Kyiv (AFP) - A fresh attempt by Ukraine's besieged port city of Mariupol to evacuate its civilians failed again Sunday as Moscow and Kyiv traded blame for ceasefire breaches for a second consecutive day.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine, now into an eleventh day, has seen more than 1.5 million people flee the country, in what the UN has called "Europe's fastest growing refugee crisis since World War II".
Pope Francis on Sunday deplored the "rivers of blood and tears" flowing in Ukraine, as Washington cited "very credible reports" that Russia committed war crimes by deliberately attacking civilians.
Hundreds of civilians have been killed and thousands wounded, with hundreds of thousands of mostly women and children pouring into neighbouring countries such as Poland, Romania or Moldova for refuge.
Efforts Saturday to get people out of Mariupol -- one of the most ferocious scenes of war -- collapsed almost immediately with both sides accusing each other of breaching a ceasefire agreement.
A fresh attempt on Sunday again failed with the warring parties heaping recriminations on each other once again.
Vladimir Putin blamed Kyiv for not keeping to "agreements reached on this acute humanitarian issue", the Kremlin said in a read-out of a phonecall between the Russian president and French President Emmanuel Macron.
But the governor of the eastern region Donetsk, Pavlo Kirilenko, said "the column to evacuate the population could not leave Mariupol...because the Russians regrouped their forces and started to bombard the city".
Very few refugees from the strategic city on the Azov Sea made it out on Saturday, but one family -- who did not give their names -- arrived in the central city of Dnipro and recounted their harrowing experience.
"We stayed in the basement for seven days with no heating, electricity or internet and ran out of food and water," one of them said, declining to be named.
"On the road, we saw there were bodies everywhere, Russians and Ukrainians. There was so much damage to the city.We saw that people had been buried in their basements."
'Neutralisation'
Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmygal urged the Group of Seven counties to expel Russia and Belarus from the International Monetary Fund and all World Bank organisations to further isolate Putin.
Western allies have imposed unprecedented sanctions against businesses, banks and billionaires in a bid to choke off the Russian economy and pressure Moscow to halt its assault.
Further punitive action, including a possible ban on Russian oil imports, could be imposed if Putin failed to change course, world leaders warned.
But the Russian leader has equated global sanctions with a declaration of war and has warned that Kyiv is "putting in question the future of Ukrainian statehood".
Russia would reach its aims of "neutralisation" of Ukraine "either through negotiation or through war," Putin told Macron in a phone call Sunday, an Elysee official said.
With fears running high of escalating a conflict with a nuclear power, NATO allies have so far rebuffed Ukraine's calls for a no-fly zone.Putin has threatened "colossal and catastrophic consequences not only for Europe but also the whole world" if a no-fly zone is set up.
In the latest sign that sanctions were biting, Moscow said Sunday that retailers in Russia will restrict sales of essential goods including bread, rice and flour to limit black market speculation.
Payment giants Visa and Mastercard joined in the financial pressure and halted operations in Russia.
As more people took to the streets across Russia against the military assault on Ukraine, Russia intensified a crackdown on dissent at home, detaining more than 2,500 protesters.
The Ukrainian military said Sunday it was engaged in "fierce battles" with Russian forces near the southern city of Mykolaiv and Chernihiv in the north.
"The main efforts are focused on defending the city of Mariupol," it said in a Facebook post, adding an operation by Ukrainian forces was also underway in the eastern part of the Donetsk region.
In the eastern town of Kharkiv, a television tower has been hit in an air strike, interrupting broadcasts, according to the regional governor, Oleg Synegubov.
'Last bridge'
Elsewhere, Russian forces have been inching closer to the capital Kyiv in an assault that has become ever-more indiscriminate -- and deadly.
At Bilogordoka on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukrainian troops have planted explosives on what they say is the last intact bridge standing in the way of Russian forces advancing down the western flank of the capital.
"This is the last bridge, we're defending it and not letting them break through to Kyiv," said a fighter who gave his name as "Casper".
The former paratrooper who joined Ukraine's volunteer territorial defence said his team will blow up the bridge if the Russians advance and "make sure to sink as many enemy tanks as we can while we do it".
Dozens of civilians have been killed in Chernihiv.Those remaining are living in craters or among ruins.
"There were corpses all over the ground," a man who gave his name only as Sergei told AFP, as air raid sirens wailed.
"They were queueing here for the pharmacy that's just there, and they're all dead."
AFP reporters saw scenes of devastation -- despite Moscow's insistence it is not targeting civilian areas.
Rejecting Moscow's denials, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN that "we've seen very credible reports of deliberate attacks on civilians, which would constitute a war crime".
Airport destroyed
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that the Russians were turning their attention to the west to the historic port city of Odessa, which has so far been largely spared from shelling.
Kyiv has urged the West to boost its military assistance, with Zelensky pleading for Eastern European neighbours to provide Russian-made planes that his pilots are trained to fly.
A barrage of Russian missiles destroyed an airport in central Ukraine's Vinnytsia, said Zelensky, underscoring his appeal for help.
Blinken said Washington was "working actively" on a deal with Poland to supply Ukraine with jets.
Several US media earlier reported Washington is working on a deal in which Poland would send Soviet-era aircraft to Ukraine in return for US F-16 fighter jets.
Weapons, ammunition and funds have poured into Ukraine from Western allies as they seek to bolster Kyiv against Moscow's invasion.
Washington last week authorised $350 million of military equipment -- the largest such package in US history.
Tens of thousands of people have demonstrated this weekend across the West in cities from London to Barcelona to New York in support of Ukraine, demanding an end to Russia's invasion.
The Bolshoi Theatre's music director and principal conductor Tugan Sokhiev became the latest high-profile figure to quit his post over his loyalties.
Diplomatic bid
Frantic diplomatic talks continued, with Zelensky saying on Sunday he spoke by telephone with US President Joe Biden, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and Britain's Boris Johnson to discuss further support for his country and sanctions against Russia.
Besides Macron, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also spoke with Putin on Sunday, urging his Russian counterpart to agree to "an urgent general ceasefire".
A day earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett visited the Kremlin for three hours of talks.
"Even if the chance is not great -- as soon as there is even a small opening, and we have access to all sides and the capability -- I see this as our moral obligation to make every effort," Bennett said Sunday.
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