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Summary
It is just before 7am in Ukraine and here is where the crisis currently stands.
- Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said humanitarian corridors failed on Wednesday because “Russian soldiers didn’t stop shelling and didn’t guarantee safety” in a national address late last night. The president called Russia a “terrorist state” and pleaded for more support from the west, including air defence systems, jets, lethal weapons and ammunition.
- Zelenskiy also directly addressed Russians, asking them to question whether the siege of Mariupol is any different from the siege of Leningrad and promising Russian soldiers who lay down their arms a chance to survive.
- Russian forces bombed a theatre and swimming pool complex where civilians were sheltering in the encircled Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, officials said. Mariupol council posted an image of the city’s theatre showing it sustained heavy damage in today’s attack and said casualty numbers were being confirmed. Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of Donetsk regional administration, said that pregnant women and children were sheltering at the pool, calling the attack “pure terrorism”. The word “children” had been written outside the theatre. Zelenskiy said “our hearts are broken” by the strike, and likened the siege of the city to that of Leningrad in the second world war.
- Satellite imagery revealed extensive damage across Sumy, Chernihiv and Kharkiv. The images, taken by US space technology company Maxar Technologies, shows burning homes in a residential area of Chernihiv, Ukraine, as well as artillery impact craters next to a residential area in Kharkiv and a damaged Olympic sports training centre.
- Joe Biden referred to Vladimir Putin as a “war criminal”, his sharpest rebuke yet of the Russian president, after he announced an extra $800m in security assistance to Ukraine, to buy more weapons and military equipment. The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Biden’s comments were “unacceptable and unforgivable rhetoric”, according to Russia’s state-owned Tass news agency.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on the US Congress to provide more weapons to help his country fight off Russian airstrikes and for further sanctions against Russia, including the withdrawal of all US businesses.
- Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba said that what his country needs from the west is “weapons and sanctions, and the rest will be done by Ukraine” in an interview with CNN.
- The United States committed to more military aid to Ukraine, including long-range missile defence and Switchblade armed drones to better defend against Russian aircraft and armour from a distance.
- Russian forces shot and killed 10 people standing for bread in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, the US embassy in Kyiv said. Ukrainian officials said the attack took place at 10am local time on Wednesday (8am GMT). Russia’s defence ministry denied the report, claiming no Russian soldiers were in Chernihiv.
- The UN security council will meet Thursday at the request of six western nations that sought an open session on Ukraine. The UK’s UN mission tweeted: “Russia is committing war crimes and targeting civilians. Russia’s illegal war on Ukraine is a threat to us all.” The meeting comes ahead of an expected vote on a Russian humanitarian resolution that has been sharply criticised for making no mention of Moscow’s war against Ukraine.
- Russian forces released the mayor of the Ukrainian city of Melitopol, the Ukrainian president said. Ukraine’s state services for communications shared a video showing Zelenskiy speaking to Ivan Fedorov following his release. The president said Fedorov was abducted by Russian forces on 11 March who tried to persuade him to collaborate but “our man withstood. He did not give up.”
- China’s ambassador to Ukraine praised Ukraine’s unity and resistance in remarks which appear to contradict the country’s earlier stance. Fan Xianrong said China “will never attack Ukraine” but will support it economically and politically during a meeting with Lviv’s regional military administration, Ukrainian media outlet Ukrinform originally reported.
- British intelligence said set backs for Russian forces has meant its troops are resorting to the use of “older, less precise weapons” which are “less militarily effective and more likely to result in civilian casualties.
“Citizens of Russia”, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said during his daily video address. “How does your blockade of Mariupol differ from the blockade of Leningrad during the years of the second world war?”
His comments come after a Russian plane dropped a bomb on a theatre where civilians were sheltering in the besieged city. On the same day in Chernihiv, 10 people were killed while waiting in line to buy bread. Zelenskiy added that Russia had become a “terrorist state”.
Watch Zelenskiy’s powerful remarks in the video below.
Japan’s military has said it spotted four large Russian amphibious warfare ships sailing close to its islands as they traveled west, possibly towards Europe, Reuters is reporting.
Pictures of the amphibious transports, typically used for landing expeditionary forces ashore, published by Japan’s defence ministry showed what appeared to be military trucks loaded onto the deck of one of the vessels.
The exodus of refugees fleeing Ukraine continues with most seeking refuge in neighbouring Poland.
China 'will never attack Ukraine', praises Ukrainian unity and resistance
China’s ambassador to Ukraine has praised Ukraine’s unity and resistance in remarks which appear to contradict the country’s earlier stance.
Fan Xianrong said China “will never attack Ukraine” but will support it economically and politically during a meeting with Lviv’s regional military administration, Ukrainian media outlet Ukrinform reported, citing the administration’s press service.
China will never attack Ukraine, we will help, in particular in the economic direction.
In this situation, which you have now, we will act responsibly. We have seen how great the unity of the Ukrainian people is, and that means its strength.
Lviv’s governor of the regional military administration, Maksym Kozytskiy, also confirmed the meeting in a statement earlier this week, noting that China sent two batches of humanitarian aid to the Ukrainian people, with a third expected this week. He said:
China and Ukraine are strategic partners, this year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our countries.”
Xianrong added:
China is a friendly country for the Ukrainian people. As an ambassador, I can responsibly say that China will forever be a good force for Ukraine, both economically and politically. We will always respect your state, we will develop relations on the basis of equality and mutual benefit. We will respect the path chosen by Ukrainians because this is the sovereign right of every nation.”
Updated
The Guardian’s correspondent in Taipei, Helen Davidson, has provided a helpful explainer addressing the question: How close are China and Russia? It’s a question that has come under increased scrutiny in light of recent claims that Beijing knew of Russia’s plans to invade Ukraine.
Under the rule of Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin China and Russia have become increasingly isolated from the west – and closer to each other.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine came just days after Xi and Putin cemented a significant partnership on the sidelines of the Beijing Winter Olympics – the first in-person, bilateral meeting Xi had attended since the pandemic began.
A joint statement from the two leaders said the bonds between the two countries had “no limits” and there were “no ‘forbidden’ areas of cooperation”. It called on the west to “abandon the ideologised approaches of the cold war”, and expressed support for each other’s stance on Ukraine and Taiwan.
The timing of the partnership signed between Russia and China has also raised questions about what China’s government knew of the invasion. Some analysts and US officials have suggested it was likely Beijing knew of the Russian plans for Ukraine but not the extent of them, and was caught somewhat by surprise. Beijing denies this. In the Washington Post on Wednesday, China’s ambassador to the US said any assertions it “knew about, acquiesced to or tacitly supported this war are purely disinformation”.
A before and after comparison photo shows the extent of damage inflicted upon the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.
Russian forces bombed a theatre and swimming pool complex where civilians were sheltering, officials said.
Mariupol council posted an image of the city’s theatre showing it sustained heavy damage in the attack and said casualty numbers were being confirmed. The word “children” had been written outside the theatre. Zelenskiy said “our hearts are broken” by the strike, and likened the siege of the city to that of Leningrad in the second world war.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba called the attack “another horrendous war crime” and said the building is now fully ruined.
Another horrendous war crime in Mariupol. Massive Russian attack on the Drama Theater where hundreds of innocent civilians were hiding. The building is now fully ruined. Russians could not have not known this was a civilian shelter. Save Mariupol! Stop Russian war criminals! pic.twitter.com/bIQLxe7mli
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) March 16, 2022
'Weapons, and sanctions, and the rest will be done by Ukraine', FM says
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba has said that what his country needs from the west is “weapons and sanctions, and the rest will be done by Ukraine”.
Speaking to Anderson Cooper about negotiations with Russia in an interview with CNN, Kuleba said:
There are a number of factors that make a difference in the Russian position in the talks, the first one is the fierce resistance of the Ukrainian army and Ukrainian people on the ground; the second is sanctions imposed on Russia, sanctions which cause the Russian economy to go down and to suffer.
Continued resistance and sanctions has forced Russia to slightly change its position, Kuleba added.
Its position becomes different but I could not call it a dramatic change or serious change in the position. But under the circumstances every change in the Russian position is a constructive one. Because they start with unilateral ultimatums which if put together constitute a unilateral surrender of Ukraine and that is not acceptable … But I have to be clear, both delegations the Russian and Ukrainian one are far away from reaching an agreement on the current situation …”
Asked about his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, reviving rhetoric about “denazification” of Ukraine, Kuleba said: “Listen, Russia will never, never admit that they made a concession or that they realised the goals they had set for themselves were not achievable. They will always publicly say everything is fine, everything is going according to plan and it’s exactly what we wanted.
Whatever Minister Lavrov said in the press conference, I know two things: if Ukraine gets sufficient amount of weapons to defend itself, if sanctions pressure will be continued, then Russia will make serious concessions.
Kuleba called for caution in reading Russian messages.
[We should] understand two things and I will say it again because it’s crucially important: weapons and sanctions, and the rest will be done by Ukraine”.
Finally, Zelenskiy said plans are already underway to restore Ukraine after the war.
We are already working on the program for the restoration of our country after the war.
I promise to every Ukrainian who lost their house or apartment as a result of shelling, that the state will rebuild everything.
I am confident that we will be able to rebuild our country quickly. No matter how big the losses are.... It will be a historic reconstruction, a project that will inspire the world just as our fight for freedom, our fight for Ukraine.”
(Translation provided by Bermet Talant.)
Wrapping up his late-night address, Zelenskiy said Russia has become a terrorist state.
The war has not stopped yet. Russia’s war crimes continue. The Russian economy is still able to maintain the military machine. That’s why we need new sanctions against Russia. The world must finally recognise officially that Russia has become a terrorist state.”
Zelenskiy also pleaded for more support, including air defence systems, jets, lethal weapons and ammunition to stop Russian occupants.
What else do the occupants have to do, how many people do they have to kill for western leaders, Nato leaders to say “yes” to Ukraine’s request for a no-fly zone or give us fighter jets that we need so much?”
Zelenskiy said he called on the United States about the creation of a new union, U-24, that will “guarantee that every aggressor will receive a coordinated pushback from the world” in the first 24 hours of an attack.
We can’t trust the existing institutions anymore. We can’t hope that bureaucrats in international organisations will adapt so quickly. That’s why we have to look for new guarantees, create new instruments.”
Mariupol attack no different from siege of Leningrad, Zelenskiy says
Zelenskiy also directly addressed Russians, asking them to question whether the siege of Mariupol is any different from the siege of Leningrad and promising Russian soldiers who lay down their arms a chance to survive.
Speaking in Russian, he said:
Citizens of Russia! How is your siege of Mariupol different from the siege of Leningrad during WWII? Who are you taking over from?”
Every Russian soldier who lays down his arms will get a chance to survive, he added.
There is still an opportunity. There is [an opportunity] for every soldier sent to the territory of our country, for every single one who hasn’t been killed or injured or captured.
The Russian army is suffering losses that it did not see in Syria or Chechnya; that Soviet troops [didn’t have] in Afghanistan. If your war, war against the Ukrainian people, will continue, mothers of Russia will lose more children than in the Afghan and Chechen wars altogether. Why do you need it?
Every Russian soldier who lays down his arms will get a chance to survive.
I’m addressing conscripts, who were thrown into a boiler of this war - not their war, - and other soldiers who still have a self-preservation instinct. Lay down your arms. It is better than dying on the battlefield on our land.”
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has made another national address just after midnight local time.
Zelenskiy confirmed the mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fyodorov, was released and added that the city has not submitted to Russian forces.
Russian soldiers kidnapped him on March 11 and tried to force him into collaboration. But our man withstood. He didn’t give up. We will withstand too. All of us. We are not giving up. For we are Ukrainians, and we always defend our people and what’s ours.
The president also said humanitarian corridors failed on Wednesday. “Russian soldiers didn’t stop shelling and didn’t guarantee safety,” he added.
Despite the onslaught, Zelenskiy said more than 6,000 people, including 2,000 thousand children from Mariupol, managed to flee to Berdyansk and are being evacuated.
Russian troops tried to disrupt the movement. They opened artillery fire on the road section between Vasylivka and Kamyanske in Zaporizhia region. It was a miracle that nobody died. Five people were wounded, including two children.”
In Chernihiv, he said Russian troops fired on civilians who were “simply standing in line for bread” killing ten.
Zelenskiy also confirmed Russian forces dropped a bomb on the theatre in the city centre of Mariupol.
Hundreds of people were taking shelter there… The building was destroyed. The number of victims is yet unknown. My heart is breaking from what Russia is doing to our people, to Mariupol, to Donetsk region.”
