The Fort Worth Press - Ukrainians flee besieged city as number of refugees hits 2 mn

USD -
AED 3.67298
AFN 67.384996
ALL 90.930513
AMD 386.175669
ANG 1.798582
AOA 911.49704
ARS 987.764796
AUD 1.520288
AWG 1.8
AZN 1.696955
BAM 1.807328
BBD 2.014989
BDT 119.253338
BGN 1.80481
BHD 0.376977
BIF 2900.548912
BMD 1
BND 1.322749
BOB 6.895532
BRL 5.762597
BSD 0.99793
BTN 83.886707
BWP 13.395803
BYN 3.265906
BYR 19600
BZD 2.01157
CAD 1.39255
CDF 2910.000154
CHF 0.86748
CLF 0.034741
CLP 958.597109
CNY 7.1227
CNH 7.119295
COP 4362.01
CRC 512.311083
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 101.894377
CZK 23.446801
DJF 177.71268
DKK 6.89063
DOP 60.103407
DZD 133.516994
EGP 48.737904
ERN 15
ETB 119.252592
EUR 0.923535
FJD 2.280598
FKP 0.765169
GBP 0.770975
GEL 2.730049
GGP 0.765169
GHS 16.216791
GIP 0.765169
GMD 69.510995
GNF 8607.019424
GTQ 7.714273
GYD 208.788061
HKD 7.771398
HNL 25.174192
HRK 6.88903
HTG 131.517179
HUF 376.946015
IDR 15658.85
ILS 3.712875
IMP 0.765169
INR 84.0917
IQD 1307.316983
IRR 42104.999989
ISK 137.15044
JEP 0.765169
JMD 157.879417
JOD 0.709304
JPY 153.00603
KES 128.999956
KGS 85.801853
KHR 4056.776388
KMF 455.449632
KPW 899.999774
KRW 1379.264996
KWD 0.30657
KYD 0.831685
KZT 489.206572
LAK 21877.743381
LBP 89415.792635
LKR 293.064732
LRD 191.612838
LSL 17.675809
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.817306
MAD 9.845031
MDL 17.88838
MGA 4613.124116
MKD 56.926531
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3398.000028
MOP 7.985954
MRU 39.458485
MUR 46.110014
MVR 15.360218
MWK 1730.476006
MXN 20.14388
MYR 4.37901
MZN 63.909949
NAD 17.675809
NGN 1641.570371
NIO 36.723529
NOK 10.958145
NPR 134.220156
NZD 1.670945
OMR 0.384997
PAB 0.997921
PEN 3.756261
PGK 3.99671
PHP 58.228038
PKR 277.18023
PLN 4.009161
PYG 7944.443418
QAR 3.638497
RON 4.59426
RSD 108.085005
RUB 97.018184
RWF 1357.199292
SAR 3.755738
SBD 8.333542
SCR 13.606272
SDG 601.491881
SEK 10.670155
SGD 1.323685
SHP 0.765169
SLE 22.700818
SLL 20969.496802
SOS 570.343435
SRD 34.328008
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.731772
SYP 2512.530268
SZL 17.680625
THB 33.770499
TJS 10.628101
TMT 3.5
TND 3.091161
TOP 2.342098
TRY 34.291785
TTD 6.763388
TWD 31.984997
TZS 2720.000316
UAH 41.276464
UGX 3657.533614
UYU 41.528439
UZS 12758.859677
VEF 3622552.534434
VES 42.245336
VND 25295
VUV 118.722039
WST 2.801184
XAF 606.158083
XAG 0.029645
XAU 0.000367
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.750095
XOF 606.166485
XPF 110.206533
YER 250.325026
ZAR 17.68735
ZMK 9001.201112
ZMW 26.570499
ZWL 321.999592
  • CMSC

    -0.0200

    24.55

    -0.08%

  • BCE

    -0.1250

    32.335

    -0.39%

  • CMSD

    0.0150

    24.855

    +0.06%

  • SCS

    0.0550

    12.265

    +0.45%

  • BCC

    4.7950

    136.435

    +3.51%

  • RBGPF

    -2.0000

    61

    -3.28%

  • RIO

    -0.4800

    66.1

    -0.73%

  • RYCEF

    0.0400

    7.25

    +0.55%

  • NGG

    -0.1000

    65.02

    -0.15%

  • JRI

    0.0260

    13.006

    +0.2%

  • GSK

    -1.1450

    37.025

    -3.09%

  • VOD

    0.1200

    9.4

    +1.28%

  • RELX

    -0.8100

    47.1

    -1.72%

  • BP

    0.0800

    29.44

    +0.27%

  • BTI

    -0.0300

    34.43

    -0.09%

  • AZN

    -2.0700

    73.15

    -2.83%

Ukrainians flee besieged city as number of refugees hits 2 mn
Ukrainians flee besieged city as number of refugees hits 2 mn

Ukrainians flee besieged city as number of refugees hits 2 mn

Desperate civilians began fleeing a besieged Ukrainian city through a humanitarian corridor opened by Russia on Tuesday, as the number of refugees to flee the country hit more than two million.

Text size:

The exodus from Sumy, where 21 people were killed in Russian air strikes late Monday, comes despite Kyiv branding Moscow's renewed offer of escape routes from several cities as a publicity stunt, since many lead straight to Russia or its ally Belarus.

