Different statements – Kyiv and Moscow report evacuation of thousands of civilians

Kyiv and Moscow have each reported the evacuation of thousands more civilians from particularly contested areas in Ukraine. More than 4,100 people fled the besieged port city of Mariupol on Saturday, the deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, wrote on Telegram.

Almost 2,500 other civilians were brought to safety from the Kyiv and Luhansk regions via so-called escape corridors.

The Russian side reported in the evening about the evacuation of almost 16,400 people from the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk and other parts of Ukraine to Russia. The Ministry of Defense in Moscow also said that hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians had expressed a desire to Russia to be able to flee.

The City Council of Mariupol Moscow, on the other hand, accused Moscow of having already brought thousands of civilians – mainly women and children – to Russia against their will.

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