We will now be closing this blog and moving our coverage to a new liveblog.
You can keep up to date with all the latest developments in the link below.
Summary
If you have just joined us, here is a quick recap of where the situation stands:
- US president Joe Biden has denied he is calling for regime change in Russia, after he said during a visit to Poland that Putin “cannot remain in power”. When asked by a reporter if he wanted to see Russian president Vladimir Putin removed from office he said “no”. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, had already distanced himself from Biden’s comments, while the UK cabinet minister Nadhim Zahawi distanced the UK government from his remarks.
- Representatives from Russia and Ukraine will meet this week for a new round of talks aimed at ending the war. Ukraine said the two sides would meet in Turkey on Monday.
- Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy used a video interview with independent Russian media outlets to signal his willingness to discuss having Ukraine adopt a “neutral status”, and also make compromises about the status of the eastern Donbas region, in order to secure a peace agreement with Russia. But he said he was not willing to discuss Ukrainian demilitarisation, and that Ukrainians would need to vote in a referendum to approve their country adopting a neutral status.
- In a separate late-night video, Zelenskiy promised to work this week for new sanctions against Russia and spoke of the impending new round negotiations, saying “we are looking for peace without delay.”
- Zelenskiy also claimed that 2,000 children from Mariupol have been taken by Russia, according to a press release published by the president’s office late on Sunday. “According to our data, more than 2,000 children were deported. Which means they were abducted. Because we do not know the exact locations of all these children. There were children with and without parents. It’s a catastrophe, it’s horrible.” Zelenskiy said the city remained blocked by the Russian military, describing the situation as a humanitarian catastrophe. “Food, medicine, and water can’t be delivered. The Russian troops are shelling humanitarian convoys and killing drivers.”
- Ukraine’s deputy prime minister has accused Russia of “irresponsible” acts around the occupied Chernobyl power station that could send radiation across much of Europe, and urged the United Nations to dispatch a mission to assess the risks in an update to her Telegram account.
- The UK Ministry of Defence said Russia is “effectively isolating Ukraine from international maritime trade”, in an update late Sunday. It also said Russian naval forces were continuing to conduct sporadic missile strikes against targets across Ukraine.
- The Ukrainian military claimed Russia has withdrawn troops that were surrounding Kyiv after suffering significant losses in its latest operational report.
- Russia’s communications and internet regulator said in a public statement it would investigate the outlets that interviewed Zelenskiy, and has told them not to distribute the interview.
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Putin is seeking to split Ukraine into two, emulating the postwar division between North and South Korea, Ukraine’s military intelligence chief has said. In comments that raise the prospect of a long and bitter frozen conflict, General Kyrylo Budanov, warned of bloody guerrilla warfare.
- The French foreign minister said on Sunday there would be “collective guilt” if nothing was done to help civilians in Mariupol, the Ukrainian city besieged by Russian forces.
- The UK government’s top legal adviser has appointed a war crimes lawyer to advise Ukraine on the Russian invasion. The attorney general, Suella Braverman, announced on Sunday that Sir Howard Morrison QC would act as an independent adviser to the Ukrainian prosecutor general, Iryna Venediktova, Press Association reported.
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Germany is considering purchasing a missile defence system to shield against a potential attack from Russia, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said late on Sunday.
- Despite reports that Zelenskiy had been pushing to speak on video during the Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles tonight, attendees instead observed a 30-second silence as tribute to the people of Ukraine.
The risks are stacking up for Asia’s once-promising economic recovery from the pandemic, thanks to the war in Ukraine, US policy rate rises, spiking energy prices, and escalating Covid cases in China.
Analysts at S&P Global Ratings said on Monday that these new risks will lead to inflation across Asia Pacific, and that they will dent an otherwise strong rebound from the pandemic.
“We have generally lowered our growth forecasts across Asia-Pacific and raised our inflation expectations. This reflects already-higher energy and commodity prices, an expectation of Fed interest rate increases, and the volatility and inflation effects of the Russia-Ukraine war,” they said.
Stock markets in Asia were down on Monday with the Nikkei losing 0.4%.
The weekend once again saw dozens of protests against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continue in cities across the world.
In case you missed it earlier, our correspondent in Delhi has been looking at why Indian popular opinion has remained even-handed about Russia and its invasion of Ukraine.
One man tells Amrit Dhillon that India’s close ties with the old Soviet regimes of the 50s and 60s created a lasting bond of “brothers” between the two countries.
Another man, an electrician, says that Russia could have legitimate claim to Ukraine: “I hear that Ukraine used to be a part of Russia, but instead of respecting that, Nato is pulling Ukraine into its own orbit. But war is never good for anyone and the Russian bombing of civilians is not the way to solve these differences. They must sit down and talk.”
You can read the full story here:
Civilians in Ukraine continue to fight back in creative, new ways.
According to Belarusian journalist Hanna Liubakova, who is based in the western city of Lviv, local coffee shops are displaying Russian losses in their windows.
“The losses of the Russian army are mentioned and renewed daily at the door of the famous Lviv Coffee Mine,”
#Ukraine Lviv. The losses of the Russian army are mentioned and renewed daily at the door of the famous Lviv Coffee Mine. pic.twitter.com/Jg8v7qsOWd
— Hanna Liubakova (@HannaLiubakova) March 27, 2022
A moment of reflection for the people of Ukraine has plunged the 94th Academy Awards currently under way in Hollywood into a 30-second silence.
The Associated Press reports:
A tribute that started with words from the Ukrainian-born actress Mila Kunis ended with the Academy Awards fading to black about midway through Sunday’s show from Los Angeles, with a plea for anyone watching to do whatever possible to send help to those in the war-torn nation.
“Recent global events have left many of us feeling gutted,” Kunis said as she took the stage, part of her remarks to introduce Reba McIntyre’s performance of the Oscar-nominated song “Somehow You Do” from “Four Good Days.”
“Yet when you witness the strength and dignity of those facing such devastation, it’s impossible to not be moved by their resilience,” Kunis continued. “One cannot help but be in awe of those who find strength to keep fighting through unimaginable darkness.”
That’s when McIntyre took the stage, dressed in a black gown, for her performance.
The balance between celebrating art while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine rages on has been a delicate one for the Oscars. Sean Penn has openly campaigned for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy — a former actor — to speak at the ceremony. Some arrived for the Oscars wearing blue-and-gold ribbons, an obvious show of support since those are the colours of the Ukrainian flag.
When McIntyre’s song ended, a large video screen hovering over the stage displayed a tribute and a plea as the 30-second moment of silence began.
“We’d like to have a moment of silence to show our support for the people of Ukraine currently facing invasion, conflict and prejudice within their own borders,” read the screen.
“While film is an important avenue for us to express our humanity in times of conflict, the reality is millions of families in Ukraine need food, medical care, clean water and emergency services. Resources are scarce and we — collectively as a global community — can do more.”
It then ended with a display of the following: “We ask you to support Ukraine in any way you are able. #StandWithUkraine.”
A monument to famed Ukrainian poet, Taras Shevchenko, has been covered with sandbags to protect it from shelling in the city of Kharkiv, northeast Ukraine.
Ukraine’s second-largest city of 1.5 million people lies close to the Russian border and has been heavily shelled by Russian forces over the past weeks.
Ukraine’s ministry of foreign affairs says Russian forces have turned the besieged city of Mariupol “into dust” while describing the current humanitarian situation in the city as “catastrophic”.
“While Mariupol besieged and bombed, people fight to survive. The humanitarian situation in the city is catastrophic. Russian Armed Forces is turning the city into dust,” the ministry said on Monday.
While #Mariupol besieged and bombed, people fight to survive. The humanitarian situation in the city is catastrophic. #Russian Armed Forces is turning the city into dust.
— MFA of Ukraine 🇺🇦 (@MFA_Ukraine) March 28, 2022
Save Mariupol!#closeUAskyNOW#StandWithUkraine #StopRussianAgression pic.twitter.com/wI21IhKdRn
In an earlier interview for Russian media, published and transcribed by the presidential offie of Ukraine, Zelenskiy spoke of a “cultural split” that has taken place towards Russians in Ukraine.
A global historical and cultural split took place during this month. It’s not just a war, I think it’s much worse.”
Zelenskiy noted that before the war some Ukrainians were loyal to Russia but after the destruction of their cities and death of civilians, this attitude has changed to hatred, adding that he believed the damage is “irreparable”.
I think this is the worst disappointment that has happened. Disappointment that turned into hatred of the nations. I have no answer as to how it can be returned, there is no answer as to whether it will ever return.”
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has provided some more detail surrounding his earlier claim that 2,000 children from Mariupol have been taken by Russia.
Zelenskiy confirmed that people were leaving the city through humanitarian corridors using civilian transport, but Russia also “organised the forcible removal of Mariupol residents to the occupied territories,” according to a press release published by the president’s office late on Sunday.
According to our data, more than 2,000 children were deported. Which means they were abducted. Because we do not know the exact locations of all these children. There were children with and without parents. It’s a catastrophe, it’s horrible.”
