First convoy of evacuees leaves Ukrainian city of Sumy, officials say

FILE PHOTO: People remove debris at the site of a military base building that, according to the Ukrainian ground forces, was destroyed by an air strike, in the town of Okhtyrka in the Sumy region, Ukraine February 28, 2022. Irina Rybakova/Press service of the Ukrainian ground forces/Handout via REUTERS

A first convoy of residents and foreign students has left the Ukrainian city of Sumy after an agreement with Russia on establishing a humanitarian corridor, officials said on Tuesday.

"We have already started the evacuation of civilians from Sumy to Poltava (in central Ukraine), including foreign students," the foreign ministry said in a tweet. "We call on Russia to agree on other humanitarian corridors in Ukraine."

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; writing by Matthias Williams, editing by Timothy Heritage)