On Day 11 of Russia’s war on Ukraine, Russian troops shelled encircled cities, and it appeared that a second attempt to evacuate civilians from the besieged port city of Mariupol had failed due to continued violence.
Ukrainian officials said shelling disrupted what was supposed to be a cease-fire beginning at noon local time, when a a pro-Russian official said safe-passage corridors were to have opened.
The number of Ukrainians forced from their country increased to 1.5 million, and the Kremlin’s rhetoric grew, with Russian President Vladimir Putin warning that Ukrainian statehood is in jeopardy.
He likened the West’s sanctions on Russia to “declaring war.”
