An attempt on the tenth day of of the Russian invasion of Ukraine to open a humanitarian corridor for the first time in the conflict failed.

The corridor was expected to help more than 200,000 people escape from besieged Mariupol and Volnovakha in the southeast of the country, but a ceasefire failed to hold.

Elsewhere fighting has continued on the outskirts of Kyiv as Russian forces advance from the east.

The cities of Kharkiv and Chernihiv – where a Russian jet was shot down this morning – also continue to be the targets of strikes, while fighting reached the outskirts of Mykolaiv.

The south

Protests broke out this morning in the southern cities of Kherson and Melitipol, the two biggest to be taken by Russian forces, in defiance of Russian occupation.

Fighting has also continued near Mykolaiv, where Russian forces unsuccessfully tried to take the city’s airbase.

Further east a humanitarian corridor was agreed, designed to allow the safe passage of civilians from the beleaguered cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha.

The Russians have made much swifter progress in the south than the north – the red areas are those they currently control.

But today two cities in which their forces are stationed – Kherson and Melitipol – saw protests erupt against Russian occupation.

This image shows people protesting in Kherson, where Russian soldiers fired shots into the air as a response.

In the southeast of the country a ceasefire was brokered in Mariupol and Volnovakha to allow more than 200,000 people safe passage inland.

Residents were told to assemble at these three locations in Mariupol to await buses to safety at 9:00 AM local time.

People were to be transferred along this route to Zaporizhzhia around 140 miles away.

But by 11:00 AM there was no confirmation that the ceasfire would go ahead, and continued fighting was observed along the route, according to Mariupol’s mayor. He said they would continue negotiations with Russia for a ceasefire.

The UK’s Ministry of Defence said Russia’s proposed ceasefire was likely an attempt to deflect international condemnation by shifting blame for the breakdown of the agreement on to the Ukrainians.

The north

Near Kyiv the biggest development was an advance by Russian forces to the east of the city, moving a step closer to encircling the capital.

These forces have moved relatively swiftly over sparsely populated flat ground, but they may now face more difficulty having reached the more built-up area of Kyiv’s eastern suburbs.

To the northwest of the city Russian forces are still being held up by resistance in places such as Irpin.

Professor Michael Clarke, former director of the defence think tank RUSI, said: “The Ukrainians probably can’t mount a strategic counter-offensive, but they can counterattack locally – and there’s a lot of evidence that’s what they’re doing.”

Border crossings

More Ukrainians have sought refuge in neighbouring countries, with the UN estimating today that almost 1.4 million people have fled the country in 10 days.

Filippo Grandi, head of the UN Refugee Agency, said: “This is the fastest moving refugee crisis we have seen in Europe since the end of World War Two.”

The humanitarian corridor set up from Mariupol was intended to take people to the more Zaporizhzhia. Yet this city could well be in the Russians’ sights in the coming days as well.

Unless Russia scales back its targeting of cities, more will be displaced. The International Organisation for Migration is currently predicting that there will be around 6.7 million internally displaced people in Ukraine.

It is why humanitarian aid reaching those in need is so important, but as Prof Clarke noted: “The humanitarian corridors are not a reality yet – the ceasefires haven’t held for more than a couple of hours.”

What’s happened so far?
– Day 1: Russia launches full-scale invasion
– Day 2: Russian forces reach Kyiv
– Day 3: Ukraine fights back in Kyiv, Russia gain in the south
– Day 4: Kyiv holds strong, heavy fighting in Kharkiv
– Day 5: Convoy grows around Kyiv as refugees flee
– Day 6: Cluster bombs hit Kharkiv
– Day 7: Civilian casualties mount
– Day 8: Mariupol is isolated as Russian forces create land bridge
– Day 9: Russian forces target Europe’s largest nuclear power plant

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