Ukraine begins organized civilian evacuations

A convoy of buses filled with civilians and foreign students began driving out of Ukraine’s eastern city of Sumy on Tuesday morning, headed for the central city of Poltava. The route is one of five that Ukraine and Russia agreed to allow civilians to take as they flee ongoing fighting and shelling in the country. Ukrainian officials said a similar evacuation had started in Irpin, a suburb of the capital city of Kyiv, while dozens of buses headed for Mariupol in the southeast to clear out civilians there. Ukraine’s foreign affairs ministry urged Russia to uphold its cease-fire commitment after Russian shelling stalled earlier evacuation efforts.

Is the fighting easing? Before the cease-fire, Russian aircraft bombed cities in eastern and central Ukraine overnight. Artillery fire also hit Kyiv’s suburbs. Russian officials reiterated on Monday that to end the invasion, Ukraine must recognize Crimea as Russian territory, acknowledge the Russian-controlled eastern regions as independent, and alter its constitution to ensure the country doesn’t join NATO. The United Nations on Tuesday said 2 million refugees have now fled Ukraine.

Dig deeper: Read Mary Jackson’s report on how the Russian invasion affected Ukraine’s surrogacy industry.