Zelenskiy continued:
The reality is that the city is blocked by the Russian military, all entrances and exits from Mariupol are blocked, the port is mined. The humanitarian catastrophe in the city is obvious. Because food, medicine, and water can’t be delivered. The Russian troops are shelling humanitarian convoys and killing drivers.”
Due to the shelling, many humanitarian convoys returned without reaching Mariupol, Zelenskiy added.
The president said that there was an attempt to agree with the Russian side on the removal of the bodies of killed soldiers and civilians lying in the open air, but such removal was not allowed.
Russia withdraws troops surrounding Kyiv after 'signifiant losses': Ukraine military
The Ukrainian military has released its latest operational report as of 10pm local time, claiming Russia has withdrawn troops that were surrounding Kyiv after suffering significant losses.
The withdrawal has “significantly decreased” the intensity of Russia’s advance and forced some units to regroup in Belarus, the general staff of the armed forces said.
Officials added that they believed Russia was also transporting ‘Iskander’ missiles to Kalinkovichy in the Gomel region of south-eastern Belarus.
Updated
The destruction of cities across Ukraine continues as the war drags on into its second month.
Here is a selection of the latest images taken from Mykolaiv, Mariupol and Kharkiv.
French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has called for immediate action in Ukraine’s south-eastern city Mariupol, drawing comparisons to the destruction of Aleppo, Syria.
“You can very well see that Mariupol is a second Aleppo with, I hope, a collective guilt if we don’t do anything,” he said at the Doha Forum, a meeting of policy makers, referring to a Syrian city that saw some of the worst fighting of the country’s brutal civil war.
“Mariupol is a siege war that Russia’s been in for a month now. Maybe it wasn’t envisaged as a siege war but today we’re in siege warfare, and Mariupol is one of the most striking examples.
“Military sieges are horrible wars because civil populations are massacred, annihilated. The suffering is terrible.”
Germany is considering purchasing a missile defence system to shield against a potential attack from Russia, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said late on Sunday.
When asked during an appearance on public broadcaster ARD whether Germany might buy a defence system such as Israel’s Iron Dome, Scholz said:
“This is certainly one of the issues we are discussing, and for good reason,” though he did not specify what type of system Berlin was considering.
When asked whether Germany aimed to procure a missile defence system with a longer range than its existing Patriot batteries, Scholz said: “We need to be aware that we have a neighbour who is prepared to use violence to enforce their interests.”
The Bild am Sonntag newspaper reported earlier a missile defence shield for the whole territory of Germany was one of the topics discussed when Scholz met with Eberhard Zorn, Germany’s chief of defence.
Specifically, they spoke about a possible acquisition of the Israeli “Arrow 3” system, the paper said.
Andreas Schwarz, a member of parliament for Scholz’ Social Democrats, told the newspaper:
We must protect ourselves better against the threat from Russia. For this, we need a Germany-wide missile defence shield quickly. The Israeli Arrow 3 system is a good solution.”
French president Emmanuel Macron earlier called for restraint in both words and actions in dealing with the Ukraine conflict, after US president Joe Biden described Russian president Vladimir Putin as a “butcher” and said he should not remain in power.
“I wouldn’t use this type of wording because I continue to hold discussions with president Putin,” Macron told France 3. “What do we want to do collectively? We want to stop the war that Russia has launched in Ukraine without waging war and without escalation.”
Watch Macron’s remarks in the video below.
'Irresponsible' occupation of Chernobyl power station risks radiation leak across Europe, official says
Ukraine’s deputy prime minister has accused Russia of “irresponsible” acts around the occupied Chernobyl power station that could send radiation across much of Europe, and urged the United Nations to dispatch a mission to assess the risks.
Iryna Vereshchuk posted an update to her Telegram account late Sunday, where she said Russian forces continue to militarise the Chernobyl exclusion zone.
This poses a very serious risk of damaging the insulation structures built over the station’s fourth unit after its 1986 explosion.
Such damage will inevitably lead to the entry into the atmosphere of a significant amount of radioactive dust and contaminate not only Ukraine but also other European countries.”
Vereshchuk continued to claim that the occupying Russian forces “ ignored these threats, continuing to transport and store a significant amount of ammunition in the immediate vicinity of the nuclear power plant” and through the city of Pripyat.
Russian occupiers transport tens of tons of rockets, shells and mortar ammunition every day. Hundreds of tons of ammunition are being stored in the neighbouring city of Pripyat Chernobyl, which is also a short distance from the nuclear power plant.”
Vereshchuk noted the dangers of Russia’s use of “old and substandard ammunition” which “increases the risk of their detonation even during loading and transportation.”
In addition, she said significant fires have started in the exclusion zone, which can have “very serious consequences.”
“It is impossible to control and extinguish fires in full due to the capture of the exclusion zone by the Russian occupation forces,” she said.
As a result of combustion, radionuclides are released into the atmosphere, which the wind can carry over long distances, which threatens radiation not only in Ukraine but also in other European countries. Loss of control over the exclusion zone and the inability to fully extinguish the fire could threaten radiation facilities in the area.”
In the context of nuclear security, the irresponsible and unprofessional actions of the Russian military pose a very serious threat not only to Ukraine but also to hundreds of millions of Europeans.”
Vereshchuk urged the UN Security Council to “take immediate measures to demilitarise the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and establish a special UN mission” to eliminate the risk of a recurrence of the Chernobyl accident.
Updated
The UK’s ministry of defence has just released its latest intelligence report on the situation in Ukraine, claiming Russia is “effectively isolating Ukraine from international maritime trade.”
Russia is maintaining a distant blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea coast, effectively isolating Ukraine from international maritime trade.
Russian naval forces are also continuing to conduct sporadic missile strikes against targets throughout Ukraine.
The destruction of the Saratov landing ship at Berdyansk will likely damage the confidence of the Russian Navy to conduct operations in close proximity to the coast of Ukraine in the future.”
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 27 March 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) March 27, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/uqSLD4dEuT
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/aQwtKrpBTy
Biden denies calling for regime change in Russia
US President Joe Biden has said that he was not calling for regime change in Russia when he said on Saturday that Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power.”
“Mr President, do you want Putin removed? Mr President, were you calling for regime change?” a reporter asked Biden as he left a church service in Washington on Sunday.
“No,” the president replied.
On Saturday, Joe Biden condemned Vladimir Putin as a “butcher” who could no longer stay in power in a historic speech in Poland as Russian missiles rained down on Ukraine’s most pro-western city, just 40 miles from the Polish border, and Ukraine’s president called for more military aid.
“For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power,” Biden said in his most belligerent speech since the war began a month ago.
US officials later said that Biden had been talking about the need for Putin to lose power over Ukrainian territory and in the wider region.
Updated
Zelenskiy also spoke of the “global marathon for peace in Ukraine” where he thanks those who gathered in support of Ukraine across dozens of cities around the world.
An impressive number of people in the squares of Europe, on other continents. And this is extremely important. Because when people are in the square, politicians will no longer pretend not to hear us and you, not to hear Ukraine.”
We will not let anyone forget about our cities, about Mariupol and other Ukrainian cities that the Russian militaries are destroying. More and more people in the world are on the side of Ukraine, on the side of good in this battle with evil. And if politicians don’t know how to follow people, we will teach them. This is the basis of democracy and our national character.”
'We are looking for peace ... without delay': Zelenskiy
Zelenskiy promised to work this week for new sanctions against Russia and spoke of an impending new round negotiations.
A new round of negotiations is ahead, because we are looking for peace. Really. Without delay. As I was informed, there is an opportunity and a need for a face-to-face meeting already in Turkey. This is not bad. Let’s look at the result.
Our priorities in the negotiations are known. Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are beyond doubt. Effective security guarantees for our state are mandatory. Our goal is obvious - peace and the restoration of normal life in our native state as soon as possible.”
The Ukrainian president promised to continue to appeal to the parliaments of other countries, describing a busy diplomatic weeks ahead.
No one will be able to hide the Ukrainian interest somewhere in political offices or in bureaucratic loopholes.
Updated
Hello it’s Samantha Lock with you as my colleague Lois Beckett signs off.
Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has once again delivered a moving late-night national address.
Referencing his earlier interview with Russian journalists, he said:
Today is the day when we see again and again how far we are from the Russian Federation. Imagine, they were frightened there in Moscow because of my interview to Russian journalists. To those of them who can afford to tell the truth. When journalists were preparing to publish our interview - and we spoke with them this afternoon - the Russian censorship agency came out with a threat. That’s what they wrote - they demand not to publish the conversation. It would be ridiculous if it wasn’t so tragic.
They destroyed freedom of speech in their state, they are trying to destroy the neighbouring state. They portray themselves as global players. And they themselves are afraid of a relatively short conversation with several journalists.
Well, if there is such a reaction, then we are doing everything right, then they are nervous. Apparently, they have seen that their citizens have more and more questions about the state of affairs in their country.”
