Russia has announced a ceasefire to open humanitarian corridors

LAST UPDATE 23:21

Moscow announced tonight a ceasefire in specific areas in Ukraine from Tuesday 09:00 Greek and Ukrainian time for the opening of humanitarian corridors, the French Agency reported.

The talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations ended after about four hours, according to an emergency bulletin of the Russian agency TASS, at a time when Vladimir Putin’s forces are tightening the noose on the major cities of the Ukrainian territory and as more and more people leave. cities and villages.

In a videotaped message, Pontoliak said “little progress” had been made in today’s talks on the logistical infrastructure for the evacuation of civilians. However, there was no agreement that would significantly improve the wider situation.

However, Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said it was still too early to talk about anything positive after the third round of talks. Leonid Slutsky, for his part, said that there should be no illusion that the next step (of negotiations) would bring a final result. “The next, fourth, round will take place in Belarus in the very, very near future,” Slutsky told Russian state television. “I will not name the exact date. It will be determined, maybe tomorrow.” “We hope that the next efforts to create humanitarian corridors will be undertaken soon,” Slutsky added.

Humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians from Ukrainian cities have not yet been put into operation, said today the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Irena Verestsuk. Verestsuk said there were almost 300,000 civilians in urgent need to leave Mariupol, which is under attack by Russian forces. UN representatives took part in the talks, he said.

The human toll from the invasion of Ukraine continues to rise as Russian forces intensify their bombing of civilian areas and infrastructure over the weekend.

As conditions worsened in some key Ukrainian cities, the United Nations said more than 1.5 million people had fled the country so far.

Long-range Russian bombings on Ukrainian targets are increasing the number of civilians killed and damage to civilian infrastructure, the Pentagon said today, without saying civilian casualties were intentional. “More civilians are being killed and injured … and Putin still has a choice,” said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, who called on the Russian president to stop invading Ukraine. He also said that the Pentagon did not expect Russian forces to make significant progress in northern and northeastern Ukraine in recent days.

The latest events

The capital was bombed: Heavy fighting broke out early Monday in a wide area from the north to the west of Kiev, according to Ukrainian officials and reliable information on social media. Russian forces appear to have launched an offensive in several areas to push for the Ukrainian capital. The video, spotted by CNN on Monday, shows Russian tanks taking up positions in a densely populated area just west of Kiev.

On the outskirts of Kiev, in the suburb of Irpin, Russian bombing continues, but authorities say 2,000 people managed to escape via a makeshift bridge.

Also near the capital, Gostomel, the village council says Mayor Yuri Prilipko was shot and killed while distributing bread and medicine. Gostomel Strategic Airport is nearby.

The attack in the south continues: Russian troops continued to attack the strategic port city of Nikolaev on Monday morning, with officials warning residents to stay in their shelters. The warning for the attack came hours after Nikolaev Mayor Oleg Senkevich said the city had been hit by Russian missiles in the early hours of the morning. CNN reported Sunday that pieces of cluster munitions had landed near civilian areas, and an official at Nikolaev Hospital told CNN that one person was killed and three were injured in the bombings. Russian tanks fired on Ukraine’s main airport in Nikolaev on Monday, which Ukrainian forces had earlier recaptured from Russian forces, Governor Vitaly Kim said in an online post. Eight Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 19 wounded today in a Russian airstrike that struck their barracks while they were sleeping, local governor Vitaly Kim said tonight.

Russia plans to “encircle” Dnipro: Russia is increasing its resources to “encircle” the city of Dnipro in central Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, said in a Facebook post on Sunday.

“The command of the Russian occupying forces is turning its focus to the south, trying to deprive Ukraine of access to the Black and Azov Seas, which, in their opinion, will create conditions for economic repression of the Ukrainian Resistance,” he said. .

“The enemy does not give up its hopes of occupying Kyiv and increases its resources to encircle Dnipro,” he said, adding that Russia’s plan was to “encircle major cities, eliminate the Ukrainian Armed Forces and create a state of emergency.” humanitarian catastrophe for civilians “.

