Seven humanitarian corridors to open Sunday in Ukraine, officials say

Ukraine will open seven humanitarian corridors on Sunday to allow civilians to leave frontline areas, according to the country’s deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk.

Vereshchuk added in a statement that the humanitarian corridors will allow the evacuation of residents of settlements targeted in the Russian invasion, as well as to send aid. 

Evacuation from the city of Mariupol to the city of Zaporizhzhia is planned in the Donetsk region.

“Buses for Mariupol residents will be waiting in the square in front of the city sports complex in Berdyansk starting from 9:30 am. Departure to Zaporizhzhia is planned at 11:00 am,” Vereshchuk said.

She added that it will be possible to refuel private cars of Mariupol residents driving on the route to Zaporizhzhia in the Ukrainian city Berdyansk. 

In the Kyiv region, evacuation routes have also been agreed upon along with the meeting place for each route for residents who wish to leave. 

Vereshchuk added that humanitarian goods will be sent from Kharkiv to the city of Vovchansk and the villages of Rohan and Nova Rohan.

This comes after Ukraine and Russia have previously clashed on evacuation routes and Ukrainian officials have accused Russia of blocking and shelling humanitarian corridors despite agreements between the two countries.

More than 100,000 people have already been evacuated from cities in Ukraine, according to Ukrainian officials.

Since the beginning of the conflict nearly three weeks ago, more than 3 million people have fled the country, with Poland taking in the majority of the refugees. This marks one of the biggest migration crises Europe has seen since World War II.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry warned earlier this month that Russian shelling was preventing the evacuation of civilians from Kyiv, Mariupol, Sumy, Kharkiv, Volnovakha and Mykolaiv.

“This prevents the safe passage of humanitarian columns with Ukrainian and foreign citizens, as well as the delivery of medicines and food,” the ministry said in a statement.