Evening summary
It’s nearly 2am in Ukraine, and there have been reports of air raid sirens and missile strikes in cities across Ukraine, including in Lutsk, Kharkiv, Zhytomyr, and Rivne. Here are some of the key developments of the past few hours:
- Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy used a video interview with independent Russian media outlets to signal his willingness to discuss having Ukraine adopt a “neutral status,” and also make compromises about the status of the eastern Donbas region, in order to secure a peace agreement with Russia. But he said he was not willing to discuss Ukrainian demilitarisation, and that Ukrainians would need to vote in a referendum to approve their country adopting a neutral status.
- Russia’s communications and Internet regulator said in a public statement it would investigate the outlets that interviewed Zelenskiy and told them not to distribute the interview.
- Despite reports that Zelenskiy had been pushing to speak on video during the Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles tonight, and some statements of support from celebrities in his favor, it was not clear if the Academy had agreed, or if it would opt instead for watered-down references to the conflict and vague statements of support.
- Talks between Russia and Ukraine are expected to continue in Turkey in the coming days.
Updated
Zelenskiy claims that 2,000 children from Mariupol have been taken by Russia: CNN
One of the most striking claims in the Ukrainian president’s interview with Russian reporters was Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s assertion that Russia has “stolen” 2,000 children from Mariupol during attempts to evacuate civilians from the city, CNN reported.
CNN’s Jim Acosta reported Zelenskiy’s comments on CNN, with the caveat that CNN has not independently verified the claim.
A week ago, the US condemned as “unconscionable” reports that Russia was transporting thousands of civilians out of Mariupol and into Russia and Russian-controlled territory. Ukrainian officials have said that tens of thousands of civilians from Mariupol have been taken into Russian-controlled territory, calling these “deportations,” and BBC News reported on Sunday that a refugee from Mariupol who is currently in Russia said: “All of us were taken forcibly”.
“According to our information, more than 2,000 children were taken, ie, stolen, because we do not know the exact location of all these children. Some are with parents, some without. This is a catastrophe,” Zelenskiy said, according to a video of his interview with Russian reporters.
Media, new: @Acosta opening his show, reports on @ZelenskyyUa's contention that 2,000 children have been taken by #Russia out of hard-hit #Mariupol. This angle is developing, @CNN cannot as yet independently confirm Volodymyr Zelensky's assertion. @CNNnewsroom #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/wlfc1mhxiy
— Porter Anderson (@Porter_Anderson) March 27, 2022
In Hollywood, signs of support for Ukraine on the Oscars red carpet
As celebrities and nominees arrive for the Academy Awards tonight, some of them are wearing blue-and-yellow tributes to Ukraine, and others speaking out about Ukrainian refugees, according to early reports from the red carpet.
Jason Momoa looks dapper on the #Oscars red carpet, rocking a bow tie and a yellow and blue pocket square in support of Ukraine. 💛💙 https://t.co/cnWu8h2zm3 pic.twitter.com/2HgXtxNrho
— ExtraTV (@extratv) March 27, 2022
Jamie Lee Curtis and Diane Warren were among the celebrities honoring Ukraine on the #Oscars red carpet. pic.twitter.com/4wtClA3oBY
— AP Entertainment (@APEntertainment) March 27, 2022
Academy Award Winner Youn Yuh-jung arrives at the 2022 #Oscars donning a blue ribbon in support of those who have fled Ukraine and other conflict zones. pic.twitter.com/UQElOOTMvL
— The RepresentASIAN Project™ (@repasianproject) March 27, 2022
Updated
Still no word on whether Ukrainian president will speak during the Oscars: CNN
Despite much discussion over whether the Academy Awards tonight will include a video address from Volodymyr Zelenskiy, it’s still not clear what is happening.
CNN’s Jim Acosta reports that the news outlet has not heard back from the Academy either way.
Media: @Acosta: "@CNN has reached out to @TheAcademy" on whether @ZelenskyyUa has been invited to speak at the #Oscars -- as @SeanPenn and others have demanded -- "and we have not heard back."@AdamParkhomenko tells #Acosta, "It's incredibly important" to #Ukrainian-#Americans. pic.twitter.com/2IaLYOVqcB
— Porter Anderson (@Porter_Anderson) March 27, 2022
As my colleague Catherine Shoard reported earlier, actor Sean Penn pledged to “smelt” his own Oscar statuettes if Zelenskiy was not invited to speak.
Updated
Watch the Ukrainian president’s interview with Russian reporters
The full interview with Volodymyr Zelenskiy, already the subject of a crackdown by the Russian government on the media outlets involved, is available here with English subtitles.
NEW: @ZelenskyyUa just gave a remarkable interview to Russian independent journalists from @meduzaproject @kommersant @novaya_gazeta & @tvraine, who defied Russian government orders not to release it.
— Natalia Krapiva 👩🏻💻🕊 (@natynettle) March 27, 2022
Here are some highlights in English. 👇🏼🧵1/https://t.co/dB4BCHO1dw
This video is from the YouTube channel of Tikhon Dzyadko, one of the Russian journalists who took part in the interview. Zelenskiy also released the full video on his Telegram channel.
First interview of @ZelenskyyUa to Russian journalists since February 24th (with english subtitles - first 45 minutes, more to come)https://t.co/q06JK92FyR
— Tikhon Dzyadko (@tikhondzyadko) March 27, 2022
Updated
Russian artist staging anti-war protest arrested in St Petersburg: reports
A Russian artist who covered herself in fake blood and chanted “my heart bleeds” as part of an anti-war protest in St Petersburg on Sunday was taken by police, Radio Free Europe, a US government-funded outlet, reported.
A Russian artist doused herself in fake blood in a solo protest in St. Petersburg on March 27, before the police came and took her away. Yevgenia Isayeva stood on the steps of the municipal assembly, repeating the phrase "my heart bleeds," reports @SvobodaRadio pic.twitter.com/1LivjEdjFs
— Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (@RFERL) March 27, 2022
An antiwar performance in Saint-Petersburg pic.twitter.com/k4VD2Few5x
— Andrey Zakharov (@skazal_on) March 27, 2022
Updated
After a quiet Sunday, reports of evening missile strikes across Ukraine
After reports of air raid sirens across Ukraine about an hour ago, there are now initial reports of Russian missiles striking multiple cities.
Russian missiles have just hit in different cities around Ukraine. Reportedly, Lutsk, Rivne, Zhytomyr, Kyiv
— Iryna Matviyishyn (@IMatviyishyn) March 27, 2022
And just when you’re grateful for Sunday without sirens, here’s an air raid alert in Lviv again. I’m still thankful for a calm sunny day. Pleasures are simple now
— Iryna Matviyishyn (@IMatviyishyn) March 27, 2022
#Lutsk authorities report attacks on the oil depot. pic.twitter.com/NiLLABUmjS
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) March 27, 2022
Just before 20:00 GMT Sunday, the regions of #Ukraine now under air raid siren alarm - including here in Lviv in W. Ukraine #UkraineUnderAttaсk pic.twitter.com/ZjYY9ULOaa
— Michael Bociurkiw (@WorldAffairsPro) March 27, 2022
Ukraine willing to compromise over the status of Donbas in peace deal, Zelenskiy says
More from Reuters:
Speaking more than a month after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, Zelenskiy said no peace deal would be possible without a ceasefire and troop withdrawals.
He ruled out trying to recapture all Russian-held territory by force, saying it would lead to a third world war, and said he wanted to reach a “compromise” over the eastern Donbass region, held by Russian-backed forces since 2014.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine refused to discuss certain other Russian demands, such as the demilitarisation of the country.
(Reuters) - Ukraine is willing to become neutral and compromise over the status of the eastern Donbass region as part of a peace deal, President Zelenskiy said.
— Phil Stewart (@phildstewart) March 27, 2022
Zelenskiy took his message directly to Russian media in a call that the Kremlin warned Russian media not to report
Ukraine’s military intelligence chief Gen Kyrylo Budanov said earlier that he believed that Putin wanted to split Ukraine into two, emulating the postwar division between North and South Korea.
Updated
More on Ukraine’s willingness to discuss adopting a neutral status in talks with Russia
Reuters has more on a key comment Volodymyr Zelenskiy made to Russian journalists:
Ukraine is prepared to discuss adopting a neutral status as part of a peace deal with Russia but it would have to be guaranteed by third parties and put to a referendum, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in remarks aired on Sunday...
“Security guarantees and neutrality, non-nuclear status of our state. We are ready to go for it. This is the most important point,” Zelenskiy said.
Ukraine was discussing the use of the Russian language in Ukraine in talks with Russia, but refused to discuss other Russian demands, such as the demilitarisation of Ukraine, Zelenskiy said.
Updated
Another night: reports of sirens, sounds of explosions across Ukraine
It’s around 10 pm in Ukraine, and there are reports from multiple cities of air raid sirens and the sound of explosions.
Sirens and sounds of distant ish explosions in Kyiv
— Oliver Carroll (@olliecarroll) March 27, 2022
Siren goes off in #Lviv
— Anastasiia Lapatina (@lapatina_) March 27, 2022
And #kyiv
— lyse doucet (@bbclysedoucet) March 27, 2022
After a relative calm day air defense sirens sounding all across Ukraine. L'viv, Kyiv, other cities - take cover now! https://t.co/rXeXfvwPLL pic.twitter.com/BmEziPgUZz
— Liveuamap (@Liveuamap) March 27, 2022
Updated
What Zelenskiy told Russian reporters
Russian independent new outlets are already facing warnings from Russia’s communications regulator that they are under investigation for conducting a video interview with Ukraine’s president, and that they are forbidden from distributing the interview.
