A refugee waits in a car as an armoured personnel carrier of pro-Russian troops drives out of a checkpoint in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine. (Reuters)Russia-Ukraine War Crisis Live: Ukraine said its forces had destroyed the Russian landing ship the ‘Orsk’ at the Russian-occupied port of Berdyansk. Video footage, which Reuters confirmed was from Berdyansk, showed smoke rising from a blaze at a dock and the flash of an explosion. Meanwhile, it accused Moscow of forcibly taking hundreds of thousands of civilians from shattered Ukrainian cities to Russia. Russia’s stance is that Ukrainians who have moved to Russian cities have relocated willingly.
US President Joe Biden and Western allies have pledged new sanctions and humanitarian aid in response to Vladimir Putin’s assault on Ukraine, but their offers fell short of the more robust military assistance that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pleaded for in a pair of live-video appearances.
India on Thursday again abstained in the UN General Assembly on a resolution by Ukraine and its allies on the humanitarian crisis in war-torn eastern European country. The resolution was adopted with 140 votes in favour, 38 abstentions and five against. Meanwhile, the banking industry is increasingly complaining about blockages in funds transfers and credits during routine transactions between Indian and Russian banks in the absence of formal guidance on banking transactions involving Russian lenders.
A Ukrainian firefighter sprays water inside a house destroyed by shelling, in Kyiv, Ukraine (AP photo)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked EU leaders for working together to support Ukraine and impose sanctions on Russia, including Germany's decision to block Russia from delivering natural gas to Europe through the new Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
But he lamented that these steps weren't taken earlier, saying there was a chance Russia would have thought twice about invading.
He then appealed to the EU leaders, who had gathered on Thursday in Brussels, to move quickly on Ukraine's application to join the bloc. "Here I ask you, do not delay. Please," Zelenskyy said by video from Kyiv. "For us this is a chance." (AP)
In Lviv, Ukrainians are stepping up to defend their country in every way they can. In a 16th century tower, which was used to store gunpowder and weapons, volunteers are weaving scraps of clothing together to create camouflage netting to be sent to the frontline. The Indian Express met one such volunteer.
Ukraine has accused Moscow of forcibly taking hundreds of thousands of civilians from shattered Ukrainian cities to Russia, where some may be used as "hostages" to pressure Kyiv to give up.
Lyudmyla Denisova, Ukraine's ombudsperson, said 402,000 people, including 84,000 children, have been taken against their will. The Kremlin gave nearly identical numbers for those who have been relocated, but said they wanted to go to Russia. (AP)
On Thursday, Ukraine said its forces had destroyed the Russian landing ship the 'Orsk' at the Russian-occupied port of Berdyansk. Russian officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the ship.
Video footage showed smoke rising from a blaze at a dock and the flash of an explosion. (Reuters)
The government and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are yet to issue formal guidance on banking transactions involving Russian lenders in the wake of Western sanctions triggered by the Ukraine war but trade and industry are increasingly complaining about blockages in funds transfers and credits during routine transactions between Indian and Russian banks.
With the US and European nations blocking major Russian financial institutions from SWIFT, those entities on the sanctions list are unable to receive confirmations for fund transactions executed through the globally accepted messaging network.
But even transactions routed through Russian entities outside the SWIFT sanctions list, including that country’s largest lender Sberbank and Gazprombank, to accounts in some Indian banks are facing the effect of restrictions, The Indian Express has learnt.
In Lviv, they call it Powder Tower.
It was built in the 16th century to store gunpowder and weapons, and later converted into a museum of architecture. But exactly a month ago, on the day Russia invaded Ukraine, Powder Tower was reclaimed for war — not by the army or the government but by a group of fiesty volunteers.
Since then, around 100 volunteers have made it to the building in the city’s east every day to make camouflage nets for the forces, ripping into small strips donated clothes or fabric, and tying them together to form a mesh.
Russia's space director said on Thursday that Europe had wrecked cooperation by imposing sanctions against his agency, and rockets that were meant to launch European satellites would now be used for Russian companies or countries friendly to Moscow.
Dmitry Rogozin, head of Roscosmos, said in a Chinese television interview that this would apply to about 10 rockets."At this moment, after the European Space Agency and the whole European Union have taken a frenzied position on the conduct of (Russia's) special military operation in Ukraine and introduced sanctions against Roscosmos, we consider further cooperation impossible," Rogozin said.
The space rift has had a tangible impact since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 and was hit with a wave of international sanctions. (Reuters)
US President Joe Biden said on Thursday that if Russia were to use chemical weapons in its invasion of Ukraine, the United States would respond.
'We would respond, we would respond if he uses it. The nature of the response would depend on the nature of the use,' Biden said at a news conference in Brussels. (Reuters)
Germany and Italy were among countries which said any effort by Russian President Vladimir Putin to charge in rubles for gas would be a violation of their contracts. President Joe Biden called for removing Russia from the G-20.
Group of Seven leaders warned Putin against deploying biological, chemical or nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Earlier Thursday, NATO agreed to double the number of battle groups protecting its eastern border and prepare for Russia to potentially use such weapons in Ukraine. (Bloomberg)
“It’s dangerous just going for a walk. No one can guarantee that you won’t get shot,” says Rita*, a 22-year-old who lives in central Kyiv.
Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, she has stocked up on food, but the stress of the war means she hardly ever has an appetite.
