- Russian strikes have hit several cities, including Dnipro for what appears to be the first time.
- Emergency services in the east-central city said at least one person was killed in strikes that allegedly hit a kindergarten, residential building and shoe factory.
- Russian forces approaching Kyiv appear to have repositioned and edged closer to the capital, according to satellite imagery and intelligence assessments by the United States.
- Ukraine hopes to open a humanitarian corridor from the besieged southeastern port city of Mariupol in order to allow civilians facing increasingly dire conditions there to evacuate to safety.
- More than 2.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia launched its offensive, according to the United Nations.
Here are all the latest updates:
Navalny calls for anti-war protests across Russia on Sunday
Jailed Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny has called for anti-war protests to be held in Russia’s capital, Moscow, and other cities across the country on Sunday.
“Mad maniac [Russian President Vladimir] Putin will most quickly be stopped by the people of Russia now if they oppose the war,” a message on Navalny’s Instagram account said.
“You need to go to anti-war rallies every weekend, even if it seems that everyone has either left or got scared…You are the backbone of the movement against war and death,” it added.
More than 13,900 people have been arrested for taking part in a string of anti-war demonstrations held in dozens of cities throughout Russia since it began its offensive, according to protest monitoring group OVD-Info.
Putin sees “certain positive shifts” in talks with Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said there has been some progress in Moscow’s talks with Ukraine, without providing details.
“There are certain positive shifts, negotiators on our side tell me,” Putin said in a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko, adding that talks continued “practically on a daily basis”.
Putin did not elaborate further, but said in the televised remarks that he would go into more detail with Lukashenko.
Delegations from Ukraine and Russia have met for three rounds of talks so far, while the two countries’ top diplomats met for face-to-face talks in Turkey on Thursday.
No real Russians ashamed of Ukraine conflict, Kremlin claims
Russians who say they are ashamed of the country’s “special military operation” in Ukraine are not real Russians, the Kremlin has said.
“A real Russian is never ashamed to be Russian,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a news briefing when asked about a slogan – ‘ashamed to be Russian’ – that emerged in the wake of Moscow’s incursion in Ukraine.
“If someone says such things then they are just not Russian,” Peskov said.
Finland mulls joining NATO as Russia wages war in Ukraine
As the war in Ukraine rages on, another country with a storied history and long border with Russia is growing concerned.
UK sanctions Russian lawmakers over recognition of Ukraine’s breakaway regions
The United Kingdom has imposed asset freezes and travel bans on 386 members of the Russian Duma who voted in favour of recognising the independence of two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine prior to Russia’s invasion.
“Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has today sanctioned 386 members of the Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, for their support for the Ukrainian breakaway regions of Luhansk and Donetsk,” the UK’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
“The new sanctions will ban those listed from travelling to the UK, accessing assets held within the UK and doing business here.”
NATO chief says humanitarian corridors a ‘bare minimum’ need
NATO’s secretary-general has said establishing humanitarian corridors in Ukraine is the “bare minimum” that must be done now as Russia’s offensive intensifies.
“I continue to believe it is important that we work hard for a political, diplomatic solution,” Stoltenberg told the Reuters news agency on the sidelines of the a diplomacy forum in Antalya, Turkey, a day after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba held talks in the city.
“[But] the bare minimum is to establish humanitarian corridors where people can get out and humanitarian aid can get in,” he added.
Stoltenberg also reiterated that NATO will not send troops or jets into Ukraine amid fears such a move could lead to a full-fledged war between the alliance’s 30 member states and Russia.
(Al Jazeera)
UN rights office has ‘credible reports’ of Russia using cluster munitions
The UN’s human rights office (OHCHR) says it has received “credible reports” of several cases of Russian forces using cluster munitions in populated areas in Ukraine, adding that indiscriminate use of such weapons might amount to war crimes.
