Civilians flee Sumy after evacuation corridor opens, as 2 million refugees leave Ukraine
CNN —
A tense and fleeting evacuation from Ukraine’s northeastern city of Sumy took place on Tuesday after Russian airstrikes killed 21 people, including two children, the night before, Ukrainian authorities said.
Ukrainian officials confirmed that an evacuation corridor allowing residents out of the city opened on Tuesday morning, following days of sustained Russian attacks. It came as the United Nations estimated that more than 2 million refugees have fled Ukraine since Moscow’s invasion on February 24.
The agreed ceasefire was set to last until 9 p.m. local time (2 p.m. ET), with final evacuations taking place 90 minutes before that time. Buses have been used to take people to Poltava, around 100 miles away in central Ukraine, said Dmytro Lunin, head of the Poltava regional administration, on his Telegram channel on Tuesday.
One convoy was delayed by an outbreak of firing at the outskirts of Sumy, according to the city’s regional head, Dmitry Zhyvitsky. But Zhyvitsky was quoted in local media as saying the Russian forces did not shoot on the convoy.
“At the moment, citizens are being evacuated by their own vehicles,” Zhyvytsky said on Telegram. “After 19:30 the checkpoint closes and it will be impossible to leave Sumy.”
The frantic rush to escape the city, during a break in its assault by Russian forces, was not replicated in other cities. Officials across the country have condemned Russia in recent days for offering unfeasible routes of escape that lead to Russia or its ally Belarus, and for reneging on ceasefire agreements by opening fire on fleeing civilians.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Tuesday that Russian troops are holding 300,000 civilians “hostage” in the besieged southern city of Mariupol, where he said a child died of dehydration.
Ukrainian authorities said that a long-awaited convoy of humanitarian aid to the city appeared to have come under fire on Tuesday. Russian troops are not allowing “children, women and the elderly” out of the city, and have launched an attack “precisely in the direction of the humanitarian corridor,” Ukraine’s Joint Forces Operation said.
CNN has been unable to verify the status of the convoy and has reached out to the Russian side for a response.
A senior US defense official said Tuesday that Mariupol as of now been “isolated” by Russian forces, though Russian forces are only still bombarding the city and are not inside it “in any significant way.”
CNN has previously reported that Mariupol residents have been cut off from water and electricity for days.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images
Members of the Red Cross help people fleeing the Kyiv suburb of Irpin, Ukraine, on Monday, March 7.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Bernat Armangue/AP
Civilians receive weapons training on the outskirts of Lviv, Ukraine, on March 7.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
Denis Pushilin, the leader of the self-declared separatist region in Donetsk, Ukraine, attends a memorial service on March 7.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Alexandros Avramidis/Reuters
Alexandra, 12, holds her 6-year-old sister, Esyea, who cries as she waves at her mother, Irina, on March 7. The children were leaving Odessa, Ukraine.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Oleksandr Lapshyn/Reuters
Residential buildings, damaged by recent shelling, are seen in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on March 7.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Diego Herrera/Europa Press/Getty Images
A woman cries as she hears shelling Sunday, March 6, after evacuating the Ukrainian village of Stoyanka.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Alex Lourie/Redux
Civilians seek protection in a basement bomb shelter in Kyiv on March 6.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images
Local residents evacuate Irpin as Russian forces continued to bombard the town with artillery on March 6.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images
A Ukrainian serviceman watches a civilian cross a blown-up bridge in a Ukrainian village east of the town of Brovary on March 6.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Genya Savilov/AFP/Getty Images
Valery and Lesya, members of Ukraine’s Territorial Defense Forces, get married on the outskirts of Kyiv on March 6.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Salwan Georges/The Washington Post/Getty Images
George Keburia says goodbye to his wife and children as they board a train in Odessa on Saturday, March 5. They were heading to Lviv.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images
Local residents help clear the rubble of a home that was destroyed by a suspected Russian airstrike in Markhalivka, Ukraine, on March 5.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Scott Peterson/Getty Images
Ukrainian civilians undergo basic military training at a volunteer center in Odessa on March 5.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Yara Nardi/Reuters
Ukrainian refugees are seen through a bus window as they arrive at a temporary accommodation center in Korczowa, Poland, on March 5.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Daniel Leal/AFP/Getty Images
A statue is covered in Lviv on March 5. Residents wrapped statues in protective sheets to try to safeguard historic monuments across the city.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNN
