Humanitarian corridors and a papal appeal on 6 April 2022
A look back at a day of planned evacuation routes across southern and eastern Ukraine and a condemnation of the Bucha killings from the Vatican.
What did diplomacy and humanitarian planning look like on 6 April 2022, as the war in Ukraine continued? Two developments stood out: a plan to open 11 humanitarian corridors, and a public condemnation of the killings in Bucha by Pope Francis.
Eleven corridors planned
As reported at the time, 11 humanitarian corridors were due to open on 6 April. Six were to run to Zaporizhzhia, from Mariupol, Berdiansk, Tokmak, Enerhodar, and from Huliaipole and Melitopol. The remaining routes were to lead to Bakhmut, from Sievierodonetsk, Lysychansk, Popasna, Rubizhne and Hirske.
The previous day, 5 April, an evacuation convoy heading towards Mariupol had been turned back by Russian forces, according to Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk. She said this complicated the humanitarian effort that was under way.
A call from the Vatican
At his weekly audience at the Vatican on 6 April, Pope Francis condemned the massacre in Bucha. He called for the war to stop, for weapons to fall silent, and for an end to the sowing of death and destruction.
Diplomacy at the UN
Earlier, on 4 April, it was reported that President Volodymyr Zelensky planned to address the UN Security Council the following day.
