The Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced - at the conclusion of the donor conference held in the Polish capital Warsaw today, Thursday - the collection of more than 6.5 billion euros to help Ukraine and its supporters face the war waged by Russia.

The conference was held with the participation of state leaders, heads of governments, and senior officials from the European Union to discuss the humanitarian aid to be provided to Ukraine, to face the high economic and humanitarian cost of the war.

This comes at a time when the authorities of Mariupol said that 344 people were evacuated through the humanitarian corridor to Zaporizhzhia, most of them women, children, and elderly, while the Kremlin said that the intelligence information provided to Ukraine will not hinder Russia.

For its part, the military administration in Luhansk said that 40 people were evacuated from 3 towns in the province.

The Russian General Staff had announced the opening of safe corridors for civilians to leave the Azovstal steel plant complex - the last stronghold where Ukrainian soldiers are entrenched in the city of Mariupol (southeastern Ukraine) - for three days starting from 8 AM until 6 PM Moscow time (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday).

It said - in a statement - that during this period its forces and the separatist Donetsk region forces will unilaterally cease fire, and units will withdraw to a safe distance ensuring the withdrawal of civilians in any direction they choose.

Regarding Mariupol, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that there are still civilians, including women and children, in the besieged city.

Zelensky called for the necessity of establishing an extended truce to secure evacuation operations, explaining that it will take time to get people out of basements and underground shelters.

This comes at a time when the governor of Belgorod province reported that the towns of Goravlyovka and Nikhotivka were shelled by Ukrainian forces causing damage to a house without injuries.

Russia’s narrative

For its part, Russia said that its artillery shelled numerous Ukrainian positions and strongholds last Wednesday evening, resulting in the death of 600 fighters.

The Ministry of Defense stated, "The Russian Armed Forces continue the special military operation in Ukraine… More than 600 nationalists have been killed, and 61 units of weapons and military equipment have been destroyed."

The ministry added that its missiles destroyed aerial equipment at Kanatovo airport in Kirovohrad region (central Ukraine), and a large ammunition depot in the southern city of Mykolaiv, also announcing the destruction of 4 Ukrainian artillery batteries and a US-made radar station.