Talks to stop the fighting in Ukraine resumed Friday, as another desperate attempt to rescue civilians from the shattered and encircled city of Mariupol failed and Russia accused the Ukrainians of launching a helicopter attack on a fuel depot on Russian soil.

Ukraine recaptured more territory around Kyiv from Russian soldiers who left shattered villages and their own abandoned tanks in the path of their retreat, while a disputed cross-border attack complicated peace talks on Friday.

Ukrainian forces went on to take back Bucha, its mayor said on Friday in a video that appeared to be filmed outside the town hall. The advances followed several days of Ukrainian gains around Kyiv and in the north.

Moscow said a huge fire at a fuel depot in the Russian city of Belgorod, a logistics hub for Russia's war effort near the border with Ukraine, was the result of an air raid by Ukrainian helicopters. Such an attack would be the first of its kind in the five-week war. Ukraine later denied responsibility for blaze.

Russia says the southeastern region of Donbas, where it has backed separatists since 2014, is now the focus of its military operation. The besieged and bombarded Black Sea port city of Mariupol has been its main target there.

Conditions on Friday made it impossible to go ahead with a plan to evacuate civilians from Mariupol, where tens of thousands of citizens are trapped with scant water or food, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Friday.

U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths will travel to Moscow on Sunday and then to Kyiv as the United Nations pursues a humanitarian ceasefire in Ukraine, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters.
-AP/Reuters