More than 7,000 Ukrainians evacuated from Mariupol

KYIV, Ukraine

Thousands of residents of Ukraine’s besieged city of Mariupol were evacuated Tuesday amid the ongoing war with Russia, according to the country’s deputy prime minister.

Commenting on the process, Iryna Vereshchuk said more than 7,000 people were evacuated and Ukrainian officials were working to establish humanitarian corridors to facilitate the process.

Vereshchuk said Russian troops were hampering evacuation efforts from some villages in Mariupol but the process would continue in the city of Berdyansk on Wednesday.

She said earlier in the day that more than 100,000 civilians were stranded in Mariupol and were unable to escape due to a lack of humanitarian corridors.

The Russia-Ukraine war, which began on Feb. 24, has been met with international outrage, with the European Union, US and UK among others implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.

At least 953 civilians have been killed during the war and 1,557 injured, according to a tally by the UN.

The international body warns, however, that the true toll is "considerably higher."

More than 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine amid the Russian attacks, according to the UN refugee agency.

*Writing by Ali Murat Alhas