New satellite imagery over Ukraine reveals extensive damage across Sumy, Chernihiv and Kharkiv.
The images, taken by US space technology company Maxar Technologies, shows burning homes in a residential area of Chernihiv, Ukraine, as well as artillery impact craters next to a residential area in Kharkiv and a damaged Olympic sports training centre.
Updated
Russian forces have been accused of bombing a theatre where hundreds of displaced people were believed to have been sheltering and striking a swimming pool where pregnant women and young children had gathered.
The attacks happened in the besieged city of Mariupol. There was no immediate confirmation of the numbers of deaths or injuries in what the Mariupol city council said was a “bomb on a building where hundreds of peaceful Mariupol residents were hiding”.
Footage of the destruction can be viewed in the video below.
US to send Switchblade drones and anti-aircraft Stingers to Ukraine
The United States has committed to more military aid to Ukraine, including long-range missile defence and Switchblade armed drones to better defend against Russian aircraft and armour from a distance.
According to Agence France-Presse, the new arms and equipment that President Joe Biden announced for Ukraine includes S-300 long-range missile defence systems, ‘kamikaze drones’, anti-aircraft Stingers and ‘saint javelin’ self-guided missiles.
Ukraine has had the ability to shoot down Russian aircraft and cruise missiles at relatively close quarters but Washington is now arranging for it to acquire systems that can strike attacking aircraft much further away.
According to a military source, the systems are the Soviet/Russian-made S-300, which like the US-made Patriot system, is a fully automated, ground-based radar-and-missile launcher unit that can detect, track and fire at multiple incoming aerial threats at long distances.
Washington will also send Ukraine 100 Switchblade drones, essentially camera-equipped, remote-controlled flying bombs that can be directed by an operator to find and then, when ready, plunge onto a target, exploding on contact.
Dubbed “kamikaze drones,” Switchblades can extend the range of attack on Russian vehicles and units to beyond the sight of the user. That gives them an advantage over the guided heat-seeking missiles that Ukrainians have used against Russian tanks.
The United States is also reportedly giving Ukraine 800 more Stingers, which are shoulder-mounted infrared anti-aircraft missiles as well as more lightweight, shoulder-launched self-guided missiles which have become the weapon of choice in the ground war to destroy armoured vehicles at close quarters.
Among those, 2,000 additional US-made javelin missiles will be sent, with dual charges designed to defeat Russian tanks’ anti-missile defences.
The new US arms provisions also include 7,000 other anti-armour weapons, thousands of machine guns, rifles, and grenade launchers, 20 million rounds of small arms ammunition fitting both Russian and Nato standards, and 25,000 sets of body armour and helmets.
The United States, Britain, France, Albania, Norway and Ireland have requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Thursday due to the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Ukraine, diplomatic sources said.
“Russia is committing war crimes and targeting civilians,” the British diplomatic mission to the UN said on its Twitter account. “Russia’s illegal war on Ukraine is a threat to us all.”
Earlier in the day, Russia asked to again postpone a UN Security Council vote on a resolution it drafted about the “humanitarian” situation in Ukraine.
The vote, first scheduled for Wednesday and then pushed to Thursday afternoon, is to be set for Friday morning - unless the draft is dropped altogether due to lack of support from Moscow’s allies.
Discussions are also underway, according to other diplomatic sources, to allow Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to speak to the United Nations General Assembly.
🚨 #BREAKING 🚨
— UK at the UN 🇬🇧 (@UKUN_NewYork) March 16, 2022
The UK and 🇦🇱🇫🇷🇮🇪🇳🇴🇺🇸 have called for a Security Council meeting on #Ukraine.
Russia is committing war crimes and targeting civilians.
Russia’s illegal war on Ukraine is a threat to us all. pic.twitter.com/SRi76OAszm
The British Embassy in Washington has said set backs for Russian forces has meant its troops are resorting to the use of “older, less precise weapons” which are “less militarily effective and more likely to result in civilian casualties.
UK Defence Attaché, AVM Mick Smeath, said:
Given the delays in achieving their objectives and failure to control Ukrainian airspace, Russia has probably expended far more stand-off air launched weapons than originally planned.
As a result, it is likely Russia is resorting to the use of older, less precise weapons, which are less militarily effective and more likely to result in civilian casualties.
Latest UN reporting indicates that 1,900 civilian casualties, including 726 deaths, have already occurred in the conflict to date. The true casualty figure is likely to be significantly greater and will continue to rise as long as the conflict continues.”
Russia is only 'pretending to negotiate', French FM says
Russia is only “pretending to negotiate” with Ukraine and is engaging in a “dramatic process of long-lasting brutality”, France’s foreign minister has said.
“There is only one emergency: the cease-fire, the cease-fire, the cease-fire. ... It is only on this basis that you can negotiate, because you don’t negotiate with a gun on your head,” Jean-Yves Le Drian told French newspaper Le Parisien in an interview on Wednesday.
Le Drian added that France would consider Russia responsible for any use of chemical or bacteriological weapons in the war in Ukraine.
If chemical or bacteriological attacks took place in Ukraine, we’d know who would be solely responsible for them. It would be Russia.”
The French minister said that such use of unconventional weapons would result in additional sanctions against Russia.
The use of unconventional means would constitute an intolerable escalation and would lead in response to absolutely massive and radical economic sanctions, without taboos.”
Le Drian did not elaborate on the nature of the potential sanctions in such circumstances.
Hello it’s Samantha Lock back you on the blog as my colleague Maanvi Singh signs off.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has made another national address this evening, describing his priorities in upcoming negotiations.
My priorities in negotiations are absolutely clear. End of war, guarantees of security, sovereignty, restoration of territorial integrity, real guarantees for our country, real protection for our country.”
It is almost 1:30am in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand now:
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Russian forces shot and killed 10 people standing for bread in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, the US embassy in Kyiv said. Ukrainian officials said the attack took place at 10am local time (8am GMT). Russia’s defence ministry denied the report, claiming no Russian soldiers were in Chernihiv.
- Russian forces bombed a theatre and pool where civilians were sheltering in the encircled Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, the city council said. Mariupol council posted an image of the city’s theatre showing it sustained heavy damage in today’s attack and said casualty numbers were being confirmed. Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of Donetsk regional administration, said that pregnant women and children were sheltering at the pool, calling the attack “pure terrorism”.
- The bodies of five people, including three children, were recovered today during searches of residential buildings damaged by shelling in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, Ukraine’s emergencies service said. The bodies were found in the ruins of a dormitory building, it said in an online statement.
- The UN’s international court of justice (ICJ) has ordered Russia to stop its invasion, saying it had not seen any evidence to support the Kremlin’s justification for the war. Only the Russian and Chinese judges on the court voted against the order.
- A report by the Financial Times about a proposed 15-point peace plan between Moscow and Kyiv shows only “the requesting position of the Russian side”, Ukrainian negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak said. The FT had reported a “tentative” peace plan that included a ceasefire and Russian withdrawal if Kyiv declares neutrality and accepts limits on its armed forces.
- The Kremlin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Ukraine becoming a neutral state with a status comparable to Austria and Sweden was being discussed at talks with Kyiv and would be a “compromise”. “This is an option that is being discussed now and that can be considered as a compromise,” Peskov told journalists today.
- Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, suggested talks were making progress despite continued bloodshed and fears from some EU leaders that the Kremlin was toying with Kyiv. “The negotiations are not easy for obvious reasons,” Lavrov told RBC News. “But nevertheless, there is some hope of reaching a compromise.
- The US president, Joe Biden, announced an extra $800m pledged in security assistance from the US to Ukraine, to buy more weapons and military equipment, as part of a much larger package of aid. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on the US Congress to provide more weapons to help his country fight off Russian airstrikes and for further sanctions against Russia, including the withdrawal of all US businesses. Biden also referred to Putin as a “war criminal”.
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The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said the west “would not succeed” in what he called its attempt to achieve global dominance and dismember Russia. In a televised speech to government ministers, Putin went further than before in acknowledging the pain that western sanctions were inflicting on the Russian economy, but insisted the country could withstand the blow.
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There have been 43 attacks on Ukrainian healthcare facilities, infrastructure and workers since the beginning of the invasion, said WHO chief, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Two health workers had been killed and at least eight injured in the attacks, the WHO said.
- Russian forces have released the mayor of the Ukrainian city of Melitopol, an adviser to the Ukrainian president said. Ukraine’s state services for communications shared a video showing President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaking with Ivan Fedorov following his release.
- The prima ballerina Olga Smirnova, one of Russia’s biggest dance stars, has quit the Bolshoi Ballet company in Moscow after denouncing the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Earlier this month, Smirnova posted on Telegram saying that she was against the war “with all the fibres of my soul”.
– Léonie Chao-Fong, Guardian staff
Here’s the latest UK defence intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine:
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 16 March 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) March 16, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/UPQE4x2Bzi
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/sToWIqF20K
Lorenzo Tondo in Lviv and Isobel Koshiw in Kyiv:
Ukraine’s ministry of defence has described Mariupol as the worst front of the war. Mass graves have been dug on the outskirts of the city and the bodies of men, women and children have been left on the streets. More than 400,000 of its inhabitants are either without or with dwindling access to running water, food and medical supplies.
Local officials have said more than 2,500 have been killed. But the reality is that, because of the shelling, the dead cannot be counted.
Ukrainian officials also accused Russian forces of shelling a convoy of cars of civilians fleeing the city, wounding at least five people, including a child.
Local officials shared photos and videos of the aftermath of the alleged attack. “Heavy artillery of the enemy forces fired on a convoy of civilians moving along the highway towards Zaporizhzhia,” the governor of the region, Oleksandr Starukh, said in an online post.
The Ukrainian military also reported the strike in a separate statement. Work was under way to confirm the number of casualties, it said. Authorities also shared a photo of a child it said had been wounded in the attack.
More than 400 people, whom Ukrainian authorities have compared to hostages, remain trapped in a Mariupol hospital seized by Russian forces.
“It is impossible to get out of the hospital,” one employee said on the Telegram social media platform. “They shoot hard, we sit in the basement. Cars have not been able to drive to the hospital for two days. High-rise buildings are burning around … Russians rushed 400 people from neighbouring houses to our hospital. We can’t leave.”
Officials have told families to leave their dead outside in the streets because holding funerals is too dangerous.
Read more:
Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of Donetsk regional administration, has said that Russian forces have intentionally targeted civilians in an airstrike that hit a theatre and a swimming pool in Mariupol.
In an address posted on Telegram, he said:
This scum is seeking to physically destroy Mariupol and the people of Mariupol, who have long become a symbol of our resistance. Today, they launched an airstrike on the drama theater and the Neptune swimming pool.
Several hundreds of Mariupol residents were taking shelter in the drama theater. It is unknown how they are because the entry to the bomb shelter is covered with rubble. Russians are already starting to lie that it was a headquarters for the Azov battalion. But they know well that civilians were there.
Only civilians were also in Neptune. Now there are pregnant women and women with children under the rubble there. This is pure terrorism.
Kyrylenko said the number of casualties was unclear. The Guardian has not yet independently verified videos of the attack, which appear to corroborate the account.
Updated
Civilians in Izium, in eastern Ukraine, “are on the brink of a humanitarian disaster” Amnesty International says.
The organization interviewed residents evacuated from the city, which as been besieged by Russian forces.
Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said: “The testimonies we have gathered from Izium reveal the terror experienced by the town’s civilian population, trapped in their basements with almost no food or water, and under constant attack.
“Izium and other towns on the frontline now urgently need humanitarian corridors to enable the safe evacuation of civilians wishing to leave, and the delivery of humanitarian supplies to reach those who remain behind.”
Updated
Former UK prime minister David Cameron said he regrets the “feeble” western response to Russia’s invasion of Georgia in 2008.
Cameron was asked on Channel 4 News whether he regretted his involvement with Russia, including a speech at the State University of Moscow in 2011 where he said Britain and Russia would be “stronger together”.
He said:
What I regret is in 2008, when I was leader of the opposition, when Russia effectively invaded Georgia, I went to Tbilisi to show solidarity with President Saakashvili. And if you look at the western response to Georgia, it was feeble, there weren’t sanctions, there wasn’t pressure put in place. We should have done that in 2008 and we did behave differently in 2012 when Putin invaded Crimea, in 2014.
He said by 2014 the UK was leading the effort on sanctions, adding: “When I think back to that time, you know, we were trying to persuade... I mean, the French at that stage were selling warships to the Russians.”
He said when he entered No 10 “there was a sense that, look, you had to try and find a way of working with these people”.
