Half of Ukraine’s capital population has fled, says Kyiv mayor

More than half of the population of Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv has now fled the city, according to its mayor.

“From our information, one in two Kyiv residents has left the city,” Vitali Klitschko, Mayor of Kyiv  told Ukraine television on Thursday.

Qatar-based news media Aljazeera reports that surrounded by tank traps and checkpoints manned by armed volunteers – the Ukrainian capital has been turned into a fortress.

You may read: Russia will emerge stronger, sanctions will rebound, says Putin

The greater Kyiv area had a population of about 3.5 million people last year, according to citypopulation.de, a website that tracks population statistics across the world.

Russian forces have reached the northeastern edge of the city, with heavy battles for control of the main highway reported during the night.

Moscow has also been making progress against the cities of Kharkiv in the east and Mykolaiv in the south, amid heavy fighting.

Klitschko said the capital had been “transformed into a fortress”. “Every street, every building, every checkpoint has been fortified,” he said.

You may read: Russian forces move within 9 miles of Kyiv's city centre, says Pentagon

On Wednesday, two bombs hit two hospitals in a city west of Kyiv, according to the mayor. The World Health Organization said it has confirmed 18 attacks on medical facilities since the Russian invasion began two weeks ago.

An air raid also hit a maternity hospital  in the port city of Mariupol, killing three people including a child and drawing widespread condemnation.

“What kind of country is this, the Russian Federation, which is afraid of hospitals, is afraid of maternity hospitals, and destroys them?” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked in a televised address late on Wednesday.

United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric said no health facility “should ever be a target” and called for an “immediate halt to attacks on healthcare, hospitals, healthcare workers, ambulances”.

Meanwhile, Kamala Harris, the vice president of the United States has called for an investigation into Russia’s conduct in Ukraine and condemned what she said were “atrocities of unimaginable proportions” carried out by Moscow’s forces.

You may read: UN Security Council to hold emergency meeting on biological weapons at Russia’s request

United Kingdom Minister for the Armed Forces James Heappey also said hitting the hospital was “a war crime” regardless of whether it had been a deliberate act or not.

On the other contrary, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed the Mariupol hospital had been seized by far-right fighters who were using it as a base. Photographs of the aftermath, however, showed pregnant women and children at the site.