Mariupol passage open, city still besieged

Supplies are running low in Mariupol, a Ukrainian port city of about 430,000 that Russian troops have surrounded for 12 days. A cease-fire opened an evacuation corridor from Mariupol toward the western city of Zaporizhzhia on Monday morning. About 160 vehicles left the city within the first two hours. Local authorities estimate about 2,500 civilians have died in Mariupol alone, though the numbers cannot be confirmed. A pregnant woman wounded after the bombing of Mariupol’s maternity hospital Wednesday has died, along with her unborn baby.

What’s happening in the rest of Ukraine? So far Ukrainians have kept Russian forces out of 10 major cities despite almost constant bombardment in some places. The fighting moved further westward Sunday when Russian missiles pounded a military training base only 15 miles from the Polish border, killing 35. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Russia still has not attained air control but appears to be broadening its target range as strikes hit closer to the western city of Lviv. One civilian was killed and six were injured after shelling destroyed a residential building in Kyiv on Monday. Another set of artillery strikes on Tuesday set fire to a 15-story apartment in Kyiv, triggering urgent rescue efforts.

Dig deeper: Read Sharon Dierberger’s report in WORLD Magazine with stories of Ukrainians facing the Russian invasion.