: “We had to work together over terrorism, we had to work together over climate change. We had to work together over banking regulations,” he added. “I thought we had to do business with Russia and its leadership, which at that time was more (Dmitry) Medvedev than Putin.”
Cameron also defended the Conservative Party receiving money from Russian donors. “If the argument is that somehow Russian investment in Britain, or very small numbers of Russians supporting the Conservative Party, somehow changed our policy, I would say that it’s complete nonsense,” he said.
He refused to be drawn on accusations against Boris Johnson regarding the elevation of Evgeny Lebedev to the House of Lords.
Cameron said: “Look, that’s for the prime minister to explain and to defend. The Lords Appointments Commission is an important body. I always listened to it very carefully. But I’m not here to start throwing bricks at the prime minister at this moment.”
Updated
‘First you cry, then get used to it’: Ukraine villagers find a kind of refuge in Mykolaiv
After an airstrike flattened the school behind his house and artillery shells ripped apart a circle of neighbouring homes, Dmitry Yakhshyboyev went out to look for petrol.
His family, from seven-month-old son to parents in their 70s, had been cowering in their basement without heating, electricity or running water for two days, as Russian forces assaulted their village.
As the occupying soldiers razed buildings to the ground, taking their chances on a dash past tanks and through the frontlines gradually came to seem like the safer option for Yakhshyboyev’s family.
“We had a choice. Stay and die, or risk driving through the shelling,” he said, tracing the circles of destruction on a satellite map of his village, Posad-Pokrovske.
Dmytro Yakhshyboyev in his damaged car.Photograph: Anton Skyba/The Globe and Mail
They had an ancient Soviet-era Zhiguli car, its back windscreen blown out by shockwaves from the bomb that levelled the school. Yakhshyboyev’s boss at an IT store had stored about 10 litres of petrol.
So on Wednesday morning, the day after the school was brought down, and one neighbour’s house so totally incinerated that the remains “looked like an ashtray”, they set off in a two-car convoy.
There was barely room to cram their family into the car, with a small backpack of vital documents. The animals he loved like family – three dogs, seven cats, a cow, three pigs, three guinea pigs and several parrots – were set free to give them some tiny chance of survival.
“What a terrible day, what a terrible life,” he said, burying his face in his hands as he listed the beloved companions left behind.
When the group reached the relative safety of the port city of Mykolaiv, they paused, briefly, to gather supplies, patch up the back of the car with plastic, and consider how their lives had been ripped apart by the war.
It is a mark of how vicious the war in Ukraine has become that they considered this frontline city, where conversations are punctuated by the regular thud of artillery exchanges, something of a refuge.
Read more:
Maxar Technologies, a private US company, has distributed satellite imagery that it said was collected on March 14, showing the word “children” in large Russian script painted on the ground outside the red-roofed Mariupol drama theatre, Reuters has reported.
Reports emerged earlier today that Russian forces had bombed the theatre where civilians were sheltering in the encircled Ukrainian port city of Mariupol. Mariupol council posted an image of the city’s theatre, showing the heavy damage it sustained during the attack.
Russian forces had “purposefully and cynically destroyed the Drama Theater in the heart of Mariupol”, it said.
Updated
A poorly doctored video showing Ukraine president Zelenskiy publicly surrendering to Russia’s demands was circulating widely today, causing experts to worry that more sophisticated deepfake videos could soon emerge, reported Reuters.
The video appeared to show an ashen-faced Zelenskiy speaking from the presidential lectern and urging his countrymen to down their weapons in the face of Russian invaders. Internet users immediately flagged the discrepancies between the skin tone on Zelenskiy’s neck and face, the odd accent in the video, and the pixelation around his head.
Here’s the fake. It’s crude and probably won’t fool you, but just like all other manipulated media this further corrodes trust in all (authentic) visual media too: https://t.co/zKAtP9jUCi
— Nina Schick (@NinaDSchick) March 16, 2022
The fake video appearance was also acknowledged by Meta, the owners of social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp.
Head of security policy at Meta Nathaniel Gleicher confirmed that the video was removed as it violated Meta’s policy against “misleading manipulated media”:
1/ Earlier today, our teams identified and removed a deepfake video claiming to show President Zelensky issuing a statement he never did. It appeared on a reportedly compromised website and then started showing across the internet.
— Nathaniel Gleicher (@ngleicher) March 16, 2022
2/ We've quickly reviewed and removed this video for violating our policy against misleading manipulated media, and notified our peers at other platforms.
— Nathaniel Gleicher (@ngleicher) March 16, 2022
Though many were not fooled by the fake video, experts warn that more deepfakes could emerge as the war in Ukraine continues.
“Expect fakes like this to become easier to produce while appearing highly authentic,” said Nina Schick, the author of Deepfakes, to Reuters.
Updated
Pope Francis discussed the Ukraine invasion with Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church, having their first known contact since the war began, reported Reuters.
(Reuters) - Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church and Pope Francis discussed the war in Ukraine, Kirill's office said, in the first known contact since the conflict began
— Phil Stewart (@phildstewart) March 16, 2022
Kirill, 75, a close ally of Putin, has made past statements defending Russian actions in Ukraine
Earlier today, Pope Francis spoke via phone with German chancellor Olaf Scholz, with the two agreeing that the Ukraine invasion must end, Reuters also reported.
France opened up a war crime probe into the death of Franco-Irish Fox News journalist Pierre Zakrzewski who was shot near Kyiv while covering the Ukraine invasion, reported Agence France-Presse.
French prosecutors have opened a war crime probe into the death of Franco-Irish Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski who was shot near Kyiv while covering the war in Ukraine, an official statement said Wednesday.
The probe by France’s specialised anti-terror prosecutors will investigate possible charges of causing “deliberate harm to a person protected by international law” and a “deliberate attack against a civilian who was not taking part in hostilities.”
French prosecutors routinely open cases into the violent deaths of citizens overseas.
Zakrzewski and Ukrainian producer Oleksandra Kuvshynova died and Fox correspondent Benjamin Hall was wounded when their vehicle was struck Monday by incoming fire in Horenka, outside the capital.
Zakrzewski was an experienced war zone cameraman who had previously covered conflicts for the US network in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian sent his condolences on Wednesday, adding that “armed forces have an obligation to protect journalists in accordance with international humanitarian law.”
Other media workers have been killed in the three weeks of conflict so far, including US documentary maker Brent Renaud and Ukrainian reporter Evgeny Sakun.
The Ukrainian parliament’s human rights chief Lyudmyla Denisova said Tuesday that another Ukrainian journalist, Viktor Dudar, was killed in fighting around the southern port city of Mykolaiv.
Biden calling Putin a war criminal is 'unforgivable rhetoric', says Kremlin – reports
A Kremlin spokesperson has said that comments the US made calling Putin a war criminal were “unacceptable” and “unforgivable rhetoric,” reports Reuters citing Russia state-owned TASS News agency.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today that Biden’s comments characterising Putin as a war criminal were “unacceptable and unforgivable rhetoric,” according to TASS.
Earlier, Biden called Putin a “war criminal,” using the term for the first time in reference to Russia’s leader.
🚨This marks the first time the administration has referred to the Russian President as a war criminal - until now, officials have shied away from that language.
— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) March 16, 2022
POTUS tells me “I think he is a war criminal”
(Thanks to @kwelkernbc for the camera work 🎥) pic.twitter.com/u4fLdkxMbt
Updated
German chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke to Pope Francis today by phone about the war in Ukraine, reported Reuters.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke to Pope Francis by phone about the war in Ukraine and agreed that it must end immediately, a German government spokesperson said on Wednesday.
“In view of the humanitarian situation, a ceasefire is urgent and necessary to avoid further suffering,” the spokesperson said.
Today, Biden also approved an additional $800mn worth of military assistance to Ukraine, in addition to $1bn that was already provided this week.
Here is more information on what is included in the additional package from Foreign Policy’s Jack Detsch:
U.S. will provide $800 million MORE in military aid to Ukraine: Biden
— Jack Detsch (@JackDetsch) March 16, 2022
This includes:
• 800 anti-aircraft systems (including longer-range)
• 9,000 anti-armor systems
• 7,000 small arms (machine guns, shotguns, grenade launchers)
• 20 million rounds of ammo
• Drones
NEW: Senior U.S. defense official confirms that the Pentagon will send drones to Ukraine, but won't specify which ones.
— Jack Detsch (@JackDetsch) March 16, 2022
"One of the purposes of these unmanned systems would be to deliver a punch." @KenDilanianNBC and co 1st reported US plans to send Switchblade loitering drones
Updated
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke today with Ireland prime minister Micheál Martin about the ongoing Ukraine invasion and the death of Fox News journalist journalist Pierre Zakrzewski, tweeted Zelenskiy:
Talked to [Ireland] Prime Minister @MichealMartinTD. Discussed countering aggression & horrific crimes of Russia against civilians. Expressed condolences over the murder of journalist Pierre Zakrzewski by Russian soldiers. Thanked for helping the people of [Ukraine]. #StopRussia
Talked to 🇮🇪 Prime Minister @MichealMartinTD. Discussed countering aggression & horrific crimes of Russia against civilians. Expressed condolences over the murder of 🇮🇪 journalist Pierre Zakrzewski by Russian soldiers. Thanked for helping the people of 🇺🇦. #StopRussia
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 16, 2022
Ireland is not currently giving military aid to Ukraine, but Irish citizens have opened up their homes to Ukrainian refugees.
Ukrainian President #Zelensky has spoken to Irish leader @MichealMartinTD - Ireland may not be contributing in terms of military aid, but its citizens have opened their homes to Ukrainian refugees #Ukraine https://t.co/58a3GlNyrX
— Suzanne Lynch (@suzannelynch1) March 16, 2022
Joe Biden calls Putin a "war criminal" for first time since start of Ukraine invasion
US president Joe Biden calls Russia president Vladimir Putin a “war criminal” for the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, reported Reuters.
NEW: Biden briefly speaks to reporters and says Vladimir Putin IS a war criminal
— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) March 16, 2022
While speaking to reporters today in the White House’s east room, Biden referred to Putin as a “war criminal,” the first time Biden has used that term in reference to Russia’s leader since Russia’s war on Ukraine began.
Biden now tells reporters, for the first time, that he does believe Putin is a war criminal. https://t.co/VuUGIXTv05
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) March 16, 2022
In the past, the White House had avoided using the phrase “war criminal,” citing an ongoing investigation into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
NEWS: President Biden called Vladimir Putin a “war criminal” for the first time. Until now the White House has avoided using the phrase, citing an ongoing investigation.
— Weijia Jiang (@weijia) March 16, 2022
Biden’s remarks on Putin follow a ruling by the UN’s international court of justice (ICJ) today ordering Russia to stop its invasion after saying it had not seen any evidence that Ukraine was committing genocide against Russian-speakers in the east of the country, Russia’s justification for the war.
Updated
Catch up
It is almost 9pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand now:
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Russian forces shot and killed 10 people standing for bread in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, the US embassy in Kyiv said. Ukrainian officials said the attack took place at 10am local time (8am GMT). Russia’s defence ministry denied the report, claiming no Russian soldiers were in Chernihiv.
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Russian forces bombed a theatre where civilians were sheltering in the encircled Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, the city council said. Mariupol council posted an image of the city’s theatre showing it sustained heavy damage in today’s attack and said casualty numbers were being confirmed.
- The bodies of five people, including three children, were recovered today during searches of residential buildings damaged by shelling in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, Ukraine’s emergencies service said. The bodies were found in the ruins of a dormitory building, it said in an online statement.
- The UN’s international court of justice (ICJ) has ordered Russia to stop its invasion, saying it had not seen any evidence to support the Kremlin’s justification for the war. Only the Russian and Chinese judges on the court voted against the order.
- A report by the Financial Times about a proposed 15-point peace plan between Moscow and Kyiv shows only “the requesting position of the Russian side”, Ukrainian negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak said. The FT had reported a “tentative” peace plan that included a ceasefire and Russian withdrawal if Kyiv declares neutrality and accepts limits on its armed forces.
- The Kremlin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Ukraine becoming a neutral state with a status comparable to Austria and Sweden was being discussed at talks with Kyiv and would be a “compromise”. “This is an option that is being discussed now and that can be considered as a compromise,” Peskov told journalists today.
- Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, suggested talks were making progress despite continued bloodshed and fears from some EU leaders that the Kremlin was toying with Kyiv. “The negotiations are not easy for obvious reasons,” Lavrov told RBC News. “But nevertheless, there is some hope of reaching a compromise.
