NEW DELHI: Another batch of Indians, stranded in Ukraine, landed in Delhi on Monday from Budapest in Hungary.
Over the past week, more than 10,000 Indians have been evacuated from Ukraine under the Operation Ganga. Barring Kharkiv and Sumy, almost all Indians from the remaining regions of Ukraine have been evacuated.
Meanwhile, Russian forces intensified shelling of cities in Ukraine’s center, north and south, a Ukrainian official said, upending attempts to evacuate besieged civilians.With the Ukrainian leader urging his people to fight in the streets, Russian President Vladimir Putin shifted blame for the invasion, saying Moscow’s attacks could be halted “only if Kyiv ceases hostilities.”
A Ukrainian official said catastrophic conditions existed in suburbs around Kyiv, frustrating efforts to evacuate civilians.
The number of Ukrainians forced from their country increased to 1.5 million, and the Kremlin's rhetoric grew, with Russian President Vladimir Putin warning that Ukrainian statehood is in jeopardy. He likened the West's sanctions on Russia to "declaring war."
Here's are the latest developments:
PM Modi speaks to Putin, urges him to hold direct talks with Zelensky
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin wherein both leaders discussed the evolving situation in Ukraine. Putin briefed PM Modi on the status of negotiations between the Ukrainian and Russian teams, government sources say.
The Prime Minister urged Putin to hold direct talks with Zelenskyy, in addition to the ongoing negotiations between their teams.
PM Modi appreciated the announcement of ceasefire and establishment of humanitarian corridors in parts of Ukraine, including Sumy.
According to government sources, PM Modi stressed the importance of safe evacuation of Indian citizens from Sumy at the earliest. Putin assured the Prime Minister of all possible cooperation in their safe evacuation.
Russia snubs UN court hearings in case brought by Ukraine
Russia has snubbed a hearing at the United Nations' top court into a legal bid by Kyiv to halt Moscow's devastating invasion of Ukraine.
The court's president, American judge Joan E Donoghue, said Russia's ambassador to the Netherlands informed judges that “his government did not intend to participate in the oral proceedings.”
Ukraine has asked the court to order Russia to “immediately suspend the military operations” launched Feb. 24 “that have as their stated purpose and objective the prevention and punishment of a claimed genocide" in the separatist eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.
PM speaks to Ukrainian Prez; seeks help in evacuation of Indians from Sumy
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday spoke to Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and sought his support in the evacuation of Indian nationals stuck in Ukraine's Sumy.
During the telephonice conversation that lasted about 35 minutes, PM Modi thanked Zelenskyy for the help extended by the government of Ukraine in the evacuation of Indian nationals from Ukraine.
The Prime Minister also appreciated the continuing direct dialogue between Russia and Ukraine.
It was the second telephonic conversation between PM Modi and Zelenskyy after the conflict began in Ukraine.
Russia declares ceasefire in several Ukrainian cities
The Russian military will hold fire and open humanitarian corridors in several Ukrainian cities including the capital Kyiv at 1000 Moscow time (0700 GMT) on Monday, the Interfax news agency cited Russia's defence ministry as saying.
The corridors, which will also be opened from the cities of Kharkiv, Mariupol and Sumy, are being set up at the personal request of French President Emmanuel Macron and in view of the current situation in those cities, it said.
The Prime Minister's interaction with the two leaders comes amid India's all out efforts to evacuate its nationals, mostly students, from Ukraine, facing attack from Russia.
Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities.
Violence stops planned civilian evacuations against
Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko blamed Russian artillery fire for halting a second attempt in as many days to evacuate civilians from Mariupol.
The plan agreed to with Russian forces had been to allow people fleeing the combat and shelling to leave along designated humanitarian "green corridors," but Gerashchenko said on Telegram that Russians had not respected the truce.
A day earlier, Ukrainian officials similarly said Russian artillery fire and airstrikes had prevented residents from leaving before the agreed-to evacuations got underway in Mariupol and the nearby city of Volnovakha. Then, Putin accused Ukraine of sabotaging the effort.
Russia has sought to cut off Ukraine's access to the Sea of Azov in the south. Capturing Mariupol could allow Russia to establish a land corridor to Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.
Oleksiy Arestovich, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Ukrainian officials and international humanitarian organizations were working with Russia through intermediaries to establish humanitarian corridors from the hard-hit Kyiv suburbs of Bucha and Hostomel.
What else is happening on the ground?
Russian forces launched hundreds of missiles and artillery attacks across the country, including powerful bombs dropped on residential areas of Chernihiv, a city north of the capital of Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said. But a miles-long Russian armored column threatening the capital remained stalled outside Kyiv.
Sunday evening, heavy shelling also came to Mykolaiv in the south and Kharkiv, the country's second-largest city.
In the Kyiv suburbs of Bucha, Hostomel and Irpin, efforts to evacuate residents on Sunday were unsuccessful..
Ukrainian forces were also defending Odesa, Ukraine's largest port city, from Russian ships, Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovich said.
Russian troops took control of the southern port city of Kherson last week.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced Sunday plans to strike Ukraine's military-industrial complex, prompting criticism of Western leaders by Zelenskyy for not responding.
