Ukrainian civilians withdraw along humanitarian corridors from Ukraine's Mariupol on March 20, 2022. More than 3.48 million Ukrainians have fled to neighboring countries, according to the UN refugee agency. Photo: AFP

Ukraine on Friday created nine humanitarian corridors to allow civilians to leave conflict-affected areas, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Telegram.

The safe routes were established to allow civilians to flee Mariupol city in the eastern Donetsk region and Berdyansk, Tokmak and Energodar towns in the southern Zaporizhzhia region via private transport.

Besides, the Ukrainian authorities will evacuate civilians from five towns and villages in the eastern Luhansk region.

On Thursday, 2,557 people were evacuated from conflict-affected areas in Ukraine.