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The US president, Joe Biden, announced an extra $800m pledged in security assistance from the US to Ukraine, to buy more weapons and military equipment, as part of a much larger package of aid. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on the US Congress to provide more weapons to help his country fight off Russian airstrikes and for further sanctions against Russia, including the withdrawal of all US businesses.
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The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said the west “would not succeed” in what he called its attempt to achieve global dominance and dismember Russia. In a televised speech to government ministers, Putin went further than before in acknowledging the pain that western sanctions were inflicting on the Russian economy, but insisted the country could withstand the blow.
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There have been 43 attacks on Ukrainian healthcare facilities, infrastructure and workers since the beginning of the invasion, said WHO chief, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Two health workers had been killed and at least eight injured in the attacks, the WHO said.
- Russian forces have released the mayor of the Ukrainian city of Melitopol, an adviser to the Ukrainian president said. Ukraine’s state services for communications shared a video showing President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaking with Ivan Fedorov following his release.
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The prima ballerina Olga Smirnova, one of Russia’s biggest dance stars, has quit the Bolshoi Ballet company in Moscow after denouncing the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Earlier this month, Smirnova posted on Telegram saying that she was against the war “with all the fibres of my soul”.
That’s it from me, Léonie Chao-Fong, for today as I hand over the blog to my colleague Gloria Oladipo in the US. Goodbye for now.
Updated
Scotland is to act as a super-sponsor for an initial group of 3,000 Ukrainian refugees who could begin arriving in the country from as early as this weekend, Libby Brooks reports.
Nicola Sturgeon said that her government’s plans would run in parallel with the first phase of the wider UK scheme, but do not require those fleeing to be matched with individual sponsors before being allowed entry to the UK.
The UK government has agreed to the scheme in principle, although it is still up to the Home Office to issue the necessary visas, she said. Her government has offered to sponsor 3,000 straight away and given an uncapped commitment to support at least 10% of the total number who seek sanctuary in the UK.
She told the Holyrood parliament:
We will provide temporary accommodation and then, with people already safely here and wrapped in a warm Scottish welcome, we will work at speed with partners - local councils, the Scottish Refugee Council, the NHS, Disclosure Scotland and others - to complete safeguarding checks, put in place wider health, education, practical and befriending support, and arrange longer term accommodation.
Welcome Hubs will be established in the coming days, with the Scottish government allocating £15m to support the immediate refugee response, with £11m going to local authorities and £2.25m set aside for temporary accommodation.
She added that the Scottish government welcomed “and intend to fully harness” the thousands of individual offers from people willing to provide refugees with a home, but added that some refugees may need to stay “for longer than we can reasonably expect members of the public to provide accommodation”.
So as well as fully harnessing the goodwill of people across Scotland, we also need to plan for long-term sustainable accommodation, and ensure appropriate public service provision.
Updated
Russian forces have released the mayor of the Ukrainian city of Melitopol, an adviser to the Ukrainian president, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, said.
Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the Ukrainian president’s office, said on Telegram:
A special operation to release Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov has just been successfully completed.
Fedorov was reportedly kidnapped by Russian soldiers on Friday night, marched from his office in the centre of Melitopol with a bag over his head.
Ukraine released Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov, kidnapped by Russian occupiers! It was a special operation, he is safe now, Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko said in a statement. "We don't leave our people in danger!" Tymoshenko said!
— Nika Melkozerova (@NikaMelkozerova) March 16, 2022
Ukraine’s state services for communications shared a video showing President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaking with Fedorov following his release.
The mayor of #Melitopol of the #Zaporizhzhia oblast Ivan Fedorov was released from #Russian captivity.
— SSSCIP Ukraine (@dsszzi) March 16, 2022
On the video a conversation of the President @ZelenskyyUa with the mayor. #WARINUKRAINE #RussiaUkraineWar #RussiaInvadedUkraine #StopRussia pic.twitter.com/lJKMULUwf6
Updated
Russia’s defence ministry has denied a report published by the US embassy in Kyiv that its forces shot and killed 10 people waiting in line for bread in the Ukrainian city of Chernihiv.
In a statement posted on its official Twitter site and Facebook page, the US embassy in Kyiv said:
Today, Russian forces shot and killed 10 people standing in line for bread in Chernihiv. Such horrific attacks must stop.
We are considering all available options to ensure accountability for any atrocity crimes in Ukraine.
Russian defence ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said the report and footage of alleged victims that had appeared in various Ukrainian outlets was a “hoax launched by the Ukrainian Security Service”.
Konashenkov said the embassy had published an “unverified fake”, adding:
No Russian soldiers are or have been in Chernihiv. All units are outside of the Chernihiv city limits, blocking roads, and are not conducting any offensive action.
Russia’s defence ministry also denied it had carried out an air strike against a theatre in Mariupol, the Russian state-owned RIA news agency said.
The council in the besieged port city earlier said Russian forces bombed a theatre where civilians were sheltering.
British journalist Benjamin Hall, who was seriously injured in a Russian artillery attack in Ukraine that killed two colleagues working for Fox News, has left the country “in good spirits” to continue his recovery in an undisclosed location.
The news was shared in a memo to staff from Fox News Media chief executive Suzanne Scott, who said Hall, 39, the channel’s state department correspondent, was awake and responsive.
“Ben is alert and in good spirits. He is being treated with the best possible care in the world and we are in close contact with his wife and family. Please continue to keep him in your prayers,” Scott wrote.
Irish cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski, 55, and Ukrainian producer Oleksandra Kuvshynova, 24, died in Monday’s attack in Horenka, a village outside of Kyiv. Hall suffered serious injuries to his legs.
Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall, who was reporting in Ukraine when he was injured by incoming fire that killed two colleagues, is safe and out of the country, according to the network.
— ABC News (@ABC) March 16, 2022
Hall "is alert and said to be in good spirits," the network says. https://t.co/YBkvN0vZX6 pic.twitter.com/QFqRZ5wbhd
Rescue workers recovered the bodies of five people, including three children, during searches of residential buildings damaged by shelling in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, Ukraine’s emergencies service said.
The bodies were found in the ruins of a dormitory building, it said in an online statement.
Russia on Wednesday blocked access to the BBC’s main news website, as the country continues its crackdown on independent media and anti-war dissent, Pjotr Sauer reports.
“I think this is only the beginning of retaliatory measures to the information war unleashed by the west against Russia,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Telegram.
Earlier this month, users in Russia already reported difficulties accessing the BBC, and the country had previously blocked the BBC’s Russian service.
More than two dozen Russian media outlets have been blocked by the country’s media regulator or have chosen to cease operations. The country also blocked Facebook, Instagram and Twitter earlier this month before Meta’s designation as an “extremist organisation”.
It is not immediately clear if the BBC will be able to continue reporting from within the country.
Russia has repeatedly complained that Western media organisations offer an anti-Russian perspective of the world while choosing not to hold their own leaders to account.
Zakharova has claimed without evidence that the BBC “plays a determined role in undermining the Russian stability and security”.
Updated
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, pleaded with American lawmakers to do more to protect his country from Russia’s invasion in an address to the US Congress on Wednesday.
Witnesses reported a huge bomb blast near the city’s Donetsk regional theatre of drama in #Mariupol. “We don’t know if there are any survivors,” one said. “The bomb shelter is also covered with debris … there are both adults and children there.” #ukraine #war #Russia #invasion pic.twitter.com/GZpYouqc9t
— Lorenzo Tondo (@lorenzo_tondo) March 16, 2022
Russian forces bombed Mariupol theatre where hundreds were sheltering - local officials
Russian forces bombed a theatre where civilians were sheltering in the encircled Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, the city council said.
Mariupol council posted an image of the city’s theatre showing it sustained heavy damage in today’s attack.
Russian forces had “purposefully and cynically destroyed the Drama Theater in the heart of Mariupol,” it said.
The plane dropped a bomb on a building where hundreds of peaceful Mariupol residents were hiding.
It said casualty numbers were being confirmed.
Russians dropped a bomb on the drama theater in Mariupol,which was designated as a gathering place for people who lost their homes and livelihoods. Among those who were in the theater, there were many children and patients in need of special attention
— Oleksandra Matviichuk (@avalaina) March 16, 2022
Source Maripol City Council pic.twitter.com/azL0Xs3fnT
Sergei Orlov, Mariupol’s deputy mayor, told the BBC that between 1,000 and 1,200 people were there.
Horrifying reports that Mariupol’s drama theater was bombed today in a Russian airstrike. Hundreds of civilians were reportedly sheltering inside, according to Mariupol’s city council.
— Nolan Peterson (@nolanwpeterson) March 16, 2022
The building is located in a park in the city center. Impossible that this was an accident.
Russia dropped a bomb on a building of a drama theatre in Mariupol, where about a thousand people, including children, were sheltering. The number of casualties is unknown. Rescuers cannot work in the city because of constant bombardment. I don't have words left #SaveMariupol
— Olga Tokariuk (@olgatokariuk) March 16, 2022
Multiple reports that Russian forces dropped a bomb on Mariupol drama theatre where (at least until yesterday) hundreds of people were taking refuge. If confirmed refugees were still inside, this would be potentially the worst civilian harm incident and an undisputable war crime. pic.twitter.com/sDfhHULLCM
— Christo Grozev (@christogrozev) March 16, 2022
Reuters could not independently verify the information.
Updated
A report by the Financial Times about a proposed 15-point peace plan between Moscow and Kyiv only shows “the requesting position of the Russian side”, Ukrainian negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak said.
Podolyak, a senior adviser to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said Ukraine had its own requesting positions in negotiations with Russia.
“The only thing we confirm at this stage is a ceasefire, withdrawal of Russian troops and security guarantees from a number of countries,” he added.
Briefly. FT published a draft, which represents the requesting position of the Russian side. Nothing more. The 🇺🇦 side has its own positions. The only thing we confirm at this stage is a ceasefire, withdrawal of Russian troops and security guarantees from a number of countries
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) March 16, 2022
Updated
A Ukrainian TV channel says it was hacked after a fake statement from President Volodymyr Zelenskiy asking the people of Ukraine to surrender to Russia was broadcast on the channel.
Ukraine 24, a 24-hour news channel, said it was the victim of a hack after an alleged statement from Zelenskiy was shown in a live TV broadcast.
In the written statement that was broadcast, Zelenskiy allegedly said he was “capitulating” and would surrender and “give up arms”.
Zelenskiy responded with a video address from Kyiv, calling the provocation “childish”. He said he never made any such statement and promised that “the only ones who should give up arms are Russian soldiers”.
The prima ballerina Olga Smirnova, one of Russia’s biggest dance stars, has quit the Bolshoi Ballet company in Moscow after denouncing the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Chris Wiegand reports.
It was announced on Wednesday that Smirnova, who was born and raised in St Petersburg, has now joined the Dutch National Ballet, where she will start immediately alongside the Brazilian soloist Victor Caixeta, who has left the Mariinsky Ballet in St Petersburg in response to the war.
In a statement, Dutch National Ballet said that the invasion had made it untenable for Smirnova to continue to work in Russia. Earlier this month, she posted an emotional message on the social media app Telegram saying that she was against the war “with all the fibres of my soul”.
The dancer, who has a Ukrainian grandfather, said “we can not remain indifferent to this global catastrophe” and that she expected political matters to be resolved only through peaceful negotiations.
I never thought I would be ashamed of Russia, I have always been proud of talented Russian people, of our cultural and athletic achievements. But now I feel that a line has been drawn that separates the before and the after.
Nato allies united in no-fly zone decision - Stoltenberg
Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg has been speaking at a press conference after a meeting of the alliance’s defence ministers.
Nato countries are united in backing the alliance’s position that it will not establish a no-fly zone in Ukraine despite its president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, repeatedly calling for one, Stoltenberg said.
There will be “no deployment of air or ground capabilities in Ukraine and that is the united position of our allies,” he told reporters.
He added:
We see destruction, we see human suffering in Ukraine but this can become even worse if Nato took actions that actually turned this into full-fledged war between Nato and Russia.
Russian forces shot and killed 10 people standing for bread in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, Ukrainian officials said, confirming an earlier claim by the US embassy in Kyiv.
A statement issued by the office of Ukraine’s prosecutor general reads:
At 10:00 am (0800 GMT), servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces fired at people standing in line for bread near a grocery store. According to preliminary data, 10 civilians were killed.
Vyacheslav Chaus, the head of the regional administration, said the attack was indicative of Russia’s use of indirect fire against civilians, CNN reported.
Speaking on Ukrainian television, Chaus said:
This is not the first such incoming shell [in the city], nor is it the first shelling of civilians by the enemy.
