A ceasefire in and around the the city of Mariupol, home to many Ukrainian Greeks, which was to open a humanitarian corridor for the population of 450,000 has been postponed according to local authorities.
Ukrainian authorities claim that Russian forces encircling the city were not respecting an agreed ceasefire.
In a statement, the city council asked residents to return to shelters in the city and await further information on evacuation.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said Russia was not observing an agreed ceasefire in some areas, preventing a joint plan to allow civilians to evacuate.
AFP reporters have also been able to document the devastation across Ukraine, showing harrowing images of mainly residential areas destroyed, despite Moscow’s insistence it is not targeting civilian areas.
On Saturday Russian President Vladimir Putin said Western sanctions were akin to war threatening that if they “continue to do what they are doing, they are calling into question the future of Ukrainian statehood”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged resistance, saying his people kept control of key cities in central and southeastern Ukraine. In a video address to the nation, he urged Ukrainians in cities taken over by Russian forces to fight back.
“It is a special kind of heroism — to protest when your city is occupied,” Zelenskyy said. “Ukrainians in all of our cities that the enemy has entered — go on the offensive! You should take to the streets! You should fight!”
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also released a statement saying, “Ukraine is bleeding, but Ukraine has not fallen, and stands both feet on the ground… The myth of the unbeatable and almighty Russian army is already ruined”.
In response a Russian Defence Ministry spokesman later announced the assault was back on, citing “the unwillingness of the Ukrainian side to… extend the ceasefire”. Following the announcement, several convoys attempting to safely evacuate populations wanting to flee Ukraine were halted or had to reassess and change their routes.
The mayor of Mariupol issued a plea for help as water, heating and electricity remained cut in the southern Ukrainian port city. “We are simply being destroyed,” he said.
In order to pressure Russia to stop the war, US-based card payment giants Visa and Mastercard announced they will suspend operations in Russia, while world leaders vowed to act over the intensifying onslaught.
“And if this happens, they will be fully responsible,” Mr Putin said.
President Zelensky also urged the West to boost military assistance to Ukraine including warplanes; specifically Eastern European neighbours to provide Russian-made planes that his citizens are trained to fly.
“The current leadership needs to understand that if they continue doing what they are doing, they risk the future of Ukrainian statehood,” Putin responded.
Greece has already granted temporary residency to 2,704 Ukrainian nationals. Greece has a total of 5,000 beds available that could rise to 30,000 if needed, the Migration & Asylum Ministry said.
Read more: Greece takes in thousands of Ukrainian refugees and prepares for surge
Among the 1 million refugees and foreign citizens that fled Ukraine were two Tasmanian teachers who fled Ukraine’s capital Kyiv where they lived since July 2021. The couple from Huonville, Tasmania crossed into Romania on foot with a few possessions and their three cats
They had been unable to leave sooner as they had been diagnosed with COVID-19 and were not allowed on any commercial flights
“We are very lucky internationals. Thank god for the European Union and Australia for going above and beyond” Ms Lehmann-Ware told News.com.au.
“It was like something out of World War Two, there were people (mainly woman and children) lined up everywhere and it started to snow” Ms Lehmann-Ware. This is 2022 not 1922,” she added, stating that when the war is over they plan to return and help rebuild the Ukrainian community they love.
