Ukraine’s president says Russian siege of strategic port city has left residents without food, water and medicines.
1 hour ago (01:24 GMT)
Russian forces accused of seizing bus drivers evacuating civilians
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk says Russian forces have taken captive 11 bus drivers and four rescue workers who were heading to Mariupol to evacuate civilians.
The convoy was following an “agreed route” near the town of Mangush, close to Mariupol, she said.
“This is an agreed corridor, we have agreed it with the Red Cross, and now people are being held hostage. It is reported that the vehicles will be taken away, and people may or may not be let free,” she added.
1 hour ago (01:11 GMT)
Russian combat power declining in Ukraine: US official
A US defence official has told reporters that Russia’s combat power has declined below 90 percent of its pre-invasion levels for the first time since its assault on Ukraine began.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, did not provide evidence.
His assessment suggests heavy losses of weaponry and growing casualties on the Russian side.
The US had estimated that Russia assembled more than 150,000 troops around Ukraine before the February 24 invasion, along with enough aircraft, artillery, tanks and other firepower for its full-scale attack.
2 hours ago (00:55 GMT)
Germany honours Holocaust survivor killed in Ukraine
Germany’s parliament has paid tribute to Boris Romanchenko, a Ukrainian man who survived several Nazi concentration camps during World War II but was killed last week during an attack in the city of Kharkiv.
Legislators held a moment of silence in memory of 96-year-old Romanchenko and other victims of the war.
Romanchenko “survived four concentration camps and was now killed in the Russian war of aggression on Ukraine,” Finance Minister Christian Lindner said.
“His fate shows both the criminal character of Russian policy and why Germany is showing solidarity with Ukraine, why we must show solidarity.”
2 hours ago (00:26 GMT)
Only seven Ukrainian refugees resettled in US in first half of March: Report
Reuters says the US only admitted seven Ukrainian refugees from March 1-16 and is drawing up plans to allow in more people.
A new initiative set to launch this week will speed up visa processing for relatives of US citizens and permanent residents. it said, citing a person familiar with the matter.
The effort will also detail more staff to handle applications for a temporary status known as “humanitarian parole”, it added.
3 hours ago (00:09 GMT)
UN chief tells Russia: ‘This war is unwinnable’
Antonio Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations who spoke to reporters in New York earlier, had a “stark message” for Russia, according to a UN statement.
“This war is unwinnable,” he told Moscow. “Sooner or later, it will have to move from the battlefield to the peace table. This is inevitable. The only question is: How many more lives must be lost?”
He added: “The war is going nowhere fast. For more than two weeks, Mariupol has been encircled by the Russian army and relentlessly bombed, shelled and attacked. For what? Even if Mariupol falls. Ukraine cannot be conquered city by city, street by street, house by house.”
The UN chief also called for urgent talks, saying there was “enough on the table” for an immediate ceasefire.
Watch a recording of his remarks below.
3 hours ago (23:58 GMT)
Four Ukrainian children flown to US for cancer treatment
The US Department of State says four Ukrainian children have been flown to a hospital in Tennessee after their cancer treatment was disrupted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
It pledged to help with “special cases”, noting that pediatric oncology departments in Europe – where most Ukrainian refugees are fleeing to – were beginning to reach their limits.
4 hours ago (23:02 GMT)
US, EU slam new sentencing of Kremlin critic Navalny
The US and EU have slammed a new sentence handed down to jailed Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny, calling it a “sham” and another example of Russia’s widening crackdown on dissenting voices amid its invasion of Ukraine.
A Russian court on Tuesday sentenced Navalny to nine additional years in a maximum-security prison on fraud and contempt of court charges, as well as a fine of 1.2 million roubles ($11,500).
4 hours ago (22:51 GMT)
Zelenskyy says 100,000 people trapped in ‘inhuman conditions’ in Mariupol
Ukraine’s president has accused Russian forces attacking Mariupol of thwarting attempts to evacuate civilians from the port city.
“As of today, there are about 100,000 people in the city in inhuman conditions, completely blockaded, without food, without water, without medicines, subject to constant shelling, constant bombardment,” he said.
4 hours ago (22:20 GMT)
Zelenskyy says Russia talks tough, sometimes confrontational
Ukraine’s president says peace talks with Russia to end the war were tough and sometimes confrontational but added “step by step we are moving forward”.
