A police officer guards an area around a building destroyed by shelling as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv (Reuters)Russia Ukraine War Crisis Highlights: During the fourth round of talks on Monday, Ukraine demanded an ‘immediate’ ceasefire while President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Kyiv’s negotiators were pushing for direct talks with Putin, news agency DW reported. The talks were paused on Monday and will continue on Tuesday, one of Ukraine’s negotiators said on Twitter. “A technical pause has been taken in the negotiations until tomorrow. For additional work in the working subgroups and clarification of individual definitions. Negotiations continue,” said negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak.
Meanwhile, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson has said assertions from US officials that Russia asked Beijing for military equipment for its campaign in Ukraine were “disinformation” from the United States. The comments came during a regular Chinese foreign ministry briefing in Beijing, Reuters reported.
In other news, A day after 35 people were killed in a Russian missile attack on a military base in western Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Nato to impose a no-fly zone in a video statement, news agency AFP reported. “Meanwhile, negotiations are set to continue between Ukraine and Russia on Monday. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak confirmed talks will take place with Russia via video link.
People carry their belongings after fleeing the war from neighbouring Ukraine, at the border crossing in Palanca, Moldova, March 11, 2022. (AP)
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Monday said Iran did not support Russia's war in Ukraine, after a call with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian ahead of the latter’s visit to Moscow on Tuesday.
'Iran is against the war in Ukraine, supports a peaceful solution. I asked to convey my message in Moscow: Russia must stop bombing civilians, commit to the ceasefire, and withdraw from Ukraine,” Kuleba wrote on Twitter. (Reuters)
Clarissa Ward interrupted her live TV report on Ukrainian refugees to help a distraught older man, then a woman, down a steep and explosion-mangled path, gently urging them on in their language.
A day later, Lynsey Addario, a photographer for The New York Times, captured a grim image of a Russian mortar attack’s immediate outcome: the bodies of a mother and her two children crumpled on a road, amid their suitcase, backpacks and a pet carrier.
The memorable reports illustrate both the skill and gutsiness of female journalists serving as eyewitnesses to Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine and the way their presence has changed the nature of war reporting.
They cover the tactics of war, but give equal measure to its toll. Read more
From the beginning of the war in Ukraine, it was clear that China would not condemn Russia’s invasion. On February 25, Beijing abstained from a vote on a UN Security Council draft resolution condemning the attack. China also abstained from a condemnation of the war by 141 countries in the UN General Assembly.
And Beijing’s implicit support of Russia continues despite Moscow’s continued escalation of the war. Read more
Ukraine's economy is expected to contract by 10% in 2022 as a result of Russia's invasion, but the outlook could worsen sharply if the conflict lasts longer, the International Monetary Fund said in a staff report released on Monday.
The report, prepared ahead of the IMF's approval of $1.4 billion in emergency financing, said Ukraine's economic output could shrink by 25% to 35%, based on real wartime gross domestic product data from Iraq, Lebanon and other countries at war.
The report said Ukraine has an external financing gap of $4.8 billion, but its financing needs were expected to grow and it would require significant additional concessional financing.
The country's public debt was expected to spike to 60% of GDP in 2022 from around 50% in 2021, the report said. (Reuters)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will virtually address the US Congress at 9 am (13.00 GMT) on Wednesday, US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a joint letter to US lawmakers.
“The Congress remains unwavering in our commitment to supporting Ukraine as they face Putin’s cruel and diabolical aggression, and to passing legislation to cripple and isolate the Russian economy as well as deliver humanitarian, security and economic assistance to Ukraine,” they wrote on Monday. (Reuters)
Talks between Ukraine and Russia paused on Monday and will continue on Tuesday, one of Ukraine's negotiators said on Twitter.
'A technical pause has been taken in the negotiations until tomorrow. For additional work in the working subgroups and clarification of individual definitions. Negotiations continue,' said negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak . (Reuters)
Ukraine has demanded an ‘immediate’ ceasefire while President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Kyiv’s negotiators are pushing for direct talks with Putin, news agency DW reported.
A high-voltage power line to Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear plant was damaged by Russian forces not long after electricity supplies were restored to the facility, grid operator Ukrenergo said in a statement on Monday.
