The latest round of talks between Russia and Ukraine end without progress

Talks of a ceasefire crumbled Thursday as Russia continues to shell cities in Ukraine. As the fighting continues, one Hamilton woman who has called Kyiv home for over a decade is doing her best from nearby Poland to help those holding strong.

The coastal city of Mariupol continues to be shelled by Russian forces, who deny any part in the bombing of a maternity ward that killed three people, one child, and injured 17 others. Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister says 13-hundred civilians have been killed in Mariupol.

Turkey played the role of mediator on Thursday as Russian and Ukrainian officials met there. Ukraine hopes for a 24-hour ceasefire to allow people to escape the violence.

Sergei Lavrov says a ceasefire could happen but Ukraine would have to be “de-nazified” and give up hopes of joining NATO and the European Union.

Hamiltonian Elvira Farias has called Kyiv home for the past twelve years. She, her husband, step-son, and in-laws created a life there. In fact, Farias owns and operates a popular salon just minutes away from Ukraine’s parliament.

War struck as Farias and her family was in South Africa for her birthday, despite her Ukrainian husband’s dedication to returning, she hasn’t been back home since.

“I cannot stay in South Africa, I don’t want to go to the Middle East I need to be as close as I can get to the border. So we positioned ourselves in Poland and we’ve been doing humanitarian work here”

It’s called ‘Help Ukraine Center’, a site where financial donations can be made to help those in the hardest-hit areas of the besieged country.

In a matter of days, the group went from storing goods in a rundown warehouse to a massive state-of-the-art facility that now sends out 12 trucks over the border a day.

Phil Perkins has the story.