KIEV: According to a government spokesman in Kiev, more than 6,000 Ukrainians have been evacuated from besieged cities using humanitarian corridors in the last 24 hours.

Deputy Head of the President's Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko reported on social media that a total of 6,266 persons were evacuated on Friday, including 3,071 from Mariupol in the Donetsk area, where Russian forces have continued to bomb and strike. Zaporizhzhya and Luhansk regions were also evacuated, according to Tymoshenko.

Thousands of people, meanwhile, remain trapped in Mariupol, where Russian shelling has left the city without food, running water, or heat for more than five weeks.

Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk stated in a statement: "We realise how much money you'd like to save. Every day, we'll try to break through till you get the opportunity to escape the city and, more importantly, to live a tranquil life."

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