Ukraine Says Russia Shelling Promised Humanitarian Corridors

Ukraine says Russian forces are shelling agreed-upon evacuation routes from Mariupol as well as the city itself, breaking a cease-fire that was to have gone into effect at 7 a.m. UTC.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov had said, “Today, March the 5th, from 1000 am Moscow time (0700 GMT), the Russian side declares a ceasefire and the opening of humanitarian corridors to allow civilians to leave Mariupol and Volnovakha. Humanitarian corridors and exit routes have been agreed upon with the Ukrainian side.”

Mariupol officials said they are delaying the evacuation plans and urged residents to take shelter. The evacuation routes were to have been open for five hours for both buses and private cars.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Russian forces “are increasingly using brutal methods in Ukraine, including going at civilian populations.”

His comments followed a Russian attack on a Ukrainian nuclear plant — the largest facility of its kind in Europe — that had sparked a fire in a building at the plant compound.

Speaking to reporters Friday before a meeting with his European Union counterparts in Brussels, Blinken said, “We are faced together with what is [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin’s war of choice: unprovoked, unjustified, and a war that is having horrific, horrific consequences.”

People who have fled Ukraine carry luggage past a bus after arriving at Nyugati station in Budapest, Hungary, March 4, 2022.

“We’re committed to doing everything we can to make it stop,” he added, but he ruled out imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine, saying such an action could lead to a broader conflict.

“We have a responsibility to ensure the war does not spill over beyond Ukraine. … A no-fly zone could lead to a full-fledged war in Europe,” he said.

The meeting in Brussels came after Ukraine accused Russia of “nuclear terror” for shelling and starting a fire at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant before taking control of it. The plant is in the city of Enerhodar in the country’s southeast.

Enerhodar, Ukraine

Ukraine’s nuclear inspectorate said that no radiation had leaked at the plant and that personnel were continuing to operate the facility safely. Firefighters were able to get the blaze under control, Ukrainian officials said.

The United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting Friday to discuss the attack at the request of the United Kingdom, France, Ireland, Norway and Albania.

“The world narrowly averted a nuclear catastrophe last night,” U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said during the meeting. “We’ve just witnessed a dangerous new escalation that represents a dire threat to all of Europe and the world.”

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said a Russian “projectile” hit a training center at the plant.

“This just demonstrates the recklessness of this war,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said of the power plant attack before Friday’s meeting in Brussels with Blinken and EU foreign ministers.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson Konashenkov blamed the attack on a Ukrainian “sabotage group” that he said had occupied the plant’s training building, attacked a Russian patrol and set the building on fire as it left. He offered no evidence, and no other country appeared to take the claim seriously.

The Zaporizhzhia facility produces about 25% of Ukraine’s power.

Nuclear safety experts have expressed concern that fighting so close to the power station could cut off the plant’s power supply, which would adversely affect its ability to keep nuclear fuel cool and would increase the possibility of a nuclear meltdown.

On the ground

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Friday that Russian ground forces are attacking a Ukrainian town near Odesa and that the United States is watching to see what it means for the city.

A Russia convoy outside the capital, Kyiv, was still trying to reach the city, he said, but the “actions by the Ukrainians have in fact stalled that convoy … stopped it in some places.”

Ukraine’s use of its air and missile defenses has been “quite extraordinary,” Kirby said.

Refugees, mostly women with children, wait for transportation at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland, March 5, 2022, after fleeing from the Ukraine.

On Thursday, local Ukrainian government officials and the Russian military confirmed the seizure of the strategic port of Kherson, but a U.S. defense official said Washington was unable to confirm the development.

Ukrainian defense officials say some 66,000 Ukrainians have returned from abroad to fight against the Russians.

A Russian diplomat said Friday that Russia has no intention of occupying Ukraine should its invasion be successful, and that its troops will withdraw once it has fulfilled its objective.

Speaking to reporters at U.N. headquarters in Geneva, Russian Ambassador Gennady Gatilov called the invasion a “military operation with limited objectives,” which he said were to “denazify the regime and demilitarize Ukraine.”

Ukraine is a country with a democratically elected Jewish president who lost relatives in the Holocaust. Historians and political observers view Russia’s invocation of World War II as disinformation.

Possibility of more sanctions

Blinken said Friday that the United States was considering additional sanctions against Russia and had not ruled out anything.

“Nothing is off the table. We are evaluating the sanctions every day,” he said.

On Thursday, Washington heaped another round of sanctions on Putin’s inner circle.

“Today I’m announcing that we’re adding dozens of names to the list, including one of Russia’s wealthiest billionaires, and I’m banning travel to America by more than 50 Russian oligarchs, their families and their close associates,” Biden said Thursday before a Cabinet meeting. “And we’re going to continue to support the Ukrainian people with direct assistance.”