The Russians are shelling and destroying mostly civilian infrastructure in the city of Chernihiv and other cities in the region.
Updated
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has welcomed an order by the international court of justice (ICJ) for Russia to stop its military actions in Ukraine.
Ukraine gained a complete victory in its case against Russia at the International Court of Justice. The ICJ ordered to immediately stop the invasion. The order is binding under international law. Russia must comply immediately. Ignoring the order will isolate Russia even further
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 16, 2022
Updated
ICJ orders Russia to suspend Ukraine invasion
The UN’s international court of justice (ICJ) in The Hague has ordered Russia to stop its invasion, saying it had not seen any evidence to support the Kremlin’s justification for the war, that Ukraine was committing genocide against Russian-speakers in the east of the country, Julian Borger writes.
The court ruled by 13 votes to two for a provisional order that “the Russian Federation shall immediately suspend military operations that it commenced on 24 February 2022 in the territory of Ukraine”. Only the Russian and Chinese judges on the court voted against the order.
The order was in response to a Ukrainian appeal to the court on 26 February, asking for a urgent ruling on Russian unsupported claims that Ukrainian forces were committing genocide in Russian-backed enclaves in Luhansk and Donetsk, regions in eastern Ukraine, as a justification for the attack.
Russia did not attend an initial hearing on the case, nor did its lawyers turn up to hear today’s ruling. Instead they sent a letter to the court claiming the ICJ did not have jurisdiction over the case. The court’s president, Joan Donoghue, rejected Russia’s argument, pointing out the frequent occasions that Vladimir Putin and other senior Russian officials had claimed the alleged genocide was the reason for the attack.
The ruling is unlikely to influence Putin’s choices, but it does provide an authoritative refutation of his pretext for starting the war.
Updated
Updated
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said it is too early to disclose any set of potential agreements between Moscow and Kyiv on resolving the conflict in Ukraine, according to the Russian state-owned RIA news agency.
Peskov’s comment came after the Financial Times reported that Ukraine and Russia had made “significant progress” on a tentative 15-point peace plan, citing three people involved in the talks.
Updated
There have been 43 attacks on Ukrainian healthcare facilities, infrastructure and workers since the beginning of the invasion, says Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization.
Dr Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s health emergencies programme, said colleagues were working to get medical teams on the ground to shore up the “teetering” Ukrainian health system.
“But how can we put emergency medical teams on the ground if the very facilities that they may want to go and support are going to be attacked and going to be bombed and going to suffer catastrophic damage?” he said.
Two health workers had been killed and at least 8 injured in the attacks, the WHO said.
Ryan said:
This crisis is reaching a point where the health system in Ukraine is teetering on the brink. It is doing exceptionally well. It needs to be supported. It needs to be shored up.
It needs to be given the basic tools to save lives, and part of that is deploying teams in to support that – but how can you do that in all conscience if the very infrastructure that those people will go in to support is under direct attack?
Ryan added:
This issue is more important than bricks and mortar. This isn’t just about the destruction of buildings. This is about the destruction of hope.
Updated
A number of witnesses trapped in Mariupol say the Russians are bombing radio and telecommunications towers, Lonrezo Tondo writes.
Talking to people becomes more and more difficult, hour after hour.
For days, the Ukrainian port city, in south eastern Ukraine, has been facing a humanitarian catastrophe, besieged by Russian tanks advancing towards the centre of the city, hour after hour, one blast at a time, razing everything in their path to the ground.
More than 400,000 people are still trapped, without running water, food and medical supplies, while over 500 remain hostage in the Regional Hospital of Intensive Care seized by the Russians.
Updated
Ukraine and Russia have drawn up a tentative peace plan including a ceasefire and Russian withdrawal if Kyiv declares neutrality and accepts limits on its armed forces, the Financial Times is reporting, citing three sources involved in the talks.
The proposed deal would involve Ukraine renouncing its ambitions to join Nato and promising not to host foreign military bases or weaponry in exchange for protection from allies such as the US, UK and Turkey, the people said.
Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, told the FT that any deal would involve “the troops of the Russian Federation in any case leaving the territory of Ukraine” captured since the invasion began on 24 February – namely southern regions along the Azov and Black Seas, as well as territory to the east and north of Kyiv.
Ukrainian and Russian negotiators discussed the tentative 15-point plan in full for the first time on Monday, the paper reports.
Updated
More on the Russian president Vladimir Putin’s comments this afternoon regarding his brutal bombardment of Ukraine and his attempts at justifying it.
In a televised speech to government ministers, Putin went further than before in acknowledging the pain that western sanctions were inflicting on the Russian economy, but insisted the country could withstand the blow.
There was no sign of any softening in his bitter invective against the west and Ukraine, the Reuters news agency reported.
“In the foreseeable future, it was possible that the pro-Nazi regime in Kyiv could have got its hands on weapons of mass destruction, and its target, of course, would have been Russia,” Putin said.
Reuters reported:
Putin has consistently described the democratically elected leaders of Ukraine as neo-Nazis bent on committing genocide against Russian-speakers in the east of the country – a line that the west denounces as baseless war propaganda.
He said western countries wanted to turn Russia into a “weak dependent country; violate its territorial integrity; to dismember Russia in a way that suits them”.
If the west thought that Russia would break down or back down, “they don’t know our history or our people”, Putin said on the 21st day of the war.
“Behind the hypocritical talk and today’s actions of the so-called collective west are hostile geopolitical goals,” he added. “They just don’t want a strong and sovereign Russia.”
He said Russia was ready to discuss Ukraine’s neutral status in talks:
The question of principle for our country and its future, the neutral status of Ukraine, its demilitarisation, and its ‘denazification’ – we were ready and we are ready to discuss as part of negotiations.
Updated
Thousands of Ukrainians are expected to arrive in the UK next week following criticisms of the slow progress of government schemes.
The Home Office minister Kevin Foster told MPs that 5,500 visas had been granted under the Ukraine family scheme and 20,000 applications had been submitted.
The refugees minister, Richard Harrington, told a parliamentary committee that sponsors who have identified someone who wishes to come to the UK under the Homes for Ukraine scheme would be able to apply from 18 March.
The two ministers appeared before the home affairs committee on Wednesday after concerns across parliament about the slow progress of the UK refugee schemes. The UNHCR expects as many as 4 million people will be forced to flee Ukraine.
Austria wants to add more oligarchs to the list of people under European Union sanctions because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Chancellor Karl Nehammer’s office said on Wednesday, outlining its position on a fifth round of EU sanctions.
“More than 800 people are already targeted by the EU sanctions. We are now expressing our support for expanding this list and including more people from the Russian president’s entourage,” Nehammer was quoted by Reuters as saying in a statement.
His office specified he meant “more oligarchs” in particular.
Updated
The US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, had a telephone call with Nikolay Patrushev, secretary of Russia’s security council, today.
During the call, Sullivan warned him “about the consequences and implications of any possible Russian decision to use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine”.
In a statement issued by the White House, the US National Security Council spokesperson Emily Horne said:
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan spoke today with General Nikolay Patrushev, Secretary of the Russian Security Council, to reiterate the United States’ firm and clear opposition to Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Sullivan clearly laid out the United States’ commitment to continue imposing costs on Russia, to support the defence of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to reinforce Nato’s eastern flank, in continued full coordination with our Allies and partners.
Mr Sullivan told General Patrushev that if Russia is serious about diplomacy then Moscow should stop attacking Ukrainian cities and towns.
Mr Sullivan also warned General Patrushev about the consequences and implications of any possible Russian decision to use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine.
Updated
Ukraine’s position at peace talks with Russia is quite specific, with demands including a ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian troops that must be discussed in direct talks between the two countries’ presidents, a Ukrainian negotiator said on Wednesday.
“Our position at the negotiations is quite specific – legally verified security guarantees; ceasefire; withdrawal of Russian troops. This is possible only with a direct dialogue between the heads of Ukraine and the Russian Federation,” negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter.
Our position at the negotiations is quite specific - legally verified security guarantees; ceasefire; withdrawal of Russian troops. This is possible only with a direct dialogue between the heads of Ukraine and the Russian Federation. Details are in an interview with the @NewsHour pic.twitter.com/TlPUl3XfGK
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) March 16, 2022
Updated
Putin: 'West will not succeed in achieving global dominance'
Russian president Vladimir Putin said today that the west “would not succeed” in what he called its attempt to achieve global dominance and dismember Russia.
“If the west thinks that Russia will step back, it does not understand Russia,” he said on the 21st day of Russia’s brutal and bloody war on Ukraine.
Putin also claimed that keeping Russia in check was a long-term policy of the west, and that its economic sanctions against Russia were “short-sighted”, Reuters reported.
He added that western countries wanted to hit every Russian family with the sanctions, and accused them of engaging in an unprecedented information campaign against Russia.
Putin said Russia was ready to discuss Ukraine’s neutral status in talks aimed at ending hostilities there, but that Moscow would still achieve the goals of its military operation, which was “going to plan”.
He also said the west had effectively declared Russia in “default” as part of its sanctions over the war in Ukraine, and that the conflict had merely been a pretext for the west to impose sanctions.
“The west doesn’t even bother to hide the fact that its aim is to damage the entire Russian economy, every Russian,” he said.
Updated
Russian journalist who protested live broadcast 'extremely concerned' for her safety
A woman who interrupted a live news programme on Russian state TV last night to protest against the war in Ukraine says she is “extremely concerned” for her safety.
Marina Ovsyannikova was fined 30,000 roubles (£215) for violating protest laws hours after she broke onto a live news broadcast on Channel One in a demonstration against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In an interview with Reuters, Ovsyannikova said she had no plans to flee Russia and that she hoped she would not face criminal charges.
She told Reuters:
I believe in what I did but I now understand the scale of the problems that I’ll have to deal with, and, of course, I’m extremely concerned for my safety.
I absolutely don’t feel like a hero... You know, I really want to feel that this sacrifice was not in vain, and that people will open their eyes.
Ovsyannikova said she wanted not only to protest against the war in Ukraine but also to send a message to Russians directly.
Don’t be such zombies; don’t listen to this propaganda; learn how to analyse information; learn how to find other sources of information - not just Russian state television.
Updated
The Council of Europe has formally expelled Russia from the continent’s foremost human rights body over its invasion and war in Ukraine.
In a statement, the Council said “the Russian Federation ceases to be a member of the Council of Europe as from today, after 26 years of membership”.
The Russian flag was removed from the flagpole in front of the Council of Europe. Russia has been officially recognised as a part of barbaric world. #StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/F2S6TRaCxe
— Oleksandra Matviichuk (@avalaina) March 16, 2022
The decision comes a day after Russia pre-empted the expected expulsion by withdrawing from the Council, the institution that devised the European Convention on Human Rights.
The move has concrete consequences, Reuters reported yesterday. The human rights convention will cease to apply to Russia and Russians will no longer be able to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights against their government.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said a meeting between President Putin and President Zelenskiy would only take place to seal a specific agreement, Reuters reports.
There are “no obstacles” to a meeting between the Russian and Ukraine leaders, Lavrov told reporters:
There are no obstacles to the organisation of such a meeting with the understanding that it would not be just for its own sake; it would have to seal concrete agreements which are currently being worked out by the two delegations.
The delegations were meeting via video conference, Lavrov added.
Zelenskiy calls on US to provide more weapons for further sanctions against Russia
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on the US Congress to provide more weapons to help his country fight off Russian airstrikes and for further sanctions against Russia, including the withdrawal of all US businesses.
In a video address to US lawmakers, he said:
Russia has turned the Ukrainian sky into a source of death for thousands of people.
Zelenskiy asked, rhetorically, if it is “too much to ask” Nato allies to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine. If it is too much, then Ukraine needs vastly more anti-aircraft systems from the west, he said.
The Ukrainian leader then paused his own speech to show a video of the bombardment of Ukrainians, including sobbing children trying to evacuate.
After the video, Zelenskiy switched into English and addressed the US president directly:
You are the leader of the nation. I wish you to be the leader of the world. Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.
Updated
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy is addressing members of the US Congress via videolink, where he has vowed his country is “not giving up”.
The invasion of Ukraine by Russia is about more than Ukraine, Zelenskiy says. It is about democracy, freedom, about choosing your own path.
Zelenskiy says he is grateful for the support he has received from President Joe Biden and the US, but says they must “do more”.
He invoked civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr’s historic “I have a dream” speech in 1963, telling Congress:
I have a need – I need to protect our skies.
Updated
Zelenskiy to address US Congress
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy is due to address the US Congress, remotely from Kyiv, in the next few minutes in a vital address as his country and city are under fire from the Russian invasion.
