KYIV — A fresh attempt by
Ukraine's besieged port city
of Mariupol to evacuate its civilians failed again Sunday as Moscow and Kyiv
traded blame for ceasefire breaches for a second consecutive day.
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Russia's invasion of Ukraine, now into an
eleventh day, has seen more than 1.5 million people flee the country, in what
the UN has called "Europe's fastest growing refugee crisis since World War
II".
Pope Francis on Sunday deplored the
"rivers of blood and tears" flowing in Ukraine, as Washington cited
"very credible reports" that Russia committed war crimes by
deliberately attacking civilians.
Hundreds of civilians have been killed and
thousands wounded, with hundreds of thousands of mostly women and children
pouring into neighboring countries such as Poland, Romania or Moldova for
refuge.
After the West imposed unprecedented
sanctions against businesses, banks, and billionaires in a bid to choke off the
Russian economy, US-based card payment giants Visa and Mastercard were the
latest companies to announce they would suspend operations in Russia.
World leaders vowed further punitive action
if
Vladimir Putin failed to change course but the Russian leader has equated
global sanctions with a declaration of war and has warned that Kyiv is
"putting in question the future of Ukrainian statehood".
With a wary eye on Russia's nuclear stocks,
NATO allies have so far rebuffed Ukraine's calls for a no-fly zone. Putin has
threatened "colossal and catastrophic consequences not only for Europe but
also the whole world" if a no-fly zone is set up.
In the latest sign that sanctions were
biting, Moscow said Sunday that retailers in Russia will restrict sales of
essential goods including bread, rice, and flour to limit black market
speculation.
Cracking down on dissent at home, Russia
detained around 2,500 people across the country for staging protests against
its military assault on Ukraine.
The Ukrainian military said Sunday it
was engaged in "fierce battles" with Russian forces for the
control of borders at the southern city of Mykolaiv and Chernihiv in the north.
"The main efforts are focused on
defending the city of Mariupol," it said in a Facebook post, adding an
operation by Ukrainian forces was also underway in the eastern part of the Donetsk
region.
'Bodies everywhere'
Efforts Saturday to get people out of
Mariupol — one of the most ferocious scenes of war — collapsed almost
immediately with both sides accusing each other of breaching a ceasefire
agreement.
A fresh attempt on Sunday again
failed.
The strategic city of Mariupol on the Azov
Sea has for days been under siege and without electricity, food and water, with
stop-start ceasefires.
In a telephone call with French President
Emmanuel Macron, Putin blamed Kyiv for not keeping to "agreements reached
on this acute humanitarian issue," the Kremlin said.
But the governor of the eastern region
Donetsk, Pavlo Kirilenko, said "the column to evacuate the population
could not leave Mariupol... because the Russians regrouped their forces and
started to bombard the city."
"It is extremely dangerous to get
people out in these conditions," he said, adding that humanitarian aid
from Zaporozhzhia also could not reach the people.
Very few refugees from the port city made it
out on Saturday, but one family — who did not give their names — arrived in the
central city of Dnipro and recounted their harrowing experience.
"We stayed in the basement for seven
days with no heating, electricity or internet and ran out of food and water. We
think we might be the only people to get out," one said.
"On the road, we saw there were bodies
everywhere, Russians and Ukrainians. There was so much damage to the city.
We saw that people had been buried in their basements."
'Last bridge'
Elsewhere, Russian forces have been inching
closer to the capital Kyiv in an assault that has become ever-more
indiscriminate — and deadly.
At Bilogordoka on the outskirts of
Kyiv,
Ukrainian troops have planted explosives on what they say is the last intact
bridge standing in the way of Russian forces advancing down the western flank
of the capital.
"This is the last bridge, we're
defending it and not letting them break through to Kyiv," said a fighter
who gave his name as "Casper".
The former paratrooper who joined Ukraine's
volunteer territorial defense said his team will blow up the bridge if the
Russians advance and "make sure to sink as many enemy tanks as we can
while we do it."
Dozens of civilians have been killed in
Chernihiv. Those remaining live in craters or among ruins.
"There were corpses all over the
ground," a man who gave his name only as Sergei told AFP, as air raid
sirens wailed. "They were queuing here for the pharmacy that's just there,
and they're all dead."
AFP reporters saw scenes of devastation —
despite Moscow's insistence it is not targeting civilian areas.
Rejecting Moscow's denials, US Secretary of
State
Antony Blinken told CNN that "we've seen very credible reports of
deliberate attacks on civilians, which would constitute a war
crime".
Airport destroyed
Ukraine's President
Volodymyr Zelensky
warned that the Russians were turning their eyes to the west to the historic
port city of Odessa, which has so far been largely spared from shelling.
"Russians have always come to Odessa.
They have always felt only warmth in Odessa. Only sincerity. And now what?
Bombs against Odessa? Artillery against Odessa? Missiles against Odessa?"
raged Zelensky.
"This is going to be a military crime.
This is going to be a historical crime."
Kyiv has urged the West to boost its
military assistance, with Zelensky pleading for
Eastern European neighbors to
provide Russian-made planes that his pilots are trained to fly.
A barrage of Russian missiles destroyed an
airport in central Ukraine's Vinnytsia, said Zelensky, underscoring his appeal
for help.
Blinken said Washington was "working
actively" on a deal with Poland to supply Ukraine with jets.
Several
US media earlier reported Washington
is working on a deal in which Poland would send Soviet-era aircraft to Ukraine
in return for US F-16 fighter jets.
Weapons, ammunition, and funds have poured
into Ukraine from Western allies as they seek to bolster Kyiv against Moscow's
invasion.
Washington last week authorized $350 million
of military equipment — the largest such package in US history.
Tens of thousands of people have
demonstrated this weekend across the West in cities from London to Barcelona to
New York in support of Ukraine, demanding an end to Russia's invasion.
Diplomatic bid
Frantic diplomatic talks continued, with
Zelensky saying on Sunday he spoke by telephone with US President
Joe Biden to
discuss further financial support and sanctions against Russia.
Macron and Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan became the latest to speak with Putin in separate phone calls on
Sunday.
Erdogan urged his Russian counterpart to
agree to "an urgent general ceasefire".
A day earlier, Israeli Prime Minister
Naftali Bennett visited the Kremlin for three hours of talks.
Kyiv had asked Israel — which has strong
relations with both Russia and Ukraine — to launch a dialogue with Moscow.
"Even if the chance is not great — as
soon as there is even a small opening, and we have access to all sides and the
capability — I see this as our moral obligation to make every effort,"
Bennett said Sunday
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