‘Completely immoral’

Moscow said yesterday it would provide corridors for residents of Ukraine's two main cities to flee to Russia and Belarus, a move Ukraine called an "immoral" stunt to exploit the suffering of civilians under Russian bombardment.

Russian and Ukrainian delegations assembled for a third round of talks in Belarus, both sides said. Two previous rounds yielded little beyond pledges to open routes for humanitarian access that have yet to be successfully implemented.

Russia's announcement of "humanitarian corridors" came after two days of failed ceasefires to allow civilians to escape the besieged city of Mariupol, where hundreds of thousands are trapped without food and water, under relentless bombardment.

A corridor from Kyiv would lead to Russia's ally Belarus, while civilians from Kharkiv, Ukraine's second biggest city, would be directed to Russia, according to maps published by the RIA news agency.

A spokesperson for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called the move "completely immoral" saying Russia was trying to "use people's suffering to create a television picture".

The general staff of Ukraine's armed forces yesterday said Russian forces were "beginning to accumulate resources for the storming of Kyiv", a city of more than 3 million, after days of slow progress in their main advance south from Belarus.

In a speech to the nation late on Sunday, Zelenskiy said Russians responsible for such atrocities would never be forgiven: "For you there will be no peaceful place on this earth, except for the grave."

Ukraine said yesterday its forces had retaken control of the town of Chuhuiv in the northeast, site of heavy fighting for days, and of the strategic Mykolayiv airport in the south, which the regional governor said was under tank fire, reports Reuters.

More than 1.7 million Ukrainians fleeing Russia's invasion have so far crossed into Central Europe, the UN's refugee agency said.

Global share prices plunged yesterday after Washington said it was considering extending sanctions to Russia's energy exports.