Kyiv accuses Moscow of ceasefire violation as Russia says weighing response to new US ban

Ukraine accused Russia of breaking a ceasefire to prevent the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped in the besieged port of Mariupol, where the Red Cross has described conditions as "apocalyptic".

Meanwhile, the newly announced US ban on Russian oil and gas imports to the country was met with heavy criticism from Moscow on Wednesday with the Kremlin accusing the US of declaring an economic war on Russia.

Moscow put Washington on notice saying that it is carefully weighing their response to the new US ban on energy imports from Russia, according to various media reports.

Regarding the evacuation of civilians, Russia said it would hold fire to let civilians flee besieged cities, but efforts to evacuate Mariupol appeared to have failed again, as have several previous attempts since Saturday.

"Russia continues holding hostage over 400,000 people in Mariupol, blocking humanitarian aid and evacuation. Indiscriminate shelling continues," Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter. "Almost 3,000 newborn babies lack medicine and food."

Quoting local officials, Reuters reports that some civilians in other cities had left on Wednesday through safe corridors, including out of Sumy in eastern Ukraine and Enerhodar in the south.

However, Russian forces were preventing a convoy of 50 buses from evacuating civilians from the town of Bucha outside Kyiv, local authorities said in an online post, adding that talks continued to allow the convoy to leave.

Both sides have accused each other of violating ceasefires that would allow them to evacuate Mariupol, which Russian forces have kept under siege for more than a week.

On Tuesday, the Red Cross called conditions inside the city "apocalyptic", with residents sheltering underground from relentless bombardment, with no access to food, water, power or heat.

More than 2 million people have fled Ukraine since President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion nearly two weeks ago. Moscow calls its action a "special military operation" to disarm its neighbour and dislodge leaders it calls "neo-Nazis."

Kyiv and its Western allies dismiss that as a baseless pretext for an unprovoked war against a democratic country of 44 million people.

West is engaging in 'hostile bacchanalia': Kremlin:

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the sweeping sanctions imposed on Russia by the White House and its Western allies over its offensive in Ukraine as "hostile bacchanalia" that had roiled global markets.

He added that the decisions announced by US President Joe Biden demanded "deep analysis", and cautioned Moscow would "do what is necessary to defend its interests" in response.

Zelenskyy reiterates no-fly zone plea

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy makes a desperate appeal for international support, saying it is the 'duty of the world to respond'.

Zelenskyy says the international community will be responsible for a mass "humanitarian catastrophe" if it does not agree to establish a no-fly zone to protect his country, reports Al Jazeera.

In a daily televised address, Zelenskyy said the threat level in Ukraine was at a maximum nearly two weeks into Russia's invasion but Ukrainians had shown they would never give in.

Kyiv's Western allies, including the US and United Kingdom, have previously ruled out imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine.