MAIN HEADLINES

- Plans to evacuate residents from the besieged city of Mariupol faltered for a second day in a row on Sunday after a temporary ceasefire deal fell apart again. Doctors Without Borders warned the humanitarian situation in the besieged port city was "catastrophic".

- Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeated his campaign in Ukraine is going according to plan, but that it would not end until Kyiv stopped fighting and Russia's demands were met. 

- Russian troops remain focused on Kyiv, the Ukrainian army has said, but continue to launch assaults on the strategic cities of Kharkiv and Mykolaiv while trying to carve out a land corridor with Crimea. Kyiv said on Sunday that Russian forces were preparing to carry out airstrikes on the Black Sea city of Odessa.

- Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to US President Joe Biden by phone on Saturday, discussing how to speed up sanctions against Russia, as well as US military, economic, and humanitarian assistance. Kyiv is pressing Washington for an embargo on Russian oil imports, but the White House is against a ban for fear of driving up prices.

- Zelensky has called on former Warsaw Pact Eastern European countries to provide Ukraine with Russian-made warplanes after some were promised last week. Poland and the US are discussing the possibility of Warsaw providing more fighter jets to Ukraine, with US backfilling Polish stocks.

- Israeli Premier Naftali Bennett met with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday, the Russian leader's first face-to-face talk with a foreign head of state since the conflict started. Bennet later spoke with Zelensky in an attempt to mediate an end to the conflict.

- Putin also spoke by phone with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who urged his Russian counterpart to declare a ceasefire in Ukraine, open humanitarian corridors and sign a peace agreement.

- US-based credit card companies Visa and Mastercard have announced they will suspend their operations in Russia.

- The International Monetary Fund has said it could sign off on a $1.4 billion emergency fund as soon as next week, warning of the conflict's "severe impact" on the global economy.

- Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi spoke by phone with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday, saying Beijing opposes any moves that "add fuel to the flames" in Ukraine.

- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has revealed a six-point plan in reaction to the Ukraine conflict, calling for the creation of an international humanitarian coalition and harsher sanctions on Moscow.

- More than 1,100 people were detained at protests in cities across Russia against Moscow's military operation in Ukraine on Sunday, a protest monitor said.

- The World Health Organization has confirmed "several" attacks on health care centers in Ukraine and is investigating others, causing multiple deaths and injuries, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

- UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi has called the exodus of Ukrainians the fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War Two.

- Western sanctions against Russia will act as a stumbling block to revive the Iran nuclear deal, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

- Ukraine says a third round of talks with Russia on ending the fighting will take place on Monday, but Moscow is less definitive. 

IN DETAIL

Russian advance

The evacuation of some of Mariupol's 400,000 residents faltered for a second day on Sunday following accusations of ceasefire violations from both Russia and Ukraine.

The plan was set to resume at noon and extend until 9 p.m, alongside the evacuation of the smaller southern city of Volnovakha. However, the city council said a convoy of evacuees was not able to leave, adding that it was "extremely dangerous to take people out under such conditions" as Moscow continues to develops its hold on the south of Ukraine.

Russian forces have progressed in the area since February 24, taking the city of Kherson, with the advance from occupied Crimea has in part turned east to link up with Russian-backed separatists and to seize Mariupol. 

Zelensky said Russian rockets had destroyed the civilian airport of the central-western region capital of Vinnytsia on Sunday, adding that Moscow was preparing to bombard another strategic southern city, Odessa.

Russian troops from Belarus have also advanced on the capital Kyiv from the northwest and northeast, while police say there continues to be relentless Russian shelling and air raids in the northeast Kharkiv region. Putin said on Sunday the military operation to "denazify" Ukraine was going according to plan.

A British military intelligence report released on Sunday claims that Russian forces are targeting populated areas in Ukraine, comparing the tactics to those Russia used in Chechnya in 1999 and Syria in 2016. So far more than 350 civilians have been killed, according to the U.N. rights office, with hundreds more injured. However, Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilian areas.

Zelensky has called on those in areas occupied by Russian troops to fight, saying on Saturday evening, "we must go outside and drive this evil out of our cities." He is pushing European allies to help secure aircraft from the U.S., while Washington said it was working with Poland as Warsaw considered providing fighter jets.

The Ukrainian leader also wants more lethal aid and repeated a call for a no-fly zone, a move NATO has resisted for fear that it would escalate the conflict beyond Ukraine's borders. President Joe Biden has promised to send more weapons and said sanctions could be escalated, seeking $10 billion in emergency funding to deal with the crisis. 

Putin on Saturday likened such sanctions "to a declaration of war," adding: "Thank God it has not come to that."

Mediation

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has entered the diplomatic fray of the Ukraine conflict, meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on Saturday, later speaking by phone with the Ukrainian leader.

Coordinating his efforts with the U.S., France and Germany, Bennett later headed to Berlin for talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, his spokesperson said. A Paris official said French President Emmanuel Macron and the Israeli leader would also “stay in touch with the aim of obtaining a ceasefire.” 

Zelenksy has asked Israel to mediate in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, though officials have played down expectations of securing a deal.

While the U.S. ally, which has a substantial population of immigrants from the former Soviet Union, has condemned Russia's actions and sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine, Israel has said it will maintain contact with Moscow in a bid to temper the crisis.

Putin also held almost two hours of talks with French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday, after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan spoke to the Russian leader in the morning. 

Ankara, which has close economic ties with both countries, has called Russia's attack on Ukraine unacceptable and offered to host peace talks, but opposes sanctions on Moscow.

Turkey said Erdogan had called for a ceasefire to ease humanitarian concerns, while Putin reportedly said he was ready for dialogue with Ukraine and foreign partners but any attempt to draw out negotiation would fail, according to the Kremlin.

Spiralling refugee crisis

Record numbers of refugees are heading into Poland from Ukraine, with figures expected to hit 1 million on Sunday. Polish border guards let through as many as 129,000 people on Saturday, the highest number in a single day since the conflict started.

Neighboring Poland's Ukrainian community stands at around 1.5 million, making the country a major destination for refugees, though many are also crossing into Slovakia, Hungary and northern Romania.

The total number of refugees fleeing Ukraine has now surpassed 1.5 million, with UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi calling it the fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War Two.

Aid agencies say many of the people who have fled Ukraine have ties to the large Ukrainian diaspora - family or friends, with whom they can seek shelter, relieving pressure on government-sponsored reception or refugee centres. 

"At the moment we are observing people going where they have connections," Grandi said.

While men of conscription age are obliged to stay in Ukraine, mostly women and children have made the journey into the EU. Romania has taken in 227,446 Ukrainians so far, including 31,628 who arrived on Saturday. More than 163,000 have entered Hungary since February 24.

Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger visited the Vysne Nemecke crossing on Saturday night and warned the country needed to prepare for an increasing flow of refugees. Police data showed nearly 114,000 people have crossed into Slovakia so far.

"The amount (of people crossing) are relatively stable and the speed of their handling is high," he told reporters. "But we expect the wave of refugees fleeing the war will grow and it is necessary to prepare for even higher numbers."