Russia declares temporary ceasefire to evacuate citizens

Russia declares a temporary ceasefire to provide humanitarian corridors on Wednesday to evacuate civilians from Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.

The first convoy carrying civilians from the city of Sumy in northern Ukraine has arrived via a humanitarian corridor in the central city of Poltava, Ukraine's presidency said. 

"The first column of 22 buses has already arrived in Poltava," the president's deputy chief of staff Kyrylo Tymoshenko said on Telegram, hailing this as "good news."

He added that 1,100 foreign students would travel onwards by train to Lviv in Western Ukraine.

The second convoy of buses had already reached the Poltava region, the presidential administration said.

The humanitarian corridor was also used by drivers of civilian vehicles, he added.

Sumy, 350 kilometres east of Kiev, has experienced days of heavy fighting.

The Ukrainian authorities said that 21 people, including two children, were killed in air strikes in the besieged city on Monday.

"I am glad that the work of the evacuation team at this stage was completed successfully," Tymoshenko said.

Nearly 3,500 civilians were evacuated from Sumy under a temporary ceasefire that mostly held, said regional governor Dmytro Zhyvytsky in a televised interview.

Around 1,700 of the evacuees were foreign students studying at universities, Zhyvytsky said.

Evacuations also took place outside the capital Kiev. 

But attempted evacuations from the port town of Mariupol have failed on several occasions in recent days, with both Kiev and Moscow blaming the other side for the failures.

Moscow has announced a humanitarian ceasefire in Ukraine for Wednesday morning to carry out the evacuation of the civilian population, Russian news agencies reported. 

Russia announces humanitarian ceasefire for Wednesday 

Moscow has announced a humanitarian ceasefire in Ukraine for Wednesday morning to carry out the evacuation of the civilian population, Russian news agencies have reported.

"From 10:00 MSK (0700 GMT) on March 9, 2022, the Russian Federation is declaring a 'regime of silence' and is ready to provide humanitarian corridors," a cell of the Russian defence ministry charged with humanitarian operations in Ukraine said.

It added that Russia proposes to agree the routes and start time of the humanitarian corridors with Ukraine "before 03:00 MSK on March 9".

Civilian evacuations took place on Tuesday morning, in particular from the town of Sumy, where two convoys left during the day, and Kiev.