Ukraine’s foreign ministry says Russian shelling prevents evacuation, aid deliveries

Local residents cross a destroyed bridge as they evacuate from the town of Irpin, after days of heavy shelling on the only escape route used by locals, while Russian troops advance towards the capital, in Irpin, near Kyiv, Ukraine March 7, 2022. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

Russian shelling is preventing the evacuation of civilians from Kyiv, Mariupol, Sumy, Kharkiv, Volnovakha and Mykolayiv, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

"This prevents the safe passage of humanitarian columns with Ukrainian and foreign citizens, as well as the delivery of medicines and food," it said in a statement.

The ministry called on foreign leaders to force Russia to observe a ceasefire to prevent what it said could be a humanitarian catastrophe.

(Reporting by Natalia Zinets, Writing by Max Hunder, Editing by Timothy Heritage)