Russia targets civilian convoys

At least one person died and four others sustained injuries when Russian shelling struck a humanitarian convoy heading for the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv on Thursday. Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner Lyudmyla Denisova said the convoy members were volunteers going to evacuate residents from the city. Officials in the besieged city of Mariupol said only 631 people left the city in private cars after Russian forces blocked 45 buses sent to get civilians out. The Ukrainian deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, said new evacuation efforts resumed Friday.

Any update on the fighting? Ukrainian forces regained control of the villages of Sloboda and Lukashivka, located along one of the main supply routes between Chernihiv and Kyiv. Russian troops also left the heavily contaminated Chernobyl nuclear site Friday, handing control back over to the Ukrainians. In his nightly address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russian withdrawals from the north and south are likely a military tactic to reinforce its attacks in the southeast region.

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