Zelenskiy is scheduled to make an address at 9am Washington time (1pm GMT).
For live coverage of his speech, head over to our US politics blog with my colleague Joanna Walters. I will continue here with our global coverage of the war in Ukraine, and the top lines that emerge from Zelenskiy’s Congress speech.
Russian forces shoot and kill 10 people standing in line for bread, US embassy says
Russian forces shot and killed 10 people standing for bread in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, the US embassy in Kyiv said.
The attack took place this morning as a group of people queued for bread in Chernihiv, a city that been shelled repeatedly over the last week.
Today, Russian forces shot and killed 10 people standing in line for bread in Chernihiv. Such horrific attacks must stop. We are considering all available options to ensure accountability for any atrocity crimes in Ukraine.
— U.S. Embassy Kyiv (@USEmbassyKyiv) March 16, 2022
Video geolocated by CNN confirmed that a shell or rocket hit a group of people on Wednesday morning, while a local reporter on the scene said at least 10 people had been killed in the attack.
⚡️ Suspilne: Russian troops kill at least 10 civilians queueing for bread in Chernihiv.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) March 16, 2022
According to the Suspilne correspondent on the ground, the attack occurred around 10 a.m.
Updated
The prime ministers of Poland, Czech Republic and Slovenia returned to Poland this morning after travelling to Kyiv on Tuesday to show their solidarity with Ukraine.
The Polish prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, and his Czech and Slovenian counterparts, Petr Fiala and Janez Janša, met with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, in Kyiv on Tuesday night.
Their visit to the Ukrainian capital marked the first by foreign leaders since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February.
🙏 @Denys_Shmyhal & @Kabmin_UA_e for a warm hospitality at #Kyiv in this challenging time and for deep insight into a very complex situation at the variety of battlefields.
— Janez Janša (@JJansaSDS) March 16, 2022
Special 🙏 to @MorawieckiM & his team for taking care of many challenges before and during the visit.❤️🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/IBrvjpFgeC
Polish television showed images of a convoy of vehicles leaving the station in the city of Przemysl, close to the Ukrainian border, where the leaders arrived by train, AFP reported.
On returning to Poland, the three prime ministers spoke by telephone with European Council president Charles Michel, a Polish government spokesperson said.
Immediately upon returning to Poland from 🇺🇦 Kyiv, 🇵🇱 @MorawieckiM, 🇸🇮 @JJansaSDS, 🇨🇿 @P_Fiala spoke to @eucopresident 🇪🇺 @CharlesMichel.
— Piotr Müller (@PiotrMuller) March 16, 2022
We need to take restrictive measures in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. All EU countries have an essential role in this mission. pic.twitter.com/7ElVPA3a6Y
After his visit to Kyiv, the Czech prime minister, Petr Fiala, said Ukraine above all needs more supplies of weapons to defend itself against Russia’s invasion.
The three prime ministers discussed sanctions, weapons and humanitarian aid, as well as possible future diplomatic steps with President Zelenskiy, Fiala added.
Updated
Speaking during a visit to Abu Dhabi, Boris Johnson said there was no prospect of Ukraine joining Nato any time soon.
Asked about Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s acceptance on Tuesday that Ukraine would not join Nato, Johnson said:
I understand what he’s saying about Nato and the reality of the position. And everybody’s always said, and we have made clear to Putin, there’s no way Ukraine is going to join Nato any time soon.
Russia and Ukraine ‘close to agreeing’ on neutral status, says Lavrov
A deal with Kyiv on “neutral status” for Ukraine as part of a peace agreement could be close, Russia’s foreign minister has said, Daniel Boffey and Isobel Koshiw report.
Sergei Lavrov suggested in a media interview that talks with Kyiv were making ground despite the continued bloodshed, echoing cautiously optimistic comments overnight from Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
“The negotiations are not easy for obvious reasons,” Lavrov told RBC news. “But nevertheless, there is some hope of reaching a compromise.
Neutral status is now being seriously discussed seriously along, of course, with security guarantees. This is what is now being discussed at the talks. There are absolutely specific wordings and in my view, the sides are close to agreeing on them.
In a video address in the early hours of Wednesday morning, Zelenskiy had said he believed there was possible room for compromise.
“The meetings continue and, I am informed, the positions during the negotiations already sound more realistic. But time is still needed for the decisions to be in the interests of Ukraine,” Zelenskiy said.
Efforts are still needed, patience is needed. Any war ends with an agreement.
Updated
Russian forces have allegedly abducted the mayor and deputy of the Ukrainian port city of Skadovsk, according to Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba.
Oleksandr Yakovlev, mayor of Skadovsk, a port city in the Kherson region of Ukraine, and his deputy, Yuri Palyukh, were allegedly taken by Russian military, local media reported.
Russian invaders continue to abduct democratically elected local leaders in Ukraine. Mayor of Skadovsk Oleksandr Yakovlyev and his deputy Yurii Palyukh abducted today. States & international organizations must demand Russia to immediately release all abducted Ukrainian officials! pic.twitter.com/bmaAuurx9h
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) March 16, 2022
🚨 The Russian military has just abducted Mayor Oleksandr Yakovlev and Yuri Palyukh from the Skadovsk City Council.
— Roman Hryshchuk (@grishchukroma) March 16, 2022
Photo: the second from the right is the Oleksandr, the rightmost is the Yuri. pic.twitter.com/piAdchvY9z
A video reportedly showing people gathering in the city to protest against the “kidnapping” of Yakovlev and Palyukh was shared by Ukrainian activist Artem Kostyuchenko.
У місті Скадовськ Херсонської області російські військові 16 березня викрали мера Олександра Яковлєва. Люди вийшли на протест.
— Радіо Свобода (@radiosvoboda) March 16, 2022
Пряму трансляцію з місця подій вів активіст Артем Костюченко pic.twitter.com/QQco9z2a76
Hello, it’s Léonie Chao-Fong with you again, I’ll continue to bring you all the latest developments from Ukraine. Feel free to drop me a message if you have anything to flag, you can reach me on Twitter or via email.
Updated
A model of legally binding security guarantees that would offer Ukraine protection in the event of a future attack is “on the negotiating table” at talks between Kyiv and Moscow, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said.
Podolyak, who is a member of Ukraine’s negotiating team in talks with Russia, wrote on Twitter:
🇺🇦 model of security guarantees is on the negotiating table. What does this mean? A rigid agreement with a number of guarantor states undertaking clear legal obligations to actively prevent attacks on 🇺🇦.
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) March 16, 2022
Details: https://t.co/8AG67TH6VO
Updated
Summary
The time in Kyiv is 1pm. Here is a roundup of the day’s main headlines:
- The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said he sees possible room for compromise in talks with Moscow as the Russian delegation’s positions sound more “realistic”. In his daily video address on Telegram, Zelenskiy urged Russian businesspeople and other citizens to oppose the war.
- However, Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak said there are “fundamental contradictions” in talks aimed at ending Russia’s military offensive but there is “certainly room for compromise”.
- The Kremlin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday said that Ukraine becoming a neutral state with a status comparable to Austria and Sweden is being discussed at talks with Kyiv and would be a “compromise”.
-
Ukraine’s armed forces are conducting small-scale counterattacks on several fronts and Russian troops have not been able to gain ground because of a lack of resources, Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said on Wednesday.
- In Kyiv, a 12-storey residential building has been damaged after it was hit by Russian shelling this morning.
- Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv also came under attack overnight with two people confirmed dead and two residential buildings destroyed, Ukraine’s state emergency services said in an update this morning.
-
A senior Ukrainian official said it was an “open question” whether a humanitarian corridor would be opened on Wednesday to evacuate more civilians from the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.
-
Zelenskiy is due to address US Congress on Wednesday and is likely to make fresh calls for a no-fly zone and requests for more military aid, including fighter jets.
-
Nato is set to tell its military commanders on Wednesday to draw up plans for new ways to deter Russia following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, including more troops and missile defences in eastern Europe, officials and diplomats said.
- US president Joe Biden is expected to announce an additional $800m in security assistance to Ukraine on Wednesday, a White House official said as reported by Reuters news agency.
- The US Senate unanimously passed a resolution late on Tuesday night condemning Russian president Vladimir Putin as a war criminal, a rare show of unity in the deeply divided Congress.
- Russian forces have reportedly taken patients and medical staff of a hospital in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol hostage. According to the BBC, the city’s deputy mayor Sergei Orlov said there were 400 people in the hospital and the Russian army were “using our patients and doctors like hostages”.
- About 2,000 cars were able to leave Mariupol, according to local authorities.
- A woman who interrupted a live news programme on Russian state TV last night to protest against the war in Ukraine has been fined 30,000 roubles (£215) by a Russian court. Marina Ovsyannikova, a Russian television producer, was found guilty of flouting protest legislation, the Russian state news agency RIA reported.
That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, for now. My colleague Léonie Chao-Fong will be along shortly to continue bringing you all the latest on Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Updated
The Kremlin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday said that Ukraine becoming a neutral state with a status comparable to Austria and Sweden is being discussed at talks with Kyiv and would be a “compromise”.
“This is an option that is being discussed now and that can be considered as a compromise,” Kremlin spokesman Peskov told journalists, raising hopes of an end to the biggest war in Europe since the second world war.
Russia’s chief negotiator in the talks with Ukraine, Vladimir Medinsky, said the Austrian and Swedish models would mean Ukraine will be able to keep its army but won’t be allowed to host foreign bases or troops.
Earlier in the day, Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told the Russian RBC news site that some parts of a possible peace deal with Ukraine were close to being agreed after Kyiv reportedly agreed to discuss neutrality
“Neutral status is now being seriously discussed along, of course, with security guarantees,” Lavrov said.
Yesterday Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, acknowledged that Ukraine would not become a Nato member, which will be seen as a significant concession towards Russia.
Updated
Ukraine’s armed forces are conducting small-scale counterattacks on several fronts and Russian troops have not been able to gain ground because of a lack of resources, Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said on Wednesday.
“The situation … in the main hotspots has not changed, and has no chance of changing as Russia has used up its resources,” he told a video briefing.
Arestovych said Russia continued to fire missiles at Ukrainian targets, with approximately two-thirds of rockets hitting civilian buildings and infrastructure.
The information could not immediately be verified by Reuters. Russia has denied targeting civilians.
Updated
The Church of England is pressuring the French energy giant TotalEnergies over its decision not to cut ties with Russia after Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
The church’s pensions board and the manager of its investment fund said they would reconsider their shareholding in the company.
In a joint letter to Patrick Pouyanné, the chief executive of TotalEnergies, the pension board and the Church Commissioners for England said the company should urgently reconsider its position.
The letter pointed out that while TotalEnergies had condemned Russia’s aggression, it had not followed many of its peers in the energy sector, such as BP and Shell, in withdrawing from Russia.
Updated
Zelenskiy sees possible room for compromise in talks with Moscow
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said he sees possible room for compromise in talks with Moscow as the Russian delegation’s positions sound more “realistic”.
In his daily video address on Telegram, Zelenskiy urged Russian businesspeople and other citizens to oppose the war.
Updated
The British prime minister Boris Johnson has said there is no prospect of Ukraine joining Nato any time soon.
Asked about President Zelenskiy’s acceptance yesterday that Ukraine would not join Nato, Johnson commented:
I talked to Volodymyr [Zelenskiy], again, yesterday. And you know, of course, I understand what he’s saying about Nato and the reality of the position.
And everybody’s always said, and we have made clear to Putin, there’s no way Ukraine is going to join Nato any time soon.
But the decision about the future of Ukraine has got to be for the Ukrainian people and for Volodymyr Zelensky as their elected leader, and we will back him.
It is not clear quite what the significance of these remarks might be. Vladimir Putin wants Ukrainian membership of Nato to be ruled out for good, and so Zelenskiy’s comment – which Johnson has semi-endorsed this morning – may be a hint that the peace negotiations, which have so far been fruitless, are nudging into more serious territory.
But equally it might be that Zelenskiy and Johnson are saying what they think is obvious, without ulterior purpose (a more common occurrence in politics than one might assume).
Updated
Russia claims parts of possible peace deal are close to being agreed
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that some formulations for agreements with Ukraine were close to being agreed, with neutral status for Kyiv under “serious” consideration.
However, he told the RBC news outlet that there were other issues of importance too, including the usage of the Russian language in Ukraine and freedom of speech, Reuters reported.
He added that Russia sees no sign that the US is interested in resolving the ongoing conflict.
