Russian invasion of Ukraine enters its eleventh day as first humanitarian corridors are established

It has been 11 days since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 11 days of war in Europe. The unsuccessful early stages of the offensive, in which Russian troops made little progress, increased the Kremlin's aggressiveness. The Russian army then began besieging the country's main cities and bombing civilian targets. This phase of the operation only galvanised the Ukrainian resistance, which, led by President Volodymir Zelensky, has not yet had its last word.

Evacuation work resumed on Sunday in the port city of Mariupol after Russian forces violated the temporary ceasefire agreed during negotiations in the Belarusian city of Brest. Close to the Polish border, the town hosted the second meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations since the invasion, where the establishment of humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians was agreed.

But Russia did not keep its side of the bargain and, during the first rescue operations, continued to launch air strikes on the evacuation routes. And also on Mariupol, which has been blockaded since Thursday. A blatant violation of the ceasefire forced the Ukrainian authorities to halt the evacuation and renegotiate a new regime of silence that would allow residents to leave the city after several days without heat, electricity or water.

A new ceasefire has been declared in Mariupol from 12 noon local time until 9 p.m., pending whether it will also be resumed in Volnovaja, the other, smaller municipality where the first evacuations were launched. In principle, the route will end 200 kilometres away in Zaporiyia, the town where Europe's largest nuclear power plant is located, the subject of a dispute between Russian and Ukrainian forces.

About nine hours of ceasefire. That is the deadline for the authorities to evacuate the population, women and children, because those over 18 are obliged to take up arms. Except if there is a repeat scenario of further attacks, where the operation would again be postponed. "We ask all drivers leaving the city to facilitate the evacuation of civilians as much as possible," the Mariupol city council told residents.

Located in the Donetsk oblast and bathed by the Sea of Azov, the city of 446,000 inhabitants is a strategic enclave for Russia's aspirations because it would allow its forces to establish a corridor between the Donbass and the Crimean peninsula, both of which are controlled by Moscow. Gaining control of this area would leave Ukraine without one of its exits to the sea and would embolden Ukrainian forces to advance northwards.

The city is razed to the ground. The shelling has been indiscriminate, hitting residential areas and other civilian targets. It could fall into Russian hands in the next few days, but Mariupol is not alone in going through its lowest hours. The seizure of Kherson - the first oblast capital outside Ukrainian territorial control - and Melitopol in the south has not been joined by new cities despite the ongoing siege of Kharkov, Chernobyl, Volnovaja and Mykolaiv.

Russia's offensive is advancing and intensifying, with its sights set on Odessa, in the face of the tenacity shown by the Ukrainian army. President Volodymir Zelensky once again praised this resilience in a new address to the nation on Sunday. The Ukrainian leader, who has not left the capital despite rumours that he is out of the country, is proving that the label of 'wartime president' does not weigh on him, and continues to deploy a manual of political communication in times of war, winning the battle of the narrative.

Zelenski insists on the establishment of a no-fly zone over Ukraine, an order that would prevent the movement of military aircraft and could involve the use of force. This measure has also been decreed in other conflicts such as those in Iraq, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Libya. That is why NATO maintains its refusal in the face of threats from Vladimir Putin, who said that he would include in the conflict anyone who takes action in this direction, raising the confrontation to a continental scale.

The sound of sirens and bombs breaks the silence in Kiev. Control of the country's nerve centre is crucial to control the rest of the state, but Russian forces are not going to have an easy time of it. In recent days, peaceful uprisings by the local population against the occupiers have proliferated. The Ukrainian people seem unwilling to be subdued. The powerful reaction, coupled with the cascade of economic consequences for Russia, may in the short to medium term prove to be a dead end for the Kremlin.

"The Kremlin does not want to accept and acknowledge its fiasco yet. But this moment is near. Discontent and demoralisation is growing among the occupying forces. Enlightenment is coming to them, as well as to some Russian oligarchs," Zelenski said. Mobilisations in Russia have multiplied in recent hours despite warnings from the Russian Prosecutor General's Office and the Interior Ministry, which threaten up to eight years in prison for participating in "mass riots".

Meanwhile, the humanitarian consequences are taking on historic proportions. Russia's aggression against Ukraine has provoked the fastest exodus in Europe since World War II, with at least 1.5 million people fleeing the country in record time, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). An avalanche of refugees has been concentrated mainly in Poland and Moldova.