Board Game Arena

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.

Aerial attacks hit 'corridor city' to Kyiv
Oleh Chernysh - BBC News Ukrainian

Image of Zhytomyr after Russian shelling - man in front of a nearly entirely flattened house. Getty Images
Image caption: Intense daily bombing has left many of Zhytomyr's residents homeless

Since the start of the invasion, most of the world's attention has focused on Russian attacks on the east and the south of Ukraine, as well as the areas around Kyiv.

But just west of the capital, in the Zhytomyr region, residents have faced massive daily bombardment - which have killed civilians and left many without homes.

In the first two weeks of the invasion, Russians have launched more than 40 rocket and air attacks on the city of Zhytomyr itself as well as on surrounding towns and villages.

Dozens of people have been killed, both troops and civilians. So why is Russia attacking this part of Ukraine so heavily?

The city, which had a population of about 280,000 before the war, is a key point in the logistical and humanitarian corridor, Zhytomyr's mayor Serhiy Sukhomlyn tells the BBC. Aid from Europe is being delivered to Kyiv and further east via Zhytomyr, and refugees are travelling in the opposite direction.

Verified footage: Mariupol apartment buildings hit in Russia strike

This video verified by the BBC shows multiple high-rise buildings being bombarded by Russian shelling in the southern port city of Mariupol.

The incident took place on Sunday, following days of intense shelling by Russian military forces.

Social embed from twitter https://twitter.com/Danict89/status/1502946821869559811

Ukrainian authorities say Mariupol has been subject to relentless bombardment since Russian troops surrounded it on 2 March, killing an estimated 2,187 civilians.

Since then, the roughly 400,000 people who remain in the city have been left with no access to water, food, and medicine.

Repeated attempts by the Ukrainian government to deliver aid have been foiled by Russian shelling, adding to fears of a looming humanitarian crisis.

We have been bombed day and night, say Mariupol evacuees
Abdujalil Abdurasulov -BBC News, Kyiv

People who managed to escape Mariupol in southern Ukraine have been speaking to the BBC of desperate scenes in the city where Russian forces have intensified a siege.

Father Pavel Komashevsky, a priest, said residential areas had been bombed non-stop day and night with jets roaring overhead and Grad missiles detonating.

He said with the power cut, and food and water running out, residents started a mass looting of shops and pharmacies.

Father Pavel said he had left several days ago in a column of about a hundred private cars. Plans to evacuate through a humanitarian corridor were abandoned because of Russian shelling.

He said the convoy was turned back at a Russian checkpoint but local drivers offered a different route to get to territory controlled by Ukrainian forces.

On Sunday, the International Red Cross demanded access for aid deliveries and an agreed plan for their evacuation.

Details of overnight missile strikes emerge
Ukrainian news outlets report that a TV tower near Rivne, west of Kyiv, was damaged as a result of a Russian missile attack.

According to the outlets, the head of the Rivne regional administration, Vitaliy Koval, said the tower was damaged to a Russian air strike.

Koval said relevant services are working at the scene and details are still being clarified. The TV tower is located 15km (9 miles) from Rivne.

Information about the victims and wounded is not yet available. The BBC has not been able to confirm this independently.

The UNIAN agency has said that in the village of Stavische, in the Zhytomyr region, a missile attack targeted administrative buildings. UNIAN says four people were injured and seven buildings were destroyed in the strike.

On Monday, air raid sirens could be heard in many regions across the country - from Lviv and Transcarpathia to Kharkiv and Odesa.

The State Emergency Service said in its Telegram channel that an artillery shell that hit a nine-storey residential building in Kyiv had caused damage to several apartments and floors.

6:30 - BREAKING
More on the deadly shelling of Kyiv apartment block

Image of the Aftermath of blast on apartment block - with firefighters on scene - Ukraine State Emergency Service

At least one person has been killed and three injured after a residential building was hit by shelling in the capital Kyiv, Ukrainian state TV reports.

Ukraine's State Emergency Service meanwhile says two bodies were found and three people were taken to hospital in the strike at 07:40 local time this morning.

Photos shared by the service show smoke pouring from the nine-storey block as firefighters use ladders to rescue its inhabitants.

Pregnant woman and baby die after Mariupol hospital bombing
Photo shows Ukrainian emergency employees and volunteers carry an injured pregnant woman from the damaged by shelling maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine - Associated Press Copyright

A pregnant woman and her baby have died after Russia bombed the maternity hospital in Mariupol where she was meant to give birth, AP has reported.

Video and photos taken after the attack, which took place last Wednesday, showed the woman lying on a stretcher in one of the most devastating images yet from the war.

According to AP, her baby was delivered via an emergency C-section on Saturday, but doctors confirmed on Saturday that both had died.

Russian officials made unsubstantiated claims the maternity hospital had been taken over by Ukrainian extremists to use as a base, and that the hospital was no longer operating as a medical facility. Ukrainian officials have strongly disputed these claims, and accused Russia of committing a war crime.

