Ukrainian evacuation routes from Kyiv take civilians 'straight into arms of Russians'

"Safe corridors" meant to evacuate civilians fleeing the besieged Ukrainian cities of Kyiv and Kharkiv will lead people straight into the arms of Russians, it has emerged.

Ceasefire agreements on Saturday and Sunday failed after Vladimir Putin's forces shelled the civilians who were trying to flee to safety.

On Monday, Russia announced new "humanitarian corridors" to transport Ukrainians trapped under its bombardment.

However, maps of the evacuation routes published by Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency show that civilians leaving Kharkiv and Kyiv will only be able to flee to Russia and its close ally Belarus.

Evacuations routes from the smaller cities of Mariupol and Sumy will transport civilians into Ukrainian territory.

Watch: Zelenskyy warns of 'day of judgement' after evacuation routes are targeted

Russia's defence ministry said anyone who wanted to leave Kyiv can be airlifted out, although drones would be used to monitor the evacuation.

The humanitarian corridors are being opened at the request of French President Emmanuel Macron.

A spokesperson for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called the move "completely immoral" and said Russia was trying 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,"

UK Foreign Office minister James Cleverly called the move “nonsense” because it would take fleeing Ukrainians “into the arms of the country that is currently destroying yours”.

He told the BBC: "It appears cynical beyond belief. There is a view that Vladimir Putin believed there was a widespread desire of Ukrainians to be closer to Russia, to be more Russian. I think that has been proven to be a complete nonsense by the circumstances we are seeing.

Read more: Russia 'bombing TV towers' to cut Ukrainians off from internet and vital broadcasts

“Providing evacuation routes into the arms of the country that is currently destroying yours is a nonsense.”

He added that “ultimately the most humanitarian thing the Russians could do is end this completely illegal, completely unjustified invasion of Ukraine”.

Attempts at an evacuation in Mariupol were stopped on Sunday after men, women, and children were targeted with shells as they tried to flee.

Officials said on Sunday afternoon: "For the second day in a row, a ceasefire agreement to enable the evacuation of civilians from Mariupol failed.

"The ceasefire was scheduled between 10am and 9pm local time, but the agreement was violated within hours of its planned implementation."

Zelenskyy has also vowed Ukraine will "not forget" the killing of civilians as they tried to leave their homes.

International attention has focused on Irpin, a Kyiv suburb where residents have been scrambling across a river to flee Russian bombardment.

Eight people were killed - including two children from the same family - Ukrainian authorities said, after Russian shells hit a damaged bridge they were attempting to cross.

Speaking in a late-night Sunday address to mark the Orthodox Christian holiday of "Forgiveness Sunday", Zelenskyy spoke of a family of four who were among eight killed while trying to flee Irpin on Sunday.

He told Ukrainians: "We will not forgive the destroyed houses. We will not forgive the missile that our air defence shot down over Okhmatdyt today.

"And more than five hundred other such missiles that hit our land in Ukraine, our people, our children.

"We will not forgive the shooting of unarmed people. Destruction of our infrastructure.

"We cannot forgive the hundreds upon hundreds of victims. Nor the thousands upon thousands who have suffered.

"God will not forgive. Not today. Not tomorrow. Never.

"And instead of forgiveness, there will be a day of judgement."