Ukrainian soldiers react to the sound of an incoming missile at the Irpin River, on the outskirts of Kyiv, on March 5.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Emilio Morenatti/AP
Ukrainians crowd under a destroyed bridge as they try to flee across the Irpin River, on the outskirts of Kyiv, on March 5.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Evgeniy Maloletka/AP
Marina Yatsko and her boyfriend, Fedor, comfort each other at a hospital after her 18-month-old son, Kirill, was killed by shelling in Mariupol, Ukraine, on Friday, March 4.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images
People remove personal belongings from a burning house after shelling in Irpin on March 4.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNN
Oksana and her son Dmytro stand over the open casket of her husband, Volodymyr Nezhenets, during his funeral in Kyiv on March 4. According to the Washington Post, he was a member of Ukraine’s Territorial Defense Forces, which is comprised mostly of volunteers.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Evgeniy Maloletka/AP
People take shelter on the floor of a hospital during shelling in Mariupol on March 4.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNN
People crowd on a platform as they try to board a westbound train in Kyiv on March 4.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Emilio Morenatti/AP
A bullet-ridden bus is seen after an ambush in Kyiv on March 4.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Chris McGrath/Getty Images
A member of the Ukrainian military gives instructions to civilians in Irpin on March 4. They were about to board an evacuation train headed to Kyiv.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Attila Kisbenedek/AFP/Getty Images
A Ukrainian child rests on a bed at a temporary refugee center in Záhony, Hungary, on March 4.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images
Ukrainian servicemen take cover from shelling in the city of Bucha, west of Kyiv, on March 4.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Zaporizhzhya NPP/YouTube/Reuters
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Emilio Morenatti/AP
A man says goodbye to his wife and son at a train station in Kyiv on Thursday, March 3.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Maksim Levin/Reuters
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNN
Leos Leonid recovers at a hospital in Kyiv on March 3. The 64-year-old survived being crushed when an armored vehicle drove over his car. Video of the incident was widely shared on social media.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNN
A Ukrainian soldier carries a baby across a destroyed bridge on the outskirts of Kyiv on March 3.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Maksim Levin/Reuters
Destroyed Russian military vehicles are seen on a street in Borodyanka on March 3.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNN
A Ukrainian soldier who says he was shot three times in the opening days of the invasion sits on a hospital bed in Kyiv on March 3.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Sergey Bobok/AFP/Getty Images
Residents react in front of a burning building after shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on March 3.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Diego Herrera/Europa Press/Getty Images
People form a human chain to transfer supplies into Kyiv on March 3.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNN
A cemetery worker digs graves for Ukrainian soldiers in Kyiv on March 3.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images
Ukrainian soldiers unload weapons from the trunk of a car northeast of Kyiv on March 3.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNN
A mother cares for her two infant sons in the underground shelter of a maternity hospital in Kyiv on March 3. She gave birth a day earlier, and she and her husband haven’t yet decided on names for the twins.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Mikhail Palinchak/Reuters
A member of Ukraine’s Territorial Defense Forces sits with a weapon in Kyiv on Wednesday, March 2.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Evgeniy Maloletka/AP
Paramedics treat an elderly woman wounded by shelling before transferring her to a hospital in Mariupol on March 2.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Viacheslav Ratynskyi/Reuters
Residents of Zhytomyr, Ukraine, work in the remains of a residential building on March 2. The building was destroyed by shelling.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Bernat Armangue/AP
Displaced Ukrainians take shelter in an auditorium in Lviv on March 2.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Vadim Ghirda/AP
A woman cries March 2 in the street of a neighborhood that was damaged by airstrikes in Gorenka, Ukraine.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Vadim Ghirda/AP
A member of Ukraine’s Territorial Defense Forces inspects damage in the backyard of a house in Gorenka on March 2.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNN
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Andrei Pungovschi/Bloomberg/Getty Images
A Ukrainian woman takes her children over the border in Siret, Romania, on March 2. Many Ukrainians are fleeing the country at a pace that could turn into “Europe’s largest refugee crisis this century,” the United Nations Refugee Agency said.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Vadim Ghirda/AP
