A large crowd of Ukrainians fled the capital Kyiv on Monday, becoming the latest group to do so since Russia announced a temporary humanitarian cease-fire.
On the 12th day since Russia launched its war on Ukraine, dozens of families headed to the Central Railway Station in the capital, hoping to secure safe passage west by train to the city of Lviv some 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the Polish border.
After the temporary cease-fire came into effect on Monday, civilians in the surrounding areas were brought to the train station in Kyiv by bus, while thousands desperate to escape the Russian strikes got to the station in their private vehicles.
Among the dense masses at the station were mainly women and children awaiting evacuation.
Once the train arrived, people had to struggle through the crowd to get on, with some having to stand all the way to Lviv after the seats were all taken.
On Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that it was opening six humanitarian corridors and halted hostilities from 10 a.m. Moscow time (0700GMT) to let civilians leave battle areas.
One corridor was opened from Kyiv to the city of Gostomel, two from Mariupol to the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia and to Rostov-on-Don, Russia, ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said at a daily briefing in Moscow.
Two more safe passages connected the city of Sumy with Poltava, about 145 kilometers (90 miles) further south in Ukraine, and the Russian city of Belgorod, which was also connected to the city of Kharkiv.
Konashenkov added that detailed information on the humanitarian corridors had been provided to the Ukrainian leadership and UN, International Red Cross, and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Since Russia began its war against Ukraine on Feb. 24, it has drawn international condemnation, led to financial sanctions on Moscow, and spurred an exodus of global companies from Russia.
At least 406 civilians have been killed and 801 others injured in Ukraine since the beginning of the war, according to UN figures.
More than 1.7 million people have also fled to neighboring countries, the UN Refugee Agency said./aa