As journalists review the now publicly posted footage from the 92-minute interview, they are highlighting some of the key points Volodymyr Zelenskiy made:
- Zelenskiy said he believes Putin was told that Ukrainians would welcome a Russian invasion, and claimed that Ukraine found Russian parade uniforms in early convoys, suggesting they were ready for immediate victory marches.
Zelensky in his first interview with Russian journalists: "I believe (Putin) was told that we (Ukrainians) are waiting for you with flowers and smiles, the situation is very bad, the current President (Zelensky) and party are not supported. I believe that 99.9%." https://t.co/kM3tXGgkk5
— Bianna Golodryga (@biannagolodryga) March 27, 2022
Ukraine found Russian parade uniforms in the early convoys sent during the invasion, Zelensky says – indicating Putin thought they'd wrap it up almost immediately.
— max seddon (@maxseddon) March 27, 2022
"It'd be funny if it wasn't so tragic. A tank parade on the Maidan on the third or the fourth day of the war."
- Zelenskiy also said the bodies of Russian and Ukrainian people were lying in piles across Mariupol, and that Russians were not picking up the bodies of their own dead or allowing Ukrainians to pick up their own wounded and dead, the CNN analyst Bianna Golodryga reports.
And we won't leave the dead.' There are bodies all over the city. Both Russian soldiers and civilians. Everywhere on the streets. Heaps of dead people. Our military is not prepared to leave bodies in mass graves, like trash.
— Bianna Golodryga (@biannagolodryga) March 27, 2022
Zelensky: We asked for permission to move the bodies of the dead and wounded. They wouldn't allow us to. I don't know if they are moving dead or wounded Russian troops in the same direction they took the kids (east). This information is inconsistent and not based on truth.
— Bianna Golodryga (@biannagolodryga) March 27, 2022
Zelensky then returned to a point he has raised before: "We've asked Russians to come pick up their dead troops. They aren't doing it. Even dead cats and dogs are treated better. I hate them because they invaded, but you have to still be human. What are their parents thinking?
— Bianna Golodryga (@biannagolodryga) March 27, 2022
Updated
Putin wants ‘Korean scenario’ for Ukraine, says intelligence chief
Vladimir Putin is seeking to split Ukraine into two, emulating the postwar division between North and South Korea, the invaded country’s military intelligence chief has said.
In comments that raise the prospect of a long and bitter frozen conflict, Gen Kyrylo Budanov, who foretold of Russia’s invasion as far back as November, warned of bloody guerrilla warfare.
The prediction came as Leonid Pasechnik, the leader of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine, said: “I think that in the near future a referendum will be held on the territory of the republic, during which the people will … express their opinion on joining the Russian Federation.”
Turkish president pushes for a ceasefire in phone call with Putin: Reuters
New from Reuters:
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in a telephone call on Sunday that a ceasefire and better humanitarian conditions were needed following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, his office said in a statement.
“Erdogan noted the importance of a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, the implementation of peace and the improvement of humanitarian conditions in the region,” his office said in a readout of the call.
It added they agreed the next round of peace committee talks between Ukraine and Russia would be held in Istanbul.
Earlier on Sunday, Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia said the next round of face to face talks between Ukraine and Russia will take place in Turkey on March 28-30.
Ukraine prepared to discuss neutrality status as part of peace deal, Zelenskiy says
A key development from the Ukrainian president’s interview with Russian journalists, Reuters reports:
Ukraine is prepared to discuss adopting a neutral status as part of a peace deal with Russia but it would have to be guaranteed by third parties and put to a referendum, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in remarks aired on Sunday.
Zelenskiy was speaking to Russian journalists in a 90 minute video call, an interview that the Russian authorities had pre-emptively warned Russian media to refrain from reporting. Zelenskiy spoke in Russian throughout.
Zelenskiy said Russia’s invasion had caused the destruction of Russian-speaking cities in Ukraine, and said the damage was worse than the Russian wars in Chechnya.
“Security guarantees and neutrality, non-nuclear status of our state. We are ready to go for it. This is the most important point,” Zelenskiy said.
Ukraine was discussing the use of the Russian language in Ukraine in talks with Russia, but refused to discuss other Russian demands, such as the demilitarisation of Ukraine, Zelenskiy said.
Updated
Russian communications censor tells news outlets not to publish interview with Zelenskiy
Russia’s internet and communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, has warned Russian news outlets not to report on an interview they conducted with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, according to Reuters and other news outlets.
The BBC’s Sarah Rainsford notes that Russian media outlets who are already blocked by the government are now being told they cannot report on the interview:
Russian journalism today:
— Sarah Rainsford (@sarahrainsford) March 27, 2022
Independent Dozhd & Meduza were banned in Russia as part of the censorship of media who call a war a war
Today they interviewed Ukraine's president Zelensky
Now Russia's regulator is warning the (blocked) media not to publish; it's investigating them https://t.co/zf2bGLGGbr
Zelenskiy has already posted the full 90-minute video interview to his Telegram channel.
Updated
Kyiv mayor says online schooling will restart on Monday, CNN reports
Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said on Telegram that online schooling would restart in the capital this week, CNN reports.
This is incredible:
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) March 27, 2022
New: Online schooling to resume in Ukrainian capital Monday, says Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, adding “It will be more adapted to current conditions. And using different educational platforms for students."
Updated
Humanitarian organizations were unprepared for war, Ukrainian politicians charge
Ukrainian politicians have accused international humanitarian organizations, including the UN’s refugee agency and the International Committee of the Red Cross, of being unprepared, “impotent,” and “disoriented,” my colleagues Daniel Boffey and Shaun Walker report.
Many Ukrainians angry with int'l humanitarian orgs for response.
— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) March 27, 2022
Lviv mayor Sadovy said they initially watched “with concern over wine & coffee”, compared themselves to refugees (!)
Deputy PM called ICRC "disoriented & impotent"
By me and @danielboffey https://t.co/hAHvb4VXp7
Read the full story here:
Summary
The time in Kyiv is 7.48pm. Here is a roundup of the latest news so far today:
-
In-person talks between Ukrainian and Russian negotiating teams are set to resume tomorrow, said David Arakhamiya, a Ukrainian lawmaker and a member of the negotiations group.
- The French foreign minister said on Sunday there would be “collective guilt” if nothing was done to help civilians in Mariupol, the Ukrainian city besieged by Russian forces.
- The UK government’s top legal adviser has appointed a war crimes lawyer to advise Ukraine over the Russian invasion.The attorney general, Suella Braverman, announced on Sunday that Sir Howard Morrison QC would act as an independent adviser to the Ukrainian prosecutor general, Iryna Venediktova, PA Media reported.
-
The US has no strategy of regime change for Russia, the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, told reporters on Sunday after President Joe Biden said Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power”.
- Biden had condemned Putin as a “butcher” who could no longer stay in power in a speech in Poland. Biden appeared to urge those around the Russian president to oust him from the Kremlin.
-
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, distanced himself from Biden’s comments, while the UK cabinet minister Nadhim Zahawi distanced the UK government from the comments.
- Russia is trying to split Ukraine in two to create a Moscow-controlled region after failing to take over the whole country, the head of Ukrainian military intelligence said on Sunday.
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The Russian-backed self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine could hold a referendum soon on joining Russia, the rebel region’s news outlet cited the local leader Leonid Pasechnik as saying on Sunday.
- Russia struck military targets in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv with high-precision cruise missiles, the Russian defence ministry said on Sunday. Russia hit a fuel depot being used by Ukrainian forces near Lviv with long-range missiles and used cruise missiles to strike a plant in the city being used to repair anti-aircraft systems, radar stations and sights for tanks, the ministry said.
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Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has called on the US and Europe to supply more planes, tanks, anti-missile defences and anti-ship weaponry, arguing that Europe’s security is at stake. “This is what is covered with dust at their storage facilities … this is all for freedom not only in Ukraine – this is for freedom in Europe,” he said in his nightly address.
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Two humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians from conflict zones have been agreed for Sunday, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, has said, including from Mariupol.
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Russia has started destroying Ukrainian fuel and food storage depots, meaning the government will have to disperse the stocks of both in the near future, Vadym Denysenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian interior ministry, has said, according to Reuters.
- The Kremlin has again raised the spectre of the use of nuclear weapons in the war with Ukraine. Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president who is deputy chair of the country’s security council, said Moscow could use them to strike an enemy that only used conventional weapons.
- Russian forces appear to be concentrating their effort to attempt the encirclement of Ukrainian forces directly facing the separatist regions in the east of the country, the UK’s Ministry of Defence has said in its latest intelligence report on the war in Ukraine.
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Ukrainian troops are reporting that Russian forces are deploying white phosphorus against them near the eastern city of Avdiivka. While these reports cannot be confirmed, Zelenskiy told Nato leaders earlier this week that Russia had used phosphorus bombs that had killed adults and children.