VOA State Department Bureau chief Nike Ching, national security correspondent Jeff Seldin, Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb, Istanbul foreign correspondent Heather Murdock, White House correspondent Anita Powell, and senior diplomatic correspondent Cindy Saine contributed to this report.

Some information came from the Associate Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

Russia Says it is Opening Humanitarian Corridors for 2 Ukrainian Cities

Russia says it is observing a cease-fire around two Ukrainian cities to allow evacuation of residents.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said, “Today, March the 5th, from 1000 am Moscow time (0700 GMT), the Russian side declares a ceasefire and the opening of humanitarian corridors to allow civilians to leave Mariupol and Volnovakha. Humanitarian corridors and exit routes have been agreed upon with the Ukrainian side.”

The corridor from Mariupol would be open for five hours, the ministry quoted city officials as saying.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Russian forces “are increasingly using brutal methods in Ukraine, including going at civilian populations.”

His comments followed a Russian attack on a Ukrainian nuclear plant — the largest facility of its kind in Europe — that had sparked a fire in a building at the plant compound.

Speaking to reporters Friday before a meeting with his European Union counterparts in Brussels, Blinken said, “We are faced together with what is [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin’s war of choice: unprovoked, unjustified, and a war that is having horrific, horrific consequences.”

People who have fled Ukraine carry luggage past a bus after arriving at Nyugati station in Budapest, Hungary, March 4, 2022.

“We’re committed to doing everything we can to make it stop,” he added, but he ruled out imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine, saying such an action could lead to a broader conflict.

“We have a responsibility to ensure the war does not spill over beyond Ukraine. … A no-fly zone could lead to a full-fledged war in Europe,” he said.

The meeting in Brussels came after Ukraine accused Russia of “nuclear terror” for shelling and starting a fire at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant before taking control of it. The plant is in the city of Enerhodar in the country’s southeast.

Enerhodar, Ukraine

Ukraine’s nuclear inspectorate said that no radiation had leaked at the plant and that personnel were continuing to operate the facility safely. Firefighters were able to get the blaze under control, Ukrainian officials said.

The United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting Friday to discuss the attack at the request of the United Kingdom, France, Ireland, Norway and Albania.

“The world narrowly averted a nuclear catastrophe last night,” U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said during the meeting. “We’ve just witnessed a dangerous new escalation that represents a dire threat to all of Europe and the world.”

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said a Russian “projectile” hit a training center at the plant.

“This just demonstrates the recklessness of this war,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said of the power plant attack before Friday’s meeting in Brussels with Blinken and EU foreign ministers.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson Konashenkov blamed the attack on a Ukrainian “sabotage group” that he said had occupied the plant’s training building, attacked a Russian patrol and set the building on fire as it left. He offered no evidence, and no other country appeared to take the claim seriously.

The Zaporizhzhia facility produces about 25% of Ukraine’s power.

Nuclear safety experts have expressed concern that fighting so close to the power station could cut off the plant’s power supply, which would adversely affect its ability to keep nuclear fuel cool and would increase the possibility of a nuclear meltdown.

On the ground

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Friday that Russian ground forces are attacking a Ukrainian town near Odesa and that the United States is watching to see what it means for the city.

A Russia convoy outside the capital, Kyiv, was still trying to reach the city, he said, but the “actions by the Ukrainians have in fact stalled that convoy … stopped it in some places.”

Ukraine’s use of its air and missile defenses has been “quite extraordinary,” Kirby said.

Refugees, mostly women with children, wait for transportation at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland, March 5, 2022, after fleeing from the Ukraine.

On Thursday, local Ukrainian government officials and the Russian military confirmed the seizure of the strategic port of Kherson, but a U.S. defense official said Washington was unable to confirm the development.

Ukrainian defense officials say some 66,000 Ukrainians have returned from abroad to fight against the Russians.

A Russian diplomat said Friday that Russia has no intention of occupying Ukraine should its invasion be successful, and that its troops will withdraw once it has fulfilled its objective.

Speaking to reporters at U.N. headquarters in Geneva, Russian Ambassador Gennady Gatilov called the invasion a “military operation with limited objectives,” which he said were to “denazify the regime and demilitarize Ukraine.”

Ukraine is a country with a democratically elected Jewish president who lost relatives in the Holocaust. Historians and political observers view Russia’s invocation of World War II as disinformation.

Possibility of more sanctions

Blinken said Friday that the United States was considering additional sanctions against Russia and had not ruled out anything.

“Nothing is off the table. We are evaluating the sanctions every day,” he said.

On Thursday, Washington heaped another round of sanctions on Putin’s inner circle.

“Today I’m announcing that we’re adding dozens of names to the list, including one of Russia’s wealthiest billionaires, and I’m banning travel to America by more than 50 Russian oligarchs, their families and their close associates,” Biden said Thursday before a Cabinet meeting. “And we’re going to continue to support the Ukrainian people with direct assistance.”

