Moscow says it will let Ukrainian civilians flee - to Russia

A Ukrainian negotiator urged Russia to stop its assault on Ukraine

Ukrainian officials said a bread factory had been hit by a Russian air strike on Monday as the country's negotiators assembled for talks with Russian officials after previous rounds that brought no respite in the conflict.

The bodies of at least 13 civilians were recovered from rubble after factory in the town of Makariv in the Kyiv region was hit, local emergency services said. Five people were rescued of the 30 believed to have been there at the time. Reuters was not immediately able to verify the reported attack.

Russia earlier offered Ukrainians escape routes to Russia and its close ally Belarus on Monday after weekend evacuation ceasefire attempts failed. In the besieged southern port city of Mariupol hundreds of thousands of people remained trapped without food and water under regular bombardments.

A Ukrainian negotiator urged Russia to stop its assault on Ukraine, which the United Nations said had sent 1.7 million people fleeing to Central Europe.