On Monday, Moscow announced that residents of Ukraine’s two largest cities will be able to evacuate through corridors to Russia and Belarus, a move Ukraine described as an immoral act designed to weaponize civilian suffering under Russian assault.
Both sides started the third round of discussions that would take place on Monday in an undisclosed location in Belarus. The last two rounds achieved little more than promises to provide humanitarian access routes that have yet to be realized.
After two days of failed ceasefires to allow civilians to flee the besieged city of Mariupol, where hundreds of thousands are trapped without food or water and are subjected to unrelenting shelling, Russia announced “humanitarian corridors.”
The route from Kyiv would lead to Russia’s ally Belarus, according to maps published by the RIA news agency, while citizens from Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, would be sent to Russia.
“Attempts by the Ukrainian side to fool Russia and the rest of the civilized world are futile at this moment,” the ministry added.
Russia was attempting to “exploit people’s pain to create a television picture,” according to a spokesperson for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who termed the move “absolutely reprehensible.”
“They are Ukrainian nationals, and they should have the right to flee to the Ukrainian land,” the spokeswoman told reporters.
Russia’s invasion has been widely denounced around the world, resulting in the exodus of more than 1.5 million Ukrainians and the imposition of broad sanctions that have effectively isolated Russia to a degree never before seen by such a huge economy.
On Monday, global stock markets plummeted as Washington warned it was considering expanding sanctions to include Russia’s energy exports, which had previously been exempt from trade restrictions.
Russia is the world’s largest oil and gas exporter. On Monday, Brent crude prices soared beyond $139 a barrel, the closest they’ve been to the all-time high of $147 in 14 years. According to investment banks, if Russian supply dries up this year, prices might rise above $200, wreaking havoc on the world economy.
Russia and Ukraine are also major exporters of grain, edible oils, and industrial metals around the world. The battle has the potential to drive up global food costs and make the recovery of sectors from the pandemic catastrophe more difficult.
Russia denies striking civilians on purpose. It calls the campaign, which began on February 24, a “special military operation” aimed at disarming Ukraine and removing neo-Nazi leaders. This, according to Ukraine and its Western supporters, is a blatant justification for an attack to seize a 44-million-strong nation.
After days of modest progress in their main thrust south from Belarus, the general command of Ukraine’s armed forces said Russian forces were “starting to accumulate resources for the storming of Kyiv,” a city of more than 3 million people.
‘ON THIS EARTH, THERE IS NO PEACEFUL PLACE.’
2,000 citizens have been evacuated from Irpin, a Kyiv suburb under intense shelling, according to Ukraine. Residents running for their life, carrying small children, pets, and bags of things, were seen by reporters in the town on Sunday. As explosions erupted in the town and flames shot into the sky, families scurried for cover. They were carried aboard buses by Ukrainian forces, who were panting from tiredness and astonishment.
“For you, there will be no quiet haven on this earth, except the grave,” Zelensky said in a speech to the country late Sunday, describing one family killed there as they attempted to flee.
On Monday, Ukraine announced that its forces had retaken control of the vital Mykolayiv airport in the south and the northeastern town of Chuhuiv, which had been the scene of severe battle for days. It was impossible to verify either assertion right away.
The United Nations has appealed for safe passage for those in Ukraine who have been shut off from life-saving aid. It reported one psychiatric institution 60 kilometers (37.3 miles) from Kyiv that had run out of water and medicine, trapping 670 people inside, including immobile patients with acute requirements.
Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesperson, told reporters on Monday that if Ukraine stopped fighting, changed its constitution to declare neutrality, and recognized Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the independence of regions held by Russian-backed separatists, Moscow would suspend operations.
While Russia’s assault on Kyiv has been halted in the north for days due to an armored column running for kilometers down a highway, it has made more progress in the south, advancing east and west along the Black and Azov Sea beaches.
Residents in Mariupol’s harbor are sleeping underground to avoid a week of Russian shelling that has cut off food, water, power, and heat.
On Sunday, around half of the people were supposed to be evacuated, but the plan was postponed for a second day as a ceasefire broke down, with both sides blaming each other for shooting and shelling.
Moscow has recognized around 500 military casualties, but Western countries claim the genuine figure is significantly higher, and Ukraine claims it is in the tens of thousands. Although death figures are unknown, imagery from throughout Ukraine shows Russian armored columns in smoldering ruins and Ukrainian cities reduced to ashes by Russian strikes.
The authorities in Russia have enforced a near-total ban on non-official information. Last week, the last major independent broadcasters of the post-Soviet era were shuttered, and a new rule threatens severe prison terms for news that the authorities consider being critical of the military. Reporting from Russia has been halted by a number of international news organizations.
