Ukraine says 9,145 people were evacuated from cities on Friday

A total of 9,145 people were evacuated from Ukrainian cities through humanitarian corridors on Friday, a senior official said, a number that is considerably more than managed to escape on Thursday.

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the president's office, said in an online post that 4,972 people had left the besieged city of Mariupol. A total of only 3,810 people were able to leave cities across the country on Thursday.