KYIV, Ukraine — A dozen days into a devastating war and a burgeoning refugee crisis, Russian forces on Monday launched withering new attacks on Ukrainian civilian areas and strategic centers, seeking to cripple the country’s defenses and establish supremacy over Ukraine’s vital Black Sea coast.
Amid a deepening humanitarian catastrophe in besieged Ukrainian cities and towns, Russian and Ukrainian representatives held a third round of talks Monday, but reported no political progress toward ending Europe’s biggest ground war in decades. A Ukrainian negotiator reported some “small positive shifts” on logistical arrangements for setting up humanitarian corridors as soon as Tuesday.
Earlier Monday, for the third time since the weekend, Russia announced a new cease-fire to allow civilians to escape four beleaguered Ukrainian cities, but there was little sign that its forces would honor that pledge. In some cities and towns, food, water and power dwindled, and then ran out.
