A woman carried by Ukrainian soldiers crosses an improvised path while fleeing the town of Irpin
(Picture: AP)Russian forces have reportedly stepped up their shelling of Ukrainian cities including Kharkiv and Kyiv’s suburbs as the UK’s ambassador to Ukraine accused Vladimir Putin of carrying out an increasingly “callous” and “deliberate” assault on civilians.
Chernihiv in the north and Mykolaiv to south also came under heavy shelling, according to an adviser to Ukraine’s president.
As Russia’s war on its neighbour entered a 12th day, UK Ambassador to Ukraine Melinda Simmons tweeted: “The Russian invasion of #Ukraine is more and more a callous, calculated, deliberate assault on civilians.”
Ukraine officials earlier described a “catastrophic” situation during failed evacuation efforts in Kyiv’s suburbs.
On the outskirts of the capital, a roller suitcase sat upright next to dead bodies. A Russian rocket attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, left a car collapsed, a pile of rubble and another man dead. Ukrainian officials said the shelling only worsened as darkness fell.
The Russian invasion of #Ukraine is more and more a callous, calculated, deliberate assault on civilians.
— Melinda Simmons (@MelSimmonsFCDO) March 7, 2022
Kharkiv officials said the shelling damaged the television tower and heavy artillery was hitting residential areas.
In Chernihiv officials said all regions of the city were coming under missile attack.
Officials from both sides were planning a third round of talks on Monday, as Ukraine’s presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovich described a “catastrophic” situation in the Kyiv suburbs of Bucha, Hostomel and Irpin, where efforts to evacuate residents on Sunday failed. He said the government was doing all it could to resume evacuations.
Evacuations also failed in Mariupol in the south and Volnovakha in the east because of the shelling.
Russia’s defence ministry said the Russian military would hold fire and open humanitarian corridors in several Ukrainian cities including the capital Kyiv at 10am Moscow time (7am GMT) on Monday, the Interfax news agency reported. The corridors, which it said would also be opened from Kharkiv, Mariupol and Sumy, were reportedly being set up at the personal request of French President Emmanuel Macron.
As Russian forces increased their shelling of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed to the West to strengthen sanctions.
In a video statement on Sunday evening, Mr Zelensky said there would be a “day of judgement”.
“We will not forgive the destroyed houses. We will not forgive the missile that our air defence shot down over Okhmatdyt today. And more than five hundred other such missiles that hit our land in Ukraine, our people, our children,” he said.
“We will not forgive the shooting of unarmed people. Destruction of our infrastructure. We will not forgive. Hundreds and hundreds of victims. Thousands and thousands suffering. And God will not forgive. Not today. Not tomorrow. Never. And instead of forgiveness, there will be a day of judgement.”
The president heaped criticism on Western leaders for not responding to the Russian Defence Ministry’s announcement that it would strike Ukraine’s military-industrial complex, while telling employees of these defense plants not to go to work.
“I didn’t hear even a single world leader react to this,” Mr Zelensky said. “The audacity of the aggressor is a clear signal to the West that the sanctions imposed on Russia are not sufficient.”
Mr Zelensky called for organising a “tribunal” to bring to justice those who order and carry out such crimes.
“Think about the sense of impunity of the occupiers that they can announce such planned atrocities,” he said.
The Russian Defence Ministry announced on Sunday that its forces intend to strike Ukraine’s military-industrial complex with what it said were precision weapons.
“We urge all personnel of Ukrainian defence industry plants. to leave the territory of their enterprises,” ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement carried by the state news agency Tass.
Fighting has caused 1.5 million people to flee the country, which the head of the UN refugee agency called “the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.”
