The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin has demanded the surrender of Ukrainian forces, as he vowed to press ahead with his ceaseless offensive as the war entered its tenth day.
According to him, the Ukrainian resistance force should immediately discontinue the fighting to enable the evacuation of 200,000 people from the besieged city of Mariupol.
Africa Daily News, New York gathered that the evacuation was impossible for the second day as Russian shelling continued on Sunday.
Most people trapped in the port city are sleeping underground to escape more than six days of near-constant shelling by encircling Russian forces that has cut off food, water, power and heating supplies, according to the Ukrainian authorities.
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Putin made his demand for Kyiv surrender in a phone call with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who appealed for a ceasefire.
Putin told Erdogan he was ready for dialogue with Ukraine and foreign partners but any attempt to draw out negotiation would fail, a Kremlin statement said.
Russian media said Putin also spoke by phone for almost two hours with French President Emmanuel Macron.
Macron told Putin he was concerned about a possible imminent attack on southern Ukraine’s historic port city of Odessa, Macron’s office said.
The civilian death toll from hostilities across Ukraine since Moscow launched its invasion on Feb. 24 stood at 364, including more than 20 children, the United Nations said on Sunday, adding hundreds more were injured.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said most civilian casualties were caused by the use of ‘explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multi-launch rocket systems, and missile and air strikes.’
Moscow has repeatedly denied attacking civilian areas.
The invasion has drawn almost universal condemnation around the world, sent more than 1.5 million Ukrainians fleeing from the country, and triggered sweeping Western sanctions against Russia aimed at crippling its economy. The Biden administration said on Sunday it was exploring banning Russian oil imports.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
