A first convoy of residents and foreign students has left the Ukrainian city of Sumy after an agreement with Russia on establishing a humanitarian corridor, officials said on Tuesday, writes The Irish Times.

“We have already started the evacuation of civilians from Sumy to Poltava (in central Ukraine), including foreign students”, - the foreign ministry said in a tweet. “We call on Russia to agree on other humanitarian corridors in Ukraine.”

Ukrainian officials said evacuations began from Sumy and from the town of Irpin near Kyiv on Tuesday. The move came after Russian and Ukrainian officials agreed to establish “humanitarian corridors” to allow civilians out of some towns and cities besieged by Russian forces.

“As of 09:30 (0730 GMT), more than 150 people have been evacuated and (evacuation) activities are underway”, - said Oleksiy Kuleba, governor of the Kyiv region.

Civilians have been trapped by fighting since Russian troops invaded Ukraine on February 24th.