Andrey Goncharuk, a 68-year-old member of Ukraine’s Territorial Defense Forces, clutches a hunting rifle March 2 while coming out of a small basement of a Gorenka house crowded with people seeking shelter from Russian airstrikes and shelling.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNN
Militia members set up anti-tank barricades in Kyiv on March 2.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Murat Saka/dia images/Getty Images
People wait at a train station in Kyiv on March 2.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNN
People shelter in a subway station in Kyiv on March 2.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Umit Bektas/Reuters
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky poses for a picture in a Kyiv bunker after an exclusive interview with CNN and Reuters on March 1. Zelensky said that as long as Moscow’s attacks on Ukrainian cities continued, little progress could be made in talks between the two nations. “It’s important to stop bombing people, and then we can move on and sit at the negotiation table,” he said.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Carlos Barria/Reuters
An explosion is seen at a TV tower in Kyiv on March 1. Russian forces fired rockets near the tower and struck a Holocaust memorial site in Kyiv hours after warning of “high-precision” strikes on other facilities linked to Ukrainian security agencies.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Raphael Lafargue/Abaca/Sipa/AP
Ukrainian soldiers attend Mass at an Orthodox monastery in Kyiv on March 1.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Evgeniy Maloletka/AP
Medical workers show a mother her newborn after she gave birth at a maternity hospital in Mariupol on March 1. The hospital is now also used as a medical ward and bomb shelter.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Sergey Dolzhenko/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
An administrative building is seen in Kharkiv after Russian shelling on March 1. Russian forces have scaled up their bombardment of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Pavel Dorogoy/AP
Ukrainian emergency workers carry a body of a victim following shelling that hit the City Hall building in Kharkiv on March 1.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNN
A woman named Helen comforts her 8-year-old daughter, Polina, in the bomb shelter of a Kyiv children’s hospital on March 1. The girl was at the hospital being treated for encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Visar Kryeziu/AP
Ukrainian refugees try to stay warm at the Medyka border crossing in Poland on March 1.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNN
Passengers anxiously board trains in Kyiv before heading to destinations in the western part of the country on February 28.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Maksim Levin/Reuters
A bridge is destroyed near the town of Bucha on February 28.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNN
Volunteers in Kyiv sign up to join Ukraine’s Territorial Defense Forces on February 28.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNN
A member of the Territorial Defense Forces loads rifle magazines in Kyiv on February 28.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Alexandr Kryazhev/Sputnik/AP
Delegations from Russia and Ukraine hold talks in Belarus on February 28. Both sides discussed a potential “ceasefire and the end of combat actions on the territory of Ukraine,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhaylo Podolyak told reporters. Without going into detail, Podolyak said that both sides would return to their capitals for consultations over whether to implement a number of “decisions.”
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Aytac Unal/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Ukrainian forces order a man to the ground on February 28 as they increased security measures amid Russian attacks in Kyiv.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Chris McGrath/Getty Images
Mothers tend to their babies in the bomb shelter of a children’s hospital in Kyiv on February 28.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Sergey Bobok/AFP/Getty Images
Russian infantry mobility vehicles are destroyed after fighting in Kharkiv on February 28. A residential neighborhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, was hit by a rocket attack, according to Ukrainian officials and multiple social media videos geolocated by CNN. A civilian was killed and 31 people were wounded, the city’s council said.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Andrea Carrubba/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Ukrainian forces are seen inside a basement being used as a military base in Dnipro, Ukraine, on February 28.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Akos Stiller/Bloomberg/Getty Images
A displaced Ukrainian cradles her child at a temporary shelter set up inside a gymnasium in Beregsurány, Hungary, on February 28.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images
Smoke billows over the Ukrainian city of Vasylkiv, just outside Kyiv on February 27. A fire at an oil storage area was seen raging at the Vasylkiv Air Base.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Evgeniy Maloletka/AP
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Andriy Andriyenko/AP
A couple embraces at a railway station in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on February 27. The woman was about to board a train heading west.
