Russian forces will observe a temporary cease-fire Sunday in two Ukrainian cities, an official in one of the country’s two pro-Russia separatist regions said after an agreement to allow civilians to evacuate collapsed a day earlier amid continued shelling, Associated Press reported.
Eduard Basurin, the head of the military in separatist-held Donetsk, said safe passage corridors for residents of the besieged port city of Mariupol and the city of Volnovakha would reopen Sunday. He did not say for how long nor whether a cease-fire would accompany the evacuation.
Ukrainian officials confirmed that evacuations from Mariupol would take place starting from 12 p.m. local time. Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk regional military administration, said a ceasefire would be in effect between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m, according to the Associated Press.
A promised cease-fire in Mariupol failed amid scenes of terror Saturday. Ukrainian officials said the evacuation was aborted because the city of 430,000 remained under attack.
Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed Ukraine for the failure and warned that the country’s ongoing resistance since Russia invaded its ex-Soviet neighbor on Feb. 24 is putting the country’s future as a nation in jeopardy, according to the Associated Press.
“If they continue to do what they are doing, they are calling into question the future of Ukrainian statehood,” the Russian leader said Saturday. “And if this happens, it will be entirely on their conscience.”
Putin also hit out at Western sanctions that have crippled Russia’s economy and sent the value of its currency tumbling. likening to “declaring war.”
With the Kremlin’s rhetoric growing fiercer and a reprieve from fighting dissolving, Russian troops continued to shell encircled cities and the number of Ukrainians forced from their country grew to 1.4 million.
By nighttime Saturday, Russian forces had intensified their shelling of Mariupol, while dropping powerful bombs on residential areas of Chernihiv, a city north of Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said, Associated Press reported.
Sunday’s evacuations were announced along with a third round of talks between Russia and Ukraine. Davyd Arakhamia, a member of the Ukrainian delegation, said the meeting would take place Monday. He gave no additional details, including the location of the talks.
