Kiev, March 23, (dpa/GNA) – Nine humanitarian corridors are planned for Wednesday, to evacuate civilians from embattled Ukrainian cities and villages, according to Kiev.
This means the evacuation of Mariupol in the south, which has been under siege for weeks, will continue, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a video message.
Around two dozen buses are ready to take people from the port city to Zaporizhzhya further south-west.
According to Russian estimates, between 100,000 and 150,000 people are still in Mariupol, where conditions are catastrophic. There is hardly any food, water or electricity.
Escape corridors to Zaporizhzhya are also planned from the towns of Polohy and Hulyaipole.
Three routes are planned north-east of Kiev: from Velyka Dymerka, Bohdanivka and Svitylnya, people are to be brought to the suburb of Brovary. From Borodyanka, north-west of the capital, people will be brought south to Bila Tserkva.
Finally, two escape routes are planned from the eastern region of Luhansk: from Rubizhne and Nyzhnye to Bakhmut.
The evacuation corridors allow observers some indication as to the course of fighting at the front. Russia and Ukraine have both accused each other of shelling these corridors and preventing civilians from fleeing.
GNA