Two girls look out as their train arrives, after originating in Ukraine, to in Zahony, Hungary on March 7 Russia's invasion has set off the largest mass migration in Europe in decades. Photo / AP
Two girls look out as their train arrives, after originating in Ukraine, to in Zahony, Hungary on March 7 Russia's invasion has set off the largest mass migration in Europe in decades. Photo / AP
Russian President Vladimir Putin has put New Zealand on a hit-list of countries taking "unfriendly actions against Russia", allowing creditors to repay any debts "in rubles".
Hitting back over punitive economic sanctions announced by western nations in protest against Russia's bloody invasion of Ukraine, officials have drawn up their own list of countries they plan to sanction.
According to a decree published on the government's website overnight, the list includes Australia, Albania, Andorra, Great Britain, including Jersey, Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Gibraltar, EU member states, Iceland, Canada, Liechtenstein, Micronesia, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, San Marino, North Macedonia, Singapore, US, Taiwan, Ukraine, Montenegro, Switzerland and Japan.
All of the countries on the list have applied financial sanctions on Russia that sent the Russian stock market and the ruble plunging in value.
Earlier, Russia announced yet another limited cease-fire and the establishment of safe corridors to allow civilians to flee some besieged Ukrainian cities. But the evacuation routes led mostly to Russia and its ally Belarus, drawing withering criticism from Ukraine and others.
Ukrainian officials accused Moscow of resorting to "medieval siege" tactics in places, and in one of the most desperate of the encircled cities, the southern port of Mariupol, there were no immediate signs of an evacuation.
Vladimir Putin's forces continued to pummel some cities with rockets even after the announcement of corridors, and fierce fighting raged in places, indicating there would be no wider cessation of hostilities.
Efforts to set up safe passage for civilians over the weekend fell apart amid continued shelling. But the Russian Defense Ministry announced a new push on Monday, saying civilians would be allowed to leave the capital of Kyiv, Mariupol and the cities of Kharkiv and Sumy.
Russian-Ukrainian talks in the Belavezhskaya Pushcha National Park, close to the Polish-Belarusian border yesterday. Photo / AP
The two sides met for a third round of talks on Monday, according to Russian state media, though hopes for any breakthrough were dim. The countries' foreign ministers are also scheduled to meet in Turkey on Thursday, according to that country's top diplomat.
Ahead of peace talks, a spokesperson for the Russian government outlined what Vladimir Putin wants from the invasion.
The Kremlin has demanded that Ukraine recognise Crimea as Russian and Donetsk and Lugansk as independent states if the invasion is to end.
A Kremlin spokesman called for Ukraine to cease military action, change its constitution to become a neutral country, acknowledge Crimea as Russian territory and recognise the separatist republics of Luhansk and Donetsk.
Dmitry Peskov told Reuters that Russia had told Ukraine it was ready to halt its military action "in a moment" if Kyiv met its conditions.
Ukrainian civilians receive weapons training, in the outskirts of Lviv, western Ukraine. Photo / AP
And he insisted Russia wasn't seeking any further territorial claims in Ukraine.
"We really are finishing the demilitarisation of Ukraine," he said. "We will finish it. But the main thing is that Ukraine ceases its military action.
"They should stop their military action and then no one will shoot. They should make amendments to their constitution according to which Ukraine would reject any aims to enter any bloc.
"We have also spoken about how they should recognise that Crimea is Russian territory and that they need to recognise that Donetsk and Lugansk are independent states. And that's it. It will stop in a moment."
Ukrainian forces have taken back the city of Chuhuiv, with defence officials saying Russia suffered "heavy losses in the battle", including the deaths of two high ranking officials.
"The Defence Forces continues to conduct a defence operation in the South, East and North. In the course of hostilities, the city of Chuhuiv was liberated. The occupiers suffered heavy losses in personnel and equipment," Lieutenant General Serhiy Shaptala said.
"Lieutenant Colonel Dmitry Safronov, Commander of the 61st Separate Marine Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces, and Lieutenant Colonel Denis Glebov, Deputy Commander of the 11th Separate Airborne Assault Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces, were killed.
A week ago, a young boy was killed in the city after heavy shelling struck an apartment block.
Earlier updates continue below:
Ukrainians, whose ferocious resistance has slowed the invasion and thwarted any hopes Moscow had for a lightning victory, have been reinforcing cities across the country.
In Kyiv, soldiers and volunteers have built hundreds of checkpoints, often using sandbags, stacked tires and spiked cables. Some barriers looked significant, with heavy concrete slabs and sandbags piled more than two stories high, while others appeared more haphazard, with hundreds of books used to weigh down stacks of tires.
"Every house, every street, every checkpoint, we will fight to the death if necessary," said Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
Dozens of makeshift kitchens are serving food to soldiers.
"I'm carrying out my duty, working for my country, thanking our soldiers," Natalia Antonovska said at one kitchen. "That's why I'm here, and I'm very proud of it."
In Kharkiv, heavy shelling slammed into apartment buildings Monday.
"I think it struck the fourth floor under us," Dmitry Sedorenko said from his Kharkiv hospital bed. "Immediately, everything started burning and falling apart." When the floor collapsed beneath him, he crawled out through the third floor, past the bodies of some of his neighbors.
