Ukraine defied a Russian demand that its troops lay down arms before dawn Monday in Mariupol, where hundreds of thousands of civilians are trapped in a besieged city and already devastated by Russian bombing.
In the capital Kiev, shelling struck a shopping center late Sunday, killing at least eight people, destroying nearby buildings and leaving smoking rubble and twisted wreckage from burned-out cars scattered hundreds of meters.
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The nearly month-old Russian attack on Ukraine has stalled on most fronts, not a single major city taken or the government quickly overthrown. But Russian shelling and rockets have wreaked havoc in built-up areas.
TO FIGHT
* Authorities in Odessa accused Russian troops of carrying out an attack on residential buildings in the city’s suburbs on Monday, the first attack on Ukraine’s Black Sea port.
* Russian air forces have hit a military facility of the Ukrainian army in the Rivne region with cruise missiles, Russia’s defense ministry said Monday.
CIVIL
* Ukraine described the situation in Mariupol on Monday as “very difficult” and said it had failed to establish a new safe corridor to evacuate civilians from the besieged city. Horror and confusion reign in Mariupo, where people bury dead neighbors along the way.
* Ten million people have been displaced as a result of the conflict, according to the UN Refugee Agency.
SANCTIONS
* European Union leaders embarked on a week of intense diplomacy to agree on further sanctions against Russia, including a possible embargo on its lucrative oil and gas sector, demanded by some member states. But that move seems to be divisive. Germany maintains its position that it cannot waive oil imports from Russia, a government spokesman said. The EU of 27 countries still depends on Russia for 40% of its gas.
DIPLOMACY
* The Kremlin said on Monday that peace talks between Russia and Ukraine had not yet made significant progress. Moscow accuses Kiev of delaying negotiations by making proposals unacceptable to Russia. Ukraine has said it is ready to negotiate but will not surrender or accept Russian ultimatums.
QUOTES
* “Unfortunately, the violent aggression against Ukraine is not abating,” Pope Francis said. “It is a senseless massacre where massacres and atrocities are repeated every day.”
* “Kiev is calling the whole world … Come out of neutrality, boys and girls”, some of the lyrics of Ukrainian punk band Beton’s adaptation of the famous “London Calling” by British punk rock group The Clash.
This post Russia-Ukraine War: Shelling, Missiles Devastate Residential Areas – What You Need To Know Now
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