Latest from attack on Kyiv flats

Photo of Firefighters rescuing an old man by ladder. State Emergency Service of Ukraine

Ukrainian emergency services say that a Russian air strike on a block of flats in Kyiv has killed one person - revising a previous death toll down by one.

Three people were taken to hospital and nine others treated at the scene after the nine-storey apartment building in Kyiv's Obolon district was hit. It added that 15 residents were saved and 63 evacuated.

The strike on the northern suburb took place early this morning as Russian troops edged closer to the capital. These images were taken at the scene this morning:

2 photos of firefighters at the flats.

One killed after missile debris hits Kyiv street, say Ukraine officials

Damage to surrounding flats (brick build, different appearance and height to other flats mentioned that directly shelled) and tram/ bus shown in photo.
Anton Gerashenko/TelegramCopyright: Anton Gerashenko/Telegram

One person has been killed and six injured after the falling wreckage of a shot down Russian missile struck a residential street in Kyiv, Ukrainian authorities say.

The missile's debris destroyed a bus and set ablaze a residential building in the capital's Kurenivka district after being intercepted by Ukraine's air defences, Ukraine's State Emergency Service says.

It adds the bus was not carrying any passengers but was completely destroyed.

Photos shared by Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's interior ministry, show the bus' twisted remains strewn across the street as smoke rises from the damaged building. What appear to be the trails of anti-aircraft missiles are seen in the sky above.

Further photo of a damaged building in Kyiv

Power supply to Chernobyl damaged again - Ukrainian operators

Satellite image of Chernobyl - Maxar Technologies taken March 10th 2022

Russian forces have damaged a high-voltage line connecting the former nuclear plant at Chernobyl to the power grid, Ukraine's state energy company has said.

The damage apparently occurred soon after electricity supplies to the facility were restored, but the BBC has not been able to verify this report.

Ukrenergo, Ukraine's state energy company, did not say whether the former nuclear plant had lost all external power as a result of the damage.

The grid operator says a repair crew must be given immediate access to the site, which is occupied by Russian forces, to inspect any damage.

'I rarely cry, but this is utterly awful': Dnipro's quiet defiance as it braces for attack

Sarah Rainsford -BBC Eastern Europe Correspondent, Dnipro

Photo of Anastasia - Copyright: BBC
Caption: Anastasia says the team don't stop their work for the air raid sirens, as they want to "work to the maximum".Image caption: Anastasia says the team don't stop their work for the air raid sirens, as they want to "work to the maximum".

With fighting to the north, east and south, Dnipro is bracing for Russian troops to reach it. Many people have left town: our own bomb shelter is emptier, even though the number of air raid sirens has increased.

But we’ve seen a quiet defiance among those who’ve stayed and a giant mobilisation to support those defending the city.

This weekend, we found a women’s fashion house producing underwear and balaclavas for the soldiers: a couple of weeks back, the seamstresses were working with silk and fur not thermals and fleece.

"When the war started, we were afraid to go outside," designer Anastasia told me. "Then we realised we need to help however we can."

These days, the team don’t even stop for the air raid sirens because Anastasia says they want to "work to the maximum." Her own mother and godmother are now sewing alongside her; all their materials are paid for by donations.

They also sew warm suits in bright coloured fleece for children whose families fled to Dnipro with next to nothing. Demand is huge: temperatures have been at sub-zero, and troops are guarding key sites and roads 24/7 all over the city.

Photo of Woman working behind sewing machine - Copyright: BBC

But the seamstresses are struggling to get the fabric they need. A key warehouse is in Kharkiv, which is under siege, so they can only sew until stocks run out or they can source more from abroad.

For Ukrainians, this war is personal. Marina Taran, one of the seamstresses, tells us her son Alexander was wounded in a mortar attack near Kyiv a few days ago.

"I very rarely cry, but this is utterly awful," she told me, eyes filling up. "I just want us to have enough strength to be able to fight to the end, for our country to be free. And I’ll do everything I can for that."

More images of destruction in Mariupol

Photo of Shell-damaged street in Mariupol (undated) - Copyright: Serhiy Orlov

The BBC has received more photos of the devastation in Mariupol, a key port city, battered by Russian shelling.

They were taken by various citizens in recent days, deputy mayor Serhiy Orlov said.

City officials say there is a desperate need for food, water, medicines and electricity.

Photo of Burnt-out cars, gutted building in Mariupol (undated) - Copyright: Serhiy Orlov

Photo of Shell impact damage on block of flats, Mariupol (undated)





Watch: Drone footage shows destruction in Mariupol

Video content
Video caption: Ukraine war: Drone shots show Mariupol devastated by fighting.

The Ukrainian port city of Mariupol has been continually bombarded by Russian strikes.

Recent footage captured by a drone over the city shows dozens of burning buildings and roads hit by shelling.