The humanitarian crisis in Ukraine worsened on Monday as Russian forces increased their shelling and supplies of food, water, heat, and medication became increasingly scarce; in what the country described as a medieval-style siege by Moscow to force it to submit.
A top Ukrainian official said there had been small, unexplained progress toward constructing safe corridors. It would allow civilians to flee the conflict after the third session of talks between the two sides ended. According to Russia’s lead negotiator, such lanes should begin working on Tuesday.
However, considering the failure of earlier attempts to escort civilians to safety during Europe’s largest ground combat since World War II, that remained to be seen.
Unprecedented bravery
Russian troops make progress in southern Ukraine but stalled in other areas far into the second week of the invasion. A top US official said various nations were contemplating whether to deliver the jets that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been calling for.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s army continued to launch missiles into cities, with heavy battles erupting in some areas. They are assumingly using medieval-style siege. In the face of the shelling, Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces had shown “unprecedented bravery.”
In an interview that aired Monday night, Zelenskyy told ABC News, “The problem is that for one soldier of Ukraine, we have 10 Russian soldiers, and for one Ukrainian tank, we have 50 Russian tanks”. He remarked that the force gap was narrowing and that even if Russian soldiers “come into all our cities,” they would face an insurgency.
An estimated 200,000 people — about half the city’s population of 430,000 — were expecting to evacuate the surrounded southern port of Mariupol, as Red Cross officials waited to learn when a path would be constructed.
Water, food, and power are in short supply, and cellphone networks are down. Residents have ransacked stores in their pursuit of necessities.
Police moved across the city, telling residents to stay in shelters until formal evacuation messages were blasted over loudspeakers.
Antibiotics and medicines are in low supply in Mariupol hospitals, and doctors had to perform several emergency procedures without them.
Due to the lack of phone coverage, concerned citizens approached strangers to inquire if they had family in other parts of the city and if they were safe.
“We will fight to the death if necessary”
Hundreds of checkpoints have been established in Kyiv by military and volunteers to protect the city of almost 4 million people. They are typically using sandbags, stacked tires, and spiked wires. Some barricades appeared to be more substantial, with huge concrete slabs and sandbags stacked more than two stories high. Others appeared to be more haphazard, with hundreds of books used to weigh down stacks of tires.
“Every house, every street, every checkpoint, we will fight to the death if necessary,” said Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
Heavy shelling blasted into residential complexes in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest metropolis with 1.4 million residents.
“I think it struck the fourth floor under us,” Dmitry Sedorenko said from his Kharkiv hospital bed. “Immediately, everything started burning and falling apart.” He crawled out through the third floor, through the bodies of some of his neighbors, when the floor collapsed beneath him.
Brutal battles raged in the Kyiv region, particularly around Bucha, Hostomel, Vorzel, and Irpin, according to Klitschko.
Witnesses sighted at least three tanks in the Irpin neighborhood, which has been without electricity, water, or heat for three days, and reported Russian soldiers were confiscating houses and automobiles.
Rescuers and residents searched through the ruins while chickens pecked around them a few miles away in Horenka town. The shelling there turned one part to ashes and shards of glass.
“What are they doing?” rescue worker Vasyl Oksak asked of the Russian attackers. “There were two little kids and two elderly people living here. Come in and see what they have done.”
Medieval siege warfare
According to Ukraine’s military, Russian soldiers continued their onslaught in Mykolaiv, opening fire on a half-million-person Black Sea shipbuilding center. Rescuers reported they were putting out fires in residential areas triggered by missile attacks.
Ukraine pleaded with the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, to order a halt to Russia’s invasion. Thereby, claiming Moscow is committing extensive 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 ignored the court proceedings, which left its seats in the Great Hall of Justice unfilled.
Over the weekend, efforts to create a safe path for civilians fell apart due to continuing Russian shelling. Russia revealed a fresh plan before Monday’s discussions, saying residents will be permissible to evacuate Kyiv, Mariupol, Kharkiv, and Sumy.
However, many of the escape routes led to Russia or its ally Belarus, which served as the invasion’s launch pad. Instead, Ukraine recommended eight routes for civilians to travel to the country’s western areas, where there is no shelling.
Later, Russia’s U.N. Ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, told the United Nations Security Council that a cease-fire will be implemented Tuesday morning and that humanitarian corridors leading away from Kyiv, Mariupol, Sumy, and Chernihiv might allow civilians to choose where they wish to go.
“Direction”
Undersecretary-General Martin Griffiths, the United Nations’ humanitarian chief, spoke to the Security Council. Thus, urging safe passage for people to go “in the direction they choose.”
The office of Zelenskyy declined to comment on the Russian proposal. Thereby, saying simply that Moscow’s preparations can be trustworthy if a safe evacuation begins. Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk is likely to comment on the matter Tuesday morning, according to the office.
The battle for Mariupol is vital because its control might allow Moscow to provide a land corridor to Crimea, which it annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
The war has caused global energy prices to skyrocket and stockpiles to collapse, endangering the food supply and livelihoods of people who rely on crops grown in the rich Black Sea region.
The United Nations Human Rights Office reported 406 confirmed civilian casualties, but the true figure is substantially higher, according to the UN. 1.7 million people have fled Ukraine as a result of the invasion.
On Monday, Moscow reiterated its demands for an end to the invasion, including recognition of Crimea as part of Russia and independence for the eastern territories controlled by Moscow-backed separatist forces. It demanded that Ukraine amend its constitution to ensure that it does not join multinational organizations such as NATO, EU. Those requests have previously been rejected by Ukraine.
More punitive actions
More punitive actions against Russia are being advocated by Zelenskyy. It includes a global boycott of the country’s oil exports, which are vital to its economy.
In a video speech, he stated, “If (Russia) doesn’t want to abide by civilized rules, then they shouldn’t receive goods and services from civilization,”
He also requested more warplanes. Officials are “trying to see whether this is possible and doable,” according to Deputy US Secretary of State Wendy Sherman.
While the West has been rushing anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine, some officials are afraid that sending warplanes will be visible as direct involvement in the conflict by Moscow.
Former Soviet bloc countries that have joined NATO might provide Ukraine with its Soviet-era MiGs. Ukrainian pilots have got training to fly, and the US would then replace those countries’ aircraft with American-made F-16s.
Nearby countries are fearful that the war would extend to them as a result of Russia’s invasion.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has begun a whirlwind tour to the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. They are all NATO members and were formerly Soviet republics. Blinken intended to assuage their fears by assuring them of the alliance’s safety.
NATO has shown no interest in sending soldiers into Ukraine. It has turned down Zelenskyy’s request for a no-fly zone, fearing a larger conflict of medieval siege.