Even as Russia announced a ceasefire starting Monday morning and the opening of humanitarian corridors in several areas, its armed forces continued to pummel Ukrainian cities, with multiple rocket launchers hitting residential buildings.
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The limited ceasefire announcement came a day after hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian civilians attempting to flee to safety were forced to shelter from Russian shelling of cities in Ukraine's center, north and south. Officials from both sides planned a third round of talks Monday.
Russian forces continued their offensive, opening fire on the city of Mykolaiv, 480 kilometers south of the capital of Kyiv, Ukraine's General Staff said Monday morning. Rescuers said they were putting out fires in residential areas caused by rocket attacks.
Shelling also continued in the suburbs of Kyiv, including Irpin, which has been cut off from electricity, water and heating for three days.
"Russia continues to carry out rocket, bomb and artillery strikes on the cities and settlements of Ukraine," the General Staff said. "The invaders continue to use the airfield network of Belarus to carry out air strikes on Ukraine."
Ukraine called the Russian proposal on humanitarian corridors "completely immoral" on Monday.
A spokesman for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian citizens should be allowed to leave their homes through Ukrainian territory, and accused Russia of deliberately hampering previous evacuation attempts.
"This is a completely immoral story. People's suffering is used to create the desired television picture," the spokesman said in a written message. "These are citizens of Ukraine, they should have the right to evacuate to the territory of Ukraine."
NATO member nations have a "green light" from the US to send fighter jets to Ukraine, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday in an interview with CBS News.
When asked if the US were afraid that NATO member nation aircraft would escalate the Ukraine crisis, Blinken said "No, that gets a green light. We're talking with our Polish friends right now about what we might be able to do to backfill their needs if, in fact, they choose to provide these fighter jets to the Ukrainians. What can we do? How can we help to make sure that they get something to backfill the planes that they're handing over to the Ukrainians? We're in very active discussions with them about that.
"I've been in Europe for the last couple of days working closely as always with our allies and partners at NATO, the European Union, the G7 countries, and all of us together are continuing to take steps to increase the pressure on Russia through additional sanctions, all of which are very actively under discussion and will be implemented in the coming days, as well as taking further steps to give the Ukrainians what they need to defend themselves against the Russian aggression," Blinken said.
Blinken praised Zelenskyy for his "remarkable leadership" and the "incredibly brave" Ukrainian people.
In a video statement Sunday evening, Zelenskyy heaped criticism on Western leaders for not responding to the Russian Defense Ministry's announcement that it would strike Ukraine's military-industrial complex, while telling employees of these defense plants not to go to work.
"I didn't hear even a single world leader react to this," Zelenskyy said. "The audacity of the aggressor is a clear signal to the West that the sanctions imposed on Russia are not sufficient."
Zelenskyy called for organizing a "tribunal" to bring to justice those who order and carry out such crimes.
"Think about the sense of impunity of the occupiers that they can announce such planned atrocities," he said.
Late Sunday, Russian forces stepped up their shelling of Ukrainian cities in the center, north and south of the country, presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovich said.
"The latest wave of missile strikes came as darkness fell," he said on Ukrainian television.
He said the areas that came under heavy shelling include the outskirts of Kyiv, Chernihiv in the north, Mykolaiv in the south, and Kharkiv, the country's second-largest city.
Kharkiv officials said the shelling damaged the television tower and heavy artillery was hitting residential areas.
In Chernihiv officials said all regions of the city were coming under missile attack.
Arestovich described a "catastrophic" situation in the Kyiv suburbs of Bucha, Hostomel and Irpin, where efforts to evacuate residents on Sunday failed. He said the government was doing all it could to resume evacuations.
Evacuations also failed in Mariupol in the south and Volnovakha in the east because of the shelling.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Monday it would hold fire and open humanitarian corridors in several Ukrainian cities starting 10 a.m. Monday to allow civilians to evacuate, Russia's IFAX news agency reported.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the House is exploring legislation to further isolate Russia from the global economy, including banning the import of its oil and energy products into the US.
Amid rising gasoline prices in the US, the Biden administration has yet to call for an oil import ban on Russia.
In a letter to Democrats released Sunday night, Pelosi says the legislation under consideration would also repeal normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus and begin the process of denying Russia access to the World Trade Organization.
Pelosi says the House would also empower the Biden administration to raise tariffs on Russian imports.
Congress intends to approve the Biden administration's request for $10 billion in humanitarian, military and economic support for Ukraine, Pelosi said, as part of omnibus government funding legislation this week.
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