It did not say if all external power supply to the plant had been lost as a result of the damage, but demanded access to the area to carry out repairs.
Ukrenergo did not produce evidence of the damage or the actions of the Russian forces and Reuters was unable to independently verify the extent of the damage or the cause of it. (Reuters)
Fourth round of Ukraine-Russia conflict talks underway, says Kyiv negotiator. (AFP)
Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine said Monday that a strike by Kyiv's forces on the rebel's de facto capital Donetsk had left at least 20 people dead, ahead of talks to resolve the fighting. (APF)
Graphic showing key developments in Ukraine as of March 14, 06:00 GMT.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson has said assertions from US officials that Russia asked Beijing for military equipment for its campaign in Ukraine were “disinformation” from the United States. The comments came during a regular Chinese foreign ministry briefing in Beijing, Reuters reported.
The Antonov aircraft plant in Kyiv has been shelled by Russian forces, the Kyiv city administration said on Monday. The industrial plant is located about 11 km north-west of the centre of Kyiv.
The World Health Organization said that it is concerned the war in Ukraine could worsen the Covid-19 pandemic, and it is trying to do more to limit the spread of infectious diseases. Cases in the region are down from the previous week, but there's significant risk there will be more severe disease and death due to low vaccination rates in Ukraine, as well as among the more than 2 million who've fled the country to surrounding areas — regions also with low vaccination rates.
Today, March 14, is Day 20 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here’s what you need to know about the war now: The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has recorded 1,663 civilian casualties in Ukraine from February 24 until March 13: 596 killed and 1,067 injured. The numbers include: a total of 596 killed (124 men, 85 women, 6 girls, and 10 boys, as well as 27 children and 344 adults whose sex is yet unknown); a total of 1,067 injured (97 men, 69 women, 14 girls, and 4 boys, as well as 39 children and 844 adults whose sex is yet unknown).
The killing of Brent Renaud, a 50-year-old American journalist in Irpin, a suburb of Kyiv, is the second reported death of a journalist in this war, and another tragic reminder of the dangers faced by media professionals covering conflict. A Ukrainian camera operator, Yevhenii Sakun, was reported to have been killed after Kyiv’s TV tower was shelled in the early days of the invasion. Click here to read our daily update of the war.
A nine-storey residential apartment block in Kyiv is reportedly under fire after Russian shelling this morning, The Kyiv Independent newspaper reports. Currently, firefighters are working to put out the blaze. Ukraine’s state emergency service published an update at 7.30 am local time, saying they received a report of a fire that broke out shortly after 5am in Obolonskyi district of the capital.
Just as the threat from Covid, as seen by the meagre impact of the Omicron variant, was receding, India's economy faces an old nemesis: High crude oil prices. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing bans and sanctions on Russia have already led to a spike in crude oil prices. There are apprehensions that if this conflict is allowed to drag on for months on end, then oil prices could not only spike further but stay that way for long. Read Udit Misra's analysis of the situation to understand the impact on India.
Peace flags were waved, and prayers and songs reverberated in the Panaji’s Fontainhas quarter as parishioners gathered at St Sebastian’s Chapel on Friday evening to pray for peace in Ukraine. The flag of Ukraine furled on a screen, visuals from the war-torn regions of that country were played and Father Roque Da Costa sent a message of peace. This, however, was not the first such meeting in Goa. Read Mayura Janwalkar’s report
India’s neighbours in South Asia have taken their own positions on the war in Ukraine keeping in mind their history, economy, the big power rivalry playing out in their countries, and their relations with these powers. There was a clear divide among the seven countries between those who maintained a neutral position, and those who were unequivocal in their opposition to Russia.
Afghanistan, Bhutan, Maldives and Nepal supported the resolution against Russia in the United Nations General Assembly. Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka abstained. Nepal, which is a member of the UN Human Rights Council, also voted for the HRC resolution to set up an independent investigation into Russia’s alleged violations of human rights in Ukraine. Read our Explainer to understand the relations.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is calling for an urgent solution to prevent a “worst-case scenario” for civilians trapped in the southern city of Mariupol, according to a statement released Sunday. “A worst-case scenario awaits the hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped by heavy combat in Mariupol unless the parties reach a concrete humanitarian agreement urgently,” the statement says.