Zelenskyy said those who order and carry out such crimes should be brought to justice.
'No to war'
Anti-war protests took place around the world, including in Russia itself, where police detained more than 4,600 people, an independent protest monitoring group said.
The interior ministry said 3,500 demonstrators had been held, included 1,700 people in Moscow and 750 in St Petersburg.
Thousands of protesters chanted "No to war!" and "Shame on you!", according to videos posted on social media by opposition activists and bloggers.
Demonstrations also took place in Western capitals as well as in India and Kazakhstan, after jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny called for worldwide protests against the war.
Zelenskyy pushes call for no-fly zone
Zelenskyy pushed his call for foreign countries to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine. Establishing a no-fly zone would risk escalating the conflict by involving foreign militaries directly. Although the United States and many Western countries have backed Ukraine with weapons shipments, they have sent no troops.
Zelenskyy said in a video address on Sunday that "the world is strong enough to close our skies" and this weekend urged US officials help his country obtain warplanes to fight the invasion and retain control of its airspace.
NATO countries have ruled out policing a no-fly zone, which would bar all unauthorized aircraft from flying over Ukraine.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Sunday that some Ukrainian combat planes had redeployed to Romania and other Ukraine neighbors he didn't identify. He warned an attack from planes operating out of those nations could be deemed an engagement by them in the conflict.
Also Sunday, European Union leader Charles Michel said closing Ukraine's airspace could spark a world war.
Diplomatic efforts
Intense diplomatic efforts continued, with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Moldova pledging America's support to the small Western-leaning former Soviet republic. The country is coping with an influx of refugees from Ukraine and keeping an eye on Russia's intensifying war with its neighbor.
Blinken says the United States and its allies are having a "very active discussion" about banning the import of Russian oil and natural gas.
In a call with Putin that lasted nearly two hours on Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron repeated calls for Russia to halt military operations, protect civilians and allow humanitarian aid. A French official who spoke anonymously, in line with the French presidency's practices, said Macron told Putin that nuclear facilities must not be targeted and that Putin said he does not intend to attack nuclear plants and agreed on the principle of "dialogue" on the issue.
The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi, said Sunday Ukrainian staff members at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant are now required to seek approval for any operation, even maintenance, from the Russians. He said Russians who seized what is Ukraine's largest nuclear plant last week have impeded normal communications by switching off some mobile networks and internet at the site.
Putin continued to blame the war on the Ukrainian leadership and slammed their resistance to the invasion. He said if they continued to resist, "They are calling into question the future of Ukrainian statehood."
In a call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday, Putin said the invasion could be halted only "only if Kyiv ceases hostilities," according to a Kremlin statement on the phone call.
Israel's prime minister spoke with Putin on Sunday, a day after they met directly in Russia. Naftali Bennett was in Moscow on Saturday to met with Putin, then spoke to Zelenskyy and on Sunday with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The humanitarian situation
The death toll of the conflict has been difficult to measure. The UN human rights office said at least 364 civilians have been confirmed killed since the Feb. 24 invasion, but the true number is probably much higher.
The World Health Organization said it verified at least six attacks that have killed six health care workers and injured 11 others.
Attacks on health care workers are a violation of international humanitarian law, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Twitter.
The UN World Food Program says millions of people inside Ukraine, a major global wheat supplier, will need food aid "immediately."
Ukrainian refugees continued to pour into neighboring countries, including Poland, Romania and Moldova. The number of people who have left since fighting began has now reached 1.5 million, according to UN refugee agency.
Business in Russia
Two of the so-called Big Four accounting firms -- KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers -- said Sunday they were pulling out of Russia, ending relationships with member firms based in the country.
TikTok said users won't be able to post new videos in Russia in response to the government's crackdown on social media, and American Express announced it was suspending all operations in Russia and Belarus.
Netflix also announced it was suspending its service in Russia but did not provide additional details.
IAF flight, carrying Indian student shot at in Kyiv, lands in Delhi
An IAF flight, carrying Indian student Harjot Singh, who was shot at in Ukrainian capital Kyiv a few days ago, landed at Hindon airbase in Delhi on Monday evening, officials said. Minister of state for civil aviation V K Singh and around 200 Indians, mainly students, also returned to India on the flight that landed at 6.15 pm, they said. V K Singh was in Poland to facilitate the evacuation of students.
Moscow says it will let Ukrainian civilians flee to Russia
Moscow said on Monday it would provide corridors for residents of Ukraine's two main cities to flee to Russia and Belarus, a move Ukraine called an immoral stunt to exploit the suffering of civilians under Russian bombardment.
Russian and Ukrainian delegations assembled for a third round of talks in Belarus, both sides said. Two previous rounds yielded little beyond pledges to open routes for humanitarian access that have yet to be successfully implemented.
16,000 Indians evacuated so far
Minister of state for external affairs V Muraleedharan on Monday said out of almost 20,000 Indian citizens, including students, stranded in Ukraine, the Indian government evacuated over 16,000. "Around 3,000 Indians are still in the neighbouring countries of Ukraine, there are around 600 students in the country's northeastern city of Sumy," MoS Muraleedharan.