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Negotiators from Kyiv and Moscow began peace talks at the Belarus border on Monday at noon local time, while fierce fighting continued as Russia maintained its assault on Ukraine.
Kyiv’s delegation, led by Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, is seeking “an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of troops from Ukraine,” according to a statement from the office of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
As the fifth day of war dawned, air raid sirens sounded around the country and strikes were reported in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zhytomyr, Zaporizhzhia and Chernihiv, amid deep concern after Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday put his nuclear forces on high alert.
Russian ground forces have taken control of the town of Berdyansk on the Black Sea coast between the Crimean peninsula and the Russian-backed breakaway region of Donbas, defense ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov claimed Monday morning. Russian-backed forces in the eastern breakaway regions have also advanced. But Ukraine’s armed forces on Monday said they continued to hold Kyiv, along with other major cities.
In a new video posted on Telegram on Monday, Zelenskyy said 16 Ukrainian children had been killed and 45 wounded as a result of Russia’s offensive.
“When I ran for the presidency, I said each of us is the president,” Zelenskyy said. “And now, each of us is a warrior.”
Zelenskyy also announced he would release prisoners with combat experience if they wished to fight for Ukraine, to “compensate their guilt.”
The Ukrainian president also called for the EU to immediately allow his country to join. “We ask the European Union for Ukraine’s immediate accession under a new special procedure,” he said.
On Sunday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc wants the country to join, noting in an interview that: “They are one of us and we want them in.” However, the decision to add new countries to the EU lies with existing member countries, which don’t always agree with the Commission’s views. Ukraine is still not an official candidate for EU accession talks.
Zelenskyy also had a message for the Russian invaders.
“Why did you all come here?” he asked the Russian forces in Ukrainian, before appealing directly to them in Russian: “Drop your weapons and leave. Don’t trust your commanders. Don’t trust your propagandists. Just save your lives. Leave.”
Belarus held a referendum Sunday on proposed changes to its constitution that would end its status as a nuclear-free zone — opening the way for a possible deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in the country. Unsurprisingly, Minsk, which is run by dictator Alexander Lukashenko, said Monday that it had won the referendum, amid reports overnight that Belarusian troops are set to join the war, giving support to Putin’s forces.
Russia, meanwhile, is feeling the pinch from retaliatory sanctions imposed by the West.
The Russian central bank was forced to ban sales of local securities by foreigners on Monday, and more than double its key interest rate to 20 percent from 9.5 percent following what it called a “cardinal change in external conditions.” The Russian finance ministry also announced it would require exporters to sell 80 percent of hard currency proceeds for rubles, in a bid to stave off a collapse of the Russian currency.
Russia is also facing significant losses on the battlefield.
Ukraine’s armed forces estimated that the losses suffered by Russia from the beginning of its war last week until 6 a.m. Monday included 29 planes, 29 helicopters, 191 tanks, 816 armored personnel carriers, 74 artillery pieces, 60 tanks and two ships, among other equipment. Ukraine also said it estimated Russia had suffered about 5,300 casualties, with Zelenskyy saying in his Monday video that “four and a half thousand” Russians had been killed.
Russia has not issued estimates of its losses in the war, but on Monday claimed to have struck 1,114 objects of Ukrainian military infrastructure since launching its offensive. In addition, the defense ministry’s Konashenkov claimed Russia had destroyed 314 Ukrainian tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 57 multiple rocket launchers, 121 field artillery and mortars and 274 special military vehicles.
European defense ministers will meet at 12:30 p.m. on Monday, foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell announced, as the EU moved over the weekend to increase its defense capabilities and send lethal weapons to Kyiv.
European Council President Charles Michel said Monday that, “this weekend, the Europe of defense has become a very tangible reality.” He added: “At the moment, there are about 20 European states which, in addition to the means decided within the EU, on a bilateral level, are going to dedicate military means, rockets, ammunition, anti-tank weapons, anti-missile weapons, air defense, in order to support the Ukrainians who are a sort of bulwark, a bulwark that we must support and protect.”
Reznikov, the Ukrainian defense minister, welcomed Europe’s help. In a Facebook post in the early hours of Monday morning, he said: “Half of Europe is already collecting, packing, and carrying weapons and armor” for Ukraine. “The circle of states that provide real help has increased significantly. The scale has increased.”
And while EU interior ministers met on Sunday to discuss the worsening humanitarian situation on the bloc’s border, Reznikov noted that “Europe has already provided a temporary shelter to tens of thousands of those we want to save the most — our little ones and their mothers. Without any formalities.” He added: “We really don’t have a border in the west now.”
Those stuck in the hardest-hit cities in Ukraine reported terrifying scenes on the ground.
In northeastern Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city and which Russia has been bombarding, three doctors who are sheltering at the clinic where they work said they “live in hell.” In an email, Professor Marina Petrushko, Dr. Vladimir Pinyaev and Dr. Taisiya Yurchuk said: “Our lives have narrowed to the limits of basements.” Their clinic, “where life was born, has become a shelter … Thank God — the house has thick walls and a solid basement.”
They added: “The Russians are destroying everything: residential neighborhoods, kindergartens, hospitals, even a blood transfusion station. Without the support of the whole world, we will not be able to cope with the Russian invasion. Please, help.”
Douglas Busvine and Camille Gijs contributed reporting.
