As Russia’s war on Ukraine entered Day 10, a planned cease-fire was violated in port of Mariupol and citizens were told not to evacuate. And Russian President Vladimir Putin likened Western sanctions imposed against Russia as “akin to a declaration of war” which may result in Ukraine "losing its statehood."
Ukraine’s president briefed U.S. senators Saturday on a video conference call a day after calling out NATO for refusing to impose a no-fly zone over his country. The briefing comes as Russian forces continued to batter strategic locations with missiles and artillery.
The UN Security Council scheduled an open meeting Monday on the worsening humanitarian situation.
Here’s a look at key things to know about the conflict Saturday:
Putin steps up rhetoric
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday described Western sanctions against Russia as "... a declaration of war,” and suggested that Ukraine risks losing its statehood if its leaderhip goes on resisting Russia's invasion.
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia warned on Saturday that #Ukraine might lose its statehood if its leaders continued to resist his military invasion of the country. https://t.co/Md9W77abd9
— William Yang (@WilliamYang120) March 5, 2022
“The current leadership needs to understand that if they continue doing what they are doing, they risk the future of Ukrainian statehood,” he said at a meeting in Moscow on Saturday. “If that happens,” he said, “they will have to be blamed for that.”
Cease fire was broken
A cease-fire, organised in two areas aimed at allowing civilians to escape the war was initially heralded as a first breakthrough.
The Russian Defense Ministry statement said it agreed on evacuation routes with Ukrainian forces to allow civilians to leave the port of Mariupol in the southeast and the eastern town of Volnovakha “from 10 am Moscow time.”
The head of Ukraine’s security council, Oleksiy Danilov, had called on Russia to create humanitarian corridors to allow children, women and the elderly to escape the fighting.
A top official in Mariupol said the cease-fire there is to last until 4 pm (2 pm GMT) and an evacuation along a humanitarian corridor would begin at 11 am (9 am GMT.)
But Mariupol officials said they were delaying the evacuation, accusing Moscow's troops of breaking a ceasefire.
"Due to the fact that the Russian side does not adhere to the ceasefire and has continued shelling both of Mariupol itself and its environs and for security reasons, the evacuation of the civilian population has been postponed," city officials said in a statement on social media.
Nuclear safety concerns
The office of President Emmanuel Macron said France will propose concrete measures to ensure the safety and security of Ukraine’s five main nuclear sites. The safeguards will be drawn up on the basis of International Atomic Energy Agency criteria, a statement from the French presidency said.
The announcement comes after Russian troops seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant — the country's largest — in the southeastern city of Enerhodar. The attack caused global alarm, evoking memories of the world’s worst nuclear disaster, at Ukraine’s Chernobyl.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said no radiation spikes were detected, however. The chief of the UN agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi, said a Russian “projectile” hit a training center, not any of the six reactors.
Zelensky's angry with Nato
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticized NATO for refusing to impose a no-fly zone over his country. He warned that “all the people who die from this day forward will also die because of you.”
In a bitter and emotional speech late Friday, Zelenskyy criticized NATO over the lack of a no-fly zone, saying it will fully untie Russia’s hands as it escalates its air attack.
On Saturday, Ukraine's Defence Minister Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov added that "arguments that the current refusal to implement (a no fly-zone) is related to the fact that NATO is trying to avoid the nuclear war is not convincing, since Russia has already started it. Historical lessons are severe and they must be taken into account," he says.
Meanwhile, on the ground ...
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military has launched hundreds of missiles and artillery attacks on cities and other sites across the country. But a vast, mileslong Russian armored column threatening Ukraine’s capital remained stalled outside Kyiv.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovich said battles involving airstrikes and artillery continued northwest of Kyiv.
He said the northeastern cities of Kharkiv and Okhtyrka also came under heavy fire. Ukrainian forces still held the northern city of Chernihiv and the southern city of Mykolaiv, Arestovich said. Ukrainian artillery also defended Ukraine’s biggest port city, Odessa, from repeated attempts by Russian ships, he said.
Humanitarian crisis
The UN World Food Program says millions of people inside Ukraine, a major global wheat supplier, will need food aid “immediately.”
Ukraine’s president was set to brief U.S. senators on Saturday on a video conference call as Congress considers a request for $10 billion in emergency funding for humanitarian aid and security needs.
Human toll
Russia has acknowledged that nearly 500 Russian troops have been killed and around 1,600 wounded. Ukraine has not released casualty figures for its armed forces.
The UN human rights office says at least 331 civilians have been killed and 675 wounded in Ukraine since the start of the invasion. Ukraine’s State Emergency Service has said more than 2,000 civilians have died, though it’s impossible to verify the claim.
More than 840 children have been wounded in the invasion, and 28 have been killed, according to Ukraine’s government.
What's happening at the UN?
The UN Security Council will hold an open meetingMonday on the worsening humanitarian situation in Ukraine.
The United States and Albania requested the meeting, which will hear briefings by UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths and Catherine Russell, executive director of the UN children’s agency UNICEF, diplomats said.
The United Nations estimates that 12 million people in Ukraine and 4 million fleeing to neighboring countries in the coming months will need humanitarian aid.
(With AP)
