(VOVWORLD) - Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday dismissed speculation that the Russian government was scheduled to announce a general mobilization on May 9, Victory Day of Russia's Great Patriotic War.
 Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Photo: TASS |
Peskov ruled out the possibility that Russia will officially declare war against Ukraine on May 9.
On the same day, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that from 8 am to 6 pm on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, the Russian armed forces will open a corridor to evacuate civilians from the Azovstal steel plant area in Mariupol.
The armed forces of Russia and those of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) will cease fighting and retreat to a safe distance so that civilians can go "in any direction they choose," said the ministry.