In Mariupol, where an estimated 200,000 people hoping to flee were becoming increasingly desperate, Red Cross officials waited to hear when a safe corridor would be established. The city is short on water, food and power, and cellphone networks are down. Stores have been looted as residents search for essential goods.
Police moved through the city, advising people to remain in shelters until they heard official messages broadcast over loudspeakers to evacuate.
Hospitals in Mariupol are facing desperate shortages of antibiotics and painkillers, and doctors performed some emergency procedures without them.
The lack of phone service left anxious citizens approaching strangers to ask if they knew relatives living in other parts of the city and whether they were safe.
A family walks with their dog on the platform, after fleeing Ukraine, at the station in Zahony, Hungary. Photo / AP
At the International Court of Justice at The Hague, Netherlands, Ukraine pleaded for an order to halt Russia's invasion, saying Moscow is committing widespread war crimes and "resorting to tactics reminiscent of medieval siege warfare." Russia snubbed the proceedings, leaving its seats in the Great Hall of Justice empty.
Well into the second week of the war, Russian troops have made significant advances in southern Ukraine and along the coast, but other efforts have become stalled, including an immense military column that has been almost motionless for days north of Kyiv.
The battle for Mariupol is crucial because its capture could allow Moscow to establish a land corridor to Crimea, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014.
The fighting has sent energy prices surging worldwide and stocks plummeting, and threatens t he food supply and livelihoods of people around the globe who rely on crops farmed in the fertile Black Sea region.
The UN human rights office reported 406 confirmed civilian deaths but said the number is a vast undercount. The invasion has also sent 1.7 million people fleeing Ukraine.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk blasted the latest cease-fire proposal, which had most evacuation routes heading toward Russia or its ally Belarus, calling it "unacceptable." Belarus served as a launching ground for the invasion.
Two girls look out as their train arrives, after originating in Ukraine, to in Zahony, Hungary on March 7 Russia's invasion has set off the largest mass migration in Europe in decades. Photo / AP
French President Emmanuel Macron also dismissed the plan as a cynical move by Moscow.
"I don't know many Ukrainians who want to seek refuge in Russia. That's hypocrisy," he said in an interview on French news broadcaster LCI.
The Ukrainian government instead proposed eight routes allowing civilians to travel to western regions of Ukraine where there is no shelling.
Earlier, Klitschko said in a Telegram video address that "fierce battles" continued Monday in the Kyiv region, notably around Bucha, Hostomel, Vorzel and Irpin.
In the Irpin area, which has been cut off from electricity, water and heat for three days, witnesses saw at least three tanks Monday and said Russian soldiers were seizing houses and cars.
A few kilometres away, in the small town of Horenka, where shelling reduced one area to ashes and shards of glass, rescuers and residents picked through the ruins as chickens pecked around them.
"What are they doing?" Vasyl Oksak, a rescue worker, asked of the Russian attackers. "There were two little kids and two elderly people living here. Come in and see what they have done."
Russian forces also continued their offensive in Mykolaiv, opening fire on the city some 480 kilometres south of Kyiv, according to Ukraine's military. Rescuers said they were putting out fires caused by rocket attacks in residential areas.
Emergency officials in the Kharkiv region said overnight shelling killed at least eight people and wrecked residential buildings, medical and education facilities and administrative buildings.
Russia has grown increasingly isolated in the face of punishing sanctions. The ruble's value has plunged, and the country's extensive business ties with the West have been all but severed.
Moscow has also cracked down on independent reporting on the conflict and arrested anti-war protesters en masse. On Sunday more than 5000 people in 69 cities were detained, according to rights group OVD-Info — the highest single-day figure since the invasion began.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for more punitive measures, including a global boycott of Russia's oil exports, which are key to its economy.
"If (Russia) doesn't want to abide by civilised rules, then they shouldn't receive goods and services from civilisation," he said in a video address.
Russia's invasion has nearby countries terrified that the violence could spread.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday began a lightning visit to the three Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, former Soviet republics that are Nato members. Blinken hoped to reassure them of the alliance's protection.
The West has rushed weapons to Ukraine, but Nato has shown no interest in sending troops into the country and has rejected Zelenskyy's pleas to establish a no-fly zone for fear that could trigger a wider war.
Relationship with Russia is 'rock solid': China
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi says his nation's relationship with Russia is "rock solid" amid a flurry of sanctions placed on Vladimir Putin's government.
Speaking in his annual news conference on the sidelines of China's annual meeting of parliament, Yi said China and Russia will maintain strategic focus and "keep deepening China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination" for a new era.
"However difficult and bad the international situation, China and Russia will maintain strategic stability," he said.
EU warned of staggering amount of refugees
EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell has warned Europe to prepare for as many as five million people as Ukrainian refugees cross borders in droves. If attacks on the nation continues, as many as one in eight of the country's 45 million strong population are expected to flee west to Europe.
Approximately one million Ukrainians have already arrived in Poland.
"We must prepare to receive around five million people ... We must mobilise all the resources of the EU to help those countries receiving people," Borrell said. "We will need more schools, more reception centres - more of everything."
