and four other cities so that civilians can leave. chernihiv, sumy, kharkiv and mariupol will all receive a temporary reprieve, according to a russian state news agency. however, several previous ceasefires have not been honoured. however in the last half hour the mayor of sumy said civilians in private cars have started leaving. in other developments, despite the evacuations, ukrainian officials say 22 people, including 3 children were killed in an overnight air raid in sumy. russian forces have gained ground in the south of ukraine but continue to meet fierce resistance and logistical problems in the north. explosions have been heard in kyiv in the last few hours. russia has confirmed that its foreign minister sergei lavrov and his ukrainian counterpart, dmytro kuleba, are set to meet in turkey on thursday. let s cross to my
this sort so many parallels with syria, where this sort of so many parallels with syria, where this sort of attack went on for months this sort of attack went on for months and years, and from syria, it is very months and years, and from syria, it is very clear months and years, and from syria, it is very clear that in quite a number of cases. is very clear that in quite a number of cases, there was deliberate targeting of civilian facilities in order targeting of civilian facilities in order to targeting of civilian facilities in order to spread terror among civiiian order to spread terror among civilian populations, and also to tie up civilian populations, and also to tie up much of the capability and manpower of the people defending the city in manpower of the people defending the city in dealing with casualties. yasmin. city in dealing with casualties. yasmin, looking at the front of the guardian, atrocities are how it s described it, it has courage from preside
let s turn to diplomatic efforts to end the conflict. russia has confirmed that its foreign minister sergei lavrov and his ukrainian counterpart, dmytro kuleba, are set to meet in turkey on thursday. turkey s foreign minister will mediate the talks in the city of antalya. they are set to be the highest level talks between russia and ukraine since the conflict began. turkey is a nato member, but says it is keen to maintain strong relations with both sides despite the conflict. here s what germany s chancellor olaf scholz had to say earlier today about how to end the crisis: translation: a military solution | to this conflict makes no sense. l what we need now is a diplomatic solution, and that s what we re trying to do in close coordination with other international partners. and we have hope that there will be solutions in the talks between
to allow safe passage for people fleeing the fighting in ukraine. martin griffiths says all civilians should be allowed to leave in the direction they choose. russia has continued its attacks across ukraine. most recently, loud explosions have been heard in odesa. the port city is an important strategic target for moscow. a third round of talks between ukrainian and russian delegations has ended in belarus. turkey says the foreign ministers from the two sides are to meet in turkey on thursday. the head of the international atomic energy agency has called for urgent talks on the safety of ukraine s nuclear plants. he said it was unacceptable that normal operations were not in place at the plant seized by russian troops. much by russian troops. more on these stories on the bbc much more on these stories on the bbc news website. you watching bbc news.
several previous ceasefires have not been honoured. however in the mayor of sumy said civilians in private cars have started leaving. in other developments: depsite the evacuations ukrainian officials say 22 people, including 3 children were killed in an overnight air raid in sumy. russia has confirmed that its foreign minister sergei lavrov and his ukrainian counterpart, dmytro kuleba, are set to meet in turkey on thursday. in the past few minutes, the ukrainian power grid says russian forces have disconnected the closed nuclear facility at chernobyl, which they say could prevent cooling equipment from functioning. our first report comes from our correspondent louisa pilbeam. as the snow falls, still they come today. 1.2 million refugees and counting have crossed the border