Satellite images show significant damage to part of an aircraft hangar at the Hostomel Air Base outside Kyiv on February 27. The world’s largest aircraft, the Antonov AN-225 Mriya, was destroyed by a Russian attack on the airport, according to Ukraine government officials.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Bernat Armangue/AP
People wait on a platform inside the railway station in Lviv on February 27. Thousands of people at Lviv’s main train station attempted to board trains that would take them out of Ukraine.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Marienko Andrew/AP
A Russian armored vehicle burns after fighting in Kharkiv on February 27. Street fighting broke out as Russian troops entered Ukraine’s second-largest city, and residents were urged to stay in shelters and not travel.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Serhii Hudak/Reuters
Local residents prepare Molotov cocktails in Uzhhorod, Ukraine, on February 27.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Natalie Thomas/Reuters
Cars line up on the road outside Mostyska, Ukraine, as people attempt to flee to Poland on February 27.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Efrem Lukatsky/AP
Ukrainian troops in Kyiv escort a prisoner February 27 who they suspected of being a Russian agent.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Maksim Levin/Reuters
Ukrainian service members take position at the Vasylkiv Air Base near Kyiv on February 27.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Vadim Ghirda/AP
A woman sleeps on chairs February 27 in the underground parking lot of a Kyiv hotel that has been turned into a bomb shelter.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
CNN
An explosion lights up the sky to the south of Kyiv early on February 27. That and another large explosion appeared to have been around Vasylkiv, which has a large military airfield and multiple fuel tanks and is about about 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) south of Kyiv.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Maksim Levin/Reuters
Ukrainian service members take cover in a shelter at the Vasylkiv Air Base near Kyiv on February 26.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images
A damaged residential building is seen in Kyiv on February 26.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Efrem Lukatsky/AP
People in Kyiv run for cover during shelling on February 26.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Daniel Leal/AFP/Getty Images
An apartment building in Kyiv is seen after it was damaged by shelling on February 26. The outer walls of several apartment units appeared to be blown out entirely, with the interiors blackened and debris hanging loose.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Gleb Garanich/Reuters
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Pierre Crom/Getty Images
A police vehicle patrols the streets of Kyiv on February 26.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Vadim Ghirda/AP
Ukrainian troops inspect a site following a Russian airstrike in Kyiv on February 26.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Brendan Hoffman/The New York Times/Redux
Following a national directive to help complicate the invading Russian Army’s attempts to navigate, a road worker removes signs near Pisarivka, Ukraine, on February 26.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
From Telegram
A man kneels in front of a Russian tank in Bakhmach, Ukraine, on February 26 as Ukrainian citizens attempted to stop the tank from moving forward. The dramatic scene was captured on video, and CNN confirmed its authenticity. The moment drew comparisons to the iconic “Tank Man” of Tiananmen Square.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Mikhail Palinchak/AP
Members of the Territorial Defense Force — Ukraine’s military reserve — prepare to defend Kyiv on February 26.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images
Ukrainian service members collect unexploded shells after fighting with advancing Russian troops in Kyiv early on February 26.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Pierre Crom/Getty Images
People in Kyiv board a train heading to the west of the country on February 26. Kelly Clements, the United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees, told CNN that more than 120,000 people had left Ukraine while 850,000 were internally displaced.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images
Ukrainian service members look for and collect unexploded shells after fighting in Kyiv on February 26.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Gleb Garanich/Reuters
Smoke and flames are seen near Kyiv on February 26. Explosions were seen and heard in parts of the capital as Ukrainians battled to hold back advancing Russian troops.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Office of the President of Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted a video to Facebook on February 25, vowing to defend his country as he stood on a Kyiv street with other leaders of his administration. “We are all here,” he said. “Our military are here. Citizens and society are here. We are all here defending our independence, our state and it will remain so. Glory to our defenders! Glory to our women defenders! Glory to Ukraine!”
