Zelensky to Ukrainians: 'Go On the Offensive!'

Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky has been pleading with other nations to give him more help in repelling Russian soldiers. On Saturday night, he issued the same plea to ordinary residents of his nation. "Ukrainians in all of our cities that the enemy has entered—go on the offensive!’’ he said in a video message, per the AP. “You should take to the streets! You should fight! … It is necessary to go out and drive this evil out of our cities, from our land.” His appeal came after NATO rejected the idea of imposing a no-fly zone. “Every meter of our Ukrainian land won by protest and humiliation of the invaders is a step forward, a step toward victory," he said. Other developments:

• Odessa: Zelensky warned that Russia planned to unleash a massive attack on the key port city of Odessa, one that would encompass aerial bombardments, along with missiles and artillery fire. "This will be a war crime," he said, per the Washington Post.

• Mariupol: Ukrainian officials in this southern port city said their attempt to evacuate civilians was foiled for the second day in a row on Sunday because of Russian shelling. However, Moscow blamed Ukraine. Either way, the 200,000 people that the Red Cross hoped to evacuate remain in limbo. The BBC has a grim report from there: "The city is now in its fifth day with no water, no power, no sanitation, and food and water are fast running out."
• Kyiv: The New York Times reports that "Russian forces appeared to be struggling in their primary objective of encircling and capturing" the capital city. Ukraine’s defense minister, Oleksiy Reznikov, said his soldiers are holding their positions around Kyiv as well as Kharkiv, the nation's second-largest city.

(More Volodymyr Zelensky stories.)