- Russian forces seized Slavutych, a northern town close to the Chernobyl nuclear site, on Saturday and took its mayor, Yuri Fomichev, prisoner. However, after failing to disperse the numerous protesters in the main square on Saturday – despite deploying stun grenades and firing overhead – the Russian troops released the mayor and agreed to leave.
Updated
Officials: talks between Ukraine and Russia to resume this week
In-person talks between Ukrainian and Russian negotiating teams will resume this week, officials have said today.
A Ukrainian lawmaker and a member of the negotiations group, David Arakhamiya, said the next round of face-to-face talks between Ukraine and Russia will take place in Turkey on 28-30 March on Facebook, multiple news sources reported.
Arakhamia wrote:
Today, during another round of video negotiations, it was decided to hold the next in-person round of the two delegations in Turkey on March 28-30.
Russia’s chief negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, said the sides had agreed to hold in-person talks on 29-30 March after the latest round was conducted via video link. He did not specify the location of the planned session.
The AFP reports:
Russia and Ukraine failed to make a breakthrough in their first top-level talks, on 10 March in Antalya, since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in late February.
The two sides have held regular talks via video conference but offered scant hopes for any breakthroughs with both sides describing efforts as difficult.
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said this week that Russia and Ukraine appeared to have reached an understanding on four out of six negotiating points; Ukraine staying out of Nato, the use of Russian language in Ukraine, disarmament and security guarantees.
The Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said Friday however that there was “no consensus” on key points with Russia.
Updated
Yaroslav Trofimov, chief foreign affairs correspondent of the Wall Street Journal, has pointed to information provided by Oryx (@oryxspioenkop) that records destruction of military equipment.
Oryx says the Russian army is now visually confirmed to have lost at least 300 tanks since it began its invasion of Ukraine a month ago.
#UkraineWar: The Russian Army is now visually confirmed to have lost at least 300 tanks since it began its invasion of Ukraine a month ago.
— Oryx (@oryxspioenkop) March 26, 2022
Including:
- 19 T-90As
- 18 T-80BVMs
- 48 T-80Us
- 70 T-72B3 Obr. 2016s
- 31 T-72B3s
Full list: https://t.co/QR37xcY8mq pic.twitter.com/MMfVL0MbYP
As Trofimov notes, that is equivalent to the entire tank stock of the French army and half of the stock of the British army.
To put it in perspective, Russia is *visually confirmed* to have lost in Ukraine in one month the entire tank stock of the French Army and half of the stock of the British Army. https://t.co/Il6sIB4PD8
— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) March 27, 2022
Updated
You can also follow Emma Graham-Harrison on Twitter, where her handle is @_EmmaGH.
Here are some of the images she has posted today:
Protecting a statue of Taras Shevchenko in Kharkiv this week with sandbags — a complicated operation as its several meters tall
— Emma Graham-Harrison (@_EmmaGH) March 27, 2022
many civilians who stayed despite intense shelling are so proud of their city, and fighting preserve its soul, as soldiers fight to defend it pic.twitter.com/RqOPSqww30
Firefighters clearing out the wreckage of Kharkiv city hall, hit by a missile early in the war.
— Emma Graham-Harrison (@_EmmaGH) March 27, 2022
It was Serhiy’s 29th birthday, which he celebrated with a cup of tea. No time for more
In the evening they were back on shift saving lives in heavily shelled suburbs pic.twitter.com/ocERnFP0NO
Aftermath of a Russian rocket attack on “Slovo” (word) house, in Kharkiv city
— Emma Graham-Harrison (@_EmmaGH) March 27, 2022
The apartment block was built for writers and intellectuals — but became infamous for Soviet purges (33 executions).
Now Moscow is targeting its residents again pic.twitter.com/ndZezREEYf
In case you missed it, this dispatch from the Guardian and Observer’s Emma Graham-Harrison in Kharkiv, is profoundly moving.
The rubbish collectors in Kharkiv wear flak jackets now. Several of their trucks are peppered with shrapnel holes from shells that landed during their rounds. The bins they empty are packed with the shattered, twisted remains of homes destroyed by explosions.
But still, every morning they go out to keep Kharkiv clean. Ukraine’s second city is perhaps the most-shelled target in the country after besieged Mariupol. Every day brings a hail of Grad rockets, cluster bombs, shells and missiles.
Hundreds are dead, thousands injured. The morgues cannot cope with the daily toll inflicted by Russia. At one city-centre facility, dozens of bodies, wrapped only in plastic bags or blankets, are stacked in a courtyard. Yet Kharkiv’s people are determined that their city will stand, that life must continue among the ruins, even if for now it is a terrifying half-existence in the shadow of sudden death. And that means keeping the city clean.
You can read the full piece here:
The French foreign minister said on Sunday there would be “collective guilt” if nothing was done to help civilians in Mariupol, the Ukrainian city besieged by Russian forces.
“Mariupol is a striking example of a military siege, and military sieges are horrible wars because civil populations are massacred, annihilated. The suffering is terrible,” Jean-Yves Le Drian told the Doha Forum international conference.
“This is why there needs to be at least one moment when the civilian population can breathe,” he said, adding that this was what the French president, Emmanuel Macron, was working to secure, Reuters reported.
Macron said on Friday he was seeking to hold further talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin in the coming days about the situation in Ukraine and the initiative to help people leave Mariupol.
That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, for today. My colleague Alexandra Topping will be along shortly to continue bringing you all the latest news from Putin’s war on Ukraine.
Updated
Ambassador Julianne Smith, the US’s envoy to Nato, was asked by CNN’s State of the Union Sunday show host Dana Bash if the US president Joe Biden’s remarks about Russian president Vladimiar Putin were “a mistake”.
She replied:
In the moment, I think that was a principled human reaction to the stories that he had heard that day.
But no, as you’ve heard from secretary Blinken and others, the US does not have a policy of regime change in Russia. Full stop.
This week has been remarkable. It’s been historic. I thought the speech was completely pitch-perfect. And I think this will set us on a good course for continuing to support the allies, support Ukrainians, and apply pressure on Russia to get them to stop this war.
We are not pursuing a policy of regime change, but I think the full administration, the president included, believes that we cannot empower Putin right now to wage war in Ukraine or pursue these acts of aggression.
She then interviewed senator James Risch, a Republican on the Senate’s foreign relations committee and member of the Senate intelligence committee.
He said:
There was a horrendous gaffe right at the end of it. I just wish he would stay on script. Whoever wrote that speech did a good job for him. But my gosh, I wish they would keep him on script.
Updated
The UK government’s top legal adviser has appointed a war crimes lawyer to advise Ukraine over the Russian invasion.
The attorney general, Suella Braverman, announced on Sunday that Sir Howard Morrison QC will act as an independent adviser to Ukrainian prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova, PA Media reported.
Sir Howard has served as a judge at the international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the international criminal court (ICC) for more than 12 years, including overseeing cases like that of the Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadžić.
Vladimir Putin has been accused repeatedly of war crimes over his invasion of Ukraine. Asked about alternative forms of prosecution outside the ICC, of which Russia is not a member, Braverman said:
All options are on the table and I will always defer and support my counterpart in Ukraine, the prosecutor general, in terms of my efforts to support her in terms of her choice of route for redress.
But whilst we welcome the focus on accountability, we do believe that the ICC is the right place for those responsible for committing these atrocious crimes in Ukraine to be held accountable for their actions.
That’s why we’re focusing all of our energy, led by the deputy prime minister [Dominic Raab], all of our assistance and all of our resources on the ICC prosecutor’s independent investigation.
Updated
At the bustling tea stands and roadside eateries of Delhi, European politics is not a regular topic of conversation.
But with wall-to-wall coverage of the war in Ukraine on television and in the newspapers, petrol prices rising and pressure growing on the prime minister, Narendra Modi, to denounce Russia, Indians are starting to grapple with the consequences of the conflict 2,800 miles away.
Ram Agarwal, a shopkeeper, does not condone the loss of civilian life but nor can he bring himself to criticise Russia. He grew up in the 1950s and 60s when India and the Soviet Union were such close allies that Nikita Khrushchev coined the slogan “Hindi Rusi bhai bhai” (Indians and Russians are brothers).
“I am 74 and my generation grew up with Hindi Rusi bhai bhai. It’s like attacking a dear old friend,” he said.
Arvind Maurya, an electrician, also expressed the even-handedness that has marked much of the public response. “I hear that Ukraine used to be a part of Russia, but instead of respecting that, Nato is pulling Ukraine into its own orbit. But war is never good for anyone and the Russian bombing of civilians is not the way to solve these differences. They must sit down and talk,” he said.
But away from the street, feelings are stronger. Indians from the right and left have converged on the war, the former because of their antipathy towards western culture and the latter because of their anti-Americanism, particularly in relation to foreign policy.
Ukraine said that Russia holding a referendum in occupied Ukrainian territory would have no legal basis and would face a strong response from the international community, deepening its global isolation.
The Russian-controlled Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine could hold a referendum soon on joining Russia, its local leader was quoted as saying.
