Russia’s invasion of Ukraine mapped: What happened on day 13?

Civilians were successfully evacuated from the city of Sumy through a safe corridor agreed with Russia.

But in the south, another proposed safe road out of the besieged city of Mariupol was disrupted after Russian forces violated the ceasefire, according to Ukraine’s foreign ministry.

Fighting continued several hundred miles west of Mariupol, as Russian forces attempted to move towards the crucial port city of Odesa.

But the map of areas under Russian control has barely changed over the last day.

As we can see in this chart, the amount of Ukrainian land under Russian control has remained between 45,000 and 49,000 square miles since 2 March.

And while the amount of land Russians are operating in has increased since then, even this seems to have plateaued in the last three days.

It comes as an adviser to the Ukrainian president claimed earlier today that the Russian invasion has “practically stopped”.

But in an official address to celebrate International Women’s Day, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that his “professional military personnel are fulfilling the tasks set to them”.

Humanitarian corridors

Civilians in the northeastern city of Sumy have been evacuated through a humanitarian corridor agreed with Russia.

The route of the proposed safe route, as illustrated on this map, allows civilians in the Sumy region to travel to the eastern Ukrainian city of Poltava.

Local governor Dmytro Zhyvytsky said civilians, including 1,000 foreign students, have been able to flee through it.

He said convoys of between 20 and 30 private cars are leaving the city in waves.

Later, Russian media cited the Russian defence ministry as saying a total of 723 civilians had left Sumy through the humanitarian corridor, which was scheduled to be open until 7pm GMT on Tuesday.

The south

One of the key battle zones is the south where Russia aims to isolate Ukraine from the sea and cut off its imports and exports.

Plans to evacuate civilians from the besieged port of Mariupol to Zaporizhia via a humanitarian corridor were thrown into jeopardy after Ukrainian officials said Russian forces had begun shelling the agreed route.

It’s estimated that more than 200,000 civilians hope to leave – nearly half of its population.

Thirty buses carrying vital humanitarian aid were scheduled to use the safe road to Mariupol, according to the Ukrainian foreign ministry.

Mariupol mayor Vadym Boychenko later confirmed that a six-year-old girl named Tanya died of dehydration in the city and said the city has been “surviving a blockade for the past eight days”.

General Sir Richard Barrons, co-chairman of Universal Defence and Security Solutions, said the situation in Mariupol could demonstrate a change in tactics by the Russian military.

“This does not appear to be an accident, this is about ratcheting up the pressure on the Ukrainian government by directly targeting the civilian population,” he said.

Southern port cities like Mariupol are key strategic targets for the Russian military as they are vital to the Ukrainian economy.