Russian forces will observe a temporary ceasefire in two Ukrainian cities on Sunday, a Russian official has said.
Eduard Basurin, the head of the military in separatist-held Donetsk territory, said safe passage corridors for residents of the besieged port city of Mariupol and the city of Volnovakha will reopen – though he did not say for how long.
Ukrainian officials said evacuations from Mariupol will take place from 12pm local time on Sunday and it is anticipated the corridor will remain open for most of the day.
It comes a day after an agreement to allow civilians to safely evacuate Mariupol on Saturday collapsed within hours amid continued shelling. Ukrainian officials said the evacuation was aborted because the city remained under attack.
By night-time on Saturday, Russian forces had intensified their shelling of Mariupol, while dropping powerful bombs on residential areas of Chernihiv, a city north of Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed Ukraine for the failure of the ceasefire and warned that the country’s ongoing resistance since Russia invaded on February 24 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 on Saturday. “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.
Mariupol mayor Vadym Boychenko said thousands of residents had gathered for safe passage out of the city of 430,000 on Saturday when shelling began and the evacuation was stopped. Later in the day, he said the attack had escalated further.
“The city is in a very, very difficult state of siege,” he told Ukrainian TV. “Relentless shelling of residential blocks is ongoing, airplanes have been dropping bombs on residential areas. The Russian occupants are using heavy artillery, including Grad multiple rocket launchers.”
Russia has made significant advances in the south, seeking to cut off Ukraine’s access to the sea. Capturing Mariupol could allow Russia to establish a land corridor to Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.
In a speech to Ukrainians, President Volodymyr Zelensky pointed to “the 500-kilogram bombs that were dropped on the houses of Ukrainians”.
He added: “Look at Borodyanka, at the destroyed schools, at the blown-up kindergartens. At the damaged Kharkiv Assumption Cathedral. Look what Russia has done.”
The West has broadly backed Ukraine, offering aid and weapons and slapping Russia with vast sanctions. But the fight itself has been left to Ukrainians, who have expressed a mixture of courageous resolve and despondency.
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.
In Moscow, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with Mr Putin at the Kremlin. Israel maintains good relations with both Russia and Ukraine, and Mr Bennett has offered to act as an intermediary in the conflict.
Mr Bennett’s office said he spoke twice with Mr Zelensky afterwards, but no details were given.