City under siege: Fears of civilians trapped in the besieged cities of southern Ukraine, Mariupol and Volnovacha are growing as Russian forces continue to attack. A man who escaped from Volnovacha two days ago told CNN about conditions in parts of the city, where he spent days hiding in a basement. “People have been there for 11 days. Some have gone out, but about 450 are still there,” he told CNN, adding that he has had no contact with people since he left and is still there as far as he knows.

Almost all of Russia’s proposed routes out of Ukraine go to Russia or Belarus: Ukraine has criticized Russia’s unilateral announcement of evacuation routes for civilians trying to escape the conflict. Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Irina Veresyuk called the Russian proposal unacceptable, especially since all but one of the corridors lead to Russia or its close ally Belarus. Meanwhile, an official from a humanitarian organization described the announcement as “cynical as well as impractical, without any preparation”.

Report of dead civilians: More than 360 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, the UN said in a statement on Sunday. So far, 1,123 civilians have been injured, of whom 364 have been killed and 759 injured, the statement said, while acknowledging that the actual numbers are likely to be “significantly higher”. CNN cannot independently verify victim numbers.

The EU expects 5 million refugees: The European Union “must prepare for five million” refugees from Ukraine, EU High Representative Josep Borrell said on Monday. More than 1.5 million people have already fled Ukraine to neighboring countries, UNHCR Commissioner Filippo Grady said on Sunday, describing the situation as “the fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II”.

Military force: Russia has fired a total of 600 missiles since launching an invasion of Ukraine, a senior US defense official has said.

The Russian president has now deployed in Ukraine almost 100% of the more than 150,000 troops he had prepared abroad before the invasion, according to a new US Department of Defense official statement: “This is our best estimate at the moment. “, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

NATO sends missiles: The United States and other NATO members have so far sent 17,000 anti-tank missiles and 2,000 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine, a senior US official told CNN. NATO is also considering a more permanent development in the Baltic, said US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

Russian ship retreats near Odessa, after fire from the Ukrainian side

Ukrainian naval forces defending the Odessa region fired on a Russian ship, the Ukrainian Navy announced today.

“The enemy has retreated again,” he said in a Facebook post.

However, the type of ship that came under Ukrainian fire was not specified.

Ukrainian forces have regained control of the city of Chuhuiv, according to a Ukrainian official.

Ukrainian forces have regained control of the city of Chukhiv in northeastern Ukraine, Arestovich said.

Further details were not immediately available on the situation in the city in the Kharkiv region, where fighting is fierce following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Part of the port of Olvia was hit by a military strike

The Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine announced today that part of the Black Sea port of Olvia, which is leased to the Qatari seaport company QTerminals, was hit by a military “hit”.

No one was injured, the ministry said, without elaborating.

QTerminals, a joint venture between state-owned Qatar Ports Management (Mwani Qatar) and Qatar Navigation (Milaha), has acquired a 35-year concession in 2020 for the development and operation of the port.

Russian Foreign Minister: Arms shipment to Ukraine will lead to “global collapse”

The shipment of foreign weapons to Ukraine will lead to a “global collapse”, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced today, as reported by Reuters, citing the Russian news agency Interfax.

Another Russian news agency, TASS, quoted Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying that the West, by sending mercenaries and military equipment to Ukraine, would cause a new catastrophic development.

Lviv is on its borders

The city of Lviv in western Ukraine has reached the limit of its ability to help refugees displaced by the Russian invasion, its mayor said on Monday.

Hundreds of thousands of displaced people have flocked to Lviv since the invasion began, putting enormous pressure on the city’s resources, which is the only one that is not currently threatened.

Mayor Andriy Santoni said about 200,000 people now live in Lviv and about 50,000 passed through the station every day.

Lviv Central Station has become a reference point for people fleeing places all over Ukraine – especially the heavily bombed cities of Kharkiv, Mariupol and Chernihiv, and the capital Kyiv.