Kyiv stops civilian evacuations from east Ukraine

Ukraine said on Sunday it was pausing the evacuation of civilians from the war-scarred east of the country for a day because of a failure to agree terms with Russian forces.

"As of this morning, April 17, we have not been able to agree with the occupiers on a ceasefire on the evacuation routes. That is why, unfortunately, we are not opening humanitarian corridors today," Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk wrote in a statement on social media, referring to Moscow's forces.

Ukraine 'cannot fulfil Russian ultimatums'

Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine could not fulfil "Russian ultimatums," claiming Moscow was seeking to "destroy" his country.

"Ukraine cannot fulfil Russian ultimatums. We should be destroyed first, then their ultimatum would be fulfilled," he told local media. He said Moscow wanted Ukraine to "hand over" Kharkiv, Mariupol and Kyiv, adding that neither the people of those cities "or me, as president, can do this."

Russian ultimatum

Russia's defense ministry says it has cleared the whole of Mariupol's "urban area" of Ukrainian forces.

They say the only remaining Ukrainian soldiers are in the Azovstal metalworks -- and that their only chance to live is to "lay down their arms and surrender".  —Agence France-Presse