Photos: People flee as humanitarian crisis deepens in Ukraine | Gallery News

The humanitarian crisis in Ukraine is deepening as food, water and medicine growing increasingly scarce and Russian forces intensify their shelling of major cities.

In the capital, Kyiv, soldiers and volunteers have built hundreds of checkpoints to protect the city of nearly 4 million, using sandbags, stacked tires and spiked cables.

“Every house, every street, every checkpoint, we will fight to the death if necessary,” said Mayor Vitali Klitschko.

As Ukrainians attempted to flee Irpin on the outskirts of Kyiv, a Ukrainian police officer could be seen running while holding on to a child as the sound of artillery echoed nearby. The invasion has sent 1.7 million people fleeing Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials accused Moscow of resorting to “medieval siege” tactics in places.

“Humanitarian corridors” in Ukraine have opened from Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Mariupol as well as Kyiv, the Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday, citing the Russian defence ministry. Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Tuesday that civilians will start leaving Sumy.