Thousands manage to evacuate Sumy amid Russian bombardment — deputy PM

Authorities evacuated thousands of people from the eastern city of Sumy, a senior Ukrainian official says.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk says that 5,000 people, including 1,700 foreign students, were evacuated from Sumy.

Vereshchuk reaffirms that Ukraine will not accept Moscow’s offer to establish safe corridors for civilians to head toward Russia, saying it will only agree to safe exits leading westward.

Vereshchuk says that the evacuation from the southern port of Mariupol failed Tuesday because the Russian troops fired on a Ukrainian convoy carrying humanitarian cargo to Mariupol that was to carry civilians from the city on its way back. She says the city was in a “catastrophic situation” cut from water, power, and communications, adding that a child in Mariupol has died of dehydration.

The Russian military has denied firing on convoys and charged that the Ukrainian side was blocking the evacuation effort.