Ukraine’s president says over 350,000 rescued via humanitarian corridors since war began

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

ANKARA (AA) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that more than 350,000 civilians have been rescued through humanitarian corridors since the beginning of the war with Russia.

"We will continue to do everything to evacuate our people from Azovstal, from Mariupol in general. The organization of such humanitarian corridors is one of the elements of the ongoing negotiation process. It is very complex," Zelenskyy said in a video message.

"But no matter how difficult it was, more than 350,000 people were rescued from the areas of hostilities," he added.

After many weeks of negotiations and attempts, he said: "Today we finally managed to start the evacuation of people from Azovstal."

"There was not a single day when we did not try to find a solution that would save our people," he continued.

The president underlined that "for the first time in all the days of the war, this vital corridor has started working."

"For the first time, there were two days of a real cease-fire on this territory," he said. "More than a hundred civilians have already been evacuated -- women and children first of all. Who were fleeing hostilities there. At Azovstal."

The first evacuees will arrive in Zaporizhzhia tomorrow morning, Zelenskyy said, adding that his administration plans to continue the evacuation of people from Mariupol early Monday.

Mariupol has been largely destroyed by Russian forces who are pushing to form a land link between areas under Russian control in eastern Ukraine and the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014.

At least 2,899 civilians have been killed and 3,235 others injured in Ukraine since the war with Russia began on Feb. 24, according to UN estimates. The true toll is feared to be much higher.

More than 5.4 million people have fled to other countries, with some 7.7 million people internally displaced, data from the UN refugee agency shows.