As the Kremlin again promises safe corridors for civilians, the mayor of one besieged Kyiv suburb has described artillery fire as being so relentless residents are unable to gather up their dead.
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine well into its second week, a steady rain of shells and rockets continues to fall on population centres like Bucha. The mayor of the Kyiv suburb, Anatol Fedoruk, said military fire had been heavy and constant.
“We can’t even gather up the bodies because the shelling from heavy weapons doesn’t stop day or night,” Mr Fedoruk said.
“Dogs are pulling apart the bodies on the city streets. It’s a nightmare.”
Corridors intended to let Ukrainian civilians escape the Russian onslaught could open on Tuesday, Kremlin officials said, though Ukrainian leaders greeted the plan with scepticism since prior efforts to establish evacuation routes crumbled over the weekend amid renewed attacks.
In one of the most desperate cities, the encircled southern port of Mariupol, an estimated 200,000 people — nearly half the population of 430,000 — were hoping to flee, and Red Cross officials waited to hear when a corridor would be established.
Russia’s chief negotiator said he expected the corridors to be in use on Tuesday.
The Russian UN ambassador forecast a potential cease-fire for the morning and appeared to suggest that humanitarian paths leading away from Kyiv and other cities could give people choice in where they want to go – a change from previous proposals that offered only destinations in Russia or Belarus.
The office of embattled Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would not comment on the latest Russian proposal, saying only that Moscow’s plans can be believed only if a safe evacuation begins.
Demands for effective passageways have surged amid intensifying shelling by Russian forces. The steady bombardments, including in some of Ukraine’s most populated regions, have yielded a humanitarian crisis of diminishing food, water and medical supplies.
Through it all, Mr Zelensky said Ukrainian forces were showing unprecedented courage.
“The problem is that for one soldier of Ukraine, we have 10 Russian soldiers, and for one Ukrainian tank, we have 50 Russian tanks,” Mr Zelensky told ABC News in an interview that aired on Monday night.
But he noted that the gap in strength was diminishing and that even if Russian forces “come into all our cities,” they will be met with an insurgency.
A top US official said multiple countries were discussing whether to provide the warplanes that Mr Zelensky has been pleading for.
At The Hague, Netherlands, Ukraine pleaded with the International Court of Justice to order a halt to Russia’s invasion, saying Moscow is committing widespread war crimes.
Russia “is resorting to tactics reminiscent of medieval siege warfare, encircling cities, cutting off escape routes and pounding the civilian population with heavy ordnance,” said Jonathan Gimblett, a member of Ukraine’s legal team.
Russia snubbed the court proceedings, leaving its seats in the Great Hall of Justice empty.
The UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths addressed the Security Council and urged safe passage for people to go “in the direction they choose”.
The battle for Mariupol is crucial because its capture could allow Moscow to establish a land corridor to Crimea, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014.
The fighting has sent energy prices surging worldwide and stocks plummeting, and threatens the food supply and livelihoods of people around the globe who rely on crops farmed in the fertile Black Sea region.
The UN human rights office reported 406 confirmed civilian deaths but said the real number is much higher. The invasion has also sent 1.7 million people fleeing Ukraine.
On Monday, Moscow again announced a series of demands to stop the invasion, including that Ukraine recognise Crimea as part of Russia and recognise the eastern regions controlled by Moscow-supported separatist fighters as independent. It also insisted that Ukraine change its constitution to guarantee it won’t join international bodies like Nato and the EU. Ukraine has already rejected those demands.
Mr Zelensky has called for more punitive measures against Russia, including a global boycott of its oil exports, which are key to its economy.
“If (Russia) doesn’t want to abide by civilized rules, then they shouldn’t receive goods and services from civilization,” he said in a video address.
