A desperate father carries his dying son into hospital as Ukraine reels from fresh bloodshed, devastation and utter heartache.
The 18-month-old boy named Kirill was fatally wounded as Russia shelled the southern city of Mariupol – where thousands were targeted during a supposed ceasefire today.
Doctors couldn’t save Kirill – one of the youngest victims of Russian President Vladimir Putin ’s cruel war.
Devastated mother Marina Yatsko and her boyfriend Fedor wept as they cradled their son’s lifeless body.
Hours later, thousands of their fellow citizens came under fire after gathering at agreed evacuation points.
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A seven-hour ceasefire was agreed to allow up to 200,000 to flee along a so-called humanitarian corridor.
But the exodus plunged into chaos as Russian forces bombed meeting points and the route to safety, officials said. The evacuation was called off after three hours and thousands returned to bunkers without heat, electricity and, in some cases, water.
In other developments on the 10th day of the bloody conflict:
- Russia’s onslaught on capital Kyiv and other cities continued.
- Heartbreaking reports emerged of new mums and babies cowering in a hospital basement in Odesa as air raid sirens wailed.
- Putin warned a NATO no-fly zone would be considered a hostile act and sanctions, including those imposed by the UK, were “akin to an act of war”.
- Israeli PM Naftali Bennett met Putin for three hours at the Kremlin and new talks between Russia and Ukraine were declared for Sunday.
In Mariupol, locals abandoned their cars to scramble back to hideaways when it became apparent the bombardment was not going to stop.
Some were relying on melting snow for water, said the charity Médecins Sans Frontières.
Mariupol, a port city of 400,000 people, has endured indiscriminate shelling as Moscow attempts to link separatist forces in eastern Ukraine with troops in Crimea.
Serhiy Orlov, deputy mayor of Mariupol, said the ceasefire lasted barely 30 minutes.
He accused Putin of genocide and said: “The Russians are continuing to bomb us and use artillery. There is no ceasefire in Mariupol and no ceasefire all along the escape route. Civilians are ready to escape but they cannot. It is crazy.”
Another official said: “When the people organised in evacuation points, they started attack on evacuation points. Not all the city. Just evacuation points.”
The Ukrainian parliament said it had been forced to suspend the evacuation “for security reasons” amid reports that Russian troops were using the ceasefire to make advances.
A second humanitarian corridor came under fire in the eastern city of Volnovakha, where 15,000 had hoped to flee. Just 400 managed to get out.
The International Committee of the Red Cross, which was due to oversee the evacuations, called the chaos “heartbreaking”.
Russia’s defence ministry blamed Ukrainian “nationalists” for thwarting the humanitarian corridors.
Capital city Kyiv remained under renewed bombardment today.
The cities of Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Sumy were tonight encircled – though Ukrainian fighters continue to keep hold of them.
There was more resistance in the southern city of Mykolaiv, where locals said Russian forces had been pushed back.
Regional governor Vitaliy Kim declared Putin’s troops were “destroyed and kicked out of the city”.
Armed local police posed with four soldiers captured at a checkpoint.
Thousands of women and children, many weeping and numb with exhaustion, arrived in Lviv, in the west, desperate to catch trains and buses out of the country.
Hundreds lined up in flurries of snow on the station forecourt, warming themselves on oil-drum braziers or lining up for hot food and drinks served by volunteers.
Anna Filatova, who arrived from Kharkiv with daughters Margarita, 18, and Lilly, four, said: “The Russians want to flatten Kharkiv. It was impossible to stay there any more.
“The Russians thought Kharkiv would welcome them. But we hate them. We hate Putin.”
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky today again called on NATO to impose a no-fly zone – which the West has ruled out for fear of triggering all-out war with Russia. Mr Zelensky warned that “all the people who die from this day forward will also die because of you”.
Ukrainians fleeing into central Europe also pleaded for Western nations to take tougher steps following an invasion that has already created 1.3 million refugees.
At the Medyka crossing in Poland, Solomiya Zdryko, 18, begged: “Please close the sky. People are dying.”
But Putin – who today made a public appearance marking Tuesday’s International Women’s Day – warned Moscow would consider the move “participation in the armed conflict”.
Of Western opposition, he said: “These sanctions being imposed are akin to a declaration of war, but thank God it has not come to that.”
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova went a step further, warning London: “Russia will not forget Britain’s desire to co-operate with ultra-nationalist forces in Ukraine and the supply of British weapons to the Kiev regime.
“The sanctions hysteria in which London plays one of the leading, if not the main, roles, leaves us no choice but to take proportionately tough retaliatory measures. London has made a final choice of open confrontation with Russia.”
Putin also claimed “everything was going to plan”, vowing forces would complete their “special military operation”.
Ukrainians in the UK, meanwhile, remain terrified for their folk back home. Mychajlo Barsky, 62, from Coventry, has family in the city of Ternopil, in the west of the country.
He shed a tear as he said: “We are dealing with evil. Everyone is scared but we are prepared to fight it out.
“There is a real determination in the nation that we cannot let Putin win. We will fight our corner – as we always have.” His musician son Danylo, 31, added: “Even if Russia wins the battle, they will not win the war. We will never accept a pro-Putin president. We do not want that.”
