LVIV/KYIV: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday his campaign in Ukraine was going to plan and would not end until Kyiv stopped fighting, as efforts to evacuate 200,000 people from the heavily bombarded city of Mariupol fell apart for a second day in a row.
Most people trapped in the port city are sleeping in bomb shelters to escape more than six days of near-constant shelling by encircling Russian forces that has cut off food, water, power and heating supplies, according to the Ukrainian authorities.
The civilian death toll from hostilities across Ukraine since Moscow launched its campaign on February 24 stood at 364, including more than 20 children, according to the United Nations on Sunday, with hundreds more injured.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said most civilian casualties were caused by the use of “explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multi-launch rocket systems, and missile and air strikes.”
Moscow has repeatedly denied attacking civilian areas.
In Irpin, a town some 25 km northwest of the capital Kyiv, men, women and children trying to escape armed clashes in the area were forced to take cover when missiles struck nearby, according to Reuters witnesses.
Soldiers and fellow residents helped the elderly hurry to a bus filled with frightened people, some cowering as they waited to be driven to safety.
The campaign has drawn almost universal condemnation around the world, sent more than 1.5 million Ukrainians fleeing from the country, and triggered tough Western sanctions against Russia aimed at squeezing its economy.
Putin made his demand for Kyiv to end the fighting in a phone call with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who appealed for a ceasefire. Putin told Erdogan he was ready for dialogue with Ukraine and foreign partners but any attempt to draw out negotiation would fail, a Kremlin statement said.
Russian media said Putin also held almost two hours of talks on Sunday with French President Emmanuel Macron, who has stayed in regular contact.
Anti-war protests took place around the world on Sunday including in Russia itself, where police detained around 3,500 demonstrators. Tass news agency reported the interior ministry as saying arrests included 1,700 people in Moscow and 750 in St Petersburg.
Demonstrations were also taking place in Western capitals as well as in India and Kazakhstan, after jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny called for worldwide protests against the war.
In the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol, authorities had said on Sunday they would make a second attempt to evacuate some of the 400,000 residents. But the ceasefire plan collapsed, as it had on Saturday, with each side blaming the other for the failure.
“The failed attempts yesterday and today underscore the absence of a detailed and functioning agreement between the parties to the conflict,” the International Committee of the Red Cross said, adding 200,000 people had been due to quit the city. SEE ALSO P7