“Due to their wide area effects, the use of cluster munitions in populated areas is incompatible with the international humanitarian law principles governing the conduct of hostilities,” OHCHR spokeswoman Liz Throssell told reporters at the agency’s headquarters in Geneva.
“We remind the Russian authorities that directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects, as well as so-called area bombardment in towns and villages and other forms of indiscriminate attacks, are prohibited under international law and may amount to war crimes.”
No casualties in eastern Ukraine psychiatric hospital strike, emergency service says
An alleged Russian air raid on a psychiatric hospital in Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region has caused no casualties, according to the country’s State Emergency Service.
“All 30 staff and 330 patients were in a bomb shelter at the time of the strike,” the service said in a statement.
Kremlin warns Meta will have to cease work in Russia if Reuters report is true
Moscow will end the activities of Meta Platforms in Russia if a report that it will allow users of its social media sites in some countries to call for violence against Russians and Russian soldiers proves true, the Kremlin has said.
Citing leaked internal emails, the Reuters news agency reported on Thursday that Meta will allow Facebook and Instagram users in some countries to call for violence against Russians and Russian soldiers in the context of the Ukraine invasion, signalling a temporary change to its hate speech policy.
“We don’t want to believe the Reuters report – it is just too difficult to believe,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“We hope it is not true because if it is true then it will mean that there will have to be the most decisive measures to end the activities of this company,” he added.
Meta is the parent company of social media platforms Facebook and Instagram [File: Dado Ruvic/Reuters]
What do we know about Ukraine’s use of Turkish Bayraktar drones?
Ankara, which has good relations with both Moscow and Kyiv, has sold dozens of its combat drones to Ukraine since 2019.
Capture of Volnovakha will ‘increase pressure’ on Mariupol: AJE correspondent
Al Jazeera’s Bernard Smith, reporting from Moscow, says Russian-backed separatists’ reported seizure of the southeastern city of Volnovakha is of significant strategic importance.
Volnovakha, he said, sits halfway between Donetsk and Mariupol and its capture would give rebel forces a straight line to Mariupol, allowing them to “increase the already intense pressure on … [the] port city”.
Izyum psychiatric hospital hit by Russian strike, regional governor says
Russian forces have struck a psychiatric hospital near the eastern Ukrainian town of Izyum, according to a regional official who described the alleged attack as a “war crime”.
Oleh Synegubov, the governor of the Kharkiv region, said 330 people had been at the hospital at the time of the attack. He added that 73 people had been evacuated and that the number of casualties was being established.
“This is a war crime against civilians,” Synegubov wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Al Jazeera was unable to independently verify Synegubov’s claim.
Kharkiv mayor says city under ‘non-stop bombardment’
The mayor of Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kharkiv says it is under “non-stop bombardment” from Russian forces.
Ihor Terekhov said in a televised interview that at least 48 of Kharkiv’s schools had been destroyed amid the attacks.
Terekhov’s remarks came as Synegubov claimed Russian forces had shelled residential areas of the city – Ukraine’s second-largest – 89 times in one day.
It was not immediately clear which day Synegubov was referring to.
State nuclear company says Ukrainian plants stable
All of Ukraine’s nuclear power stations are operating stably and radiation levels at the sites remain unchanged, the country’s state operator has said.
But Energoatom warned staff at the Zaporizhzhia plant, which was captured by Russian troops last week, are now facing psychological pressure from Moscow’s forces which negatively affects their work and “endangers nuclear and radiation safety”.
“Employees of the station are under strong psychological pressure from the occupiers, all staff on arrival at the station are carefully checked by armed terrorists,” the company said.
Two Ukrainian servicemen killed in Lutsk airfield strike, local official says
Russian air raids on an airfield in Lutsk airfield killed two Ukrainian servicemen and wounded six other people, the head of the surrounding Volyn region, Yuriy Pohulyayko, has said.
Pohulyayko said on the Telegram messaging app that four rockets had been fired at the site by a Russian bomber at about 5:45am local time (03:45 GMT).
