Kyiv's demand that humanitarian corridor from Mariupol to Zaporizhzhya be demined impossible to meet - Russian Defense Ministry

MOSCOW. March 10 (Interfax) - Kyiv's demand that the humanitarian corridor from Mariupol to Zaporizhzhya be demined cannot be met, as parts of it remain under the control of Ukrainian forces, the Russian military said.

"I have to come back again to the ridiculous demand by Ukrainian officials that Russian forces demine the humanitarian route from Mariupol to Zaporizhzhya. This demand is impossible to meet, and the reason is simple," head of the Russian National Defense Control Center Mikhail Mizintsev said.

"The mines and explosive devices near Mariupol were earlier planted by nationalists and are within the city borders in the zone of their firing range, while the mined part of the road of the humanitarian corridor to Zaporizhzhya runs through territories controlled by territorial defense battalions," Mizintsev said on Thursday.

The Russian military said earlier that Russian forces had blocked Mariupol, a port city with nearly half a million population, and taken control of several residential blocks.

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