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The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 8 March 2022.

Deputy Prime Minister – Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk informed that the functioning of the humanitarian corridor from Sumy affected by the shelling of the Russian troops had been agreed on as of today.

“This fact was officially approved by the Russian Ministry of Defense in a letter to the International Committee of the Red Cross. Hence, both the Red Cross and we, as the party with which the opening of the humanitarian corridor was agreed, have documental approval,” she said.

Iryna Vereshchuk noted that one route for the humanitarian corridor for evacuation of people was established: Sumy, Holubivka, Lokhvytsia, Lubny, Poltava. No other routes were agreed.

However, according to the Deputy Prime Minister, the Ukrainian party has information that the Russian side is planning manipulations with the route, not agreed upon and dangerous, to force people to go the other way.

“We call on the Russian side not to resort to manipulative actions and to fulfill the promise, which is documented,” Iryna Vereshchuk emphasized.

Under this route, the evacuation of civilians from the city of Sumy to the city of Poltava is planned, including foreign students – citizens of the Republic of India and the People’s Republic of China. It is also a question of delivery of the corresponding humanitarian cargoes by the humanitarian corridor to the city of Sumy. In particular, food and essential medicines. The convoy of humanitarian goods will move to the city of Sumy along the route: Lokhvytsia, Andriyashivka, Romny, Nedryhailiv, Sumy.

“The Ukrainian side is ready to fully ensure all the way along the agreed route. We informed both the Red Cross and the Russian side of our readiness. It was agreed to start the silence regime on the route at 9 am Kyiv time. We announce the beginning of the silence regime. The time frame of the humanitarian corridor is from 9 am to 9 pm,” Iryna Vereshchuk said.

It was agreed that at 10 am the first column should start moving from the city of Sumy. Civilians will also follow the convoy in their own vehicles.

Iryna Vereshchuk emphasized: all obstacles to the movement of the relevant convoys must be removed along the entire route – both for people leaving the city of Sumy and for humanitarian goods delivered to the city of Sumy.

“A real ceasefire along the route of the humanitarian corridor will be the basis for informing the public about the possibility of evacuation,” she said.

According to her, the Ukrainian party has also sent to the Russian side and the Red Cross the developed routes for humanitarian corridors: Volnovakha – Zaporizhzhia, Mariupol – Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv and Kyiv region in the direction of Western Ukraine, as well as Kharkiv and Kharkiv region in the direction of Western Ukraine.

“We call on Russia to agree on these routes without delay, to inform the International Committee of the Red Cross and to ensure a stable ceasefire on these routes,” Iryna Vereshchuk noted.

She also appealed to the citizens not to trust unofficial media sources and reports from the Russian Defense Ministry.

“Trust the Ukrainian authorities. Listen, read the official media. Everything will be Ukraine!” the Deputy Prime Minister – Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine stressed.

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 7 March 2022.

During the third round of talks in Belarus, the delegations of Ukraine and Russia clarified the details of the functioning of humanitarian corridors to provide more effective assistance to people in the cities most affected by the Russian shelling. This was stated by Adviser to the Head of the President’s Office Mykhailo Podoliak after the meeting.

“We have received some positive results in terms of logistics of humanitarian corridors. They will be amended, and we will receive more effective assistance to people who are currently suffering from the aggression of the Russian Federation,” he said.

Intensive consultations will be continued on the basic, political bloc of settlement, in particular on the ceasefire and security guarantees.

“There are no results that significantly improve the situation yet,” Mykhailo Podoliak said.

“However, I emphasize once again that the consultations will be continued and we will get the result,” the Adviser to the Head of the President’s Office summed up.

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 7 March 2022.

Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States Oksana Markarova received the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award for President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which was presented by Chairman of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation Frederick Ryan.

Frederick Ryan stressed that this high award honors the leadership of the President of Ukraine and the steadfastness of millions of Ukrainians who defend their right to choose their own future and inspire the entire civilized world to fight for the values of freedom and democracy to which Ronald Reagan dedicated his life. It was President Reagan who gave a decisive impetus to the destruction of the Soviet “evil empire” and paved the way for freedom and democracy for its enslaved nations in the former Soviet Union.

Today, the Kremlin regime is trying to rebuild the wreckage of the Soviet empire having started a brutal and bloody war in central Europe. Just as more than three decades ago, the “evil empire” has no chance of existence. Ukrainians, with their blood and desperate struggle, fiercely repel the aggressor, showing courage and will. Frederick Ryan quoted famous words by President Reagan: “Above all, we must realize that no arsenal or no weapon in the arsenals of the world is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today’s world do not have.”