“All fake referendums in the temporarily occupied territories are null and void and will have no legal validity,” Ukraine’s foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said in a statement to Reuters.
“Instead, Russia will face an even stronger response from the international community, further deepening its global isolation.”
In his latest address, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy criticised western nations for hesitating to give his country defensive arms including fighter jets, decrying “ping-pong” talks about who should supply them.
He urged the west to summon just “1%” of the courage shown by those fighting to defend Mariupol from Russian forces.
Updated
India is likely to continue to import coking coal from Russia, Reuters reports.
On Sunday, the country’s steel minister appeared to shun the global trend of limiting Russian imports in response to its invasion of Ukraine.
Ramchandra Prasad Singh told a conference in New Delhi:
We are moving in the direction of importing coking coal from Russia.
India plans to double imports of Russian coking coal, a key ingredient in making steel, the minister said. India is a major buyer of Russian goods from commodities to weapons, and has abstained from several key United Nations votes condemning the invasion of Ukraine.
Russia, India’s sixth-largest supplier of coking and thermal coal, could start offering more competitive prices to Chinese and Indian buyers as European and other customers spurn the nations because of sanctions, according to traders.
Updated
US secretary of state Antony Blinken on Sunday described Israel’s efforts to mediate an end to the Ukraine-Russia conflict as important and “closely coordinated” with Washington.
Blinken made his remarks during a Jerusalem meeting with Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett.
Updated
Macron warns against 'escalation' following Biden speech
French president Emmanuel Macron has distanced himself from comments made by the US president Joe Biden about Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
In a speech in Warsaw, Poland, last night, Biden said Putin is a “butcher” and said “this man cannot remain in power”. However, the White House later clarified that the US was not calling for regime change.
Macron told broadcaster France 3: “I would not use those words.”
He added that “everything must be done to stop the situation from escalating” if there is to be any hope of stopping Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Macron also told France 3 he saw his task as “achieving first a ceasefire and then the total withdrawal of [Russian] troops by diplomatic means. If we want to do that, we can’t escalate either in words or actions.”
Updated
Pope Francis has stepped up his pleas for negotiations to end the fighting in Ukraine.
Francis told the public in St Peter’s Square on Sunday that the continuation of “this cruel and senseless war” after more than a month represented “a defeat for all”.
He lamented that parents are burying their children, and “the powerful decide and the poor die”. Once again, he did not cite Russia by name as the aggressor, the Associated Press reported.
Referring to reports that about half of all the children in Ukraine have been displaced by the conflict, Francis said that “war doesn’t just devastate the present but also the future of society”.
The pontiff reiterated his condemnation of war as barbarous and sacrilegious. He said that “humanity must understand that the moment has come to abolish war, to cancel war from the history of man before it cancels man from history”.
Updated
The Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko said people are starving and being forced to drink sewage water in Ukraine as the situation across the country worsens.
Speaking to Times Radio, Vasylenko said Kyiv is still facing attacks while people are “made to stay in basements and metro stations”.
She said:
People are actually starving without food, and drinking sewage water.
In Mariupol, thousands of people are getting forcefully deported across the border to Russia apparently to safety but then they are sent off in an unknown direction and nobody hears from them again.
So the atrocities, they’re just the same all over the place.
• This post was amended on 27 March 2022 to clarify earlier uncertainty over the location that Lesia Vasylenko was referring to.
Updated
A UK cabinet minister has distanced the government from Joe Biden’s call that Russia’s Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power” amid criticism that the comment could bolster the Kremlin.
Nadhim Zahawi, the education secretary, said it was “for the Russian people to decide how they are governed” after the unscripted remark from the US president during a speech in Poland, which the White House later said was not a call for regime change.
“I think that’s up to the Russian people,” he told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday. “The Russian people, I think, are pretty fed up with what is happening in Ukraine, this illegal invasion, the destruction of their own livelihoods, their economy is collapsing around them and I think the Russian people will decide the fate of Putin and his cronies.”
Biden’s comments came as Russia fired missiles aimed at the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, 40 miles from the Polish border. The city is the most pro-western in the country and the base of many western journalists. Analysts described the attacks as intending to send a clear signal to the White House.
Biden described Putin as a “butcher” and told an audience in Warsaw that the west must steel itself “for a long fight ahead”.
Updated
It was the kind of spring day in Mayfair they used to write songs about. Beneath a cloudless sky daffodils were blooming in Hyde Park. Blue and yellow, the colours of Ukraine.
Everything seemed to be blue and yellow: the Euro Car Parks sign, the police vans and motorcycles, and the hi-vis jackets their occupants wore, but most obviously the hundreds of flags held aloft by those gathered beneath the Park Lane Hilton for the London Stands With Ukraine march to Trafalgar Square.
It was not a typical anti-war crowd. With the conspicuous exception of Peter Tatchell, it lacked that class of seasoned protesters that fill out these occasions. Neither Stop the War nor CND, which both want the UK to stop arming the besieged Ukrainians, was behind the event. Instead it was the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, who called for the protest, supported by the decidedly unradical European Movement (president: Michael Heseltine).
Rachel, a middle-aged woman wearing a Roger Waters T-shirt, said it was the first demonstration she’d ever been on. “I’m from East Molesey, near Hampton Court,” she said. “It’s not known as a hotbed of protest.”
She had come because she was upset and appalled by what was going on in Ukraine. “Maybe it’s naive, but I hope that if Putin sees enough of the world protest, maybe he will stop.” She pulled a face, as if to suggest that this was a long shot.
Turkey and other nations must still talk to Russia to help end the war in Ukraine, Turkey’s presidential spokesman said on Sunday, adding that Kyiv needed more support to defend itself.
Nato member Turkey has good relations with both Russia and Ukraine and has sought to mediate in the month-long conflict, Reuters reported.
“If everybody burns bridges with Russia then who is going to talk to them at the end of the day,” Ibrahim Kalin told the Doha international forum.
“Ukrainians need to be supported by every means possible so they can defend themselves … but the Russian case must be heard, one way or the other,” so that its grievances could be understood if not justified, Kalin added.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has urged the western allies to give his country tanks, planes and missiles to fend off Russian forces. The west has responded to Russia’s invasion by imposing sweeping economic sanctions on Moscow.
Ankara says Russia’s invasion is unacceptable but opposes the western sanctions on principle and has not joined them.
Updated
Ukraine will “not be silent” about the “horror” of rapes being committed against women during the Russian invasion, a politician in the country has said.
The Ukrainian MP Maria Mezentseva said while one particularly shocking case had been publicly talked about, there are “many more victims” who will need support in the future.
She referred to a case that Ukraine’s prosecutor is investigating, in which a woman was allegedly sexually assaulted in front of her child, PA Media reported.
Mezentseva, who is head of the permanent delegation of Ukraine to the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe, said details of incidents must be recorded as they happen because “justice has to prevail”.
She told Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme:
There is one case which was very widely discussed recently because it’s been recorded and proceeded with [by] the prosecutor’s office, and we’re not going into details, but it’s quite a scary scene when a civilian was shot dead in his house in a small town next to Kyiv.
His wife was – I’m sorry but I have to say it – raped several times in front of her underage child.
Mezentseva, who was speaking to Sky from western Ukraine, said the country could benefit from the experience of other countries, such as the UK, in how to help victims in the aftermath of war.
She said:
There are many more victims rather than just this one case which has been made public by the prosecutor general. And of course, we are expecting many more of them, which will be public once victims will be ready to talk about that.
Updated
Summary
The time in Kyiv is 1.15pm. Here is a roundup of the latest news so far today:
-
The US has no strategy of regime change for Russia, secretary of state Antony Blinken told reporters on Sunday after president Joe Biden said Russian Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power”.
- It came as Biden condemned Putin as a “butcher” who could no longer stay in power in a historic speech in Poland. Biden appeared to urge those around the Russian president to oust him from the Kremlin.
- Russia is trying to split Ukraine in two to create a Moscow-controlled region after failing to take over the whole country, the head of Ukrainian military intelligence said on Sunday.
-
The Russian-backed self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine could hold a referendum soon on joining Russia, the rebel region’s news outlet cited local leader Leonid Pasechnik as saying on Sunday.
- Russia struck military targets in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv with high-precision cruise missiles, the Russian defence ministry said on Sunday. Russia hit a fuel depot being used by Ukrainian forces near Lviv with long-range missiles and used cruise missiles to strike a plant in the city being used to repair anti-aircraft systems, radar stations and sights for tanks, the ministry said.
-
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has called on the US and Europe to supply more planes, tanks, anti-missiles defences and anti-ship weaponry, arguing that Europe’s own security was at stake. “This is what is covered with dust at their storage facilities … this is all for freedom not only in Ukraine – this is for freedom in Europe,” he said in his nightly address.
-
Two humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians from conflict zones have been agreed for Sunday, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk has said, including from Mariupol.
-
Russia has started destroying Ukrainian fuel and food storage depots, meaning the government will have to disperse the stocks of both in the near future, Ukrainian interior ministry adviser Vadym Denysenko has said according to Reuters.
