Ukraine: Mariupol rejects surrender, Kyiv hit by shelling — live updates

The Mayor of the Ukrainian capital Vitaliy Klitschko introduced a new curfew on Monday that is set to run from Monday evening to Wednesday morning.

The curfew "will begin at 8:00 p.m. (1800 GMT) and last until 7:00 a.m. (0500 GMT) on March 23," he wrote on Telegram.

The city introduced a curfew several days into the war as a means to identify Russian saboteurs that authorities said were roaming the city at the time.

Siege of Mariupol a 'massive war crime,' EU says

The European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Monday that Russia's attacks on the Ukrainian coastal city of Mariupol amount to a "war crime."

"What's happening now in Mariupol is a massive war crime, destroying everything, bombarding and killing everybody," Borrell told reporters.

His comments came ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers where they will discuss imposing further sanctions on Moscow. Borrell said that the ministers will also discuss possible measures against imports of Russian oil.

Russian airstrikes hit military base in western Ukraine

A military base in the western Ukrainian region of Rivne was hit by missiles from the Russian air force on Monday.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said that "high-precision air-launched cruise missiles" hit a training center used by Ukrainian as well as foreign soldiers. The Ukrainian agency Ukrinform said that two strikes had hit a firing range.

The attack was confirmed by the mayor of Rivne, Alexandr Tretiak, over his Telegram account, EFE reported.

"Based on initial information, several people were injured. We will update with more details later," he said.

Berlin expects arrival of more Ukrainian refugees

Following a drop in arrivals in recent days, Berlin can expect to see the number of incoming Ukrainian refugees increase to 20,000 per day, the city's accommodation coordinator, Albrecht Broemme, told local radio broadcaster RBB on Monday.

"We had up to 10,000 a day, we can cope with that," Broemme said. "But we should be ready to take in 20,000 refugees a day," he added.

Numbers have fallen in recent days due to blockages in Ukraine, but once these have been dealt with, it is expected that even more people will cross into neighboring countries and on to Germany.

Broemme said that the capital was prepared for the new arrivals and praised the work done to turn the former Berlin-Tegel airport into a shelter for refugees.

"I'm amazed at everything that's been done in such a short time," he told RBB.

Cease-fire talks to restart after Mariupol surrender deadline passes

Russian and Ukrainian negotiators are set to meet on Monday for a new round of cease-fire talks via video link, Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak announced on Sunday.

The Ukrainian delegation had expressed cautious optimism during the last round of talks, saying that Russia had appeared more open to negotiation. However, Podolyak added that it could take weeks to reach a deal with Moscow that would end the war.

Russia has stuck to its demands of demilitarizing Ukraine, the recognition of Donbas and Crimea as Russian territory, as well as guarantees that Ukraine will not join NATO.

Kyiv has also said it is unwilling to surrender. A deadline for the surrender of Mariupol to Russian forces passed on Monday morning after Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk on Sunday evening rejected the call for Ukrainian forces there to lay down their arms.

Overnight shelling in Kyiv leaves four dead

Emergency services in the densely populated Podil district of the Ukrainian capital said on Monday morning that at least four people had been killed after shelling hit a shopping center in a residential area.

"Enemy shelling" had caused fires on several floors of the 10-storey building and set several cars ablaze, emergency services posted on Facebook.

The force of the blast left a large crater and piles of debris were still smoldering on Monday as rescue workers searched through the rubble. 

An AFP journalist reported hearing a loud explosion that shook the city. Security footage released by emergency services showed a massive explosion, followed by cloud of smoke rising from the blast site, AFP reported.

Local residents told the news agency that they had seen a mobile rocket launcher near the shopping center over the previous days.

Ammonia leak at chemical plant in northeast Ukraine — reports

The regional governor of Sumy in northeastern Ukraine said there has been an ammonia leak at a chemical plant. The city is besieged by Russian forces who have been shelling it regularly.

The governor did not elaborate on the cause of the leak but said there had been contamination of an area with a radius of more than 5 kilometers (3 miles).

City authorities have advised people living in the area to breathe through bandages that have been soaked in citric acid.

Millions of children are 'in grave danger'

Humanitarian organization Save the Children says upwards of 6 million children are in imminent danger as a growing number of hospitals and schools come under attack during Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. 

"Up to 6 million children in Ukraine remain in grave danger as the war in Ukraine nears the one-month mark," the group's Ukraine director Pete Walsh said.

The organization said that 464 schools and 42 hospitals have been damaged as a resulted of Russian shelling.

According to UN figures, at least 59 children have been killed since the Russian invasion began on February 24.

"School should be a safe haven for children, not a place of fear, injury or death," Walsh said.

The bombardments have forced more than 1.5 million children to flee the country. However, Save the Children points out that nearly 6 million children remain behind.

"The rules of war are very clear: children are not a target, and neither are hospitals or schools. We must protect the children in Ukraine at all costs. How many more lives need to be lost until this war ends?" Walsh said.

Biden to visit Poland during Europe trip

US President Joe Biden will travel to NATO ally Poland on Friday to hold discussions with President Andrzej Duda over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the White House said.

"The president will discuss how the United States, alongside our allies and partners, is responding to the humanitarian and human rights crisis that Russia's unjustified and unprovoked war on Ukraine has created," said White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

Biden's visit will come after a stop in Brussels where he is scheduled to attend special summits of NATO, the G7 and the European Union.

Summary of Sunday's events in Ukraine-Russia crisis

Russia demanded that Ukrainian forces in the eastern port city of Mariupol lay down their arms.

But Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk refuted the notion of surrender in Mariupol, according to reports.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia's siege of Mariupol would "go down in history for war crimes."

Authorities in Mariupol said Russian forces bombed an art school in which 400 residents had taken shelter.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Russia and Ukraine were getting closer to an agreement on "critical" issues.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told CBS that Ukraine's resistance to Russia's invasion means Putin's ground forces "are essentially stalled."

Ukrainian authorities said that at least 260 civilians have been killed in the fighting around the country's second-biggest city, Kharkiv, since the start of the Russian invasion.

Russia's "devastating" war on Ukraine has driven 10 million people from their homes, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked why he can't get weapons from Israel and said the Iron Dome air-defense system would protect Ukrainians.