Ukraine evacuated 40,000 in one day but problems with Mariupol, Kyiv and Kharkiv areas: official

Ukraine evacuated more than 40,000 people in one day on Wednesday but struggled to get civilians away from conflict zones around the cities of Kyiv, Kharkiv and Mariupol, one of the negotiators in the Russia talks David Arakhamia said.

"Over 40,000 women and children were evacuated from all over Ukraine in one day. Tried 100,000, but failed," he said in a post on social media. Ukraine has accused Russia of shelling civilian areas and preventing the evacuations. Russia in turn blamed Ukraine.

Separately Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he spoke to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken about boosting Ukraine's defensive capabilities.

(Reuters)