Ukraine rejects Russian humanitarian corridors offer

A family reunites just after crossing the Ukrainian border into Poland, at the Medyka border crossing on March 6, 2022

Ukraine dismissed Moscow's offer to create humanitarian corridors from several bombarded cities on Monday after it emerged that exit routes would lead refugees into Russia or Belarus.

The Russian proposal of safe passage for people from Kharkiv, Kyiv, Mariupol and Sumy came after terrified Ukrainian civilians came under fire in previous failed ceasefire attempts.

The Russian invasion has pushed more than 1.5 million people across Ukraine's borders in what the UN calls Europe's fastest growing refugee crisis since World War II, and sparked fears of a wider conflict.

Oil prices soared to near a 14-year high on the developments while stock markets plunged.

But several routes led into Russia or its ally Belarus, raising questions over the safety of those who might use them.

Russia's negotiator at the peace talks, Vladimir Medinsky, in return accused Ukraine of the "war crime" of blocking the corridors.

- 'Moral cynicism' -

"All this is not serious, it is moral and political cynicism, which I find intolerable," he told LCI television in an interview.

"I am so happy to have managed to get out," said Olga, a 48-year-old woman leaving with her two dogs.

Desperate people abandoned pushchairs and heavy suitcases to make sure they could get on the buses out of the war zone.

"Explosions were constantly going off... Near our house there are cars, there were dead people in one of them... very scary."

"They are monsters. Irpin is at war, Irpin has not surrendered," mayor Oleksandr Markushyn said on Telegram, adding that he had seen the family killed with his own eyes.

Refugees trying to escape Mariupol using humanitarian corridors were left stranded as the road they were directed towards was mined, the ICRC said on Monday. 

There was no let-up in the violence overnight into Monday, as outgunned Ukrainian forces, helped with military supplies from western countries, try to hold back Russian forces.

"The enemy continues the offensive operation against Ukraine, focusing on the encirclement of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy and Mykolayiv," the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a statement.

Nine bodies -- five civilians and four soldiers -- were found in the rubble of Vinnytsia airport in central Ukraine after it was destroyed in a Russian missile attack on Sunday, rescue services said.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky renewed calls for the West to boycott Russian exports, particularly oil, and to impose a no-fly zone to stop the carnage.

Twelve days of fighting have killed hundreds of civilians and wounded thousands. An unending stream of people -- mostly women and children -- has poured into neighbouring countries, especially Poland.

- 'Neutralisation' of Ukraine -

Moscow has been forced to restrict sales of essential goods to limit black-market speculation, while on Sunday payment giant American Express halted operations there, a day after Visa and MasterCard announced similar steps.

Despite harsh punishments for those voicing dissent, protests in Russia against the Ukraine invasion have continued, with more than 10,000 people arrested since it began.

Sputtering diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict continue with the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Russia and Turkey set to meet in southern Turkey on Thursday, Ankara said.

The International Court of Justice meanwhile heard Ukraine's appeal for it to order Russia to halt the fighting, but Moscow declined to attend the sitting of the UN's top court, in The Hague.

Kyiv has urged the West to boost its military assistance, with Zelensky pleading for Russian-made planes that his pilots are trained to fly.

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