Ukraine war: Fresh bid to rescue citizens from besieged cities, strike kills 10

Ukrainian authorities said on Wednesday it would make a fresh attempt to evacuate stranded civilians through six “humanitarian corridors” amid reports of Russian forces breaching local ceasefire agreements for the third consecutive day.

The corridors would include one in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said, adding Ukrainian armed forces had agreed to stop firing in those areas from 9am to 9pm local time. She further urged Russian troops to fulfil their commitment to local ceasefire agreements.

Later, AFP quoted an Ukrainian official as saying that both sides had agreed on keeping open evacuation corridors for the entire day.

Talks of a fresh bid to rescue stranded citizens came amid reports of the death of at least 10 people in a Russian military attack in the eastern Ukrainian town of Severodonestk on Tuesday.

In a statement put out on messaging app Telegram, a local official for the Lugansk region the Russian military “opened fire” on residential homes and other buildings in the town. The region has seen heavy fighting in recent days.

Earlier in the day, an air alert was sounded in and around Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and residents were urged to reach shelters on an urgent basis. Regional administration head Oleksiy Kuleba said there was a threat of a missile attack. “Kyiv region – air alert. Threat of a missile attack. Everyone immediately to shelters,” he wrote.