2,000 cars leave besieged Mariupol in first successful evacuation

Ukrainian authorities say some 2,000 cars have left the port city of Mariupol along a humanitarian evacuation route, while a further 2,000 are waiting to leave.

Mariupol’s city council said in a message on Telegram that “it is known that 2,000 cars have left Mariupol,” but did not specify how many people had left in the vehicles.

Another 160 cars had left the city on Monday, the council said.

The evacuations from the Russia-besieged city come after several attempts to transport civilians from Mariupol failed when both Moscow and Kiev accused each other of violating the ceasefire they had agreed to earlier this month.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned about the “dire” situation in Mariupol on Tuesday, saying it had not been able to deliver aid to the city. "The bottom line is that hundreds of thousands of people are still suffering," the ICRC said.

Some 400,000 people are left with no running water or heating in the city, as food is also running short.

At least 2,100 people have been killed in the city since Russia launched a military campaign in Ukraine on February 24, according to Mariupol's authorities.

More than 3 million flee Ukraine war, half of them children: UN

The war in Ukraine has so far “uprooted” life for more than three million people, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

"We have now reached the three-million mark in terms of movement of people out of Ukraine," said Paul Dillon, a spokesman for the UN migration agency (IOM).

IOM chief Antonio Vitorino also said in a tweet that “three million women, children and vulnerable people separated from their loved ones."

"We need an immediate cessation of hostilities," he said.

UN chief warns of 'hurricane of hunger' amid Ukraine crisis

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned of the "hurricane of hunger and a meltdown of the global food system" in the wake of a simmering crisis in Ukraine.

'One child refugee every second'

According to the UN's children agency, UNICEF, more than 1.4 million of those who have fled Ukraine are children.

"On average, every day over the last 20 days in Ukraine, more than 70,000 children have become refugees," UNICEF spokesman James Elder told reporters in Geneva.

That amounts to around one child per every second, he said, adding that this humanitarian crisis "in terms of speed and scale is unprecedented since World War II, and is showing no signs of slowing down."

‘Dangerous moment' for capital: Kiev mayor

The mayor of Kiew, Vitali Klitschko, imposed a 35-hour curfew from Tuesday night, warning of a "difficult and dangerous moment" for the capital.

More than half the population of Kiev have left the city, as intense fighting is underway between Russian forces and Ukrainian troops.

According to Klitschko, at least two people were killed in the city on Tuesday.

Ukraine-Russia talks resume: Ukraine

Meanwhile, a senior Ukrainian negotiator said that talks between Kiev and Moscow had resumed.

"Negotiations are ongoing," a member of the Ukraine delegation and presidential aide, Mykhailo Podolyak, wrote on Twitter. He said that his side would be pushing for a "ceasefire (and) withdrawal of troops from the territory of the country."

President Volodymyr Zelensky described the discussions as "pretty good," after a fourth round of peace talks between his government and the Kremlin in Belarus.

Russia says capable of taking full control of major Ukrainian cities without external help

The Kremlin says Russia is capable of taking full control of major cities of Ukraine without external help.

Russia, however, says it is too soon to draw conclusions but stresses that the fact that the talks are continuing "is in itself positive."

Ukraine is demanding an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian troops. Moscow has previously said that will halt the military operation instantly if Kiev meets Moscow’s list of conditions, including Ukraine’s recognition of the Crimean peninsula as “Russian territory,” and Donetsk and Lugansk as “independent states.”

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