“We are continuing to work at different levels to encourage Russia to move towards peace … Ukrainian representatives are participating in talks that are taking place virtually every day. It’s very difficult, sometimes confrontational,” said Zelenskyy “But step by step we are moving forward.”
5 hours ago (22:06 GMT)
Blinken discusses ‘deterrence’ with NATO chief
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has discussed “efforts to fortify NATO’s Eastern Flank” in a call with the alliance’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the State Department has said.
“The Secretary reaffirmed the need for a strong and united Transatlantic response to the Russian government’s war against Ukraine and welcomed ongoing work to strengthen NATO’s deterrence and defense,” spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.
5 hours ago (21:35 GMT)
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy to address French legislators
French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated France’s support for Ukraine in a call with his Ukrainian counterpart on Tuesday, Macron’s office has said.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to virtually address French legislators on Wednesday to demand more support amid Russia’s invasion.
In recent weeks, the Ukrainian leader has addressed legislators in the US, Canada, UK, Italy, Germany and Israel.
5 hours ago (21:26 GMT)
Striker returns to Brazil but says heart still in Ukraine
Brazilian-Ukrainian striker Junior Moraes, who returned to Brazil to join Corinthians, has said his mind is far from sport.
The 34-year-old Moraes, who obtained Ukrainian citizenship three years ago, said he fears for his friends and colleagues amid Russia’s invasion.
Moraes played in Ukraine for most of the last decade, scoring dozens of goals for Metalurg Donetsk, Dynamo Kyiv, and most recently Shakhtar Donetsk. He has played 11 matches for the Ukrainian national team.
“I can’t smile in a way I would like to. I think I will only do that once this war is over,” a tearful Moraes said during a press conference in Sao Paulo.
6 hours ago (21:01 GMT)
Macron calls for ceasefire in call with Putin
Macron has discussed peace talks between Russia and Ukraine and called for a ceasefire in a phone call with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, according to the French presidency.
The call, which was the eighth between the two leaders since the invasion began, lasted for an hour, Macron’s office said.
It added that the French president, who last spoke with Putin on March 18, also raised concerns about the situation in Mariupol, calling for the siege on the strategic port city to be lifted.
6 hours ago (21:01 GMT)
War going according to plan, Russia says
The Kremlin has pushed back against Western assertions that the Russian military campaign is facing setbacks, reiterating that the invasion is going as planned.
“We’re speaking about a special military operation that is going on, and it is going on strictly in accordance with the with the plans,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told CNN.
6 hours ago (20:56 GMT)
Russian siege of Mariupol is ‘genocide’: Top Ukraine prosecutor
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova has said evidence shows that Russia is committing “genocide” in its siege on the strategic port city of Mariupol.
Ukrainian officials have said 100,000 civilians are currently trapped in Mariupol, encircled and under relentless shelling.
“What now I see in Mariupol, it’s not about war, it’s about genocide,” Venediktova told the AFP news agency. “Theatres of war have some rules, some principles. What we see in Mariupol, [are] no rules at all,” she added.
6 hours ago (20:54 GMT)
Russia would only use nuclear weapons in case of ‘existential threat’: Kremlin
Russia’s security policy dictates that the country would only use nuclear weapons if its very existence were threatened, Peskov has told US broadcaster CNN.
The Kremlin spokesman made the comment in an English-language interview when asked whether he was confident that the Russian president would not use nuclear weapons.
“We have a concept of domestic security and it’s public, you can read all the reasons for nuclear arms to be used. So if it is an existential threat for our country, then it [the nuclear arsenal] can be used in accordance with our concept,” he said.
“There are no other reasons that were mentioned in that text.”
6 hours ago (20:52 GMT)
Russia has ‘failed’ to achieve objectives in Ukraine: US
Russia has failed to achieve its goals in Ukraine, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has said, warning that despite the apparent Russian setbacks, the war will not end “easily or rapidly”.
Sullivan said Russia had set three objectives for itself when it started its invasion: subjugating Ukraine, enhancing Moscow’s power and prestige, and dividing the West.
“Russia has thus far manifestly failed to accomplish all three objectives. In fact, it has thus far achieved the opposite,” said Sullivan.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/22/russia-says-war-in-ukraine-going-according-to-plan-liveblog
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