Russia maintains pressure on Ukrainian cities

Air raid sirens sounded over Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv early Wednesday as loud explosions rocked parts of the city and its surrounding areas. Russian troops advanced along Ukraine’s coastline in the south and continued to surround the cities of Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Mariupol, and Sumy, amid heavy shelling. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is scheduled to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba for talks in Turkey.

Can civilians escape? Amid the bombardments, authorities have tried repeatedly to evacuate civilians, but many attempts have been thwarted by Russian shelling. Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said the humanitarian corridors in Sumy reopened from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Wednesday. Vereshchuk warned Russia against shooting at the evacuation points out of Sumy and five other cities. About 5,000 people left Sumy for the city of Poltava on Tuesday.

Dig deeper: Listen to Mary Reichard’s interview with Chris Miller from Tufts University on the rising energy costs of Russia’s invasion.