While peace talks are still on the table and seven humanitarian corridors for those leaving Ukraine have been agreed on, war still rages on several fronts in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Authorities in Mariupol have said that nearly 40,000 have left quickly over the past week, which is about 10 per cent of the population of Mariupol.
Located strategically on the Sea of Azov, the city has been encircled by troops invading from Russia and has faced a pounding from missiles for three weeks, which has now come to symbolize the horror of the invasion.
The siege has cut off food, water and energy supplies, and killed over 2,300 people, some of whom have had to be buried in mass graves.
Pope Francis spoke from the Vatican Sunday, calling Russia’s Repugnant war against Ukraine a cruel and sacriligious inhumanity.
In his nightly address to Ukrainians, president Volodomyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine is interested in peace, adding that ongoing talks with Russia are “not simple or pleasant, but they are necessary.”
His now-nightly requests to meet directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin have come up empty.
The Russian military, meanwhile, says it has carried out a new series of strikes on some Ukrainian military facilities with long-range hypersonic and cruise missiles. A Russian Defence Ministry spokesman said cruise missiles launched by warships in the Caspian Sea were involved in a strike on the Black Sea port of Mykolaiv.
