At least 3,500 civilians in Ukraine’s Sumy evacuated through humanitarian corridor

By Bahtiyar Abdulkerimov

KYIV, Ukraine (AA) - At least 3,500 civilians stranded in Ukraine’s northeastern city of Sumy were evacuated through a humanitarian corridor, the head of the regional military administration said Tuesday.

Dmitry Jivitsky said 1,700 civilians were foreign students studying at universities in the city after a partial truce took effect early Tuesday.

Ukraine's Deputy Presidential Chief of Staff Kyrylo Tymoshenko said many civilians, including children, women and foreign students, were evacuated from Sumy to Poltava on 61 buses.

The foreign students and willing citizens will be transferred Lviv by train, he added.

A temporary cease-fire between the forces of Moscow and Kyiv was declared Tuesday to evacuate civilians from the capital, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Chernigiv, Sumi and Mariupol at 10 a.m. Moscow time, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

Russia's war on Ukraine, which began Feb. 24, has drawn international condemnation, led to financial sanctions on Moscow and spurred an exodus of global firms from Russia.

At least 474 civilians have been killed and 861 injured in Ukraine since the beginning of the war, according to the UN, while noting that conditions on the ground make it difficult to verify the true number.

Some 2 million people have also fled to neighboring countries, said the UN refugee agency.