Ukraine has criticised a proposal by Moscow to open refugee corridors as “immoral” and “unacceptable” after the Russian defence ministry announced that civilians fleeing some cities would only be allowed to leave for Belarus or Russia.
Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, dismissed Russia’s six proposed corridors after it emerged that only two of them – from Sumy and Mariupol – involved evacuation routes that led to other parts of Ukraine, with all other routes leading directly to Russia or pro-Russian Belarus.
As Russian forces continued to pound Ukrainian cities, including residential areas, with missile strikes and artillery fire, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian presidency also said civilians must be allowed to flee their homes through Ukrainian territory.
“This is a completely immoral story,” the spokesperson said. “They should have the right to evacuate to the territory of Ukraine. [Russia] wants to supply humanitarian aid for a picture on TV, and wants the corridors to lead in its direction.”
Russia announced on Monday that humanitarian corridors would open in several Ukrainian cities including the capital, Kyiv, and second city, Kharkiv, a day after some of the hundreds of thousands of civilians trying to flee cities including Mariupol came under fire as they attempted to leave.
Moscow said the routes would open at 10am local time after a “personal request” from the French president, Emmanuel Macron, to Vladimir Putin. The Élysée Palace denied the French president had made such a request.
Russian forces continued their offensive on Monday, opening fire on the city of Mykolaiv, 300 miles (480km) south of Kyiv, Ukraine’s general staff said, while shelling also continued in the suburbs of Kyiv, including Irpin, which has been cut off from electricity, water and heating for three days.
“Russia continues to carry out rocket, bomb and artillery strikes on the cities and settlements of Ukraine, focusing on the encirclement of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy and Mykolayiv,” the general staff said, adding that the invaders “continue to use the airfield network of Belarus to carry out airstrikes on Ukraine”.
A third round of broad ceasefire talks between the two sides was due to take place on Monday but with Putin vowing to achieve the “neutralisation” of Ukraine “through negotiation or through war”, hopes remain low for any kind of breakthrough.
Kyiv continues to call for Nato to impose a no-fly zone over the country but the alliance has repeatedly warned that this would bring it into direct conflict with Russia, and Putin has threatened “colossal and catastrophic consequences” if the west attempts to keep Russian planes out of Ukrainian skies.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, however, has said Washington was “working actively” on a deal with Poland to supply it with American jets. Blinken on Monday assured the former Soviet republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithiuania of Nato protection if Russia decides to expand its military campaign.
“We will defend every inch of Nato territory if it comes under attack,” said Blinken, who is on a lightning tour of the region. “No one should doubt our readiness, no one should doubt our resolve.” The three Baltic states are all Nato members.
In The Hague, the international court of justice opened two days of hearings into a request by Ukraine for the court to order Russia to “immediately suspend the military operations”. A decision is expected on the request within days, although Russia did not attend Monday’s hearing and is unlikely to abide by any order the court issues.
Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine has led to an exodus of more than 1.5 million refugees in what the the head of the UN refugee agency has called “the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since world war two”.
Poland reported on Monday that more than 1 million people had crossed its border alone since 24 February while the EU’s foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, warned that the bloc “must prepare to receive around 5 million people … We must mobilise all the resources of the EU to help those countries receiving people.”
Many millions more have been displaced internally or trapped in cities being brutally pounded by Russian bombardment. Housing blocks, town halls, schools, universities and hospitals have been hit by missile strikes and artillery fire, with some areas reduced to rubble. The UN has said it has confirmed several hundred civilian deaths but warned the real figure would be much higher.
There is also concern about the safety of Ukraine’s nuclear sites after a Russian attack on Friday on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest. The UN nuclear watchdog has expressed “grave concern” about the situation at the plant.
A second attempt at a mass evacuation from the strategic southern port city of Mariupol on Sunday failed, with the International Committee of the Red Cross saying about 200,000 people were trying to leave and warning of “devastating scenes of human suffering” in the city.
Civilians came under fire as they tried to leave many other areas including Irpin, where the mayor described seeing two adults and two children killed “in front of my eyes” when a shell hit them. Responding to the incident, the Ukrainian president, vowed to punish “every bastard’” who committed atrocities during the invasion.
“They were just trying to get out of town,” Volodymr Zelenskiy said. “To escape. The whole family. How many such families have died in Ukraine. We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will punish everyone who committed atrocities in this war.” He called the destruction “murder, deliberate murder”.
The UK defence ministry said on Monday the Russian tactics appeared to be “an effort to break Ukrainian morale”. British military officials have compared Russia’s tactics to those Moscow used in Chechnya and Syria, surrounding and pulverising cities.
Russia has made significant advances in southern Ukraine as it seeks to block access to the Sea of Azov and establish a land corridor to Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. But elsewhere progress has become stalled, including an immense military convoy that has been almost motionless for days north of Kyiv.
Western allies have imposed unprecedented sanctions against businesses, banks and billionaires in a bid to choke the Russian economy and pressure Moscow to halt its assault, but Putin has equated global sanctions with a declaration of war and warned that Kyiv’s intransigence is “putting in question the future of Ukrainian statehood”.
The Russian rouble, however, has plunged to record lows, and dozens of multinational companies have severed or severely limited their ties with the country. American Express and accountancy firms KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers said on Sunday they would suspend operations in Russia.
TikTok announced Russian users would not be able to post new videos or see videos shared from elsewhere in the world. The company blamed Moscow’s new “fake news” law, which makes it illegal, among other things, to describe the fighting as an invasion. Netflix also cut its service to Russia but provided no details.
The US house speaker, Nancy Pelosi, said Congress was exploring how to further isolate Russia from the global economy, including banning the import of its oil and energy products into the US.