Ukraine crisis: Civilian death toll mounts after Russian attacks

Troop targets include home for elderly but Turkey’s envoy said hopes remain for peace negotiation

People in Mariupol dig a grave for victims of Russia's missiles in the shadow of a bombed building. Photo: Alexander Ermochenko

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The grim civilian death toll for Ukraine continued to rise on Sunday with reports of Russian attacks with the potential to cause mass civilian casualties.

The intensity of the fighting around the city centre of Mariupol also reached new levels as the defenders tried to hold off Russian forces amid fears its port could soon fall.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy labelled the atrocities “a terror that will be remembered for centuries to come” and called on Moscow to enter talks to end the conflict.

Russia’s hand in any future deal will be significantly strengthened if it manages to the seize the city of Mariupol. Doing so would give it a land corridor along the Sea of Azov to Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.

Rescuers spent Sunday searching for survivors after Russia bombed an arts centre sheltering 400 civilians in the city. The death toll is currently unknown.

In a separate incident, reported on Telegram, a Russian tank allegedly fired on a care home in the eastern Ukrainian town of Kreminna, near Luhansk, killing 56 elderly people, the local mayor said.

There were also reports that thousands of Mariupol residents had been taken to “filtration” camps in Russia.

“The very logic of Russia right now is the logic of the Soviet Union and the logic of Nazi Germany,” said Inna Sovsun, a Ukrainian MP.

It had been hoped that more civilians would escape the Luhansk area after a humanitarian corridor was agreed, with a “regime of silence” starting at 9am on Saturday. But it appears the Russians flouted the ceasefire.

In attacks on military targets Russia claimed it used a hypersonic missile for the first time to strike an underground weapons dump. The air-launched Kinzhal “Dagger” missile can hit a target up to 2,000 kilometres away and reach a speed of more than 6,000 km/h.

In another attack, up to 40 Ukrainian soldiers were apparently killed while asleep at their barracks in Mykolaiv when Russian warships in the Black Sea fired Kalibr cruise missiles.

“Russian forces have come to exterminate us, to kill us, and we have demonstrated the dignity of our people, and our army. We are able to deal a powerful blow,” President Zelenskyy told CNN on Sunday.

But he added if there was a one per cent chance of stopping the war he would take it, despite Russia’s actions. “Without negotiations we cannot end this war,” he said.

President Zelenskyy also looked to generate further global support for Ukraine after he addressed Israeli legislators in Tel Aviv over Zoom on Sunday.

Ukraine’s defence ministry has claimed that more than 12,000 Russian soldiers had been killed in the first 25 days’ fighting. While western totals put it at 7,000, there are reports that at least 2,500 Russian corpses have been transported at night to Belarus to hide the true toll from the public.

Doctors in the Belarusian city Homel have spoken of horribly disfigured soldiers and mortuaries overflowing with bodies which they say are shipped back to Russia by plane or train.

Despite the bloodshed, there is still hope for a settlement. Turkey’s chief negotiator, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, who is mediating between sides, said on Sunday there were grounds for optimism.

“It is not an easy thing to come to terms with while the war is going on, while civilians are killed,” he said. “But we see that the parties are close to an agreement.”

Mr Cavusoglu has visited both Russia and Ukraine in the past week, reinforcing Turkey’s strong links to both sides in the war.

But Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister, Olha Stefanishyna, sounded a more uncompromising tone, telling Sky television that Russia’s actions amounted to “massive genocide and murdering in the 21st century”.

Asked whether Ukraine would be prepared to give up some territory to Russia in peace negotiations, she said: “Absolutely not.”

A senior RAF figure said the invaders were still only making limited progress encircling cities in eastern Ukraine.

“It is likely Russia will continue to use its heavy firepower to support assaults on urban areas as it looks to limit its own already considerable losses, at the cost of further civilian casualties,” said Air Vice Marshal Mick Smeath.

Pope Francis described events in Ukraine as “inhumane and sacrilegious” during his address to thousands of worshippers in St Peter’s Square, Rome.