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Tyler Hicks/The New York Times/Redux
The body of a Russian soldier lies next to a Russian vehicle outside Kharkiv on February 25.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Paul Ursachi/AP
A woman weeps in her car after crossing the border from Ukraine into Sighetu Marmatiei, Romania, on February 25.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Emilio Morenatti/AP
A Ukrainian soldier sits injured from crossfire inside Kyiv on February 25.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Aurel Obreja/AP
A child from Ukraine sleeps in a tent at a humanitarian center in Palanca, Moldova, on February 25.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Oleksandr Ratushniak/AP
A firefighter walks between the ruins of a downed aircraft in Kyiv on February 25.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Mikhail Palinchak/AP
Newly married couple Yaryna Arieva and Sviatoslav Fursin pose for photo in Kyiv on February 25 after they joined the Territorial Defense Forces.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Gleb Garanich/Reuters
Members of the Ukrainian National Guard take positions in central Kyiv on February 25.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNN
People walk past a residential building in Kyiv that was hit in an alleged Russian airstrike on February 25.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
The body of a school employee, who according to locals was killed in recent shelling, lies in the separatist-controlled town of Horlivka in Ukraine’s Donetsk region on February 25.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNN
Kyiv residents take shelter in an underground parking garage on February 25.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Ukraine State Emergency Service/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
In this handout photo from the Ukrainian government, firefighters respond to the scene of a residential building on fire in Kyiv on February 25. Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to the Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, said the city had been hit by “cruise or ballistic missiles.”
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images
A wounded woman stands outside a hospital after an attack on the eastern Ukrainian town of Chuhuiv, outside of Kharkiv, on February 24.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Sergey Bobok/AFP/Getty Images
The body of a rocket remains in an apartment after shelling on the northern outskirts of Kharkiv on February 24.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Emilio Morenatti/AP
A boy plays with his tablet in a public basement used as a bomb shelter in Kyiv on February 24.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images
A man mourns after an airstrike reportedly hit an apartment complex in Chuhuiv on February 24.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Ukrainian State Emergency Service/Reuters
Rescuers work at a crash site on February 24 after a Ukrainian military plane fell and caught fire outside of Kyiv, according to the Ukrainian State Emergency Service. The cause of the crash wasn’t indicated.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Christian Streib/CNN
Sviatoslav Fursin, left, and Yaryna Arieva kneel during their wedding ceremony at the St. Michael’s Cathedral in Kyiv on February 24. They had planned on getting married in May, but they rushed to tie the knot due to the attacks by Russian forces. “We maybe can die, and we just wanted to be together before all of that,” Arieva said.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Vadim Ghirda/AP
Ukrainian service members sit atop armored vehicles driving in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region on February 24.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNN
People in Kyiv try to board a bus to travel west toward Poland on February 24.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Al Drago/Bloomberg/Getty Images
US President Joe Biden arrives in the East Room of the White House to address the Russian invasion on February 24. “Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war. And now he and his country will bear the consequences,” Biden said, laying out a set of measures that will “impose severe cost on the Russian economy, both immediately and over time.”
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images
Smoke rises from a military airport in Chuhuiv on February 24. Airports were also hit in Boryspil, Kharkiv, Ozerne, Kulbakino, Kramatorsk and Chornobaivka.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times/Shutterstock
People seek shelter inside a subway station in Kharkiv on February 24.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
From Telegram
Russian military vehicles are seen at the Chernobyl power plant near Pripyat, Ukraine, on February 24. Russian forces have seized control of the the plant, the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster, according to the agency that manages the area.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images
Firefighters attempt to extinguish a fire after a reported strike in Chuhuiv on February 24.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNN
People wait after boarding a bus to leave Kyiv on February 24.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Ukrainian Presidency/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Ukrainian President Zelensky holds an emergency meeting in Kyiv on February 24. In a video address, Zelensky announced that he was introducing martial law. He urged people to remain calm.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters
Police officers inspect the remains of a missile that landed in Kyiv on February 24.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Ethan Swope/Bloomberg/Getty Images
A staff member of a Kyiv hotel talks on the phone on February 24.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Evgeniy Maloletka/AP
Smoke rises from an air defense base after an apparent Russian strike in Mariupol on February 24. A CNN team in Mariupol reported hearing a barrage of artillery.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNN
People wait in line to buy train tickets at the central station in Kyiv on February 24.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters
A long line of cars is seen exiting Kyiv on February 24. Heavy traffic appeared to be heading west, away from where explosions were heard early in the morning.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Ukrainian President’s Office
