"Humanitarian corridor" to open for stranded Ukrainians: Russia

Ukraine: After severe bombardment in many of Ukraine regions, Russia on Monday announced a "humanitarian corridor" for stranded Ukraine citizens to leave conflict-affected areas but find shelter in Russia itself or its allies, Reuters reported.

However, Ukraine has rejected the move, outright calling it an immoral stunt.

The corridors were to open at 10:00 am from Kyiv, Kharkiv, Sumy and Mariupol, Moscow informed. RIA news agency reported that the corridor from Kyiv is towards Belarus and airlift to Russia, while the corridor from Kharkiv also leads to Russia. Those who seek the passage will only be permitted to the mentioned destinations.

"Attempts by the Ukrainian side to deceive Russia and the whole civilised world ... are useless this time," the Russian ministry said.

Ukraine called the Russian move immoral and an attempt to use people's suffering to create a television picture. "They are citizens of Ukraine, they should have the right to evacuate to the territory of Ukraine," a spokesperson for Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky told Reuters.

"This is one of the problems that is causing the humanitarian corridors to break down. They seem to agree to them, but they themselves want to supply humanitarian aid for a picture on TV and want the corridors to lead in their direction," the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, oil prices shot up to levels similar to 2008 in Asian trade. Experts attribute the current surge to the US administration's plan to ban oil import from Russia as part of adding further sanctions on Moscow. Russia contributes 8 per cent of crude imports to the US.