Defiant Ukrainian civilians took the streets on their president’s command Sunday, refusing to capitulate to occupying Russian forces who are now on their 11th day of war amid failed cease-fire talks.
“Ukrainians in all of our cities that the enemy has entered — go on the offensive! You should take to the streets! You should fight!” President Volodymyr Zelensky urged his people.
Residents in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, the first to fall to the Russians on March 2, heeded his calls. Waving blue and yellow Ukranian flags in the streets, protesters in the city of 300,000 shouted “go home” to the Russians troops.
In nearby Nova Kakhovka, Russian forces opened fire at the anti-occupation protest of around 2,000 people and injured at least five, according to Interfact Ukraine news agency. The cities of Berdyansk and Melitopol, just north of Crimea, saw demonstrations too.
“It is a special kind of heroism — to protest when your city is occupied,” Zelensky said.
In Mariupol, Ukrainian authorities attempted to evacuate almost half of the port city’s 400,000 residents Sunday under a ceasefire plan that quickly collapsed.
“They’re destroying us,” Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko told Reuters. “They will not even give us an opportunity to count the wounded and the killed because the shelling does not stop.”
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Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko said on Telegram that it’s impossible to achieve a “green corridor” when the “sick brain of the Russians” fires indiscriminately and without warning.
Both sides were blaming each other for the failed ceasefire Sunday — and Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted that he will continue to wage war until Ukrainians put down their arms.
Those trapped in Mariupol, where residential neighborhoods have been leveled, are sleeping in bomb shelters after almost a week of constant attacks. Ukrainian officials said food, water, power and heat are in scarce supply in the city that has been encircled by Russians who are sparing no one.
A mom and her two kids were killed attempting to evacuate from Irpin, a Kyiv suburb Sunday, according to the New York Times. The father was injured but reportedly still clinging to life.
Photos of the aftermath showed the bodies of the victims, including a child who appeared to be 8 years old, strewn along the sidewalk.
The Kremlin has denied attacking residential areas, and a Russia defense ministry spokesman was quoted warning other countries Sunday that if they offer airfields to Ukrainian forces it would be tantamount to entering the war.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that the US has seen “credible reports” that Russia is committing war crimes by attacking Ukrainian civilians and is working to take a harder line against the country without entering direct conflict.
Blinken told CNN’s “State of the Union” that White House is holding “active discussions” with European allies about banning Russian oil imports to cut off a lucrative revenue stream for Putin war chest.
The US has remained committed to not instituting a no-fly zone over Ukraine, which Putin said he would immediately view as a declaration of war.
GOP Senate Marco Rubio told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Sunday that implementing a “no-fly zone” over Ukraine means “World War III.”
“I think there are a lot of things we can do to help Ukraine protect itself… but i think people need to understand what a no-fly zone means,” the Florida politician said.