A photo provided by the Ukrainian President’s office appears to show an explosion in Kyiv early on February 24.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Sergei Illnitsky/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
People in Moscow watch a televised address by Russian President Vladimir Putin as he announces a military operation in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine on February 24. “Whoever tries to interfere with us, and even more so to create threats to our country, to our people, should know that Russia’s response will be immediate and will lead you to such consequences as you have never experienced in your history,” he said.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images
An emergency meeting of the UN Security Council is held in New York to discuss the crisis on February 23. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop “attacking Ukraine” and to give peace a chance.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
A convoy of Russian military vehicles is seen February 23 in the Rostov region of Russia, which runs along Ukraine’s eastern border.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Evgeniy Maloletka/AP
Ukrainian soldiers talk in a shelter at the front line near Svitlodarsk, Ukraine, on February 23.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Tyler Hicks/The New York Times/Redux
Smoke rises from a damaged power plant in Shchastya that Ukrainian authorities say was hit by shelling on February 22.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Gleb Garanich/Reuters
A damaged house is worked on after shelling near the Ukrainian front-line city of Novoluhanske on February 22.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNN
Mourners gather at a church in Kyiv on February 22 for the funeral of Ukrainian Army Capt. Anton Sydorov. The Ukrainian military said he was killed by a shrapnel wound on February 19 after several rounds of artillery fire were directed at Ukrainian positions near Myronivske.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNN
Ukrainian soldiers pay their respects during Sydorov’s funeral in Kyiv on February 22.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Christopher Occhicone/Bloomberg/Getty Images
A sign displays conversion rates at a currency exchange kiosk in Kyiv on February 22. Global markets tumbled the day after Putin ordered troops into parts of eastern Ukraine.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
The New York Times/Redux
Russian howitzers are loaded onto train cars near Taganrog, Russia, on February 22.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Sergey Ponomarev/The New York Times/Redux
People who left a separatist-held region in eastern Ukraine watch an address by Putin from their hotel room in Taganrog, Russia, on February 21. Putin blasted Kyiv’s growing security ties with the West, and in lengthy remarks about the history of the USSR and the formation of the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic, he appeared to cast doubt on Ukraine’s right to self-determination.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Alexei Nikolsky/Sputnik/Kremlin/Pool/AP
Putin signs decrees recognizing the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic in a ceremony in Moscow on February 21. Earlier in the day, the heads of the self-proclaimed pro-Russian republics requested the Kremlin leader recognize their independence and sovereignty. Members of Putin’s Security Council supported the initiative in a meeting earlier in the day.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNN
Protesters demanding economic sanctions against Russia stand outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kyiv on February 21. Only a small number of protesters showed up to demonstrate.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNN
Activists hold a performance in front of the Russian embassy in Kyiv on February 21 in support of prisoners who were arrested in Crimea. They say the red doors are a symbol of the doors that were kicked in to search and arrest Crimean Tatars, a Muslim ethnic minority.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Aleksey Filippov/AFP/Getty Images
Ukrainian servicemen shop in the front-line town of Avdiivka, Ukraine, on February 21.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Ali Atmaca/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
People lay flowers at the Motherland Monument in Kyiv on February 21.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Stanislav Kozliuk/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
A local resident shows the depth of a crater from shelling in a field behind his house in the village of Tamarchuk, Ukraine, on February 20.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Ukrainian service members are seen along the front line outside of Popasna, Ukraine, on February 20.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Sergey Ponomarev/The New York Times/Redux
People evacuated from the pro-Russian separatist regions of Ukraine are seen at a temporary shelter in Taganrog, Russia, on February 20.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Evgeniy Maloletka/AP
Anastasia Manha lulls her 2-month-old son Mykyta after alleged shelling by separatists forces in Novohnativka, Ukraine, on February 20.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Anatolii Stepanov/AFP/Getty Images
A Ukrainian soldier stays on position on the front line near Novohnativka on February 20.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Emilio Morenatti/AP
A couple arrives at the city council to get married in Odessa, Ukraine, on February 20. As Ukrainian authorities reported further ceasefire violations and top Western officials warned about an impending conflict, life went on in other parts of the country.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNN
Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskiy, left, visits soldiers at a front-line position in Novoluhanske on February 19. Minutes after he left, the position came under fire. No one was injured.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Andrey Borodulin/AFP/Getty Images
A woman rests in a car near a border checkpoint in Avilo-Uspenka, Russia, on February 19.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
AFP/Getty Images
Residents of the breakaway Donetsk state sign up for evacuation to Russia on February 19. The evacuation orders were given by pro-Russian separatist leaders in eastern Ukraine’s breakaway regions, who claimed they were necessary because of an imminent offensive by the Ukrainian army. Ukrainian officials repeatedly denied any such plans and accused the separatists of launching a “disinformation campaign.”