The United States has a decisive role in defining Ukrainian authorities’ position, but “today, we see no interest from the United States to speedily resolve this conflict,” Lavrov said.
It comes as the Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky told the Interfax news agency that talks with Ukraine are difficult and slow, but Russia “sincerely” wants peace as soon as possible.
“The negotiations are hard, going slowly. Of course, we would like it all to happen much faster, this is a sincere desire of the Russian side. We want to come to peace as soon as possible,” Medinsky said.
“We need a peaceful, free, independent Ukraine, neutral – not a member of military blocs, not a member of Nato,” he added.
Updated
Lu Yuguang is one of the rare – if not the only – foreign news correspondents embedded within Russian troops as they continue the brutal invasion of Ukraine.
His extraordinary access has fuelled questions about the extent of cooperation between Moscow and Beijing.
Read more:
Updated
Ukraine's armed forces launching counter-offensives, Zelenskiy adviser claims
Ukraine’s armed forces are launching counter-offensives against Russian forces “in several operational areas”, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter.
“This radically changes the parties’ dispositions,” he added, without giving details.
What's going on right now. 1. Counteroffensive of the AFU in several operational areas. This radically changes the parties’ dispositions. 2. Russian journalists start quitting TV channels. 3. RF leaders are trying to find allies whose soldiers will be ready to die in 🇺🇦 fields.
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) March 16, 2022
More on this as it comes.
Updated
The Netherlands and other Nato countries will continue to deliver weapons to Ukraine even as these deliveries could become the target of Russian attacks, Dutch defence minister Kajsa Ollongren said on Wednesday.
“The Netherlands and other countries will continue to deliver weapons to Ukraine”, Ollongren said at her arrival for a meeting with Nato defence ministers in Brussels.
“Ukraine has the right to defend itself, we will continue to support it.”
Updated
A senior Ukrainian official said it was an “open question” whether a humanitarian corridor would be opened on Wednesday to evacuate more civilians from the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.
Deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk also said in a video address that Russian forces were in control of a hospital they captured on Tuesday in Mariupol, and that 400 staff and patients there were being held hostage.
Russian troops had opened fire from artillery positions on the grounds of the hospital, she said. Reuters was unable immediately to verify the information.
Updated
The British foreign secretary said sanctions from the UK and other western nations were having a “debilitating affect on the Russian economy” but urged allies to go further.
Liz Truss, speaking to Sky News, said:
What we know is that Vladimir Putin’s plans are not going according to plan. He is not making the progress expected, and we know the sanctions we’ve put on are working.
They are having a debilitating affect on the Russian economy … Those sanctions are really beginning to bite.
Truss said further British sanctions should be expected, saying “we’ve got more individuals on our list” as well as companies to target, but called for allies to do more, PA Media reported.
She noted that the European Union had sanctioned three Russian banks compared with the UK and US targeting 10 major banks, and said “we’d like to see them sanction even more banks”, while also arguing that further sanctions could come “collectively” from the 141 countries that voted against Russia at the UN general assembly.
Updated
The emergency services in Ukraine’s eastern region of Kharkiv region said on Wednesday that at least 500 residents of the city have been killed since Russia invaded on 24 February.
Reuters was unable immediately to verify the information. Russia denies targeting civilians.
I’m Tom Ambrose and I’ll be bringing you all the latest news over the next three hours.
Summary
Hello it’s Samantha Lock with you as we cover the latest developments from Ukraine. Before I hand over to my colleague Tom Ambrose here is a quick recap of where we stand on day 21 of Russia’s war.
- In Kyiv, a 12-storey residential building has been damaged after it was hit by Russian shelling this morning.
- Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv also came under attack overnight with two people confirmed dead and two residential buildings destroyed, Ukraine’s state emergency services said in an update this morning.
- Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy gave a late-night national address where he confirmed meetings between Ukrainian and Russian officials continue, adding that “the positions at negotiations are more realistic now”.
- However, Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak said there are “fundamental contradictions” in talks aimed at ending Russia’s military attack but there is “certainly room for compromise”.
- Addressing Russian citizens, Zelenskiy said the war would end in “disgrace, poverty, year-long isolation [and] a brutal repressive system”. “If you stay in your posts, if you don’t speak out against the war, the international community will strip you off of everything you have earned over the years. They are working on it,” he said.
- Zelenskiy is due to address US Congress on Wednesday and is likely to make fresh calls for a no-fly zone and requests for more military aid, including fighter jets.
-
EU leaders vowed support for Ukraine during a visit to Kyiv. The prime ministers of the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia arrived in the capital earlier on Tuesday in a show of support for Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who briefed them on the war with Russia. Poland’s Jarosław Kaczyński called for a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine, with Czech prime minister Petr Fiala saying: “You are not alone. Our countries stand with you. Europe stands with your country”.
- Nato is set to tell its military commanders on Wednesday to draw up plans for new ways to deter Russia following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, including more troops and missile defences in eastern Europe, officials and diplomats said. The Ukrainian minster for defence, Oleksii Reznikov, is expected to plead for more weapons from individual Nato countries, according to a Reuters report.
- US president Joe Biden is expected to announce an additional $800m in security assistance to Ukraine on Wednesday, a White House official said as reported by Reuters news agency.
- The US Senate unanimously passed a resolution late on Tuesday night condemning Russian president Vladimir Putin as a war criminal, a rare show of unity in the deeply divided Congress.
- Russian forces have reportedly taken patients and medical staff of a hospital in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol hostage. According to the BBC, the city’s deputy mayor Sergei Orlov said there were 400 people in the hospital and the Russian army were “using our patients and doctors like hostages”.
- About 2,000 cars were able to leave Mariupol, according to local authorities.
- A woman who interrupted a live news programme on Russian state TV last night to protest against the war in Ukraine has been fined 30,000 roubles (£215) by a Russian court. Marina Ovsyannikova, a Russian television producer, was found guilty of flouting protest legislation, the Russian state news agency RIA reported.
-
The UK is to impose sanctions on 370 more Russian individuals, including more than 50 oligarchs and their families with a combined net worth of £100bn. More than 1,000 individuals and entities have now been targeted with sanctions since the invasion of Ukraine, with fresh measures announced against key Kremlin spokespeople and political allies of Putin, including the defence minister, Sergei Shoigu.
- Boris Johnson will visit Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday to ask the Gulf states to produce more oil and help the UK reduce dependence on Russian oil.
- More than 100,000 people in the UK have offered homes to Ukrainian refugees in the first 24 hours of a government scheme that allows families and individuals to bring them to the UK.
- China’s ambassador to the US penned an interesting op-ed for the Washington Post, saying his government knew nothing of Russia’s plans and would have tried to stop it if they had.
- China also lambasted Taiwan’s humanitarian aid for Ukraine and sanctions on Russia as “taking advantage of other’s difficulties” after the island announced it was sending more funds donated by the public for refugees.
Updated
Russian state energy giant Gazprom has said it continues shipping gas to Europe via Ukraine, with daily volumes set at 95m cubic metres, in line with customers’ requests but down 13% from 109.6m cubic metres on Tuesday, according to a Reuters report.
Updated
The Ukrainian military says 13,800 Russian soldiers have died since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February.
According to the report released by Ukraine’s ministry of defence, a further 430 tanks, 1,375 armoured combat vehicles, 190 artillery systems and 108 helicopters have also been destroyed.
Updated
Two people confirmed dead and residential building destroyed in attack on Kharkiv
Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv also came under attack overnight with two people confirmed dead and two residential buildings destroyed.
“As a result of an artillery attack on the multi-storey buildings in the Nemyshlyansky district of Kharkiv, several apartments in two residential buildings were destroyed,” Ukraine’s state emergency services said in an update this morning.
Rescuers worked to put out the blaze, rescuing four people from the collapse of a building but were unable to save two others who were killed in the attack, the agency added.
A school also reportedly came under attack at around 3am with part of a building destroyed.
Updated
The UK Ministry of Defence has issued its latest intelligence report on the situation in Ukraine, saying Russian forces are “struggling to overcome the challenges posed by Ukraine’s terrain” and have stalled in their advance.
The report reads:
Russian forces are struggling to overcome the challenges posed by Ukraine’s terrain.
Russian forces have remained largely tied to Ukraine’s road network and have demonstrated a reluctance to conduct off-road manoeuvre. The destruction of bridges by Ukrainian forces has also played a key role in stalling Russia’s advance.
Russia’s continued failure to gain control of the air has drastically limited their ability to effectively use air manoeuvre, further limiting their options.
The tactics of the Ukrainian armed forces have adeptly exploited Russia’s lack of manoeuvre, frustrating the Russian advance and inflicting heavy losses on the invading forces.”
(4/4)
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) March 16, 2022
The tactics of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have adeptly exploited Russia’s lack of manoeuvre, frustrating the Russian advance and inflicting heavy losses on the invading forces.
Updated
Kyiv struck by Russian shelling this morning
A 12-storey residential building has been damaged after it was hit by Russian shelling in Kyiv’s Shevchenkivskyi district this morning.
Ukraine’s state emergency services said they received a report at 6.16am, confirming shell fragments fell into the building causing the top floor to collapse as well as damaging a nine-storey building next door.
The agency said the building erupted in a blaze but fires were put out by 7.45am with no burning observed in the neighbouring building. Two people were injured and 37 were evacuated from the building, it added.
Work on the search for victims and dismantling of structures continues.
The attack comes as residents plunged into a new two-day curfew across the city and hunkered down in bunkers, underground shelters and their homes.
Ранок у Києві 16 березня. Черговий обстріл житлового кварталу столиці російськими загарбниками. На місці події працюють рятувальники, а також психологи ДСНС, які надають допомогу мешканцям пошкоджених будинків. pic.twitter.com/PBzRHDTTK6
— DSNS.GOV.UA (@SESU_UA) March 16, 2022
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The aftermath of Russian missile strikes on residential districts in Kyiv can be seen in the photos below.
Russian troops intensified their attacks on the Ukrainian capital with a series of powerful explosions rocking several neighbourhoods on Tuesday.
Zelenskiy to address US Congress and call for tougher line against Russia
Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, will deliver a virtual address to the US Congress on Wednesday, the latest in a series of speeches to western leaders as he works to galvanise support for his besieged nation.
Zelenskiy is expected to call on the US once again to “close the skies” over Ukraine.
He is also likely to press to be supplied with fighter jets by Nato allies that Ukrainian pilots can fly up against Russian air forces, and steeper economic sanctions in the face of an advancing Russian assault.
The Biden administration has so far flatly ruled out an option of the west imposing a no-fly zone over the country, determined to avoid inevitable direct combat between the US and Russian forces – a conflict the US president has said would lead to “world war three”.
The Biden administration also rejected an offer from Poland to turn over its Soviet-era fighter jets to Ukraine, which had been made only if the US and Nato facilitated the transfer. Administration officials argued the move could be seen as escalatory by Moscow.
A Ukrainian scientist in Antarctica has told of watching the war unfold in his homeland from afar.
Yan Bakhmut was 15,500km miles away from his home in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv when the Russian invasion began. Working as a geophysicist at the Vernadsky Station, Ukraine’s only research base in Antarctica, he has watched the horrors of the war unfold from an agonising distance.
Now his year-long assignment to the remote outpost is nearing its conclusion and he faces the bitter task of returning to Europe and a country that has changed forever.
Bakhmut’s mother and girlfriend have left for Poland while his father and grandmother fled to western Ukraine. Professors at the institute where he worked before taking up his post in Antarctica have joined the territorial defence units.
“It’s impossible to describe, you can only live through it when you are thousands of kilometres away from everything and everyone you know and love, when you can’t influence anything,” Bakhmut said in a phone call with the Guardian.
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While we are on the topic of China, the Guardian’s correspondent in Taipei, Helen Davidson, brings us this story.
Lu Yuguang of Chinese news outlet Phoenix TV appears to have gained exclusive access to Moscow’s side of the invasion of Ukraine.
Lu, a veteran war reporter, is perhaps the only foreign correspondent embedded with Russian troops as they continue the brutal invasion of Ukraine.
He has filed reports from cities under Russian attack since the invasion began almost three weeks ago, including in Mariupol where local authorities say thousands of people have been killed.
Read the full story below.
China would have tried to stop war if it had known about it, says ambassador to US
China’s ambassador to the US has penned an interesting op-ed for the Washington Post, saying his government knew nothing of Russia’s plans and would have tried to stop it if they had.
Beijing has been under huge pressure over its ties with Russia, claims that Russia has sought military and economic assistance from it, and questions over what China knew about the invasion before it began.
China’s leader, Xi Jinping, met with Russia’s Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Beijing Winter Olympics for a significant meeting where they signed a “limitless” partnership.