VOA State Department Bureau chief Nike Ching, national security correspondent Jeff Seldin, Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb, Istanbul foreign correspondent Heather Murdock, White House correspondent Anita Powell, and senior diplomatic correspondent Cindy Saine contributed to this report.

Some information for this report came from The Associate Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

Putin Must Not Be Allowed to Flout International Humanitarian Law

Geneva — 
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warns that rules of the international order that help protect peace and security will be weakened if Russian President Vladimir Putin is allowed to get away with his premeditated invasion of Ukraine.

In a video address to the U.N. Human Rights Council, Blinken warned the human rights and humanitarian crises affecting Ukraine will get worse if Putin succeeds in toppling the country’s democratically elected government.

“Look at Crimea, where Russia’s occupation has come with extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture, arbitrary detention, the persecution of ethnic and religious minorities, the brutal repression of dissent. … Reports of Russia’s human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law are mounting by the hour,” Blinken said.

Photo Gallery:

In Photos: Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine, March 1, 2022

Since Russia invaded Ukraine six days ago, Blinken notes Russian strikes against civilians and civilian infrastructures have escalated. He says schools, hospitals and residential buildings have been targeted. He says critical infrastructure providing millions of people with drinking water, with gas to prevent them from freezing, with electricity to keep the lights on has been destroyed.

“The High Commissioner said yesterday that Russia’s attacks had killed at least a hundred civilians, including children, and wounded hundreds more — and said she expects the real figures are much higher. … Russia’s violence has driven over half a million Ukrainians from the country in just a few days,” Blinken said. “Children, the elderly, people with disabilities, who are making harrowing journeys through conflict zones.”

The Kremlin insisted Tuesday that Russian troops don’t conduct any strikes against civilian infrastructure and residential areas.

The U.N. Refugee Agency is preparing for up to 4 million Ukrainians to flee for safety to neighboring countries. UNHCR officials say the situation looks set to become Europe’s largest refugee crisis this century.

Blinken says Russia’s repression does not stop at Ukraine’s borders. He says the Kremlin also is ramping up its repression within Russia. He says human rights defenders, journalists, Putin’s political opponents have long been subjected to harassment, intimidation, poisoning and imprisonment.

He says this treatment now is being meted out to Russians peacefully protesting the invasion of Ukraine. He says thousands have been detained, and anyone found to be assisting a foreign country or organization could be imprisoned for up to 20 years.

Putin Must Not Be Allowed to Flaunt International Humanitarian Law

Geneva — 
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warns that rules of the international order that help protect peace and security will be weakened if Russian President Vladimir Putin is allowed to get away with his premeditated invasion of Ukraine.

In a video address to the U.N. Human Rights Council, Blinken warned the human rights and humanitarian crises affecting Ukraine will get worse if Putin succeeds in toppling the country’s democratically elected government.

“Look at Crimea, where Russia’s occupation has come with extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture, arbitrary detention, the persecution of ethnic and religious minorities, the brutal repression of dissent. … Reports of Russia’s human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law are mounting by the hour,” Blinken said.

Photo Gallery:

In Photos: Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine, March 1, 2022

Since Russia invaded Ukraine six days ago, Blinken notes Russian strikes against civilians and civilian infrastructures have escalated. He says schools, hospitals and residential buildings have been targeted. He says critical infrastructure providing millions of people with drinking water, with gas to prevent them from freezing, with electricity to keep the lights on has been destroyed.

“The High Commissioner said yesterday that Russia’s attacks had killed at least a hundred civilians, including children, and wounded hundreds more — and said she expects the real figures are much higher. … Russia’s violence has driven over half a million Ukrainians from the country in just a few days,” Blinken said. “Children, the elderly, people with disabilities, who are making harrowing journeys through conflict zones.”

The Kremlin insisted Tuesday that Russian troops don’t conduct any strikes against civilian infrastructure and residential areas.

The U.N. Refugee Agency is preparing for up to 4 million Ukrainians to flee for safety to neighboring countries. UNHCR officials say the situation looks set to become Europe’s largest refugee crisis this century.

Blinken says Russia’s repression does not stop at Ukraine’s borders. He says the Kremlin also is ramping up its repression within Russia. He says human rights defenders, journalists, Putin’s political opponents have long been subjected to harassment, intimidation, poisoning and imprisonment.

He says this treatment now is being meted out to Russians peacefully protesting the invasion of Ukraine. He says thousands have been detained, and anyone found to be assisting a foreign country or organization could be imprisoned for up to 20 years.

US Received Overwhelming Number of Humanitarian Parole Requests from Afghans

After nearly 20 years of war, the U.S. and its allies left Afghanistan last August, helping to evacuate more than 130,000 Afghans in the chaotic last weeks in Kabul. Many of those Afghans hoped for a life in the U.S.

