Russia Declares Ceasefire in Mariupol and Volnovakha for Humanitarian Corridors

Russian Embassy in India said that the Russian side declared a ceasefire and opened humanitarian corridors for civilians to leave Mariupol and Volnovakha amid the ongoing tensions in Ukraine.

"Today, on March 5, from 10 a.m. Moscow time, the Russian side declared a regime of silence and opened humanitarian corridors for civilians to leave Mariupol & Volnovakha. Humanitarian corridors & exit routes have been coordinated with the Ukrainian side," it said in a Facebook post.

The Russian Embassy in India gave details of the movement of units of the Russian Armed Forces, the numbers of settlements under control, military assets being hit and destroyed.

According to the Russian Defence Ministry, the grouping of troops of the Luhansk People's Republic, with the fire support of the Russian Armed Forces, continued offensive operations and reached the Bohuslavka- Telmakhovka-Kalinovka line reported the Embassy.

Furthermore, units of the Armed Forces of the Donetsk People's Republic advanced 27 km overnight. The settlements of Novogrigorovka, Novonikolaevka, Vishnevatoye, Volnoye, Listvyanka and Antonovka were taken under control.

Units of the Russian Armed Forces are conducting offensive operations on a broad front. Over the past day, the settlements of Preobrazhenka, Komsomolskoye, Zagornoye, Dorozhnyanka, Reshetilovskoye, Konstantinovka, Shevchenko, Chubarevka, Proletarskoye, Lyubimovka have been taken under control.

As per the Embassy, the servicemen of the Donetsk People's Republic continue to squeeze the encirclement ring around Mariupol. "The militants of the Azov and Aidar national battalions are firing at the people's militia units that have entered the city from positions equipped in schools, hospitals, maternity hospitals and kindergartens," it added.

Russian Embassy in India said the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue to deliver strikes at the military assets of Ukraine.

Over the past day, a strike of high-precision long-range weapons destroyed an ammunition depot on the territory of the military unit of Zhytomyr, where Javelin and NLOW anti-tank missile systems were stored.

In total, 2,037 military assets of Ukraine were hit during the operation. Among them were 71 control points and communication centres of the Ukrainian Armed Forces; 98 S-300, Buk M-1 and Osa anti-aircraft missile systems, as well as 61 radar stations.

Moreover among the destroyed were 66 aircraft on the ground and 16 aircraft in the air, 708 tanks and other armoured combat vehicles, 74 multiple rocket launchers, 261 field artillery and mortars, 505 units of special military vehicles, as well as 56 unmanned aerial vehicles.

Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities.

Amid the Ukraine-Russia crisis raging for over a week now, Ukraine plans to hold the third round of talks with Russian officials to try to end the fighting triggered by Moscow's invasion this weekend, said one of Kyiv's negotiators.