For the third day in a row, there will be no humanitarian corridors set up for Tuesday, deputy prime minister Iryna Vereschuk said on Telegram.

The official  said intensive shelling was continuing in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, where Russia has staged a new offensive.

The situation is dire in Mariupol as Russian troops refused to provide a safe passage to Berdyansk for civilians still trapped in the besieged city.

The deputy prime minister went on to say “difficult negotiations” were taking place to try to arrange humanitarian corridors in the southern region of Kherson and in the Kharkiv region.

Meanwhile, the evacuation effort is blocked in Luhansk region where Russian troops said no to a ceasefire regime on Tuesday, according to regional governor Serhiy Gaidai.