Ukrainians race to flee besieged cities during limited Russian ceasefire

Ukrainian authorities are making a second attempt to evacuate civilians from a southern city pounded by a week-long Russian attack, as economic pressure on Moscow intensified and diplomats shuttled around Europe to try and end the war.

Evacuations from the port city of Mariupol were scheduled to take place during a 10am to 9pm local ceasefire on Sunday, Ukrainian military authorities said.

But a similar ceasefire planned in the city and in Volnovakha nearby collapsed within hours on Saturday, trapping women, children and older men under more shelling and aerial bombardment by Russian forces.

The revived ceasefire announcement came after Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and a Russian-speaking member of his Cabinet travelled to Moscow and spoke with Ukraine’s president in hopes of brokering a broader deal to stop the fighting, now in its 11th day.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spent the weekend visiting Nato member nations in eastern Europe that have seen 1.5 million refugees stream across their borders since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.

The head of the UN Refugee Agency called the exodus “the fastest-growing refugee crisis since World War II”.

Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelensky reiterated a request for foreign protectors to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had warned on Saturday that Moscow would consider a third-party declaration to close Ukrainian airspace to be a hostile act, and the West so far has rebuffed Mr Zelensky’s pleas, fearing a confrontation with Russia.

But in a video address on Sunday, Mr Zelensky repeated the call: “The world is strong enough to close our skies.”

Mr Putin also blamed Ukraine for the failure of the ceasefire on Saturday and warned that the country’s ongoing resistance since Russia invaded is putting the country’s future as a nation in jeopardy.

“If they continue to do what they are doing, they are calling into question the future of Ukrainian statehood,” he said. “And if this happens, it will be entirely on their conscience.”

He also hit out at Western sanctions that have crippled Russia’s economy and sent the value of its currency tumbling.

“These sanctions that are being imposed, they are akin to declaring war. But thank God, we haven’t got there yet.”

Russia’s financial system suffered yet another blow late on Saturday as Mastercard and Visa announced they were suspending operations in the country.

A third round of talks between Russia and Ukraine will take place Monday, according to Davyd Arakhamia, a member of the Ukrainian delegation. He gave no additional details, including where they would take place.

Previous meetings were held in Belarus and led to the failed ceasefire agreement to create humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of children, women and older people from besieged cities, where pharmacies have run bare, hundreds of thousands face food and water shortages, and the injured have been succumbing to their wounds.

On Sunday, the World Health Organisation condemned attacks on health workers in Ukraine, saying it had verified at least six such attacks that have killed six people and injured 11 others.

Attacks on health workers are a violation of international humanitarian law, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Twitter.

The overall death toll of the conflict is difficult to measure. The UN human rights office said at least 351 civilians have been confirmed killed, but the true number is probably much higher.

Russian and Ukrainian defence officials have not provided information on their military causalities.

Ukraine’s military is vastly outmatched by Russia’s, but its professional and volunteer forces have fought back with fierce tenacity. In Kyiv, volunteers have again been lining up to join the military.

Even in cities that have fallen, there are signs of the resistance Mr Zelensky has requested.

Onlookers in Chernihiv cheered as they watched a Russian military plane fall from the sky and crash, according to a video released by the Ukrainian Government. In Kherson, hundreds of protesters waved blue and yellow Ukrainian flags and shouted: “Go home.”

US President Joe Biden called Mr Zelensky early Sunday, Kyiv time, to discuss sanctions on Russia and speeding up US assistance to Ukraine. The White House said the conversation also covered talks between Russia and Ukraine but did not give details.