Ukraine crisis update: Still no sign of a ceasefire

The bombardment and Russian airstrikes continue to devastate Ukraine, specifically the city of Mariupol. Both Ukraine’s Dmytro Kuleba and Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov have made clear in duelling news conferences after the face-to-face, that they had made no progress. Consequently, traders have moved back into safe-haven assets such as gold. 

The Ukrainian tweeted that his counterpart “seemed to have come to talk, not to decide.” “They seek Ukraine’s surrender. This is not going to happen,” Kuleba said.

However, there was a glimmer of hope in Asia on Friday on news that satellite photos have shown that a massive Russian convoy that had been mired outside the Ukrainian capital since last week appeared to have dispersed. US officials have been reporting that Ukrainian troops targeted the convoy with anti-tank missiles. The convoy's advance had also appeared to have stalled amid reports of food and fuel shortages.

Meanwhile, the Russian defence ministry will declare a ceasefire on Friday and open humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of Ukrainians from five cities, the RIA and Interfax news agencies have reported. The agencies quoted Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the Russian National Defence Control Centre, as saying people could either travel to Russia or other cities in Ukraine.

“From 10:00 am Moscow time [07:00 GMT] on March 11, 2022, the Russian Federation will declares a ‘regime of silence’ and is ready to provide humanitarian corridors,” Interfax said, citing a statement from Mizintsev.

The five cities are Kyiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Mariupol and Chernihiv. So far, no civilians have been able to leave the besieged port city of Mariupol.

Key updates

Aljazeera wrote the following bullet points:

• Ukraine tells UN nuclear watchdog IAEA it has lost all contact with facilities at the Chernobyl nuclear power station, which is now held by Russian forces.
• Over 400,000 civilians have so far been evacuated in Ukraine, according to Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky.
• More than 12,000 people have been evacuated from Sumy, while no civilians have been able to leave besieged Mariupol.
• High-level talks in Turkey between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba have not produced a ceasefire agreement.
• Fighting intensifies around Kyiv as Ukrainian forces attempt to block a column of Russian tanks.