Russia announced new “humanitarian corridors” on Monday to transport Ukrainians trapped under its bombardment – to Russia itself and its ally Belarus, a move immediately dismissed by Kyiv as an immoral stunt. The announcement came after two days of failed ceasefires to let civilians escape the besieged city of Mariupol, where hundreds of thousands of people were trapped without food and water, under relentless bombardment and unable to evacuate their wounded. The new “corridors” would be opened at 10am Moscow time (3pm Hong Kong time) from the capital Kyiv and the eastern cities of Kharkiv and Sumy, as well as Mariupol, Russia’s defence ministry said. According to maps published by the RIA news agency, the corridor from Kyiv would lead to Belarus, while civilians from Kharkiv would be permitted to go only to Russia. Russia would also mount an airlift to take Ukrainians from Kyiv to Russia, the ministry said. However, these were unlikely destinations for many Ukrainians who would prefer to head toward countries on the western and southern borders. A spokesperson for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the move “completely immoral” and said Russia was trying to “use people’s suffering to create a television picture”. “They are citizens of Ukraine, they should have the right to evacuate to the territory of Ukraine,” the spokesperson said ahead of a third round of talks on Monday. “This is one of the problems that is causing the humanitarian corridors to break down. They seem to agree to them, but they themselves want to supply humanitarian aid for a picture on TV, and want the corridors to lead in their direction.” Ukraine, Russia foreign ministers agree to meet in Turkey Later, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said Russian shelling was preventing the evacuation of civilians from Kyiv, Mariupol, Sumy, Kharkiv, Volnovakha and Mykolayiv. “This prevents the safe passage of humanitarian columns with Ukrainian and foreign citizens, as well as the delivery of medicines and food,” it said in a statement. Ukraine: Desperate people trapped in Kyiv suburbs, fearing for their lives The ministry called on foreign leaders to force Russia to observe a ceasefire to prevent what it said could be a humanitarian catastrophe. Belarusian news agency Belta posted a photo of Russian and Ukrainian representatives on Telegram on Monday afternoon, saying “humanitarian corridors to evacuate” the civilian population in Ukraine were on the agenda for the talks on the Belarus-Poland border. Also Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said he did not ask Putin to open humanitarian corridors towards Russia and Belarus, denying a claim made by Russian officials. Moscow had announced the proposed escape routes after the two leaders spoke by telephone on Sunday, saying the move was taken after a “personal request” by Macron. But the Elysee Palace said no such request was made and Macron went on to accuse Putin of hypocrisy and cynicism over the humanitarian corridors allowing evacuation only to Russia or Belarus. Russia’s invasion has been condemned around the world, sent more than 1.5 million Ukrainians fleeing abroad, and triggered sweeping sanctions that have isolated Russia in a way never before experienced by such a large economy. Most of those fleeing have gone to neighbouring countries such as Poland, which had taken in some 885,000 people as of Sunday, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said. US and European allies discuss banning imports of Russian oil Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians. It calls the campaign it launched on February 24 a “special military operation” to disarm Ukraine and arrest leaders it calls neo-Nazis. Ukraine and its Western allies say this a transparent pretext for an invasion to conquer a nation of 44 million people. Meanwhile, German Development Minister Svenja Schulze warned on Monday that Russia’s invasion threatens to drive millions of people in Africa into hunger. Ukraine’s wheat production, a major food source for Africa, could be at risk if the conflict continues, Schulze said, adding that it could mean “8 to 13 million additional people will be driven into hunger”. Oil prices soared to their highest levels since 2008 in Asian trade after the Biden administration said it was exploring banning imports of Russian oil. Russia provides 7 per cent of global supply and Russian oil accounts for about 8 per cent of US crude imports. Japan, which counts Russia as its fifth-biggest supplier of crude oil, is also in discussion with the United States and European countries about possibly banning Russian oil imports, Kyodo News reported on Monday. Europe relies on Russia for crude oil and natural gas but has become more open to the idea of banning Russian products, a source familiar with the discussions told Reuters. The general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said Russian forces were “beginning to accumulate resources for the storming of Kyiv”, a city of more than 3 million, after days of slow progress in their main advance south from Belarus. While Russia’s advance in the north on Kyiv has been stalled for days with an armoured column stretching for miles along a highway, it has had more success in the south, pushing east and west along the Black and Azov Sea coasts. Most Chinese nationals have now left Ukraine, remainder urged to go About 200,000 people remained trapped in Mariupol, most sleeping underground to escape more than six days of shelling by Russian forces that has cut off food, water, power and heating, according to the Ukrainian authorities. About half of the people in the city were due to be evacuated on Sunday, but that effort was aborted for a second day when a ceasefire plan collapsed as the sides accused each other of failing to stop shooting and shelling. Ukrainian authorities said on Monday the southern city of Mykolayiv was being shelled. Zelensky has warned that Russia’s next big target could be Odessa, a historic Black Sea port of 1 million people. The official UN civilian death toll from hostilities across Ukraine is 364, including more than 20 children, though officials acknowledge this probably represents a fraction of the true toll. Russia has acknowledged nearly 500 deaths among its soldiers. Ukraine says the true toll is many thousands. Death tolls cannot be verified, but footage widely filmed across Ukraine shows bombed out wreckage of Russian armoured columns and Ukrainian cities reduced to rubble by Russian strikes. Netflix, TikTok block services in Russia to avoid crackdown US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States had seen credible reports of deliberate attacks on civilians and was documenting them to support a potential war crimes investigation. Zelensky warned Russians who committed atrocities against civilians would face punishment. “For you there will be no peaceful place on this earth, except for the grave,” he said in a televised evening address. As anti-war protests took place around the world, Ukraine renewed its appeal to the West to toughen sanctions and also requested more weapons, including Russian-made planes. Blinken said the United States was considering how it could backfill aircraft for Poland if it decided to supply its warplanes to Ukraine. Additional reporting by Associated Press and Agence France-Presse