“During the first nights of the war, I was afraid to even fall asleep,” she says. “Then I got used to the sirens day and night telling us to head down into the air-raid shelter. Sometimes I didn’t because I was sound asleep.” Read More
India on Thursday abstained in the UN General Assembly on a resolution by Ukraine and its allies on the humanitarian crisis in war-torn eastern European country.
The 193-member General Assembly resumed its 11th Emergency Special Session on Ukraine and voted Thursday on a draft resolution ‘Humanitarian consequences of the aggression against Ukraine’ by Ukraine and its western allies.
The resolution was adopted with 140 votes in favour, 38 abstentions and five against. Read More
Swedish-Danish mail and parcel service Postnord will stop all letters to and from Russia and Belarus in order to comply with EU sanctions imposed following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, Postnord said in a statement on Thursday. "The stop will be in force until a screening system is in place that makes it possible to resume mail flows to and from these countries at the same time as the sanctions are complied with, or until the sanctions expire," the firm said in a statement.
Postnord has already stopped all parcel deliveries to and from the two countries. Postnord is joint-owned by the Swedish and Danish states. (Reuters)
The United States Thursday announced that it is prepared to provide more than $1 billion in new funding towards humanitarian assistance for those affected by Russia’s war in Ukraine and its severe impacts around the world.
Marlboro maker Philip Morris International Inc (PM.N) is working on options to exit the Russian market, citing a complex and rapidly changing regulatory and operating environment in the country following its invasion of Ukraine.
The company, which garnered around 6% its net revenue from Russia in 2021, said on Thursday it has discontinued sale of several cigarette products and canceled all product launches for the year in Russia.
It has also canceled plans to make over 20 billion TEREA sticks, heated tobacco units intended for use with its IQOS ILUMA devices, as well as related investment of $150 million. (Reuters)
Group of Seven leaders have announced they are restricting the Russian Central Bank's use of gold in transactions, while the US announced a new round of sanctions targeting more than 400 elites and members of the Russian State Duma.
Previously, sanctions against Russian elites, the country's Central Bank and President Vladimir Putin did not impact Russia's gold stockpile, which Putin has been accumulating for several years. Russia holds roughly $130 billion in gold reserves, and the Bank of Russia announced Feb 28 that it would resume the purchase of gold on the domestic precious metals market.
White House officials said Thursday the move will further blunt Russia's ability to use its international reserves to prop up Russia's economy and fund its war against Ukraine. (AP)
NATO leaders, who met on Thursday to address Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in the strongest possible terms and called upon President Vladimir Putin to immediately stop the war and withdraw military forces from Ukraine.
In a statement, they urged Russia to comply with the 16 March ruling by the UN International Court of Justice and immediately suspend military operations. 'Russia’s attack on Ukraine threatens global security. Its assault on international norms makes the world less safe. President Putin’s escalatory rhetoric is irresponsible and destabilizing,' it said.
The NATO heads also agreed to give further support to Ukraine and continue to impose costs on Russia.
NATO leaders are extending the mandate of Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg for an extra year to help steer the 30-nation military organisation through the security crisis sparked by Russia's war on Ukraine.
Stoltenberg tweeted Thursday that he is “honoured” by the decision of NATO leaders “to extend my term as Secretary General until 30 September 2023. “As we face the biggest security crisis in a generation, we stand united to keep our alliance strong and our people safe,” he said.
The former Norwegian prime minister was named to NATO's top civilian post in October 2014. It's the second time that his term of office has been extended. His mandate was due to expire in September. (AP)
The props were simple, the message was clear. In a video address to the nation this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy held up his smartphone to the camera and started a timer app while an air raid siren blared.
“It lasted 20 seconds,” Zelenskiy said, after the wailing subsided. “And we hear it for hours, days, weeks. Our people… instantly take their children, help the elderly, and go to the shelters… to survive, from Russian missiles, bombs.” Sitting at his desk, unshaven and in his now trademark green shirt, Zelenskiy had in a few short sentences reminded 44 million Ukrainians that he was going through what they were, while renewing pressure on NATO to impose a no-fly zone. Read More
NATO leaders are refusing to rule out retaliation against Russia should it launch a chemical weapons attack on Ukraine — but British Prime Minister Boris Johnson thinks Moscow has already gone too far.
“The reality is that (President) Vladimir Putin has already crossed the red line into barbarism,” Johnson told reporters Thursday as he arrived for summit of NATO leaders. Johnson says that “it's now up to NATO to consider together the appalling crisis in Ukraine, the appalling suffering of the people of Ukraine, and to see what more we can do to help the people of Ukraine to protect themselves.”
As an organization, NATO is not providing weapons to Ukraine. The 30-nation alliance refuses to send troops to Ukraine, either for combat or peacekeeping, and has said it will not deploy aircraft to protect civilians or police any no-fly zone.
But member countries are providing weapons and other assistance, individually or in groups. (AP)
India’s foreign policy decisions are made in “national interest” and guided by the belief that the international order “must respect territorial integrity and sovereignty of states”, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday. He also said that India calls “for immediate cessation of violence” and “stands for peace”.
“We are very clear on our principles. Our policy is very much guided by our belief that the international order must respect territorial integrity and sovereignty of states…” Jaishankar told the Rajya Sabha while responding to a question on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
He said India’s position is not that the situation involving Russia and Ukraine “is not our problem. Our position is that we are for peace”. In a written statement laid on the table of the Upper House, Jaishankar said the government has been able to safely bring home 22,500 Indian citizens and 147 foreign nationals belonging to 18 countries from Ukraine since February 2022. Read More