(Reuters) – Ukraine resisted a Russian request that it forces surrender arms by dawn Monday at Mariupol. This is where thousands of civilians were trapped under siege in a city already ravaged by Russian bombardment.

Late Sunday shelling in Kyiv killed at least 8 people and left dozens of buildings damaged.

Russia’s nearly month-old attack on Ukraine is now deadlocked at all fronts. It has failed to capture any major cities or overthrow the government. Russian bombings and missiles caused destruction in the built up areas.

FIGHTING

* Authorities in Odesa accused Russian forces of carrying out a strike on residential buildings in the city’s outskirts early on Monday, the first such attack on the Ukrainian Black Sea port.

CIVILIANS

* Horror and bewilderment stalk the devastated, Russian-besieged city of Mariupol, where some residents are burying dead neighbours in makeshift roadside graves.

* Hundreds of Ukrainians waited in front of Poland’s national stadium to register for work permits on Monday as governments and businesses across central Europe sought to help war refugees find jobs and school places.

SANCTIONS

* The European Union should deepen sanctions on Russia to target its lucrative energy sector, the foreign ministers of Lithuania and Ireland said on Monday, kicking off a week of intense diplomacy. EU and its allies already have imposed numerous restrictions against Russia including the freezing of assets at its central bank. The EU’s 27 member nations, who rely on Russia to 40% of their gas, have made the difficult decision to target Russian oil as Britain and the United States.

DIPLOMACY

* Peace talks resumed on Monday, starting with a 90-minute video conference. A member of the Ukrainian delegation said that the talks will be continued by working groups on both sides throughout the day. Kremlin stated that the negotiations had not made any significant progress.

QOTATIONS

* “The bombs did not kill them but all this…, the situation – the basements, the lack of physical activity, the stress, the cold as well,” Andrei, a Mariupol resident, said while burying dead neighbours in a makeshift grave by the roadside. As he pointed to the hole in his ground, he said that “I hope there’ll be some type of a Burial” and that it was temporary.

* “The violent aggression against Ukraine is unfortunately not slowing down,” Pope Francis said. It is an inhumane massacre, where each day atrocities and slaughters are repeated.