The UN called for evacuees to be allowed to leave in whichever they direction they choose, after horrific scenes in which civilians have been shelled as they tried to escape, while thousands remain trapped in dire conditions.

The war has sparked Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II, with more than two million people having crossed Ukraine's borders, according to the United Nations.

The West has hit back with sanctions on Russia that have reverberated around the global economy, but they have failed to dissuade President Vladimir Putin from pushing on with his assault.

Russia warned it could cut Europe's gas supplies in revenge for sanctions and said any ban by Western allies on Russian oil imports would have "catastrophic consequences".

The Ukrainian military said Tuesday, nearly two weeks into the war, that Russia was ramping up its troops and equipment around the main conflict zones, as it sought to encircle the capital Kyiv.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced what he called unkept promises byt he West to protect his country from Russian attacks.

"It's been 13 days we've been hearing promises, 13 days we've been told we'll be helped in the air, that there will be planes," Zelensky said on a video broadcast on Telegram.

"But the responsibility for that rests also on those who were not capable to take a decision in the West for 13 days," he added. "On those who have not secured the Ukrainian skies from the Russian assassins."

- 'I'm not afraid' -

Evacuations had begun in Sumy, near the Russian border and 350 kilometres (218 miles) east of Kyiv, the interim chief of the Poltava region, Dmitry Lunin, said early Tuesday.

Dozens of buses had already left in the direction of Lokhvytsia, 150 kilometres to the southwest, Lunin said. Officials said the corridor is designed to evacuate civilians, including Chinese, Indians and other foreigners.

The evacuation came after 21 people, including two children, were killed in air strikes in Sumy on Monday, a local official said.

"Enemy planes insidiously attacked apartment buildings," Ukrainian rescue services said on Telegram.

Russia's initial offer of humanitarian corridors led nowhere, but it floated the idea again, with the defence ministry saying it would open them from 0700 GMT Tuesday, subject to Ukraine's approval.

It listed routes from Kyiv as well as Sumy, the besieged port city of Mariupol, and Ukraine's devastated second city of Kharkiv.

But Zelensky accused Russia of reneging on previous escape route agreements and trying to stop people such as by planting explosives on roads and destroying buses.

"I do not know many Ukrainians who want to go to Russia," Zelensky said in a video posted on Telegram late Monday.

Zelensky, hailed as a hero by many Western governments, said he was "staying in Kyiv... I'm not afraid" and that he would continue to negotiate with Russia to reach a peace deal.

Three previous rounds of talks have made little progress on even achieving a ceasefire.

The Ukrainian leader was due to address the British parliament later Tuesday.

- 'Hand-to-hand combat' -

Despite a slow start and a large Russian column being stalled outside Kyiv, Moscow's forces have slowly advanced, particularly in the east and south.

Tens of thousands of people remain trapped without water or electricity in brutal conditions in the besieged Azov Sea port of Mariupol, humanitarian agencies say.

Terrified civilians have also been packing trains out of the Black Sea port of Odessa amid fears of a Russian assault.

AFP journalists witnessed thousands of civilians on Monday fleeing fighting via an unofficial escape route from Irpin, a suburb west of Kyiv, towards the capital.

One Ukrainian paratrooper told of "hand-to-hand" combat in Irpin, saying "we are trying to push (Russian soldiers) out, but I don't know if we'll be fully able to do it".

At least 406 civilians have died since the start of Russia's assault on its ex-Soviet neighbour, according to the UN, although it believes the real figures to be "considerably higher".

Ukrainian forces said Tuesday they had repulsed a Russian attack on the city of Izium in the Kharkiv region, and outgunned troops have been trying to hold back a Russian push up from the east and south in an attempt to encircle Kyiv.

A Russian military spokesman said troops had disabled a military airfield at Jitomir, while separatist forces in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions were making gains.

Faced with international condemnation, Putin has equated sanctions with a declaration of war and put nuclear forces on alert.

Putin has pledged the "denazification" of Ukraine and demands its "neutralisation" and demilitarisation.

Putin said on Monday, however, that he will not send conscripts or reservists to fight in the conflict.

- 'Catastrophic' consequences -

Despite harsh punishments for those voicing dissent, protests in Russia against the Ukraine invasion have continued, with more than 10,000 people arrested since it began.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak warned Monday that a ban on Russian oil imports would have "catastrophic" consequences for prices that have already hit 14-year highs.

He added that in retaliation for the halt on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, Russia could stop supplies via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.

Western allies fear the effect of an oil ban on their own economies, with US President Joe Biden's spokeswoman saying on Monday after talks with European leaders that no decision had been taken.

But they have responded to the invasion with tough sanctions and poured military equipment into Ukraine, while steering clear of the no-fly zone demanded by Zelensky, fearing a wider war with Russia.

An international legion of volunteers has also descended on Ukraine to fight the Russians.

"We do believe that the accounts of them -- the Russians -- seeking Syrian fighters to augment their forces in Ukraine, we believe there's truth to that," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

The World Bank on Monday approved an additional $489-million package in support for Ukraine, to be made available immediately and dubbed "Financing of Recovery from Economic Emergency in Ukraine," or "FREE Ukraine."

burs-dk/jm

H.M.Hernandez--TFWP