An update on evacuations and Mariupol
Last night, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk gave an update on the evacuation of civilians and attempts to get to Mariupol.
More than 140,000 civilians had been evacuated from conflict zones in the country, she said in an interview on national television.
Several thousand were evacuated from towns in the Kyiv region, and some 5,000 people had also been evacuated from the eastern Luhansk region, she added.
But she said a humanitarian convoy had once again failed to reach the besieged port city of Mariupol because of Russian shelling.
"The column has stayed in [the Russian-occupied city of] Berdiansk, and will tomorrow again attempt to reach Mariupol,” she is quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.
Fears are growing for the humanitarian crisis in the city.
Naval blockade
The UK's Ministry of Defence says Russia has established a blockade over Ukraine's Black Sea coast, effectively cutting the country off from international maritime traffic.
No civilian evacuations in Sumy on Monday: regional governor
The head of Sumy's regional government says that there will be no civilian evacuations from the area on Monday.
Sumy, a city in northeastern Ukraine, has been the scene of heavy fighting since 24 February. On 8 March, more than 20 civilians were reported killed by an airstrike that hit a residential area in the town.
On his Telegram channel, Dmytro Zhyvytskyi said that "none of the routes have been agreed upon today," referring to corridors created by Russia to allow civilians to safely evacuate.
Zhivitsky added that "negotiations are ongoing".
Last week, approximately 5,000 civilians, including 1,700 foreign students - many of them from India - were evacuated through a humanitarian corridor towards Poltava.
Ukrainian authorities, however, have repeatedly accused Russian forces of shooting at and blocking civilian evacuations.
Last night, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk gave an update on the evacuation of civilians and attempts to get to Mariupol.
More than 140,000 civilians had been evacuated from conflict zones in the country, she said in an interview on national television.
Several thousand were evacuated from towns in the Kyiv region, and some 5,000 people had also been evacuated from the eastern Luhansk region, she added.
But she said a humanitarian convoy had once again failed to reach the besieged port city of Mariupol because of Russian shelling.
"The column has stayed in [the Russian-occupied city of] Berdiansk, and will tomorrow again attempt to reach Mariupol,” she is quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.
Fears are growing for the humanitarian crisis in the city.
Naval blockade
The UK's Ministry of Defence says Russia has established a blockade over Ukraine's Black Sea coast, effectively cutting the country off from international maritime traffic.
No civilian evacuations in Sumy on Monday: regional governor
The head of Sumy's regional government says that there will be no civilian evacuations from the area on Monday.
Sumy, a city in northeastern Ukraine, has been the scene of heavy fighting since 24 February. On 8 March, more than 20 civilians were reported killed by an airstrike that hit a residential area in the town.
On his Telegram channel, Dmytro Zhyvytskyi said that "none of the routes have been agreed upon today," referring to corridors created by Russia to allow civilians to safely evacuate.
Zhivitsky added that "negotiations are ongoing".
Last week, approximately 5,000 civilians, including 1,700 foreign students - many of them from India - were evacuated through a humanitarian corridor towards Poltava.
Ukrainian authorities, however, have repeatedly accused Russian forces of shooting at and blocking civilian evacuations.
