Russia continues blitz on Ukraine’s civilians while Red Cross warns thousands are trapped as safe route MINED

VLADIMIR Putin’s troops have made a mockery of peace efforts by mining supposed safe-routes out of an embattled city — leaving hundreds of thousands trapped in “medieval siege” conditions.

The chilling revelation came as the two-faced despot dashed ceasefire hopes by insisting women and children could leave the Ukraine as long as they fled into Russia or puppet state Belarus.

In the bloodbath city of Irpin desperate pensioners crossed a raging torrent of icy water on a slippery plank of wood in a bid to escape.

Nearby, two adults and two children were killed by shells.

In the northern city of Kharkiv, thousands queued at the city’s train station to flee non-stop shelling and missile strikes.

In the encircled port city of Mariupol, where temperatures plunge below freezing each night, families were left without power and water while food and medicine were running out.

Red Cross operations boss Dominik Stillhart said the city was facing “desperate scenes of human suffering”.

But staff who tried to leave on Sunday found roads heading inland were blocked with explosives — despite Russia designating them safe routes the day before.

He said: “As soon as they reached the first checkpoints they realised that, it was indicated, the road was actually mined.”

Ukrainian officials accused Moscow of resorting to “medieval siege” in a hearing at the International Court of Justice.

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Residents have been forced to drink rain water as Russian shells and rockets pound flatten the city outskirts.

The Kremlin claimed it was ready to stop fighting “in a moment” — but only if Ukraine agreed to outrageous demands to lay down arms and surrender vast swathes of occupied territory, including Donbas and Crimea.

Meanwhile Ukraine reported the first foreign fighters, including some from Britain, had joined its new Foreign Legion and were already fighting north of the capital Kyiv.

A spokesman claimed Russian losses had so far topped 11,000 soldiers, 290 tanks and almost 1000 armoured fighting vehihcles.

They also said they had shot down 46 Russian aircraft and 68 helicopters.

In a statement, the general staff said almost half of one Russian unit was wiped out in a battle near Sumy.

Experts agreed Moscow was feeling the pain of two week’s ferocious resistance.

The north eastern city of Chuhuiv was retaken by Ukrainian forces after fierce battles left two top Russian commanders dead.

And in the key navy port of Mykolaiv, Ukrainian troops launched a counter-offensive aimed at liberating the city’s airport.

Burned out Russian tanks and armoured vehicles littered the city’s streets after days of heavy fighting.

As soon as they reached the first checkpoints they realised that, it was indicated, the road was actually mined.

Red Cross operations boss Dominik Stillhart

Russian troops unleased heavy artillery in a bid capture its bridge over the strategic River Bug — which stands between Russia’s southern onslaught and Odesa, dubbed Ukraine’s southern capital.

US officials said Putin was nearly “all in”, having committed almost 100 per cent of the 150,000 strong force that he massed before his invasion.

Yet his troops have captured only a handful of the more minor cities, with Kyiv and Kharkiv in the north and Mariupol and Odesa in the south still fully under Ukrainian control.

Captured Russian soldiers have complained of low morale and terrible conditions. And in the towns that Russia does control they have faced heroic protests from fearless locals.

Last night former British General Sir Chris Deverell warned Mad Vlad Putin would now be “hell-bent on escalation” and the West would have to confront him sooner or later.

Ukraine’s President Zelensky warned the West would have blood on its hands unless it “closed the sky” to Putin’s jets.

Nato rejected Kyiv’s calls to implement a no-fly zone for fear of going toe-to-toe with Russia.

But the US said it was looking at ways to bolster Ukraine’s air force by supplying Soviet era MiG-29 jets from Poland and replacing them with US F-16s.

General Deverall said: “I have been against the imposition of a no-fly zone by Nato in Ukraine, believing that it would surely escalate the conflict.

“But Putin seems hell-bent on escalation. So the question is becoming — does Nato fight him now or fight him later?”

Britain’s top warrior Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said Russia’s victory was no longer inevitable.

He said its frontline units had been decimated by Ukraine’s armed forces who have been issued with British NLAW shoulder-launched anti-tank missiles.