A woman walks past a destroyed military vehicle, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in the town of Bucha in the Kyiv region, Ukraine March 1, 2022. (Reuters)Russia Ukraine Crisis Live: The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday overwhelmingly voted to reprimand Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and demanded that Moscow stop fighting and withdraw its military forces, news agency Reuters reported. The move aims to diplomatically isolate Russia at the world body. The resolution was supported by 141 of the assembly’s 193 members while 35 members, including China and India, abstained and five countries including Russia, Syria and Belarus voted against the resolution. The text of the resolution “deplores” Russia’s “aggression against Ukraine.”
Earlier in the day, Ukraine’s emergency service stated that more than 2,000 of its civilians have been killed since the Russian attack. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on the other hand, claimed that almost 6,000 Russians were killed in seven days of the war. Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that if a third World War were to take place, it would involve nuclear weapons and be destructive, the RIA news agency reported. Lavrov has said that Russia, which launched what it calls a special military operation against Ukraine last week, would face a “real danger” if Kyiv acquired nuclear weapons.
Back in India, the government said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “has spoken to the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Slovak Republic and Poland regarding safety and facilitation of evacuation of Indian nationals from Ukraine” and all efforts are being made to bring back 40% of Indians stuck in the war-torn region. Of the estimated 20,000 Indian nationals in Ukraine, 30% have already reached India and another 30% are in neighbouring countries, said the government. Earlier in the day, US President Joe Biden vowed to make Vladimir Putin “pay a price” for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in his first State of the Union address. Announcing that the US is banning Russia from its airspace, Biden said the Russian president met with “a wall of strength” in Ukraine.
People sleep in the Kyiv subway, being used as a bomb shelter. (AP)
Indian students are taken hostage by Ukrainian security forces, Russian embassy india tweeted.
Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has called on Russians to stage daily protests against Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, depicting President Vladimir Putin as an “obviously insane tsar.”
Navalny called for protests across the country and abroad to signal that not all Russians support the war and show solidarity with the thousands of people detained in anti-war protests in Russia since last week’s invasion. Read More
Delivering a statement after the vote, Indian Ambassador to the UN T S Tirumurti said that India has been deeply concerned over the rapidly deteriorating situation in Ukraine and the ensuing humanitarian crisis. "We remain firm in our conviction that differences can only be solved through dialogue and diplomacy," he said, adding that India supported the international community's call for immediate ceasefire. "We demand safe and uninterrupted passage for all Indian nationals, including our students who are still stranded in Ukraine, particularly from Kharkiv and other cities in the conflict zones. Many member states share this concern," he said.
Over 7,000 Russian servicemen have been killed since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, while hundreds have been taken prisoner including senior officers, a military adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday.
A Russian army commander was taken to Belarus after being severely wounded, adviser Oleksiy Arestovich said in a televised briefing. (Reuters)
India on Wednesday abstained on a UN General Assembly resolution that strongly deplored Russia's aggression against Ukraine, the third abstention in less than a week by the country in the world body on resolutions on the escalating crisis between Moscow and Kyiv.
The 193-member General Assembly Wednesday voted to reaffirm its commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders and "deplores in the strongest terms" Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
The resolution was adopted with 141 votes in favour, five Member States voting against and 35 abstentions. The General Assembly broke into an applause as the resolution was adopted. PTI
PM Narendra Modi spoke on phone today with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The leaders reviewed the situation in Ukraine, especially in Kharkiv where many Indian students are stuck. They discussed the safe evacuation of the Indian nationals from the conflict areas. (ANI)
Belarus claimed on Wednesday that Polish border guards beat up around 100 Indian students and turned them back into Ukraine following which they were placed in a refugee camp in Romania.
Belarus Ambassador to the UN Valentin Rybakov made the remarks while delivering a statement in the UN General Assembly on Wednesday.
"On the 26th of February, Polish border guards beat up and turned back into Ukraine a group of around 100 Indian students who then were kindly placed in a refugee camp in Romania,” Rybakov said.
