Efforts to evacuate the heavily bombarded port city of Mariupol failed for the second day in a row when shelling disrupted a supposed ceasefire to establish safe-passage corridors. In talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged “it was not his intention” to attack Ukrainian nuclear sites and welcomed the idea of a trilateral meeting of IAEA, Russia and Ukraine. He, however, emphasised to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that he will not end his campaign against Ukraine until capital Kyiv stopped fighting.
On the eleventh day of the Russian offensive against Ukraine, the United Nations human rights office said it has confirmed the deaths of 364 civilians in Ukraine since the invasion began on February 24. The Geneva-based office said another 759 civilians had been injured.
Here are the latest updates on the conflict that has resulted in over 1.5 million people fleeing war-hit Ukraine, making it the “fastest growing refugee crisis” since World War II:
Putin welcomes trilateral meeting of IAEA, Russia, Ukraine: After talks with French President Emmanual Macron in which he said it was not his intention to attack Ukrainian nuclear power plants, Putin agreed to a trilateral meeting between IAEA, Russia and Ukraine. Russia’s armed forces had earlier seized control of Zaporozhskaya and Chernobyl nuclear power stations. The Kremlin said Putin welcomed the idea of a meeting via video link or in a third country.
Lay down arms, Putin tells Ukraine: In a conversation with Erdogan, Putin said his campaign in Ukraine was going according to plan and would not end until Kyiv stopped fighting. Erdogan had appealed for a ceasefire in the conflict.
A third round of talks between Russia and Ukraine will take place on Monday, according to Davyd Arakhamia, a member of the Ukrainian delegation. Previous meetings have been held in Belarus and led to the failed ceasefire agreement to create humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of children, women and older people. Putin has continued to blame the Ukrainian leadership and slammed their resistance to the invasion. He said if they continued to resist, they were calling into question “the future of Ukrainian statehood”.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also met Putin for three hours, following which he also spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The Russian military also warned Ukraine’s neighbouring countries from hosting its warplanes, saying Moscow may consider them a part of the conflict if Ukrainian aircraft fly combat missions from their territory. After a snub from NATO, even the European Union is wary of setting up a no-fly zone over Ukraine. Charles Michel of the EU said closing Ukraine’s airspace could spark a world war. Zelenskyy has repeatedly called on NATO countries to stop the Russian onslaught by imposing a no-fly zone. Western leaders have refused for fear of triggering a wider war in Europe.
Mariupol ceasefire fails again: For the second day in a row, Mariupol authorities said a ceasefire plan had collapsed, as it had on Saturday, with each side blaming the other for the failure. This held up an attempt to evacuate 4,00,000 civilians in the coastal city, which had endured heavy shelling and is not receiving any heat, power and water. “They’re destroying us,” Mariupol mayor Vadym Boychenko told Reuters in a video call. “They will not even give us an opportunity to count the wounded and the killed because the shelling does not stop.”
Russia has sought to cut off Ukraine’s access to the Sea of Avrov in the south. Capturing Mariupol could allow Russia to establish a land corridor to Crimea, which it annexed in 2014. At least three people were killed, including two children, and another seriously injured, after Russian troops opened fire on civilians during evacuation from Irpen in Ukraine, Interfax-Ukraine reported. The World Health Organization also confirmed “several” attacks on health care centres in Ukraine and is investigating others. The attacks caused multiple deaths and injuries, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a Twitter message. In his brief post, the WHO chief did not mention Russia.
Hundreds of men have been reported queuing up in Kyiv to sign up to join the armed forces, according to The Associated Press. Russian forces continued their offensive by dropping powerful bombs on residential areas of Chernihiv, Ukrainian officials said. But a Russian armoured column was still stalled outside Kyiv. Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces were holding key cities in the central and southeastern part of the country, while the Russians were trying to block and keep encircled Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv and Sumy.
More sanctions likely, Pope’s ‘unusual’ move: US secretary of state Antony Blinken said the United States and its allies are having a very active discussion about banning the import of Russian oil and natural gas in the latest escalation of their sanctions. Blinken told CNN on Sunday that President Joe Biden convened a meeting of his National Security Council on the subject the day before. Card payment giants Visa and Mastercard became the latest major US firms to suspend operations in Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Japan may take more action in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which could significantly impact its energy sector. South Korea also said it will implement export controls against close Moscow ally Belarus for “effectively supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine”.
In a highly unusual move, Pope Francis said he had dispatched two cardinals to Ukraine. The pontiff said the Holy See is willing to do everything to put itself in service for peace. The papal almsgiver, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, has been dispatched with aid, along with Cardinal Michael Czerny, who is head of the papal office that deals with migration, charity, justice and peace.
Last batch of Indian students leave via Budapest: The last batch of Indian students were evacuated via Budapest. Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri, however, said there were Indians still stuck in the northeastern city of Sumy and attempts were underway to evacuate them. Puri told CNN-News18 that this was an emotional moment for all involved. “It is an emotional moment, but it is work in progress,” he said. So far, 6,680 Indians have been rescued from the Romania border; 2,822 from Poland; 5,300 from Hungary; and 1,118 from Slovakia, as per a tweet by civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.
(With agency inputs)
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