The U.S. offers few primary avenues for Afghans seeking entry. One is a decade-old special immigrant visa program for military interpreters and others who worked on government-funded contracts. Another is a refugee admission program run by the State Department in conjunction with other agencies. A third path is humanitarian parole.

Humanitarian parole is special permission given to those hoping to enter the United States under emergency circumstances. Though it does not automatically lead to permanent residency, “parolees” can apply for legal status—either through the asylum process or other forms of sponsorship, if available—once they’re in the U.S.

The Biden administration received more than 40,000 requests for humanitarian parole for Afghan nationals outside the U.S. So far 160 cases have been conditionally approved, per data sent to VOA by U.S. immigration officials.

An additional 930 cases have been denied, leaving thousands of Afghans who are seeking temporary entry into the U.S. stuck in Afghanistan and other countries.

Stringent criteria

Immigration attorney Mahsa Khanbabai, an elected director of the board of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and co-chair of AILA’s Afghan task force, said part of the problem is how the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) decides to whom they are going to give humanitarian parole.

“They have extremely stringent criteria, which is immensely problematic and upsetting for a lot of people because we expected the government to use … its broad discretion to grant parole,” Khanbabai told VOA. “… There’s an emergency situation here. There’s some humanitarian considerations. Let’s help these people out.”

FILE – A woman holds high a sign that reads “#SaveOurAllies” at a rally calling for the evacuation of Afghan allies, July 1, 2021.

For many at-risk Afghan civilians with no direct ties to the U.S. military or government, humanitarian parole is the only option to reach safety in the United States and reunite with family members.

“A great example is women judges and prosecutors,” Khanbabai said. “They were actually trained by U.S. lawyers … but they never worked for the U.S. government. They worked for the Afghan government. They don’t qualify for [a special immigrant visa]. … So humanitarian parole is really their next best option, and that’s one reason why we advocate so hard for [it].”

A spokesperson for USCIS told VOA that in a typical year, the agency receives fewer than 2,000 requests for humanitarian parole from all nationalities. Of those requests, about 500 to 700 are approved. There are numerous reasons for rejection, but most often it’s because the applicant could not prove they were in an emergency situation.

Additionally, the spokesperson said, the U.S. government has increased the number of officers working on parole cases to assist with the surge in requests and improve processing times.

But the official said humanitarian parole is not intended to replace the refugee processing channels, such as the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), which is the typical pathway for individuals outside of the United States who have fled their country of origin and are seeking protection.

“USCIS reviews the specific facts of each case to determine if there is a distinct, well-documented reason to approve humanitarian parole for an individual,” the spokesperson said.

FILE – An Afghan refugee stands outside temporary housing at the Fort McCoy U.S. Army base in Fort McCoy, Wis., Sept. 30, 2021.

They do, however, recognize the U.S. refugee program is not always an option.

“In some limited circumstances, protection needs are so urgent that obtaining protection via the USRAP is not a realistic option. This, along with other, multiple factors are taken into consideration when USCIS assesses whether urgent humanitarian or significant public benefit parole warrants a favorable exercise of discretion,” USCIS spokesperson said.

Among the criteria to be considered for parole, an applicant is usually an immediate family member of a U.S. citizen or a U.S. lawful permanent resident. Or was a formally employed staff member in the U.S. Embassy in Kabul or an immediate family member of a locally employed staff member.

It also requires an application fee of $575.

VOA spoke with Noori, a former diversity visa winner living in a camp in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, who said he is now trying to get a visa to go to Germany or Canada with his family. For now, he has no hope they will live in the U.S. because they cannot afford the fee.

“We have no money for humanitarian parole,” he wrote in a text message. Noori, like many Afghans, uses only one name.

‘Imminent severe harm’

In November, USCIS added to the list of criteria for Afghan applicants and hosted a webinar to explain to attorneys that humanitarian parole is normally given only if the applicant shows evidence of “imminent severe harm.”

But, as Khanbabai said, it is difficult for the applicants to meet the “imminent severe harm” bar.

“They’re saying that, ‘You haven’t proven to us that there’s individualized threat or harm.’ So, [the U.S. government] essentially made the standard almost more difficult than an asylum case. … Basically ‘Where’s your letter from the Taliban saying that they want you to report to their offices because of the XYZ activities you engaged in,'” she said.

In January, 15 senators wrote a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas expressing concern over the reported high denial rates for Afghans seeking humanitarian parole into the United States.

“While we have always maintained that proper vetting is an essential part of the humanitarian parole process, we are greatly concerned that the Administration is holding Afghan nationals seeking humanitarian parole to an unreasonably high standard, creating barriers to safe haven in the United States,” the senators, all Democrats, wrote.