Moscow claims Kyiv is 'against' evacuation of Ukrainians to Russia
The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed Tuesday that Ukrainian authorities are "categorically against" evacuating residents of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Mariupol to Russia.
"The authorities in Kyiv are continuing to categorically reject all main routes of evacuation from Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Mariupol to the territory of the Russian Federation," Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the Russian National Defense Control Center, said at a press briefing.
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The Russian defense ministry alleged that the Ukrainians only confirmed one of the 10 evacuation routes Russia proposed. The confirmed route is from the city of Sumy, through Poltava and to the border with Poland, Mizintsev said.
The Russian defense ministry also claimed that more than 2.5 million Ukrainians have asked to be evacuated to Russia.
"Following the past day, 2,541,367 appeals from individual Ukrainian citizens, as well as foreigners made via various communication channels requesting to save and evacuate them from 1,917 settlements in Ukraine have already been processed in our database," Mizintsev said.
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The Russian defense ministry further alleged that checkpoints in Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Moldova and Romania "were virtually ill prepared" to receive Ukrainian refugees.
"People are forced to leave their cars and walk on foot carrying their heavy bags. Lines are up to 40 kilometers long, and the crossing time is over two days," Mizintsev said.