- The Kremlin has again raised the spectre of the use of nuclear weapons in the war with Ukraine. Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president who is deputy chairman of the country’s security council, said Moscow could use them to strike an enemy that only used conventional weapons.
- Russian forces appear to be concentrating their effort to attempt the encirclement of Ukrainian forces directly facing the separatist regions in the east of the country, the UK’s Ministry of Defence has said in its latest intelligence report on the war in Ukraine.
-
Ukrainian troops are reporting that Russian forces are deploying white phosphorus against them near the eastern city of Avdiivka. While these reports cannot be confirmed, Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy told Nato leaders earlier this week that Russia had used phosphorus bombs that had killed adults and children.
- Russian forces seized Slavutych, a northern town close to the Chernobyl nuclear site, on Saturday and took its mayor, Yuri Fomichev, prisoner. However, after failing to disperse the numerous protesters in the main square on Saturday – despite deploying stun grenades and firing overhead – the Russian troops released the mayor and agreed to leave.
Updated
Russia is trying to split Ukraine in two to create a Moscow-controlled region after failing to take over the whole country, the head of Ukrainian military intelligence said on Sunday.
“In fact, it is an attempt to create North and South Korea in Ukraine,” Kyrylo Budanov said in a statement, adding that Ukraine would soon launch guerrilla warfare in Russian-occupied territory.
Updated
The Russian-backed self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine could hold a referendum soon on joining Russia, the rebel region’s news outlet cited local leader Leonid Pasechnik as saying on Sunday.
“I think that in the near future a referendum will be held on the territory of the republic,” Pasechnik said. “The people will exercise their ultimate constitutional right and express their opinion on joining the Russian Federation.”
Russia last month recognised Luhansk and Donetsk self-proclaimed republics as independent and ordered what it called a peacekeeping operation in the region shortly after, Reuters reported.
Updated
US has no strategy for Russian regime change, says Blinken
The US has no strategy of regime change for Russia, secretary of state Antony Blinken told reporters on Sunday after president Joe Biden said Russian Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power”.
“I think the president, the White House, made the point last night that, quite simply, President Putin cannot be empowered to wage war or engage in aggression against Ukraine or anyone else,” Blinken said during a visit to Jerusalem.
“As you know, and as you have heard us say repeatedly, we do not have a strategy of regime change in Russia – or anywhere else, for that matter.”
Updated
Normality is another world for the Ukrainian football team Shakhtar Donetsk. When Russia invaded Ukraine, football was stopped and the lives of the players, coaches, staff and fans were turned upside down in an instant. There was no time to waste with lives at stake as the autumn’s Champions League games against Real Madrid and Internazionale quickly became a distant memory.
Sergei Palkin, the chief executive, has been at the forefront of the club’s humanitarian efforts and ensuring the safety of players from the academy to the first-team captain. Critical decisions were constantly needed as the invasion began, a world away from transfer and contract negotiations, as Shakhtar looked to use their influence to make a positive impact as football takes a backseat during the conflict.
“We are dreaming when everything will be returned to normal, we dream of flying to play Champions League games,” Palkin says. “For us it will be the biggest win and the greatest happiness, but for now we can only dream about it.
“When you are leading a normal life, you never think about being happy, or your freedom, as you do in all democratic countries. When you have this kind of situation where war has arrived in our homes, you start to think about the essential stuff.”
Updated
Russia struck military targets in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv with high-precision cruise missiles, the Russian defence ministry said on Sunday.
Russia hit a fuel depot being used by Ukrainian forces near Lviv with long-range missiles and used cruise missiles to strike a plant in the city being used to repair anti-aircraft systems, radar stations and sights for tanks, the ministry said.
“The armed forces of the Russian Federation continue offensive actions as part of the special military operation,” the ministry said in a statement to Reuters.
Russia used sea-based long-range missiles to destroy an arsenal of S-300 missiles and BUK anti-aircraft missile systems near Kyiv, the ministry said. Russian forces also destroyed a number of drones, it said.
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In an early update on Sunday, Ukraine’s general staff said it had repelled seven enemy attacks in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of the Donbas, destroying eight tanks.
Russia’s defence ministry, meanwhile, reported a battle for control of two villages near the separatist stronghold of Donetsk and also claimed a missile strike had destroyed an arms and ammunition depot in the Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv, on Friday.
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Despite reaching one of the darkest moments in more than 40 years as a dissident and human rights activist, Oleg Orlov says that he has no plans to flee Russia.
“I made a decision a long time ago that I want to live and die in Russia, it’s my country,” Orlov told the Observer. “Even though it’s never been so bad.”
That’s saying something for Orlov, who can recall printing homemade anti-war posters in the late 1970s to protest against the Russian invasion of Afghanistan or in support of Poland’s Solidarność movement, and was an observer and negotiator during the bloody war in Chechnya in the 1990s.
He has been arrested three times for holding pickets since late February, when Russian troops launched an assault on Ukraine. And he doesn’t rule out a prison term in his future.
“I understand the high likelihood of a criminal case against me and my colleagues,” he said. “But we have to do something … even if it is just to go out with a picket and speak honestly about what is happening.”
Tens of thousands of Russians have fled the country since it invaded Ukraine, fearing a wave of government repression and a possible closure of Russia’s borders similar to what happened in the Soviet Union.
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Biden's regime change comment made situation 'more dangerous' - former US diplomat
The veteran US diplomat Richard Haass has criticised the US president Joe Biden over his comment that Russian president Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power”.
In Twitter posts made on Sunday, Haass, the president of the US Council on Foreign Relations, said Biden had “made a difficult situation more difficult and a dangerous situation more dangerous”.
He wrote:
The comments by @potus made a difficult situation more difficult and a dangerous situation more dangerous.
That is obvious. Less obvious is how to undo the damage, but I suggest his chief aides reach their counterparts & make clear US prepared to deal with this Russian govt.
The comments by @potus made a difficult situation more difficult and a dangerous situation more dangerous. That is obvious. Less obvious is how to undo the damage, but I suggest his chief aides reach their counterparts & make clear US prepared to deal with this Russian govt. https://t.co/AMGx6KzToP
— Richard N. Haass (@RichardHaass) March 27, 2022
The White House had earlier clarified that Biden was not calling for regime change in Russia.
Hello, I’m Tom Ambrose and I’ll be with you throughout the next eight hours to bring you the latest news on Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russian artists and performers must not stay silent about the war, according to one of the world’s leading ballet choreographers, Alexei Ratmansky.
The Russian-born former artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet, who left a new production in Moscow on news of the invasion, was responding to Mikhail Baryshnikov’s call not to punish cultural and sporting figures for failing to stand up to Vladimir Putin’s regime.
Speaking to the Observer on 20 March, Baryshnikov, the actor and ballet star, launched a fundraising drive to support Ukraine. But he also said Russian stars who do not speak out should not be targeted by the west. In contrast, Ratmansky, an admirer and friend of Baryshnikov, believes there is no excuse for not actively opposing the war.
Posting on Facebook, the choreographer said he found it “hard to agree with Misha”. He pointed out that in 2014 more than 500 well-known Russian figures in the arts, including major ballet personalities, signed a letter of support for Putin’s annexation of Crimea.
“After this letter,” Ratmansky wrote, “every performance or any public action of these 500 could be seen as an act of propaganda. Especially those who have gone on to perform in the west. These people have made a strong political statement supporting their president’s unlawful actions. They are playing politics and therefore should be held responsible or at least asked serious questions.
“It is precisely because of the support of the most visible figures of Russian culture that Putin gained his unlimited power and now is using it against humanity in this bloody war that is destroying Ukraine.”
Read more here:
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Two humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians from conflict zones have been agreed for Sunday, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk has said, including from Mariupol.
Residents of the besieged Donetsk city will be allowed to use their own transport to get to the city of Zaporizhzhia, around 250km away, she said in a post on Telegram.
People trying to escape the fighting in the neighbouring Luhansk region will be allowed to evacuate from the city of Rubizhne to Bakhmut, about 80km away.
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Russia has started destroying Ukrainian fuel and food storage depots, meaning the government will have to disperse the stocks of both in the near future, Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Vadym Denysenko has said according to Reuters.
Speaking on local television, Denysenko also said Russia was bringing forces to the Ukrainian border on rotation, and could make new attempts to advance in its invasion of Ukraine.
In an early update on Sunday, Ukraine’s General Staff meanwhile said it had repelled seven enemy attacks in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of the Donbas, destroying eight tanks.
Russia’s defence ministry reported a battle for control of two villages near the separatist stronghold of Donetsk and also claimed a missile strike had destroyed an arms and ammunition depot in the Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv, on Friday.
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As US president Joe Biden was visiting Poland on Saturday, Russian missiles struck the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, just 60 kilometres from the Polish border.
The timing of the attacks, only the third on west Ukrainian targets since the war began, and the closest to Lviv’s city centre and its residential areas, was clearly designed to send a message to the White House. At least five people were injured and one of the strikes hit a fuel storage facility.
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Ukraine has asked the International Committee of the Red Cross not to open a planned office in Russia’s Rostov-on-Don, Reuters reports, saying it would legitimise Moscow’s “humanitarian corridors” and the abduction and forced deportation of Ukrainians.
