Ukraine planning to open 6 more humanitarian corridors: Zelensky

Kiev, March 10: As the war in Ukraine continued for the 15th day, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that his country is preparing to open six more humanitarian corridors for the safe evacuation of people stuck in cities under attack by Russian forces.

In his latest video address, the President claimed that on Wednesday, "we managed to organise the work of three humanitarian corridors" from the cities of Sumy, Kiev and Energodar, which led to the evacuation of more than 35,000 people, reports the online Ukrayinska Pravda newspaper

"We are preparing to open six corridors. We pray that people will be evacuated out of Mariupol, Izyum, Volnovakha... We plan to take them to safe cities of our free Ukraine," he added.

According to authorities, about 5,000 people were evacuated from Sumy that has been under heavy Russian bombardment, the BBC reported. They added that the three humanitarian corridors in the city are expected to open from 9 a.m. (about 12 p.m. IST) on Thursday.

Also on Wednesday, more than 40,000 women and children were evacuated from towns of Irpin and Vorzel. The National Police Service also claimed that several thousand people were also evacuated from Kiev's Bucha region.

On the outskirts of Kiev, where an emergency camp was set up, those evacuated were provided warm food and tea, reports Ukrayinska Pravda citing authorities as saying. Medical assistance, as well as further relocation directions, were provided. Evacuations were however, deemed problematic from Mariupol, Kiev and Kharkiv amid continued Russian assault.