War In Ukraine: Mariupol Evacuation Failed Again – The HuffPost

WAR IN UKRAINE – After the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Thursday February 24, the war enters its twelfth day on Monday March 7.

Situation on the ground, aid, sanctions and international reactions, consequences… The HuffPost below takes stock of everything you need to remember from the last few hours

The situation on the ground

Moscow announced the opening of several humanitarian corridors and the establishment of local ceasefires to evacuate civilians from the Ukrainian cities of Kharkhiv, Kiev, Mariupol and Sumy, plagued by heavy fighting.

This announcement comes as a third round of talks between Kiev and Moscow is due to take place on Monday, according to Kiev.

In recent days, two attempts to evacuate civilians from the besieged port of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine have failed, with Kiev and Moscow accusing each other of violating the conditions of the evacuation.

The Russian army specifies that this decision was taken after a “personal request” from French President Emmanuel Macron addressed to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. The two leaders spoke for two hours on Sunday by telephone.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that Russian troops prepared to bombard Odessaa city of nearly one million inhabitants and Ukraine’s leading port on the shores of the Black Sea.

Intense aerial bombardments hit Kharkiv in the north-east of Ukraine overnight from Sunday to Monday, targeting in particular a sports complex of a local university and civilian buildings, according to an AFP journalist.

According to the Ukrainian general staff, Russian forces are concentrating their efforts on Kharkiv, Cherniguiv (north), Sumy (northeast) and Mykolayev (south) and “accumulating their resources to launch an assault” on Kiev.

The noose is tightening around Kiev. The army stood ready to destroy the last bridge connecting the city to its hinterland to the west to curb the advance of Russian tanks.

Intense fighting is taking place on the outskirts of the capital, according to the Ukrainian regional administration, in particular around the road leading to Zhytomyr (150 km west of Kiev), as well as in Cherniguiv (150 km north of the capital).

The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that the Russian military had “killed” almost 100 planes, 778 tanks and other armored vehicles and destroyed Starokonstantinov airport, halfway between Kiev and Lviv.

The second attempt to evacuate the inhabitants of Mariupola strategic port in southeastern Ukraine surrounded by Russian forces and their allies, failed on Sunday, the day after a first unsuccessful attempt due to continued heavy shelling.

President Vladimir Poutine blamed this failure on “Ukrainian nationalists”, in a telephone interview with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.

This city of 450,000 inhabitants is under “humanitarian blockade” according to its mayor Vadim Boïtchenko, who evokes “thousands of wounded” and affirms that “Mariupol no longer exists”.

The fall of this port city would constitute a turning point, allowing the junction between the Russian troops coming from annexed Crimea and those coming from Donbass.

International reactions

The Russian Defense Ministry has warned countries neighboring Ukraine against hosting fighter jets from Kiev which would then be used against forces from Moscow. This could be considered as “an implication of these countries in an armed conflict”, he said, blaming by name Romania, a member of NATO.

The head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken considered “very credible” reports of “war crimes” committed by Russia in Ukraine.

“We have seen very credible reports of deliberate attacks on civilians that would constitute a war crime,” he told US broadcaster CNN.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Sunday that his efforts to mediate the war between Russia and Ukraine were “a moral duty” even though there was little chance of success.

Pope Francis lamented “rivers of blood and tears” flowing in Ukraine after the Russian invasion and called for the establishment of humanitarian corridors.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for an “urgent general ceasefire” in Ukraine, in a telephone interview with the Russian president.

Vladimir Poutine told Emmanuel Macron that he would “achieve his objectives” in Ukraine “either by negotiation or by war”, according to the French presidency.

Aid and sanctions

Several Western countries, including Great Britain and the United States, have asked Interpol to suspend Russia from the ranks of this international organization for police cooperation, said British Home Secretary Priti Patel.

In addition to Great Britain and the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have called for “the immediate suspension of Russia’s access to all systems” of the organization which brings together 194 member countries, tweeted Ms Patel.

The United States is “actively working” on a deal with Poland to send fighter jets from that country to Ukraine, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday.

France has sent to Ukraine “various medical products”, of which iodineto guard against the risk of a nuclear accident during combat with the Russian army, said Sunday its Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Sunday that he would release $100 million in aid for Ukraine, before a series of diplomatic talks aimed at maintaining the mobilization of the international community against “the atrocities of Russian aggression”.

Consequences

Faced with the intensification of the war in Ukraine, the stock markets of Hong Kong (-4.35%) and Tokyo (-3%) unscrewed on Monday at the opening, while oil prices continued their dizzying rise, approaching 140 dollars, close to the absolute record. Gold for its part exceeded 2,000 dollars an ounce, investors taking refuge in this value in the face of fears of the impact of the conflict on the world economy.

At least 4,640 people demonstrating against the invasion of Ukraine were arrested on Sunday in some sixty cities in Russia, bringing to more than 13,000 the number of protesters arrested since February 24, announced the NGO OVD-Info, specializing in monitoring events.

Thousands of people also demonstrated in many cities in France, Belgium and Spain.

More than 1.5 million people have fled Ukraine since February 24, according to the UN, while the number of Ukrainian refugees in Poland has exceeded one million, Polish border guards said.

The American credit card giants Visa, Mastercard and American Express are suspending their operations in Russia, the latter’s decision also applying to Belarus.

The PayPal payments system has also temporarily stopped its services in Russia.

Separately, American media reported on Sunday that the American online video platform Netflix has suspended its service in Russia. And the TikTok social network has announced that it is suspending the possibility of posting new videos on its platform in Russia.

See also on The HuffPost: In Kiev, this journalist stops her live to help civilians evacuate