Refugee convoy makes it out of Mariupol but 170,000 remain trapped in city under siege

Russia allows safe passage of 2,000 people via humanitarian corridor but Ukraine claims aid convoys blocked

• Ukraine-Russia war: latest updates

A group of 2,000 people have made it to safety from the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol, as the success of the wider rescue operation for more than 100,000 trapped civilians still hangs in the balance.

The 42-strong convoy of buses organised by the Ukrainian government and escorted by the Red Cross headed from the nearby Russian-occupied city of Berdyansk to the Ukrainian-held city of Zaporizhzhia on Friday afternoon, according to the Mariupol city council's channel on the messaging app Telegram.