Ukrainian servicemen help an elderly woman, in the town of Irpin, Ukraine. Photo / AP
The Russian military has warned Ukraine's neighbouring countries from hosting its warplanes, saying Moscow may consider them a part of the conflict if Ukrainian aircraft fly combat missions from their territory.
The warning comes as French president Emmanuel Macron spoke to Vladimir Putin earlier today (NZT) - a conversation primarily focused on the safety of Ukraine's nuclear facilities, said the French presidency.
The call was on request from Macron and lasted almost two hours, the Elysee said.
A French official said Macron insisted on the need to ensure the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) safety standards were respected at Chernobyl and in other nuclear plants.
He told Putin these facilities must not be targeted by a Russian offensive or caught in the fighting.
Putin said he does not intend to attack nuclear plants and agreed on the principle of a "dialogue" between IAEA, Ukraine and Russia on this issue, according to the official, who spoke anonymously in line with the French presidency's practices. Potential talks are to be organised in the coming days, he said.
Macron reiterated his call for Russia to stop its military operations and insisted on the need to protect the civilians and allow access to humanitarian aid.
"The (humanitarian) situation is difficult," the official stressed. "Our demands remain the same: we want Russia to respond to these demands ... very quickly and clearly."
Meanwhile, Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said that some Ukrainian combat planes had redeployed to Romania and other Ukraine neighbours he didn't identify.
Konashenkov warned that if those warplanes attack the Russian forces from the territory of those nations, it "could be considered as those countries' engagement in the military conflict".
At the weekend, plans to evacuate civilians from a besieged port city in Ukraine collapsed for the second time along with an expected Russian cease-fire, Ukrainian officials said as they tried to persuade Russia to agree on terms for safely getting residents out of areas under fire near Ukraine's capital.
Residents expected to leave the port city of Mariupol during a 10am-9pm local ceasefire, Ukrainian military authorities said earlier in the day. Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko said the planned evacuations were halted because of an ongoing assault by Russian troops.
"There can be no 'green corridors' because only the sick brain of the Russians decides when to start shooting and at whom," Gerashchenko said on Telegram.
The news dashed hopes of progress in easing, much less ending, the war in Ukraine, which is now in its 11th day and has caused 1.5 million people to flee the country. The head of the UN refugee agency called the exodus "the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II".
The presidents of Turkey and France, as well as Pope Francis, appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate to end the conflict.
Separately, Ukraine's national security service said Russian forces fired rockets at a physics institute in the city of Kharkiv that contains nuclear material and a reactor. Russian troops have already taken control of the Zaporizhzhia plant in Ukraine, as well as Chernobyl, the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster.
The security service said a strike on the nuclear facility in Kharkiv could lead to "large-scale ecological disaster". The service said on Facebook that the Russians were firing from Grad launchers. Those missiles do not have precise targeting, raising concern that one would go astray.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated a request for foreign protectors to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine, which Nato so far has ruled out because of concerns such an action would draw the West into the war.
"The world is strong enough to close our skies," Zelenskyy said in a video address on Sunday.
Putin warned that Moscow would consider a third-party declaration to close Ukrainian airspace to be a hostile act.
The disappointment for women, children and older adults who waited to leave Mariupol and the nearby city of Volnovakha while able Ukrainian men stayed behind to fight came after a similar cease-fire deal collapsed and foreign leaders sought to bring diplomacy to bear on ending the war.
Anastasia Gutorova, a Ukraine living in Auckland, said her brother had joined the military and his family was staying close to where he was stationed.
"I don't think anyone is safe right now in Ukraine. Things are just moving too fast, but they are trying their best to stay safe."
Her brother is currently away from the active fighting, but she said that changes everyday, she told AM.
"We will see how long it will lasts."
Gutorova, a lawyer, said the New Zealand Government had taken no direct unilateral sanctions against Russia and called on it to take targeted action.
"My call for the PM is deterrence without escalation."
She wanted to target Putin's power base.
The lawyer said New Zealand needed to freeze and confiscate the assets oligarchs' held in New Zealand. Other countries around the world had already done this and New Zealand needed to do the same, she said.
There were at least a few multi-million dollar properties in New Zealand owned by Russian oligarchs and she said it might take longer to identify where the others where because they were good at hiding their assets.
Putin told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Russia's invasion of Ukraine could be halted only " if Kyiv ceases hostilities and fulfils the well-known demands of Russia" according to the Kremlin's readout of the phone call the two leaders.
Putin earlier listed "demilitarisation" and "densification" of Ukraine, recognition of Crimea as part of Russia, and recognition of the separatist regions in eastern Ukraine as independent states as the Kremlin's main demands.
"Hope was expressed that during the planned next round of negotiations, the representatives of Ukraine would show a more constructive approach, fully taking into account the emerging realities." The third round of talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators is scheduled for Monday.
In a highly unusual move, Pope Francis said Sunday that he had dispatched two cardinals to Ukraine, saying the Vatican was will to do everything it could to bring peace to end a conflict that began on February 24 when Russia invaded Ukraine.
"In Ukraine, rivers of blood and tears are flowing," the pontiff said in his traditional Sunday blessing. "This is not just a military operation, but a war that sows death, destruction and misery."
On Saturday, Putin pinned the blame for the war on the Ukrainian leadership, slamming their resistance to Russian forces.
"If they continue to do what they are doing, they are calling into question the future of Ukrainian statehood," the Russian leader said. "And if this happens, it will be entirely on their conscience."
He also hit out at Western sanctions that have crippled Russia's economy and sent the value of its currency tumbling. Meanwhile, more companies are suspending operations in Russia, including Mastercard and Visa.
"These sanctions that are being imposed, they are akin to declaring war," he said.
As Russian forces surrounded several Ukrainian cities and maintained a convoy outside the capital, Kyiv, Zelenskyy appeared on television Saturday night wearing what has become a habitual military green T-shirt and rallied his people to remain defiant.
"Ukrainians in all of our cities that the enemy has entered - go on the offensive!" Zelenskyy said. "You should take to the streets! You should fight! … It is necessary to go out and drive this evil out of our cities, from our land."
Netflix and TikTok suspended most of their services in Russia on Sunday as the government cracks down on what people and media outlets can say about Russia's war in Ukraine.
TikTok said Russian users of its popular social media app would no longer be able to post new videos or livestreams and they also wouldn't be able to see videos shared from elsewhere in the world.
Netflix said it was suspending its service in Russia but didn't provide additional details.
The actions are likely to further isolate the country and its people after a growing number of multinational businesses have cut off Russia from vital financial services, technology and a variety of consumer products in response to Western economic sanctions and global outrage over the invasion of Ukraine.
- AP
Iranian missiles hit Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Ness Ziona on Sunday morning.