Evacuations under way from besieged city of Mariupol

A Ukrainian serviceman guards his position in Mariupol (Mstyslav Chernov/AP)

Some 2,000 civilian vehicles have left the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol on a so-called humanitarian corridor, the city council says.

The city council said another 2,000 cars were waiting to leave along the evacuation route, which runs west for more than 160 miles to the Ukraine-held city of Zaporizhzhia.