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A bus convoy was seen leaving Poltava, Ukraine, on March 8, as a humanitarian corridor opened.
Residents of the Ukrainian city of Sumy boarded buses to leave along an evacuation corridor Tuesday after shelling had thwarted attemptsDmytro Zhivitsky, the regional governor, said the buses were headed for the Ukrainian city of Poltava, with priority for children, disabled people and pregnant women. He said the only route available was southwest to Poltava and noted that there may not be enough space for everyone who wants to leave.
The buses arrived carrying supplies for Sumy. The passengers who escaped included students from India and China, and a line of private cars was also forming to depart, he said. While the governor said the corridor stemmed from an agreement between Ukraine and Russia, he warned that there was still a “very high risk of provocation,” urging people to evaluate the risks for themselves.
Russia said Tuesday it was opening humanitarian corridors from a number of besieged cities as Ukraine accused Moscow of violating cease-fires that would allow civilians to evacuate. Ukraine said Tuesday that the only agreed routes were for regions inside the country, rejecting the idea of corridors leading to Russia or its ally, Belarus, after Russian officials said earlier that some evacuees would be taken to Gomel, Belarus, and flown to Russia.