Russia’s chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky on Monday accused Ukraine of blocking humanitarian corridors for civilians, calling it a ‘war crime’. He made the statement as Moscow and Kyiv held a third round of talks. 

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Accusing Ukraine of using civilians as ‘a human shield’, Medinsky, on state television, said, “The nationalists who have seized positions in cities continue to hold civilians there.”

“This is undoubtedly a war crime,” he added. 

The third round of talks between Ukraine and Russia started in Belarus, Russia 24 announced on air. However, the exact location has not been disclosed yet. 

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The first round was held on February 28 and the second on March 3 in Belarus. 

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will meet Thursday in Antalya, Turkey, according to the Russian foreign ministry. This has not yet been confirmed by the Ukrainian foreign ministry.

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Russia said it will be opening up humanitarian corridors in multiple Ukrainian cities on Monday, following up on a special request made by French President Emmanuel Macron. Kyiv, however, dismissed Moscow’s offer. 

The Russian negotiator said that the Moscow would ‘try again with the Ukrainian side to discuss the operation of the humanitarian corridors that we promised’. 

He futher claimed that the corridors are open and the Russian army had stopped firing on the evacuation routes.

 The U.N. human rights office says it has been able to confirm the deaths of 406 civilians in Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion.

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It said that another 801 injured civilians had been confirmed as of midnight Sunday. The rights office uses strict methodology and only reports casualties it has confirmed.

It says it believes the real figures are considerably higher, “especially in government-controlled territory and especially in recent days.” Fighting has delayed its receipt of information and many reports still need to be corroborated.