Ukraine’s government has said some civilians were evacuated from the city of Sumy after a local ceasefire was largely observed, but officials accused Russian forces of shelling a humanitarian corridor that Moscow had promised to open to let residents flee the besieged port of Mariupol.
Moscow’s forces have laid siege to several Ukrainian cities and cut off food, water, heat and medicine amid growing fears of a humanitarian disaster. But for days, attempts to create corridors to safely evacuate civilians have stumbled amid continuing fighting and objections to the proposed routes.