European Commission aims to double military aid for Ukraine, Borrell says
The European Union’s executive arm aims to double the bloc’s military aid to Ukraine and has proposed earmarking another 500 million euros ($550m) for this purpose, the EU’s foreign policy chief has said.
“Everybody was completely aware that we have to increase our military support to Ukraine,” Josep Borrell told reporters as he arrived for the second day of a meeting of EU leaders in Versailles. “I am sure the leaders will approve this money.”
The EU is also considering imposing more sanctions on Russian oligarchs and the Russian economy, Borrell added.
‘What are you doing here?’: Ukrainians recount Russian occupation
As Russian forces push closer to Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, Al Jazeera has spoken to civilians forced to flee their homes in the nearby city of Bucha.
More than 2.5 million people have fled Ukraine, UN says
More than 2.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion on February 24, according to the UN’s migration agency.
“The number of people in need of urgent humanitarian assistance is increasing by the hour,” the International Organization for Migration (IOM) tweeted.
Separately, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that at least 1.85 million people were displaced within Ukraine.
Dnipro attack ‘to have ripple effect’
Al Jazeera’s Hoda Abdel-Hamid said the aerial attack on Dnipro took place at about 6:15am local time (04:15 GMT), targeting an industrial complex in Ukraine’s third-largest city.
Reporting from near the site, she said police had blocked access to it as a search for unexploded ordnance was ongoing.
“We do know that a heavy machinery factory was hit, along with what was described as a coal-enhancing factory and a third location next to the kindergarten,” Abdel-Hamid added.
“This is the first time this city is targeted since the beginning of the war. Many people were expecting this to happen, saying it was not a matter of if but when,” she said, noting that the attack was “certainly going to have a ripple effect on the people living here.”
Where are the Russian forces near Kyiv now?
A huge Russian military convoy that had been stationed outside Kyiv since last week appears to have dispersed, according to a United States-based company, as the city braces for a possible ground assault.
Maxar Technologies said satellite images taken on Thursday showed that the 64km (40-mile) line of vehicles, tanks and artillery has broken up and been redeployed.
The assessment came as a senior US defence official said on Thursday that Russian forces advancing on Kyiv from the northwest had edged 5km (three miles) closer to the city in the previous 24 hours, placing them just 15km (nine miles) from its centre.
A separate tranche of troops advancing on the capital from the northeast were meanwhile about 40km (25 miles) from the city, the official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, added at a Pentagon news briefing.
The official said the “multiple lines of advance towards Kyiv” indicate Moscow aims to encircle the city.
Some Russian vehicles have moved into forests amid Moscow’s apparent redeployment of its forces near Kyiv, Maxar reported [Maxar Technologies/Handout via Reuters]
Putin says Russia must welcome volunteer fighters
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Russia must allow volunteers who are willing to fight in Ukraine to take part in Moscow’s offensive.
Speaking to the Russian security council, Putin said he also supported giving arms captured from Ukrainian forces to Russian-backed separatist fighters in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region.
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told the meeting there were 16,000 volunteers – mostly from the Middle East – who were ready to head to Ukraine to fight alongside the rebel forces in the self-proclaimed people’s republics in Donetsk and Luhansk.
Ukraine civilian deaths higher than military losses, defence minister says
Ukraine’s defence minister says Russian forces have killed more Ukrainian civilians than soldiers.
“I want this to be heard not only in Kyiv but all over the world,” Oleksii Reznikov said.
He did not provide death tolls. Al Jazeera was unable to independently verify Reznikov’s claims, or the number of losses on the Russian side.
Attacks target cities across Ukraine: AJE Correspondent
Al Jazeera’s Jonah Hull, reporting from the city of Lviv, in western Ukraine, says Russian attacks have taken place in major urban centres across Ukraine.
“In Kharkiv, to the east … the institute of physics and technology was narrowly missed by air strikes – it houses an experimental nuclear reactor,” Hull said.
