Sixty-one children have been rescued from an orphanage in the Ukrainian city of Sumi

Sixty-one children have been rescued from an orphanage in the Ukrainian city of Sumi

Dmitry Zhivitsky, the regional governor of Ukraine, said 71 children had been rescued from an orphanage in the city of Sumi. 

He said the children had taken refuge in the basement of the orphanage for two weeks to escape Russian shelling. Many of the rescued children are children with special needs, all under the age of four. 

These children have been evacuated using humanitarian corridors. The mayor said: "We have been hiding these children for almost two weeks to protect them from the bombings. These children do not have parents. Most of them always need treatment.

Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk has claimed that 527 Russian troops have been detained in the 24 days since the start of the operation.

"All Russian prisoners of war are being treated by international human rights law," he said.

Ukraine, meanwhile, has claimed that thousands of Russian troops have been killed. President Zelensky himself has made similar demands several times. Ukraine says Russia has lost four major generals in the operation.

Source: CNN