Not long after, Russia attacked Ukraine. Analysts and US officials have been suggesting China might have known Putin was planning something, but not the extent of it. There is debate attached to this, including whether the narrative allows China an “out”, to withdraw support from Russia.But in the op-ed published today, ambassador Qin Gang says the Chinese government had no idea it was coming.
There have been claims that China had prior knowledge of Russia’s military action and demanded Russia delay it until the Winter Olympics concluded.
Recent rumours further claimed that Russia was seeking military assistance from China.
Let me say this responsibly: Assertions that China knew about, acquiesced to or tacitly supported this war are purely disinformation. All these claims serve only the purpose of shifting blame to and slinging mud at China. There were more than 6,000 Chinese citizens in Ukraine. China is the biggest trading partner of both Russia and Ukraine, and the largest importer of crude oil and natural gas in the world. Conflict between Russia and Ukraine does no good for China. Had China known about the imminent crisis, we would have tried our best to prevent it.”
It’s an interesting position to take, suggesting Xi had no idea what was going to happen, despite the “limitless” partnership and one-on-one meeting with Putin just a couple of weeks earlier.
Qin’s piece also railed against the global campaign of sanctions, which China generally opposes (despite having issued some itself in the past), and said the threat of using them against Chinese companies was “unacceptable”. It also again emphasised Beijing’s view that the Taiwan issue - which many have compared to Ukraine - is an entirely different and separate situation. Essentially, Beijing recognises Ukraine as a sovereign nation and says it respects that territorial integrity, while it considers Taiwan to be a breakaway province of China and therefore a domestic internal issue. Taiwan famously does not agree with this stance.
The Group of Seven (G7) industrialised nations will hold an online meeting after 12pm GMT to discuss Russia’s actions in Ukraine, Japanese finance minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Wednesday, Reuters is reporting.
Suzuki, who made the comment in parliament, did not specify whether the meeting would be held among G7’s financial leaders or other representatives.
As the war in Ukraine rages on, Russia is ramping up one of its most powerful weapons: disinformation. Social media companies are scrambling to respond.
False claims about the invasion have been spread by users in Russia as well as official state media accounts. Russia frequently frames itself as an innocent victim and has pushed disinformation including that the US was providing biological weapons to Ukraine (denounced by the White House as a “conspiracy theory”) and that victims of an attack on a Ukrainian hospital were paid actors.
In response, companies including Meta, YouTube and Twitter have announced waves of new measures, spurred by pressure from the Ukrainian government, world leaders and the public.
But experts say the tech industry’s response has been haphazard and lacks the range and scope to tackle sophisticated disinformation campaigns. And even when policies exist, observers fear they are poorly and inconsistently enforced.
Read the full story below.
The US Senate has unanimously passed a resolution condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin as a war criminal, a rare show of unity in the deeply divided Congress.
The resolution, introduced by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and backed by senators of both parties, encouraged the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague and other nations to target the Russian military in any investigation of war crimes committed during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Reuters quotes Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in a speech on the Senate floor ahead of the vote:
All of us in this chamber joined together, with Democrats and Republicans, to say that Vladimir Putin cannot escape accountability for the atrocities committed against the Ukrainian people.”
Britain’s latest intelligence report appears to corroborate with information released by Ukraine’s military officials overnight.
The Ukrainian military earlier published its daily operational report, claiming Russian military leadership has approved the “early release” of cadets to fight in combat against Ukraine.
According to the report released by Ukraine’s ministry of defence, Russia is having trouble providing its troops with ammunition and “has lost (completely destroyed, or lost ammunition) 40% of units involved in operations on the territory of Ukraine”.
“The worst situation remains in the area of Mariupol, where the opponent tries to block the city in the western and eastern outskirts of the city,” military officials from the general staff of the armed forces of Ukraine added.
The UK ministry of defence has issued its latest intelligence report on the situation in Ukraine, saying Russia is increasingly seeking to generate additional troops to bolster and replace its personnel losses.
The report reads:
Russia is increasingly seeking to generate additional troops to bolster and replace its personnel losses in Ukraine. As a result of these losses it is likely Russia is struggling to conduct offensive operations in the face of sustained Ukrainian resistance.
Continued personnel losses will also make it difficult for Russia to secure occupied territory.
Russia is redeploying forces from as far afield as its Eastern Military District, Pacific Fleet and Armenia. It is also increasingly seeking to exploit irregular sources such as Private Military Companies, Syrian and other mercenaries.
Russia will likely attempt to use these forces to hold captured territory and free up its combat power to renew stalled offensive operations.”
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 15 March 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) March 15, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/sdQNbNojkk
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/dt3peYkO7y
Negotiations 'more realistic' Zelenskiy says
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy provided a more optimistic view of the positions of Ukraine and Russia at upcoming peace talks saying negotiations are sounding “more realistic” while his top aide indicated there were still “fundamental contradictions” in Russia’s response.
In a national address, Zelenskiy said:
Meetings continue. I am told that the positions at the negotiations sound more realistic.
However, more time is still needed for decisions to be in the interests of Ukraine.”
However, Mykhailo Podolyak, a member of the Ukrainian delegation and presidential aide said there are “fundamental contradictions” in talks aimed at ending Russia’s military attack on Ukraine but compromise is still possible.
We’ll continue tomorrow. A very difficult and viscous negotiation process. There are fundamental contradictions. But there is certainly room for compromise.”
Talks resumed Tuesday, with both sides having signalled progress.
We'll continue tomorrow. A very difficult and viscous negotiation process. There are fundamental contradictions. But there is certainly room for compromise. During the break, work in subgroups will be continued...
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) March 15, 2022
Zelenskiy said that the Russians “have already begun to understand that they will not achieve anything by war” and called Monday’s talks “pretty good”.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday at a press conference that “talks are now continuing on giving Ukraine neutral military status, in the context of security guarantees for all participants in this process”, as well as on “demilitarising Ukraine”, the Interfax news agency reported.
Lavrov is set to meet his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Moscow on Wednesday to discuss the Ukraine conflict, the Russian ministry said.
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China’s government on Wednesday lambasted Taiwan’s humanitarian aid for Ukraine and sanctions on Russia as “taking advantage of other’s difficulties” after the island announced it was sending more funds donated by the public for refugees.
Asked about Taiwan’s aid and sanctions at a news conference in Beijing, Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said Taiwan’s government was trying to latch onto the issue for its own purposes, according to a Reuters report. Referring to Taiwan’s ruling party, she said:
The Democratic Progressive Party authorities are using the Ukraine issue to validate their existence and piggy back on a hot issue, taking advantage of other’s difficulties.
Their attempts to incite confrontation and create hostility through political manipulation will not succeed.”
Taiwan’s government says that on Ukraine it has a duty to stand with other democracies.
Late on Tuesday, Taiwan’s foreign ministry announced a second $11.5m donation to help refugees after an initial donation this month of $3.5m. President Tsai Ing-wen has gifted one month of her salary.
The war in Ukraine has garnered broad sympathy in Taiwan, with many seeing parallels between Russia’s invasion and the military threat posed by China, which views the democratically governed island as its own territory.
Taiwan has joined in Western-led sanctions on Russia, while China has refused to condemn the Russian invasion, saying last week the Chinese Red Cross would provide humanitarian assistance worth 5 million yuan ($786,000) to Ukraine, its first publicly announced aid to the country since the war.
'Disgrace, poverty, year-long isolation': Zelenskiy's predictions for Russia
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy delivered some stern words to Russians during a late-night national address. In case you missed his earlier remarks, a brief run-down is here:
The third week is coming to an end. We all want peace. We all want victory. And there’s a feeling that just a little bit longer and we will achieve what we, Ukrainians, are entitled to by right.
Zelenskiy added that meetings between Ukrainian and Russian officials continue.
Meetings continue. I’m being reported that the positions at negotiations are more realistic now. However, we need more time to make sure that the decision is in the interests of Ukraine.
The president said Russia has lost masses of equipment, soldiers and Russian generals.
Many Russian conscripts have been killed. There are tens of officers among killed invaders, and one more general was killed today. The occupants committed new and apparent war crimes, shelled on peaceful cities, civilian infrastructure.
The number of rockets used by Russia against Ukraine has already exceeded 900. There are so many air bombs that it’s impossible to count them.”
Addressing Russian citizens, Zelenskiy switched to Russian:
Citizens of Russia, any of you who has had access to truthful information might have already realised how this war will end for your country: with disgrace, poverty, year-long isolation, a brutal repressive system that will treat Russian citizens as inhumanely as you, occupants, treated Ukrainians. What will come next depends on your actions.
I want to address Russian officials and everyone who is involved with the incumbent government. If you stay in your posts, if you don’t speak out against the war, the international community will strip you off of everything you have earned over the years. They are working on it. This includes propaganda, the fourth estate in Russia. If you continue working for propaganda, you put yourself at a bigger risk than you face if you just resign: the risk of sanctions and international tribunal for the propaganda of aggressive war, for justification of war crimes. Quit your jobs. Several months without a job is better than a whole life under international prosecution.”
Updated
Summary
Hello it’s Samantha Lock with you as we cover the latest developments from Ukraine.
It is day 21 of Russia’s war on its neighbour. Here is where the situation currently stands:
- Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy gave a late-night national address where he confirmed meetings between Ukrainian and Russian officials continue, adding that “the positions at negotiations are more realistic now”.
- However, Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak said there are “fundamental contradictions” in talks aimed at ending Russia’s military attack but there is “certainly room for compromise.”
- Addressing Russian citizens, Zelenskiy said the war would end in “disgrace, poverty, year-long isolation [and] a brutal repressive system”. “If you stay in your posts, if you don’t speak out against the war, the international community will strip you off of everything you have earned over the years. They are working on it,” he said.
- Zelenskiy is due to address US Congress on Wednesday and is likely to make fresh calls for a no-fly zone and requests for more military aid, including fighter jets.
- EU leaders vowed support for Ukraine during a visit to Kyiv. The prime ministers of the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia arrived in the capital earlier on Tuesday in a show of support for Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who briefed them on the war with Russia. Poland’s Kaczyński called for a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine, with Czech prime minister Petr Fiala saying: “You are not alone. Our countries stand with you. Europe stands with your country”.
- Nato is set to tell its military commanders on Wednesday to draw up plans for new ways to deter Russia following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, including more troops and missile defences in eastern Europe, officials and diplomats said. Ukrainian minster for defence, Oleksii Reznikov, is expected to plead for more weapons from individual Nato countries, according to a Reuters report.
- US President Joe Biden is expected to announce an additional $800m in security assistance to Ukraine on Wednesday, a White House official said as reported by Reuters news agency.
- The US Senate unanimously passed a resolution late Tuesday night condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin as a war criminal, a rare show of unity in the deeply divided Congress.
- US secretary of state Antony Blinken predicted there will be an independent Ukraine “a lot longer than there’s going to be a Vladimir Putin,” in an interview with CNN on Tuesday.
- A series of Russian strikes hit a residential neighbourhood in Kyiv on Tuesday morning, igniting a huge fire and prompting a frantic rescue effort in a 15-storey apartment building. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said five people were killed in the airstrikes.
- Russian forces have reportedly taken patients and medical staff of a hospital in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol hostage. According to the BBC, the city’s deputy mayor Sergei Orlov said there were 400 people in the hospital and the Russian army were “using our patients and doctors like hostages”.
- About 2,000 cars were able to leave Mariupol, according to local authorities.
- A woman who interrupted a live news programme on Russian state TV last night to protest against the war in Ukraine has been fined 30,000 roubles (£215) by a Russian court. Marina Ovsyannikova, a Russian television producer, was found guilty of flouting protest legislation, the Russian state news agency RIA reported.
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The UK is to impose sanctions on 370 more Russian individuals, including more than 50 oligarchs and their families with a combined net worth of £100bn. More than 1,000 individuals and entities have now been targeted with sanctions since the invasion of Ukraine, with fresh measures announced against key Kremlin spokespeople and political allies of Putin, including the defence minister, Sergei Shoigu.
- Boris Johnson will visit Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday to ask the Gulf states to produce more oil and help the UK reduce dependence on Russian oil.
- More than 100,000 people in the UK have offered homes to Ukrainian refugees in the first 24 hours of a government scheme that allows families and individuals to bring them to the UK.
As usual, for any tips and feedback please contact me through Twitter or at samantha.lock@theguardian.com
The Guardian keeps you up to the minute on the crisis in Ukraine with a global perspective and from our team around the world and around the clock. Thank you for reading and please do stay tuned.
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