By RFE/RL
Russian forces stepped up strikes overnight on suburbs of Kyiv and renewed their efforts to capture the important port city of Mariupol in the south as Ukrainian and Russian negotiators prepared for more talks aimed at reaching a cease-fire.
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A series of Russian strikes hit a residential neighborhood of Kyiv, igniting a huge fire in an apartment building in the west of the Kyiv. At least two people were killed and 27 people were rescued from the building, Ukraine's emergency services said on Facebook.
The Ukrainian military said in a statement that artillery fire struck the residential area adjacent to the suburb of Irpin, which has seen some of the worst battles of the war.
Overnight and early morning strikes also hit Hostomel and Bucha, the head of the Kyiv region, Oleksiy Kuleba, said on Ukrainian television.
Russian forces also unleashed new artillery strikes on the eastern city of Kharkiv, the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said on Facebook, and overnight shelling destroyed a runway and damaged the terminal at the airport in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, said Valentin Reznichenko, governor of the region.
In Mariupol, where people have been left desperate for food, water, heat, and medicine, Ukrainian authorities reported severe aerial attacks on the city. The southeastern Ukrainian city with some 400,000 inhabitants has been besieged by Russian troops for days and cut off from the rest of the country.
A convoy of about 160 civilian cars was allowed to leave the city along a designated humanitarian route on March 14, the city council said. About 300 people who left in the convoy reached the city of Zaporizhzhya on March 15, the council said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations will continue on March 15. Speaking in a video address, Zelenskiy said that the Ukrainian delegation did good work during talks on March 14. He provided no further details.
WATCH: At least two high-rise buildings in the capital's Svyatoshyn district were heavily damaged and set ablaze. RFE/RL correspondent Levko Stek reported from the site of another attack in the city's Kurenivka district that killed one person and injured 10 on March 14.
The latest negotiations, the fourth round involving high-level officials, were held by video and were the first in a week. The talks ended with the two sides expressing some optimism.
Previous discussions, held in person in Belarus, produced no lasting humanitarian routes or agreements to end the fighting.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has announced a 35-hour curfew, warning that as Russian forces step up their strikes and close in on the capital, it faces a "difficult and dangerous moment."
"This is why I ask all in Kyiv to prepare to stay at home for two days, or if the sirens go off, in the shelters.... It is only allowed to go outside with the aim to get to the shelters," he added.
He said in a statement on Telegram that the curfew will begin at 8 p.m. Kyiv time, with movement around the city allowed only by special permit.
Meanwhile, the prime ministers of the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovenia are traveling to Kyiv on March 15 to meet with Zelenskiy in what they call an "unequivocal" show of support.
Zelenskiy hailed a Russian state TV employee who interrupted the main evening news program on Russian Channel 1 by running into a studio with a poster against the war in Ukraine. The employee was later arrested by police.
The Ukrainian president again addressed Russian soldiers, urging them to stop fighting and saying: “I’m offering you a chance to survive.”
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