In his speech, Ukraine's Ambassador to the UN Sergiy Kyslytsya said one Indian national was killed and one Chinese citizen was wounded in the Russian military operation in his country.
"Ukraine deeply regrets that a student from India has been a victim of the shelling by Russian forces in Kharkiv. We offer our deepest sympathies to India and the relatives of the victim," Kyslytsya said. (PTI)
Over 1,100 Indian students, who were stuck at Kharkiv railway station, are walking to Pesochyn. The boy with the flag is Bavendrasinh Chauhan from Gujarat, who studies medicine his Ukraine. His father told The Indian Express, “After spending eight days in a bunker with 170 students, they planned to walk out when they ran out of food yesterday. Starting from 5 am today, they walked 7 km from their bunker to Kharkiv railway station. He told us all trains were packed and there are many Indian students waiting to return home.”
“I can’t tell you about the situation here. If not the bomb, the border (conditions) will kill us. It would have been better to die in Ivano (Ivano-Frankivsk in Ukraine). There were people feeling suffocated because of the crowd… they collapsed. I will go tomorrow (to cross the border). One girl suffered a fracture in her leg… I will come tomorrow,” said Mansi, a third-year MBBS student, in her voice message to her mother Harsha Singhal a day back.
Showing the text message, Harsha and her husband Ramesh broke down and said they regret allowing their daughter to go abroad to study. Read more
Since Russia began amassing troops along its border with Ukraine, Western nations have been quick to condemn Kremlin’s aggressive posturing. In contrast however, Germany was initially criticised for its placid response. Acknowledging perhaps that in the event of a Russian victory in Ukraine, Germany’s position in the world will be challenged, Chancellor Olaf Scholtz has over the last fortnight taken a harsher stance against Russia. What’s made Germany shed its pacifism after the invasion of Ukraine? Mira Patel explains
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference that the WHO is working to verify the reports of “attacks on health facilities and health workers”, and said attacks on healthcare would be “in violation of international humanitarian law”, The Guardian reported.
Ukrainian universities’ Indian students—numbering around 20,000—are staring at an uncertain future amid the raging war. While evacuation is a paramount concern for governments across the globe, the Russian invasion has thrown international students’ academic journeys out of kilter.
Ravi Kumar Koul, a study-abroad consultant who has helped hundreds of Indians with admissions to MBBS courses in the east European country, told indianexpress.com the students would not lose academic years, because the National Medical Commission will allow them to be transferred to other universities. Read more
Prime Minister Narendra Modi chairs a high-level meeting on the Ukraine issue.
Ukrainians said they were fighting on in the first sizeable city Russia claimed to have seized, while Moscow stepped up its lethal bombardment of major population centres that its invasion force has so far failed to tame.
With Moscow having failed in its aim of swiftly overthrowing Ukraine's government after nearly a week, Western countries are worried that it is switching to new, far more violent tactics to blast its way into cities it had expected to easily take. (Reuters)
A bridge that connects Irpin to Kyiv was blown up by the Ukrainian forces to block Russian troops.
Russian missiles hit central Kharkiv earlier today, damaging several residential and government buildings, including the city council.
Russian forces have taken control of the area around Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, reports The Guardian citing UN’s nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi.
Grossi said Russian diplomats informed the International Atomic Energy Agency that personnel have continued their work and that radiation levels “remain normal”. Grossi’s statement also said that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is Europe’s largest power plant and has six out of Ukraine’s 15 nuclear energy reactors.
A Russian delegation is travelling to meet for talks with Ukrainian officials, reports The Guardian citing Belarus’ Belta news agency. The location of the talks has not yet been confirmed.
Human rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, and Ukraine's ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova on Monday (February 28) accused Russia of using cluster bombs and vacuum bombs in the ongoing war.
"They used the vacuum bomb today," Markarova told reporters after a meeting with members of Congress. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said if Russia had indeed used these weapons, "it would potentially be a war crime".
But what are cluster bombs and thermobaric weapons, allegedly used by Russia against Ukrainians? Read more here
Prime Minister Narendra Modi to chair a high-level meeting on the Ukraine issue at 8:30 pm tonight. (ANI)