The Russian military From 0700 GMT proclaimed a truce in Ukraine and decided to provide humanitarian corridors to ensure the safety and welfare of civilians.
The corridors will open at 10 a.m. Moscow time (700 GMT) from Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Sumy, and are being built at the request of French President Emmanuel Macron, according to the ministry.
Those who flee Kyiv will be airlifted to Russia, according to the ministry, which added that drones would be used to supervise the evacuation.
“Attempts by the Ukrainian side to fool Russia and the rest of the civilised world are futile at this time,” the ministry added.
The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has been widely condemned around the world, with over 1.5 million Ukrainians fleeing to other countries and triggered sweeping Western-led sanctions aimed at crippling the Russian economy.
In Asian trading, oil prices rose to their highest levels since 2008 after the Biden administration stated it was considering blocking Russian oil imports. Russia is responsible for 7% of global supply.
According to Kyodo News, Japan, which counts Russia as its fifth-largest crude oil supplier, is in talks with the US and European countries about possibly blocking Russian oil imports.
Europe relies on Russia for crude oil and natural gas, but a source familiar with the conversations told Reuters that Europe is becoming increasingly open to the possibility of banning Russian products.
According to Ukrainian authorities, Russian forces are advancing towards Kyiv, a city of 3 million people, but are encountering fierce opposition and suffering terrible losses.
After days of halting progress in their primary push on the capital, south from Belarus, the general command of Ukraine’s armed forces stated Russian forces were “starting to collect resources for the storming of Kyiv.”
Mykolayiv, a city in Ukraine’s south, was shelled on Monday, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Pro-Russian rebels said an oil terminal in Luhansk was on fire after what they believed was a Ukrainian missile strike, according to Russian media.
Russia refers to its campaign, which began on February 24, as a “special military operation.” It has denied striking civilian areas on numerous occasions and has stated that it has no aspirations to conquer Ukraine.
The United Nations stated on Sunday that 364 civilians have died as a result of hostilities in Ukraine since Russia launched the invasion, including more than 20 children, and that hundreds have been injured.
‘AUTOCRACY’S ARC
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US had received credible claims of deliberate assaults on people and was documenting them in preparation for a possible war crimes probe.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine has warned that Russians who commit atrocities against civilians will face retaliation.
In a televised nightly address, he declared, “There will be no tranquil place on this earth for you but the cemetery.”
While anti-war rallies erupted around the world, Ukraine continued its call for tougher sanctions from the West, as well as more armaments, notably Russian-made planes.
If the US decides to supply its warplanes to Ukraine, Blinken said the US is evaluating how it will backfill aircraft for Poland.
Putin has called for a “demilitarised,” “denazified,” and neutral Ukraine, and compared Western sanctions to “a declaration of war” on Saturday.
On Monday, New Zealand became the latest government to declare sanctions, including a plan to prevent super yachts, ships, and planes from accessing its waters or airspace.
By prohibiting transactions with Russia’s central bank, South Korea tightened its financial sanctions against the country.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison encouraged China to follow through on its pledges to promote world peace and join the fight against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying that the globe was at risk of being transformed by a “arc of despotism.”