“In Chernihiv, in the north, critical infrastructure came under attack … a water pipeline was said to have been hit there and in Lutsk, to the northeast of Kyiv, and Ivano-Frankivsk, pretty close to where I am here … military airfields have been struck by air strikes as part of an ongoing effort by the Russians to impede the ability of Ukraine’s air force and air defences to operate,” he added.
Russian gas flows on key pipelines to Europe remain steady
Russia continued to send pipeline gas into Germany via Nord Stream 1 and Poland and into Slovakia via Ukraine at broadly unchanged levels, pipeline operator data has shown.
The pipeline usually accounts for about 15 percent of Russia’s supply of gas to Europe but had been operating in reverse mode at Mallnow from December 21, which helped drive up European gas prices.
UK’s Sunak says Ukraine invasion creating ‘significant uncertainty’
The UK’s economy faces significant uncertainty due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, UK finance minister Rishi Sunak has said after the release of stronger-than-expected growth data for January.
“We know that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is creating significant economic uncertainty and we will continue to monitor its impact on the UK, but it is vital that we stand with the people of Ukraine to uphold our shared values of freedom and democracy and ensure Putin fails,” Sunak said.
Sunak is due to give a half-yearly update of economic growth and borrowing forecasts on March 23.
Board of steelmaker Evraz quits after Abramovich sanction
Russian steelmaker Evraz has said that 10 members of its board had quit following the British sanction of largest shareholder Roman Abramovich and the suspension of its shares, with only the chief executive remaining.
It said it is waiting for further clarifications from the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation.
Potential buyers for Chelsea can approach UK government: Minister
Anyone interested in buying Chelsea Football Club can approach the British government and make a proposal, the government has said after it sanctioned current owner Roman Abramovich.
“As the license conditions are written today, the sale would not be allowed. However, if a buyer emerged it would be open to that buyer or to that football club to approach the government and ask for the conditions to be varied in a way that allows that sale to take place,” the UK’s technology minister Chris Philp told Sky News.
Air raid sirens west of Kyiv
Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan, reporting from Kyiv, says air raid sirens have been going off from what it was believed to be the west of the capital.
“We did hear that early in the morning there were some strikes in the west of the city.”
Ukraine hopes ‘humanitarian corridor’ from Mariupol will open on Friday: Deputy PM
Ukraine hopes a humanitarian corridor will be opened successfully for civilians to leave the besieged southern port city of Mariupol on Friday, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk has said.
Residents have been cowering under fire, and without power or water, in the city of over 400,000 people for more than a week and attempts to arrange a local ceasefire and safe passage out have failed repeatedly.
Russia to lose ‘most favoured nation status’ over Ukraine: Sources
The US, together with the Group of Seven nations and the EU, will move to revoke Russia’s “most favoured nation” status, multiple people familiar with the situation told Reuters.
Stripping Russia of its favoured nation status paves the way for the US and its allies to impose tariffs on a wide range of Russian goods, which would ratchet up pressure on an economy already heading into a recession.
Ukraine says it will no longer buy Russian nuclear fuel
Ukrainian state nuclear power firm Energoatom will no longer buy Russian nuclear fuel, the company has said.
Ukraine operates Soviet-era nuclear reactors, importing its fuel from Russia and the US.
VP Harris heads to Romania
US Vice President Kamala Harris will head to Romania and discuss the growing refugee crisis in the region.
Harris will meet President Klaus Iohannis in Bucharest, her second stop on a three-day trip through eastern Europe.
She met Polish leaders and Ukrainian refugees in Warsaw on Thursday and offered US support to calls for an international war crimes investigation against Russia.
Hungary PM Orban says EU will not sanction Russian gas or oil
The EU will not impose sanctions on Russian gas or oil, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said in a video posted on his Facebook page, amid a summit of EU leaders in France.
“The most important issue for us has been settled in a favourable way: there won’t be sanctions that would apply to gas or oil, so Hungary’s energy supply is secure in the upcoming period,” Orban added.
