Russia introduces "silence regime" in Ukraine for safe evacuation of civilians

MOSCOW, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Russian armed forces have declared a "silence regime" and the opening of humanitarian corridors for the safe evacuation of civilians in Ukraine starting 10 a.m. Moscow time (0700 GMT) on Tuesday.

"Humanitarian corridors from Kiev, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkov and Mariupol are being opened," local media reported, citing Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov.

On the same day, Ukraine started evacuating residents from the northeastern city of Sumy through a humanitarian corridor as agreed with Russia, Ukraine's UNIAN news agency reported.

During the third round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine on Monday, both sides addressed the issue of civilian evacuation, and the Ukrainian side assured Russia that the humanitarian corridors would start working.