MOSCOW, March 23. /TASS/. Russia’s Armed Forces have evacuated nearly 18,000 civilians, including over 3,000 children, from Ukraine and from Donbass into Russia in the past 24 hours, without any involvement from the Kiev authorities, Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, chief of Russia’s National Defense Management Center, said on Wednesday.
"In the past 24 hours, without any participation of the [Kiev] authorities, 17,929 people, including 3,708 children, have been evacuated from the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics to Russia," he said.
Mizintsev specified that 384,111 people, including 80,770 children, have been evacuated into Russia since the start of the special military operation.
According to the general, 45,670 private vehicles have crossed into Russia, with 2,383 of them in the past 24 hours.
Additionally, Mizintsev added 8,487 people have been evacuated from Mariupol on March 23, without any involvement from the Ukrainian authorities. A total of 81,958 people have been evacuated from the city.
Mizintsev said that 26 citizens of Vietnam and Jordan were evacuated from Mariupol as a result of a targeted humanitarian operation.