Civilians set to start leaving Ukrainian city of Sumy, deputy PM says

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

Civilians will start leaving the besieged Ukrainian city of Sumy on Tuesday under an agreement with Russia on the establishment of a "humanitarian corridor", Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.

"It has been agreed that the first convoy will start at 10 a.m. (0800 GMT) from the city of Sumy. The convoy will be followed by the local population in personal vehicles," she said in a televised statement.

Civilians have been trapped by fighting since Russian troops invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. Moscow calls its actions in Ukraine a "special military operation."

Refugees evacuated on a train from the Kyiv area, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, arrive at the train station in Lviv, Ukraine, March 7, 2022. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

Russia proposed giving the residents of Sumy, in northeastern Ukraine, and Mariupol, a southern port city, the choice of moving elsewhere in Ukraine on Tuesday, Russian news agencies reported.

Other humanitarian corridors proposed by Russia would travel through Russia or Belarus, something Ukrainian authorities have previously rejected.

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Editing by Timothy Heritage)