Russia says military airfields in Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk taken out: Reports
Russian troops have launched a high-precision, long-range attack on two military airfields in the Ukrainian cities of Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk and have taken them out of action, Russian news agencies have quoted Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov as saying.
The mayor of Ivano-Frankiivsk, Ruslan Martsinkiv, ordered residents in the neighbouring areas to head to shelters after an air raid alert. The mayor of Lutsk also announced an air raid near the airport.
The strikes were far to the west from the main Russian offensive.
About 222,000 evacuated to Russia from Ukraine: TASS
About 222,000 people have been evacuated to Russia from Ukraine and its two Russian-backed rebel regions, the TASS news agency has said, citing an unidentified source.
Russian-backed separatists capture Ukraine’s Volnovakha: RIA
Russian-backed separatists have captured the Ukrainian city of Volnovakha north of the besieged Azov Sea port of Mariupol, the RIA news agency has quoted Russia’s defence ministry as saying.
Volnovakha is strategically important as the northern gateway to Mariupol.
Air strikes in Ukraine’s Dnipro kill one: Emergency services
Three air strikes in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro have killed at least one person, state emergency services have said, in what appeared to be the first direct attack on the city.
“There were three air strikes on the city, namely hitting a kindergarten, an apartment building and a two-story shoe factory, starting a fire. One person died,” the emergency services said in a statement.
Firefighters work next to a heavily damaged building following an airstrike in Dnipro, Ukraine [State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via Reuters]
Russia demands that US stop Meta’s ‘extremist activities’
Russia’s embassy in the United States has demanded that Washington stop the “extremist activities” of Facebook owner Meta Platforms, which has temporarily lifted a ban on calls for violence against the Russian military and leadership.
“Meta’s aggressive and criminal policy leading to incitement of hatred and hostility towards Russians is outrageous,” the Russian embassy said in a statement. “The company’s actions are yet another evidence of the information war without rules declared on our country.”
The embassy said it wanted the US authorities to “stop the extremist activities of Meta and take measures to bring the perpetrators to justice”.
Biden looks forward to signing US spending bill, White House says
The White House has welcomed the Senate’s passage of legislation providing $1.5 trillion to keep the federal government operating beyond this week and $13.6bn to help Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion.
“The bipartisan funding bill proves once more that members of both parties can come together to deliver results for the American people,” White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said. “It will reduce costs for families and businesses, support our economic recovery, and advance American leadership abroad.”
She said President Joe Biden looked forward to signing the legislation, and its “historic support for the Ukrainian people as they defend their country and democracy”.
Kazakh airline suspends flights to Russia over insurance issues
Kazakhstan’s flagship carrier, Air Astana, has suspended all flights to Russia and over Russian territory because such flights can no longer be insured, the company has said.
Air Astana, in which Britain’s BAE Systems owns a 49 percent stake, said it was working with the government of Kazakhstan, Russia’s neighbour and close ally, on resolving the issue.
US Congress passes budget including $14bn for Ukraine
The US Congress has passed a huge omnibus 2022 spending bill including almost $14bn in humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine.
Lawmakers had been facing the latest in a series of shutdown showdowns, with government funding due to expire at midnight on Friday into Saturday, meaning thousands of workers would have been sent home without pay.
With the deadline fast approaching, senators in the legislative body’s upper chamber followed their House of Representatives colleagues, who approved the $1.5 trillion package on Wednesday.
Biden to call for an end of normal trade relations with Russia
US President Joe Biden on Friday will call for an end of normal trade relations with Russia and clear the way for increased tariffs on Russian imports, a source familiar with the situation has told Reuters news agency.
China Premier calls Ukraine situation ‘disconcerting’
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has said the Ukraine situation was “disconcerting” and that it is important to support Russia and Ukraine in ceasefire talks.