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Vadim Ghirda/AP
A Ukrainian service member walks by a building on February 19 that was hit by mortar fire in the front-line village of Krymske, Ukraine.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Peter Kovalev/TASS/Getty Images
Fighter jets fly over Belarus during a joint military exercise the country held with Russia on February 19.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNN
Ukrainian soldiers stand guard at a military command center in Novoluhanske on February 19.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
People sit on a bus in Donetsk on February 18 after they were ordered to evacuate to Russia by pro-Russian separatists.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Nikolai Trishin/TASS/Getty Images
The remains of a military vehicle are seen in a parking lot outside a government building following an explosion in Donetsk on February 18. Ukrainian and US officials said the vehicle explosion was a staged attack designed to stoke tensions in eastern Ukraine.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNN
A memorial service and candlelight vigil is held at the St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv on February 18. They honored those who died in 2014 while protesting against the government of President Viktor Yanukovych, a pro-Russian leader who later fled the country.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Carlos Barria/Reuters
A kindergarten that officials say was damaged by shelling is seen in Stanytsia Luhanska, Ukraine, on February 17. No lives were lost, but it was a stark reminder of the stakes for people living near the front lines that separate Ukrainian government forces from Russian-backed separatists.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNN
Children play on old Soviet tanks in front of the Motherland Monument in Kyiv on February 16.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNN
Ambassadors of European countries lay roses at the Wall of Remembrance in Kyiv on February 16. The wall contains the names and photographs of military members who have died since the conflict with Russian-backed separatists began in 2014.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Wojtek Radawanski/AFP/Getty Images
US troops walk on the tarmac at the Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport in southeastern Poland on February 16. US paratroopers landed in Poland as part of a deployment of several thousand sent to bolster NATO’s eastern flank in response to tensions with Russia.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNN
A 200-meter-long Ukrainian flag is unfolded at the Olympic Stadium in Kyiv on February 16 to mark a “Day of Unity,” an impromptu celebration declared by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNN
Travelers wait in line to check in to their departing flights February 15 at the Boryspil International Airport outside Kyiv. US President Joe Biden urged Americans in Ukraine to leave the country, warning that “things could go crazy quickly” in the region.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Vadim Ghirda/AP
A Ukrainian serviceman carries an anti-tank weapon during an exercise in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine on February 15.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Brendan Hoffman/The New York Times/Redux
A location of Oschadbank, a state-owned bank, is seen in Kyiv on February 15. The websites of Oschadbank and PrivatBank, the country’s two largest banks, were hit by cyberattacks that day, as were the websites of Ukraine’s defense ministry and army, according to Ukrainian government agencies.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Chris McGrath/Getty Images
A woman and child walk underneath a military monument in Senkivka, Ukraine, on February 14. It’s on the outskirts of the Three Sisters border crossing between Ukraine, Russia and Belarus.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Milan Sabic/Reuters
F/A-18E and 18F Super Hornets are seen on the flight deck of the USS Harry S. Truman, an American aircraft carrier in the Adriatic Sea on February 14. The Truman was on its way to the Middle East in mid-December, but the Pentagon decided to keep it in Europe as tensions began to escalate.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Vadim Ghirda/AP
Ukrainian service members talk at a front-line position in eastern Ukraine on February 14.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Emilio Morenatti/AP
Members of Ukraine’s National Guard look out a window as they ride a bus through the capital of Kyiv on February 14.
Satellite images taken on February 13 by Maxar Technologies revealed that dozens of helicopters had appeared at a previously vacant airbase in Russian-occupied Crimea.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Ozan Kose/AFP/Getty Images
The Russian navy’s diesel-electric Kilo-class submarine, Rostov-on-Don, moves through Turkey’s Bosphorus Strait en route to the Black Sea on February 13.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto/Getty Images
US soldiers and military vehicles are seen at a military airport in Mielec, Poland, on February 12. The White House approved a plan for the nearly 2,000 US troops in Poland to help Americans who may try to evacuate Ukraine, according to two US officials familiar with the matter.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNN
An anti-war demonstration takes place in Kyiv’s Independence Square on February 12.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Svetlana Kisileva/Abaca/Sip/AP
Pro-Russian separatists observe the movement of Ukrainian troops from trenches in Ukraine’s Donbas area on February 11.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters
Ukrainian service members unpack Javelin anti-tank missiles that were delivered to Kyiv on February 10 as part of a US military support package for Ukraine.
