The latest updates as of 9:18 p.m. EST Saturday
- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday called for negotiations to resolve the Ukraine-Russia crisis. Wang also told U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken that China is against all moves that “add fuel to the flames” in Ukraine.
- Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with Putin at the Kremlin on Saturday to discuss the crisis before then speaking to Zelenskyy. Israel has offered to mediate in the conflict.
- Russia has dropped powerful bombs on residential areas of the city of Chernihiv, a regional official said Saturday.
- Mastercard and Visa have suspended operations in Russia over the war in Ukraine.
- Canada has urged citizens to avoid all travel to Russia.
A partial ceasefire to allow civilians to leave two Ukrainian cities has collapsed hours after it was announced Saturday, as Ukraine and Russia traded blamed for the failed attempt at ensuring humanitarian corridors.
Russia’s defence ministry had approved the ceasefire to let civilians exit Mariupol and Volnovakha, according to Russian state media. Both cities have suffered heavy casualties during the deadly invasion that has now entered its 10th day.
“The Russian side is not holding to the ceasefire and has continued firing on Mariupol itself and on its surrounding area,” said Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office.
“Talks with the Russian Federation are ongoing regarding setting up a ceasefire and ensuring a safe humanitarian corridor.”
Russia breached the deal in Volnovakha as well, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk told reporters. “We appeal to the Russian side to stop firing,” she said.
Meanwhile, Russian outlet RIA Novosti carried a Russian defense ministry claim that the firing came from inside both cities against Russian positions.
Russia’s defence ministry accused Ukrainian “nationalists” of preventing civilians from leaving, RIA news agency reported.
The ceasefire was set to take effect at 9 a.m. Kyiv time, the ministry was quoted as saying.
Earlier, Mykhailo Podoliak, an advisor to the Ukrainian president, confirmed the two cities were preparing for evacuations shortly after the ministry’s announcement.
The defence ministry’s vaguely worded statement did not say how long the corridors would remain open. But Mariupol officials later said evacuations would be allowed for five hours, starting two hours after the ceasefire took effect.
A post on the city government’s Telegram page said further evacuations will be allowed by private transport for the days immediately following Saturday’s ceasefire.
In comments carried on Ukrainian television, Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko said thousands of people had gathered for safe passage out of the city and buses were departing when shelling began.
“We value the life of every inhabitant of Mariupol and we cannot risk it, so we stopped the evacuation,” he said.
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Boychenko said that thousands of children, women and the elderly came under fire as they arrived in the morning for a possible evacuation through a safe passage corridor. Russia promised to stop the shelling of Mariupol, a port city of 430,000, and Volnovakha, a city in the east, but violated the cease-fire.
Russia has also dropped powerful bombs on residential areas of the city of Chernihiv, a regional official said Saturday. The city is located north of Kyiv and has a population of 290,000.
Vyacheslav Chaus posted a photo of what he said was an undetonated FAB-500, a Soviet-designed 500-kilogram (1,100-pound) air-dropped bomb.
“Usually this weapon is used against military-industrial facilities and fortified structures,” said Chaus. “But in Chernihiv, against residential areas.”
Officials said 17 people in the region were killed in shelling.
Russia has made significant advances in the south, clearly seeking to cut off Ukraine’s access to the sea. Capturing Mariupol, which has been fending off the attack for six days, could allow Russia to build a land corridor to Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.
Ukraine’s defence ministry on Friday evening quoted a statement from Podoliak who said a “working group” had been set up with representatives of Ukraine and Russia to evacuate people from affected areas.
The International Red Cross was acting as a mediator between the two sides, according to Podoliak.
Humanitarian crisis
Mariupol, a strategic port city in southeastern Ukraine, and the eastern town of Volnovakha have both been surrounded by Russian troops and have suffered heavy shelling, killing dozens of citizens, Ukrainian officials say.
In Mariupol, Boychenko said there is no water, heat or electricity and food is running out.
He said Saturday evening that Russian forces have intensified shelling in the port city.
“The city is in a very, very difficult state of siege,” Boychenko told Ukrainian TV. “Relentless shelling of residential blocks is ongoing, airplanes have been dropping bombs on residential areas.”
The head of Ukraine’s security council, Oleksiy Danilov, had called on Russia to create humanitarian corridors to allow children, women and the elderly to escape the fighting, calling such corridors “question No. 1.”
The corridors were discussed during the second round of ceasefire talks held on Thursday between Ukraine and Russia. The Ukrainian side had made the issue a key demand heading into the negotiations.