Speaking at a news conference at the close of an annual parliamentary session, Li did not directly answer Reuters’ news agency questions about whether China will refrain from condemning Russia no matter what that country does, or whether China is prepared to provide further economic and financial support for Russia as it faces sanctions.
WHO says it advised Ukraine to destroy pathogens in health labs to prevent disease spread
The World Health Organization advised Ukraine to destroy high-threat pathogens housed in the country’s public health laboratories to prevent “any potential spills” that would spread disease among the population, the agency told Reuters news agency.
In response to questions from Reuters about its work with Ukraine ahead of and during Russia’s invasion, the WHO said in an email that it has collaborated with Ukrainian public health labs for several years to promote security practices that help prevent “accidental or deliberate release of pathogens”.
“As part of this work, WHO has strongly recommended to the Ministry of Health in Ukraine and other responsible bodies to destroy high-threat pathogens to prevent any potential spills,” the WHO, a UN agency, said.
Besieged city of Mariupol enduring bombardment ‘every 30 minutes’
Mariupol mayor Vadym Boychenko has said 400,000 people were trapped in the port city which had gone through “two days of hell”.
“Every 30 minutes planes arrived over the city of Mariupol and worked on residential areas, killing civilians – the elderly, women, children,” he said in an online post.
Petro Andrushenko, an adviser to the mayor, said the Russians wanted to “delete our people”.
“They want to stop any evacuation,” he said.
Satellite photos show break-up of Russian convoy outside Kyiv
Satellite photos have shown that a massive Russian convoy that had been mired outside the Ukrainian capital since last week appeared to have dispersed.
Satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies showed the 64-kilometre (40-mile) line of vehicles, tanks and artillery has broken up and been redeployed, with armoured units seen in towns near the Antonov airport north of the city. Some of the vehicles have moved into forests, Maxar reported.
The convoy had massed outside the city early last week, but its advance appeared to have stalled amid reports of food and fuel shortages. US officials said Ukrainian troops also targeted the convoy with anti-tank missiles.
A satellite image shows troops and equipment deployed amid Russia’s continuing invasion of Ukraine in Ozera, northeast of Antonov airport, Ukraine [Maxar Technologies/Handout via Reuters]
Moscow to open humanitarian corridors from five Ukrainian cities
The Russian defence ministry will declare a ceasefire on Friday and open humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of Ukrainians from five cities, the RIA and Interfax news agencies have reported.
The agencies quoted Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the Russian National Defence Control Centre, as saying people could either travel to Russia or other cities in Ukraine.
“From 10:00am Moscow time [07:00 GMT] on March 11, 2022, the Russian Federation will declare a ‘regime of silence’ and is ready to provide humanitarian corridors,” Interfax said, citing a statement from Mizintsev.
The five cities are Kyiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Mariupol and Chernihiv. So far, no civilians have been able to leave the besieged port city of Mariupol.
Ukraine says more than 280 schools attacked since start of invasion
Ukraine’s minister of education has said more than 280 educational facilities have been damaged or destroyed by “bombing and shelling”.
“The enemy ruthlessly destroys kindergartens, schools, vocational schools, colleges, universities,” Serhiy Shkarlet said. “But the most brutal and painful losses are hundreds of lives lost at the hands of the aggressor.”
Situation in besieged city of Mariupol ‘a total horror’
Maria Moskaleno, who managed to get out of the besieged city of Mariupol last week, says her parents remain trapped there.
“It’s a total horror, it’s a humanitarian catastrophe,” Moskaleno told Al Jazeera. “They don’t know, will they have food till the end of the blockade.”
According to Moskaleno, her parents have been cooking food “on the streets”, with branches of wood from surrounding trees.
“It’s a disaster, it’s really scary … Russians are constantly bombing … constantly, rockets are flying around them, they’re really scared, they just don’t have hope of salvation,” she added.
UN Security Council to convene at Russia’s request
The United Nations Security Council will convene on Friday at Russia’s request, diplomats have said, to discuss Moscow’s claims, presented without evidence, of US biological activities in Ukraine.