Photos: Russia invades Ukraine
Vadim Ghirda/AP
Ukrainian service members walk on an armored fighting vehicle during a training exercise in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region on February 10.
Meanwhile in regions around the capital Kyiv, the humanitarian situation remains fraught.
“The main issue today remains humanitarian aid,” Oleksiy Kuleba, the head of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration, said in a YouTube video.
Residents of Bucha, Irpin, Gostomel, Makariv, Borodyanka and Vorzel are “forced to stay in bomb shelters for days without water and food,” he said, adding that Moscow is preventing “humanitarian evacuation despite agreements with ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) mediation.”
On Tuesday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Russian forces “violated their obligations under international humanitarian law not to conduct indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks that harm civilians,” following a report that eight civilians were killed over the weekend as they were trying to flee the Russian army’s advance in northern Ukraine.
That warning came after the UK Ministry of Defence, in its latest intelligence assessment. accused Russian forces of targeting evacuation corridors and killing “several civilians” trying to evacuate the town of Irpin.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized the international community for remaining on the “sidelines” of the Russian invasion.
Addressing the UK’s House of Commons on Tuesday via video, Zelensky said that “we will fight to the end,” echoing former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s famous wartime speech.
“We will fight in the forests, in the fields, on the shores, in the streets,” he said. Zelensky pleaded with British lawmakers to “strengthen the sanctions” against Moscow, requested that the UK recognize Russia “as a terrorist state” and reiterated his request with NATO to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
NATO has assisted Ukraine with equipment and intelligence, but has resisted implementing a no-fly zone over its airspace.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the military alliance has a “responsibility to ensure that the conflict does not spread beyond Ukraine” during a joint press conference in Riga with the Latvian President Egils Levits.
Zelensky’s heroism is coming up against Western red lines
“That would be even more dangerous, destructive, and even more deadly,” said Stoltenberg. “The situation could spiral out of control,” he said.
On the ground, fighting continued in multiple locations as the Russian invasion neared the end of its second week.
In the southern city of Mykolaiv, regional administrator Vitali Kim asked residents to gather tires, which will be set on fire to impede Russian troop movement in the city.
“In order to limit visibility for the enemy vehicles in the city, I need tires at every intersection in the city,” Kim said in a message posted to Telegram. “If the vehicles break through in some direction, the task will be to go out and set fire to the tire so that there is smoke in order to limit visibility.”
The senior US defense official said Tuesday that Russian forces have not yet entered Mykolaiv, a key city that could be used as part of a coordinated assault against the city of Odessa, though there has been an increase in bombardment and shelling.
The official said that Russian forces are still trying to advance on the cities of Kharkiv and Chernihiv, but are still facing resistance and are making more progress in the south of Ukraine than elsewhere in the country.
In total Russia has launched “nearly 670” missiles since the beginning of their invasion, a separate senior US defense official told reporters on Tuesday.
Almost half of the missiles launched have been fired from Russia, “the other half largely from inside Ukraine,” the official said. “A little bit more than 70” missiles have been fired from Belarus, and “only a half dozen or so” are coming from the Black Sea, the official added.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian effect of Russia’s invasion were also laid bare on Tuesday, when UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi told French radio station France Inter that more than 2 million people have fled Ukraine since the conflict began.
Russian tanks emblazoned with ‘Z’ were first spotted on Ukraine’s border. Here’s how the letter became a pro-war symbol
The milestone is a “terrifying” number, said Grandi. Most of the refugees have traveled to Poland, Moldova and other neighboring countries “where they have connections, family,” he added.
“What worries me, what we fear is a second wave of persons who have a good deal less resources and connections and who will be much more vulnerable,” said Grandi.
At least 1.2 million refugees have crossed the border from Ukraine into Poland since the invasion began, the Polish Border Guard tweeted Tuesday, with 141,500 entering on Monday alone.
