Russia and Ukraine on Thursday agreed on the need to set up humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians trying to flee the conflict, in their first sign of progress on any issue since the invasion. On the frontlines, Russian forces increased pressure on Mariupol and Kharkiv after Kherson became the first Ukrainian city to fall. Revisit the day’s events as they unfolded.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday the fight against “neo-Nazis” in Ukraine was going “according to plan”.
- Russia-Ukraine talks ended with some progress on the establishment of humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians.
- French President Emmanuel Macron believes "the worst is to come" in Ukraine after a 90-minute phone call with Putin who appears intent on seizing "the whole" of the country, an aide to the French leader said.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday promised Ukrainians that damage to infrastructure inflicted by invading Russian forces would be repaired and that Moscow would foot the bill.
- In a news conference with foreign journalists, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he believed some foreign leaders were preparing for war against Russia and that Moscow would press on with its military operation in Ukraine until "the end".
- Russian forces have taken over the Ukrainian city of Kherson, local officials confirmed late Wednesday, the first major urban centre to fall since Moscow invaded a week ago.
- One million people have fled Ukraine in the week since Russia launched its invasion, the United Nations said, amounting to the swiftest refugee exodus this century.
- Russian and Belarusian athletes will not be able to compete at the Winter Paralympics in Beijing, the International Paralympic Committee said on Thursday, a day after they announced that athletes from the two countries would be allowed to participate as neutrals, since “athletes were not the aggressors”.
- Russia’s defence ministry said 498 Russian soldiers have died and another 1,597 were wounded in Ukraine since the invasion began last week. Ukrainian military officials put the Russian toll much higher: 7,000 Russian servicemen killed and hundreds taken prisoner.
- The UN human rights office said 227 civilians were killed and 525 others were injured in Ukraine between February 24 and March 1. These are confirmed cases; the real death toll was “considerably higher”.
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(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS, AFP and AP)
