Lviv. A Ukrainian official said a plan to evacuate people safely from a Ukrainian port city could not materialize on Sunday due to continued unanticipated Russian shelling. At the same time, officials have tried to get Russia to agree to determine other evacuation routes near the Ukrainian capital. Ukrainian military officials said earlier in the day that people living in the city of Marupol were expected to evacuate safely during a local ceasefire between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. Russian troops have laid siege to the city of Mariupol for a week.
Interior Ministry adviser Anton Greashchenko said evacuations from designated humanitarian aid corridors could not be carried out because of the Russian attack. “There can be no safe corridor because only the sick mind of the Russians decides when and whom to fire,” he said on Telegram. The news dashed hopes of de-escalation.
The war in Ukraine continued for the 11th day and nearly 1.5 million people have left the country. The head of the UN refugee agency on Sunday called the migration Europe’s biggest refugee crisis since World War II. The Turkish and French presidents and Pope Francis have called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to hold talks to end the conflict.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s National Security Service said Russian forces fired rockets at a physics institute in the city of Kharkiv that houses nuclear materials and a reactor. Russian troops have already taken control of nuclear power plants in Zaporizhia and Chernobyl in Ukraine.
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The security service said the attack on the nuclear facility in Kharkiv could pose a large-scale ecological threat. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has again urged foreign defenders to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine, which NATO has so far denied because the move would involve Western nations in the war. “The world is strong enough to close our skies,” Zelensky said in a video message on Sunday.
Meanwhile, in an unusual move, Pope Francis said on Sunday that he had sent two cardinals to Ukraine. He said the Vatican would do everything to end the conflict and bring peace. It is noteworthy that a similar ceasefire plan for Mariupol and the nearby city of Volnovakha failed on Saturday, after Russian troops opened fire and trapped people there. Mariupol mayor Vadem Boychenko told Ukrainian TV: “There is continuous shelling in residential areas. Planes are dropping bombs in residential areas.” (agency)