The United States has dismissed Russian claims as “laughable”, warning Moscow may be preparing to use chemical or biological weapons.
Ukraine says civilians unable to leave Mariupol; Zelenskyy blames Russian ‘terror’
Not a single civilian was able to leave the encircled Ukrainian city of Mariupol as Russian forces failed to respect a temporary ceasefire to allow evacuations, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk has said.
Meanwhile, efforts to send food, water and medicine into the city failed when Russian tanks attacked a humanitarian corridor, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
“This is outright terror … from experienced terrorists,” he said. “The world needs to know this. I have to admit it – we are all dealing with a terrorist state.”
Top US aid official hails ‘solidarity’ of Ukraine’s neighbours
The head of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has praised countries neighbouring Ukraine for their “solidarity and generosity” in welcoming more than two million refugees amid the war.
“The unity of these frontline states — Moldova, Slovakia, Romania, Poland & Hungary — has taken Putin by surprise,” Samantha Power said on Twitter.
Russian forces shell Ukraine institute that has experimental reactor, parliament says
Russian forces shelled an institute in the city of Kharkiv that is home to an experimental nuclear reactor and a neighbouring hostel is on fire, the Ukrainian parliament has said.
In a tweet, the parliament’s official website said fighting close to the Institute of Physics and Technology was continuing.
Ukraine banking leader calls for stiffer financial sanctions on Russia
Valeria Gontareva, a former governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, says seized Russian assets should be used to help rebuild Ukraine.
The sanctions imposed by Western nations against Moscow are having “seismic negative affects to the Russian economy”, Gontareva told Al Jazeera.
She said that is not enough, however, because revenue from Russian oil and gas sales will be sufficient to continue financing the continuing war.
UN and partners boost presence and aid supplies inside Ukraine
United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric has said humanitarian organisations are “deploying additional staff across Ukraine and are working to move supplies to warehouses in different hubs” within the country and outside.
He added that an estimated 1.9 million Ukrainians have been internally displaced, while more than 2.3 million have now crossed the western border in search of safety.
Dujarric also said the World Food Programme was “deeply concerned about the impact of conflict on Ukraine’s food security and the waning ability of families in embattled areas, to feed themselves”.
US urges Russia to allow civilians to safely depart Ukrainian cities
Washington has urged Moscow to allow civilians to safely depart Ukrainian cities and towns besieged by Russian troops, saying the forces now encircle multiple cities after having destroyed much of the critical infrastructure.
“Putin’s military plan to quickly capture Ukraine, it is clear now, has failed. So he’s now turning to a strategy of laying waste to population centres to try to break the will of the people of Ukraine, something he will not be able to do,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters.
Ukraine tells IAEA it has lost all contact with Chernobyl after power cut
Ukraine has told the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog that it has lost all contact with the radioactive waste facilities at Chernobyl next to the defunct power plant, which is now held by Russian forces.
“Ukraine informed the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] that it had lost today all communications with the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant [NPP], the day after the Russian-controlled site lost all external power supplies,” the IAEA said in a statement, adding that before, there was contact by email.
Hungary intervenes to stabilise fuel supply amid surge in demand
Hungary’s government has ordered a truck stoppage for four days starting on Saturday and cut the excise tax on fuel as part of efforts to stabilise fuel supplies after a surge in demand in recent days, a government official said.
“Supply is ensured, there is no reason for panic and the government maintains the cap on fuel prices,” Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, said during a news conference.
Facebook, Instagram to temporarily allow calls for violence against Russians
Meta Platforms will allow Facebook and Instagram users in some countries to call for violence against Russians and Russian soldiers in the context of the Ukraine invasion, according to internal emails seen by the Reuters news agency, in a temporary change to its hate speech policy.
The social media company is also temporarily allowing posts that call for the death of Russian President Vladimir Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in countries including Russia, Ukraine and Poland, according to a series of internal emails to its content moderators.
Meta did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
