aerial vehicles, 1,888 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 205 multiple launch rocket systems, 793 field artillery and mortars, as well as 1,771 special military vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were destroyed during the operation.


Straightforward questions:

President Joseph Biden allocated additional $ 300 million for military aid to Ukraine. From his inauguration in January 2021 he ordered totally $ 2,3 billion, including $ 1,6 billion from February 24th, 2022 till now, for the same reason.

A question: Does President Joseph Biden really seek to end Ukrainian aggression versus civilians in Donbass and in the rest of Ukraine against Ukrainian nationals if he allocates so much money of the American taxpayers?

One more question: Presidents Macron, Sholz and Erdagan asked Russia to open up humanitarian corridors in Ukraine. Russia did it many times -  even before such requests. Have they asked Zelensky to do the same?


 

 

04.04.2022
  • Эксклюзив
  • Военно-политическая
  • Конфликты
  • Органы управления
  • Россия
  • СНГ