A Russian airstrike on the northeastern city of Sumy, on Monday, killed nine people including two children, the State Emergency Services (SES) in Ukraine claimed, as per CNN. 

The interior minister of Ukraine said that the airstrike was against an apartment building and a woman was rescued from the rubble.

Following this airstrike, news has emerged that Russia and Ukraine have agreed upon a corridor to evacuate citizens fleeing from Sumy. Iryna Vereshchuk, the Ukrainian minister of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories said that Russia agreed to this in a letter sent from the Ministry of Defense to the International Committee of the Red Cross, CNN reported. 

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The evacuation corridor will lead from Sumy through Holubivka and Lokhvytsia to Poltava, the central Ukrainian city. Vereshchuk added that “all obstacles … must be removed along the entire route”. 

Notably, previous attempts to evacuate citizens from Mariupol via a pre-agreed corridor failed due to reported Russian shelling jeopardizing the evacuation route. Accordingly, Vereshchuk said, “No other routes were agreed. We call on Russia to agree on these routes immediately and ensure a stable ceasefire on these routes”. 

All eyes are on Russia at the moment since there have been accusations of them committing war crimes in Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky has already noted that civilian structures are being targeted, and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has echoed these thoughts. 

Meanwhile, the US has been more cautious in labelling Russian actions in Ukraine as war crimes, though the Joe Biden administration has taken cognizance of the fact that Russian troops are targeting civilians. The International Criminal Court at Hague has also launched an investigation into Russia’s actions, as the country faces the accusation of using cluster bombs against civilian targets. 

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Among foreign nationals stranded in Sumy are around 700 Indians. The Narendra Modi-led government has been in talks to ensure safe passage, but thus far, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged them to stay inside and avoid unnecessary risks. In light of the new agreed corridor, the Indian government could speed up the rest of its evacuation process as well.