In addition to civilian evacuations, the corridors were supposed to allow food and medicine to be delivered to the wounded as well as military troops, medical workers and government officials who remain behind.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with Putin in the Kremlin on Saturday to discuss the Ukraine crisis, then spoke with Zelenskiy by phone. Israel, home to a substantial population of Russian immigrants, has offered to mediate in the conflict.
Russian media, quoting the defence ministry, said its forces are continuing a “broad offensive” across Ukraine.
The country’s largest cities, Kyiv and Kharkiv, remain under heavy bombardment, with the capital under particular threat as Russian forces seek to depose the democratic government.
Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces were holding key cities in the central and southeastern part of the country Saturday.
He alleged that 10,000 Russian troops were killed in the 10 days of the war, a claim that could not be independently verified.
During a call with U.S. senators on Saturday, Zelenskyy said a third nuclear power plant was under threat in Ukraine after Russian troops seized Zaporizhzhia and Chernobyl.
Zelenskyy said Russian forces are advancing toward the Yuzhnoukrainsk nuclear power plant, located 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of Mykolaiv.
Zelenskyy also indicated on the call that he is on board with banning Russian oil to the U.S., telling U.S. senators it would be very helpful, according to two people granted anonymity to discuss the private call. The idea is gaining support in U.S. Congress.
Zelenskyy made a “desperate plea” to the senators for more planes, according to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
The United Nations says 1.3 million refugees have fled Ukraine for neighbouring countries, creating one of the largest refugee crises in Europe since the Second World War. The number could rise to 1.5 million by the end of the weekend, the U.N. said.
More than 840 children have been wounded in the war, and 28 have been killed, according to Ukraine’s government. A total of 351 civilians had been confirmed killed and another 707 wounded, but the true number is probably much higher, the UN human rights office said.
In a bitter and emotional speech late Friday, Zelenskyy criticized NATO over the lack of a no-fly zone, saying it will fully untie Russia’s hands as it escalates its air attack.
“The alliance has given the green light to the bombing of Ukrainian cities and villages,” he said, warning that “the history of Europe will remember this forever.”
Western pressure
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg earlier in the day ruled out the possibility of a no-fly zone, saying NATO planes would have to shoot down Russian aircraft.
In a separate video message to antiwar protesters in several European cities, Zelenskyy continued to appeal for help. “If we fall, you will fall,” he said.
Canada, the U.S. and other Western countries have slapped Russia with a series of wide-ranging economic sanctions in response to the Kremlin’s invasion of its neighbour. They have also banned all Russian aircraft from using their airspace.
On Saturday, Aeroflot, Russia’s flagship carrier and largest airline, said starting Tuesday it will halt all international flights except to Belarus.
The announcement came after Russia’s aviation agency, Rosaviatsiya, recommended that all Russian airlines with foreign-leased planes suspend both passenger and cargo flights abroad. The agency cited a high risk of planes being impounded as part of Western sanctions that ban leasing of planes to Russia.
The International Monetary Fund said in a statement that the war and sanctions will have a “severe impact” on the global economy, with world energy and grain prices driving higher.
Putin likened the Western sanctions to “a declaration of war” and warned that any attempt to impose a no-fly zone in Ukraine would be tantamount to entering the conflict and would lead to catastrophic consequences for the world.
“These sanctions that are being imposed are akin to a declaration of war but thank God it has not come to that,” Putin said Saturday, speaking to a group of women flight attendants at an Aeroflot training center near Moscow.
He also warned that Ukraine’s statehood is in jeopardy in the same speech.
Putin said that if Ukraine’s leaders “continue to do what they are doing, they are calling into question the future of Ukrainian statehood.”
“If this happens, it will be entirely on their conscience,” he added.
Both Canada and the U.S. now advise for citizens not to travel to Russia and urged those residing or traveling to depart the country immediately while “means are still available,” Canada’s advisory read.
Canada notes that sanctions and “Russian retaliation” may have an impact on the availability of essential services and “flight availability is becoming extremely limited.”
Both Visa and Mastercard announced Saturday that they are suspending their operations in Russia.
Ceasefire talks
Diplomatic efforts to end the conflict are ongoing with two rounds of talks held between officials from both sides since the war started on Feb. 24.
A third round of negotiations is set to take place on Monday, Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia said in a Facebook post on Saturday, without providing further details.
However, the Russian side was less definitive about the timing of the next round.
“The third round really could take place in the coming days, it’s possible it will be on Monday,” Russian negotiator Leonid Slutsky was quoted as saying by the Russian news agency Interfax.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow was ready for a third round, but added that Zelenskyy’s attempt to secure direct NATO help in the conflict was not helping the negotiations.
Earlier on Saturday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he was open to talks with Lavrov, but only if they were “meaningful.”
— with files from the Associated Press and Reuters
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