Ukraine war: 12-hour ceasefire agreed for civilian evacuation

Russia and Ukraine have agreed to cease fire for 12 hours in yet another effort to allow the evacuation of civilians through safe corridors from several cities, including Mariupol, as fierce fighting raged on the 14th day of the conflict.

Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Wednesday the two sides agreed to allow civilians to escape five badly battered areas, including around the capital Kiev, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time.

She said the ceasefire would allow civilians to escape through "green corridors" in the areas. Vereshchuk said Prime Minister Denys Shmygal would be talking to the International Committee of the Red Cross about the proposed routes.

There would also be a special operation to evacuate an orphanage near Kiev, according to Vereshchuk, who said there were 55 children and 26 staff members there.

Hundreds of thousands of people are trapped without food and water in several cities, including the port city of Mariupol, where there is also no electricity.

Russia to start observing humanitarian ceasefire in Ukraine on Wed.

Russia will start observing a humanitarian ceasefire in Ukraine as of Wednesday.

Earlier this week, Russia announced new "humanitarian corridors" to transport Ukrainians trapped in Kharkiv, Kiev, Mariupol and Sumy to Russia and Belarus after efforts to transport civilians from Mariupol failed when both Moscow and Kiev accused each other of violating the ceasefire they agreed on Friday.

But Ukraine turned down the offer, raising doubt over the safely of the corridors.

Mariupol still being shelled: Ukraine

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Wednesday that the besieged port was still being shelled despite the ceasefire agreement.

“Russia continues holding hostage over 400,000 people in Mariupol, blocks humanitarian aid and evacuation. Indiscriminate shelling continues,” he said in a tweet.

He also said, “Almost 3,000 newborn babies lack medicine and food” in the city.

The Red Cross has previously described the situation in Mariupol as "apocalyptic."

Ukraine accuses Russia of attacking maternity hospital in Mariupol

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russian airstrikes targeted s children’s and maternity hospital in Mariupol.

The Mariupol city council also said a children's hospital was destroyed in the fighting on Wednesday.

“The destruction is colossal. The building of the medical facility where the children were treated recently is completely destroyed,” the city council said in a Facebook post.

Regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said 17 people were wounded in the attack.

Russia has, however, denied targeting civilians in Ukraine.

More than 3 million Ukrainians in need of food

The World Food Programme (WFP) said on Wednesday that it will soon need to help over three million Ukrainians with food donations.

The executive director of the UN agency, David Beasley, made the remarks in Warsaw, where he met Poland’s Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau to discuss helping Ukrainian refugees arriving in the country.

More than two million people have so far fled Ukraine. Over one million have made their way into Poland, according to the United Nations.

Tide of Ukrainian refugees grows as more than 1.7 million flee to Central Europe: UN

The United Nations says more than 1.7 million people have so far fled Ukraine amid escalating tension.

IAEA sees “no critical impact on safety” at Chernobyl

Meanwhile, Ukraine appealed to Russia for a temporary ceasefire to allow repairs to be made to a power line to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, raising concerns over a radiation leak after electricity was cut off to the plant.

Authorities said fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces made it impossible to immediately repair the high-voltage power line to the plant.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), however, said it sees “no critical impact on safety” at Chernobyl. The UN watchdog also reiterated that the plant can "maintain effective heat removal without the need for electrical supply."

The Chernobyl power plant is the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster in 1986.

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