Russian defense minister claims nearly 350,000 Ukrainians evacuated to Russia
Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the Russian National Defense Control Center, claimed that about 347,000 Ukrainians have evacuated to Russia.
The evacuations occurred "without the participation of the Kyiv authorities," Mizintsev alleged during a press conference Monday, claiming that officials in Kyiv "again have not approved any of the four humanitarian corridors in Russia's direction proposed by the Russian side."

Mizintsev also alleged that Kyiv refuses to conduct humanitarian operations in the besieged city of Mariupol by withdrawing Ukrainian forces from the city.
"At 2 a.m. on March 21, 2022, we received an unsubstantiated refusal to rescue people, and a surrender and laying down arms are out of the question," Mizintsev said, adding that more than 130,000 people remain blockaded in the city.
Mizintsev claimed that in the past 24 hours alone, 16,054 people, including 4,631 children, were evacuated "from dangerous areas of Ukraine and the Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics" into Russia.
Moscow had had offered safe passage out of Mariupol in return for the city's surrender before 4 a.m. Monday, but Ukraine rejected the offer well before the deadline.







