Mykhailo Podoliak, an Adviser to the Head of the President's Office, said that russians did not allow any country to conduct a humanitarian operation to evacuate civilians from occupied Mariupol.
He said this during a national telethon, RBC-Ukraine reports.
"Russians are bragging that they can break any rules. They will not allow any country to carry out a humanitarian operation to free people from Mariupol. Let's make no illusions about this. We need to understand that these are completely different people - they are barbarians," said Podoliak.
According to him, any country can offer assistance with evacuation.
Today the Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories Iryna Vereshchuk addressed a statement to russian military and political leadership due to the aggravation of the situation in Mariupol. She called for the creation of a humanitarian corridor for evacuation of civilians. Currently there are many civilians on the territory of the Azovstal plant, including women and children. In general, about 100 thousand people remain in the city.
Mariupol has been occupied by russian troops since early March.
On April 16, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave an interview to Ukrainian online media. He said that negotiations with russia are ongoing. However, he said that at present there is no trust in russians. The President said that there were talks, in particular, about a humanitarian corridor for Mariupol. President Erdogan personally mediated this aspect.
"We agreed that the wounded, killed and civilians could be taken out through Berdiansk, first of all women and children. There are very young children there. At some point russia just discarded this agreement, so there is no trust in them," Zelenskyy said.
Today, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths announced the resumption of work in Kyiv and offered to organize negotiations with russia. According to him, they would deal with humanitarian issues, such as evacuation and armistice. He also announced his visit to Turkey, where he plans to discuss the situation with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.