The head of the ICRC said on Thursday after his talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that agreement between the Russian and Ukrainian armies was needed before civilians could be evacuated properly from war-torn Ukraine.
Russian media reported that Red Cross chief Peter Maurer asked Russia to facilitate the opening of a Red Cross office in Rostov-on-Don.
Mykhailo Radutskyi, chairman of public health committee in Ukraine’s parliament, appealed to the Red Cross to change its plans.
“The Committee calls on the International Committee of the Red Cross that it would not legitimise ‘humanitarian corridors’ on the territory of the Russian Federation as well as that it would not support the abduction of Ukrainians and its forced deportation,” Radutskyi said in a statement.
The ICRC was not immediately available to comment.
Rostov-on-Don is the largest Russian city on Ukraine’s eastern border and administrative capital of the Rostov region, which has been used by Russia for temporary accommodation camps for people transported out of the war zone.
Russia said last week it had evacuated several hundred thousand people from Ukraine since the start of what it calls is a “special military operation” to disarm and “denazify” its neighbour.
Ukraine claims that Russia has illegally deported thousands of people since the war started, including about 15,000 civilians from the besieged city of Mariupol.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has killed thousands of people, displaced nearly 4 million and raised fears of a wider confrontation between Russia and the West.
Last week, our President was in Ukraine. This week, he was in Russia.
— ICRC (@ICRC) March 26, 2022
Under the Geneva Conventions, we're mandated to speak with all sides of a conflict. This helps:
👉 Advocate respect for rules of war
👉 Call for the protection of civilians
👉 Ensure aid reaches those in need
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Russian forces appear to be concentrating their effort to attempt the encirclement of Ukrainian forces directly facing the separatist regions in the east of the country, the UK’s Ministry of Defence has said in its latest intelligence report on the war in Ukraine.
It said Russian forces were advancing from the direction of Kharkiv in the north and Mariupol in the south.
However, the battlefield across northern Ukraine “remains largely static with local Ukrainian counterattacks hampering Russian attempts to reorganise their forces.”
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 27 March 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) March 27, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/ckHIvT4Jyu
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/GXZaD2yqCL
A chef and humanitarian who has been serving millions of meals to Ukrainians has accused the UN and the EU of a lack of leadership in response to the refugee crisis, warning of a “huge humanitarian emergency at the doorstep of Europe”.
Speaking from Lviv in Ukraine, José Andrés, a two-Michelin-starred Spanish-American chef who runs not-for-profit World Central Kitchen (WCK) claimed the UN and the EU do not have enough “boots on the ground” to care for the refugees. WCK has served more than 3m meals in the region since the start of Russia’s invasion.
“We need to be expecting more from the big organisations. If not, my question is what do we have them for? What do we spend the millions for?” he said. “We are lacking that leadership.”
While he praised the work of the Polish government, he said looking after the refugees’ basic needs is a “gigantic undertaking” that needs more support.
The crisis has displaced more than 10 million people, according to UN figures. At least 3.7 million people have left Ukraine – 2.2 million of whom are in Poland – and an estimated 6.5 million are displaced within the country.
Read on here:
US president Joe Biden was in Poland on Saturday, where he called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin a “butcher” who “cannot remain in power”. The White House later walked back the comments, saying Biden had been talking about the need for Putin to lose power over Ukrainian territory and in the wider region.
The historic speech came as Russian forces fired missiles at Lviv, just over the border from Poland, an act clearly designed to send a message to the US.
Here are some images of the visit:
Zelenskiy calls on US and Europe to deliver planes and tanks
To start off with, here’s a quick recap of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s nightly address, in which he called on the west to supply more tanks and planes to Ukraine and asked whether the US-European alliance was afraid of Moscow.
“Who runs the Euro-Atlantic community? Is it still Moscow because of intimidation?” he said.
Referring to the bravery of those who are defending the besieged port city of Mariupol, he continued:
I wish at least a percentage of their courage to those who have been thinking for 31 days how to transfer a dozen or two of planes or tanks ...
Ukraine cannot shoot down Russian missiles using shotguns, machine guns, which are too much in supplies.
And it is impossible to unblock Mariupol without a sufficient number of tanks, other armored vehicles and, of course, aircraft. All defenders of Ukraine know that. All defenders of Mariupol know that. Thousands of people know that - citizens, civilians who are dying there in the blockade.
The United States knows that. All European politicians know. We told everyone. And this should be known as soon as possible by as many people on Earth as possible. So that everyone understands who and why was simply afraid to prevent this tragedy. Afraid to simply make a decision.”
Zelenskiy, a native Russian speaker, also said Russia itself was “doing everything to ensure that de-russification takes place” in Ukraine. “You are doing it. In one generation. And forever. This is another manifestation of your suicide policy.”
And he hailed the residents of Slavutych, a northern town close to the Chernobyl nuclear site, who staged a mass protest when Russian forces seized the town. After failing to disperse the numerous protesters in the main square on Saturday – despite deploying stun grenades and firing overhead – the Russian troops released the captured mayor and agreed to leave.
“Today we were all with you - on your streets, in your protest. And all together we tell the occupiers one thing: go home while you can still walk,” Zelenskiy said.
He ended his speech by noting that Russian forces had “denazified” a Holocaust memorial in Drobytsky Yar, a ravine in Kharkiv where the Nazis executed thousands of people during the second world war.
“Eighty years later they are killed a second time. And Russia is doing it,” Zelenskiy said.
“Russian troops receive just such orders: to destroy everything that makes our nation nation, our people - people, our culture - culture. This is exactly how the Nazis tried to capture Europe 80 years ago. This is exactly how the occupiers act in Ukraine. No one will forgive them.”
This Menora in Drobytskyi Yar near Kharkiv never threatened anyone. It commemorates the memory of over 15.000 Jews murdered by Nazis. Damaged by Russian shelling today. Why Russia keeps attacking Holocaust Memorials in Ukraine? I expect Israel to strongly condemn this barbarism. pic.twitter.com/m7AiT4zlBg
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) March 26, 2022
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Summary
Hello, this is Helen Livingstone bringing you the Guardian’s live coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here’s what’s been happening:
- US president Joe Biden has condemned Vladimir Putin as a “butcher” who could no longer stay in power in a historic speech in Poland. Biden appeared to urge those around the Russian president to oust him from the Kremlin, although US officials later said he had been talking about the need for Putin to lose power over Ukrainian territory and in the wider region.
- As he spoke, Russian missiles rained down on Ukraine’s most pro-western city, Lviv, just 40 miles from the Polish border. The timing of the attacks, only the third on west Ukrainian targets since the war began, and the closest to Lviv’s city centre and its residential areas, was clearly designed to send a message to the White House.
- Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has called on the US and Europe to supply more planes, tanks, anti-missiles defences and anti-ship weaponry, arguing that Europe’s own security was at stake. “This is what is covered with dust at their storage facilities ... this is all for freedom not only in Ukraine - this is for freedom in Europe,” he said in his nightly address.
- The Kremlin has again raised the spectre of the use of nuclear weapons in the war with Ukraine. Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president who is deputy chairman of the country’s security council, said Moscow could use them to strike an enemy that only used conventional weapons.
- The comments prompted Zelenskiy, appearing by video link at Qatar’s Doha Forum, to warn that Moscow was a direct threat to the world. “Russia is deliberating bragging they can destroy with nuclear weapons, not only a certain country but the entire planet,” he said.
- Ukrainian troops are reporting that Russian forces are deploying white phosphorus against them near the eastern city of Avdiivka. While these reports cannot be confirmed, Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy told Nato leaders earlier this week that Russia had used phosphorus bombs that had killed adults and children.
- Russian forces seized Slavutych, a northern town close to the Chernobyl nuclear site on Saturday and took its mayor, Yuri Fomichev, prisoner. However, after failing to disperse the numerous protesters in the main square on Saturday – despite deploying stun grenades and firing overhead – the Russian troops released the mayor and agreed to leave.
- The Institute of Mass Media in Ukraine has documented 148 crimes against journalists and the media since the start of the Russian invasion. It said five journalists had been killed, six had been captured or kidnapped and seven had been wounded.
- The Ukrainian parliament has confirmed a fresh Russian attack on the nuclear research reactor in Kharkiv. In a tweet, it quoted the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate as saying, “It is currently impossible to estimate the extent of damage due to hostilities that do not stop in the area of the nuclear installation.”
- Tens of thousands of people gathered in central London to express solidarity with the people of Ukraine. After a rallying call by Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, for people everywhere to protest against the bloodshed by taking to the streets, Trafalgar Square was transformed into a sea of yellow and blue.
- Experts in the UK have warned that the country’s Homes for Ukraine scheme risks operating as “Tinder for sex traffickers”. The warning comes as evidence emerges that UK-based criminals are targeting women and children fleeing the war.
- While Russia is distracted by its invasion of Ukraine, Azerbaijan has moved its forces into the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday Azeri armed forces had entered a zone policed by Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh, in a violation of an agreement, though Azerbaijan challenged these claims.
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