Russia has not captured any of the 10 biggest cities in Ukraine since the beginning of its incursion on February 24, even as the most significant assault on a European state since World War II continues on its 20th day.
Tuesday, March 15, 2022
Russia continues attacks in Ukrainian cities as talks to resume
Russia’s forces have continued to pound away at cities across Ukraine, including the capital, in a bombardment that deepened the humanitarian crisis.
Shortly before dawn, large explosions thundered across Kiev while Russia pressed its advance on multiple fronts.
Meanwhile, a narrow diplomatic path has stayed open as Kiev and Moscow planned another round of talks.
Ukraine-Russia talks to continue on Tuesday – Zelenskyy
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that negotiations with Russia are to continue on Tuesday while urging Russian soldiers to stop fighting, saying: “I’m offering you a chance to survive.”
Zelenskyy also said he spoke with Israeli PM Naftali Bennett as part of a negotiation effort to end the conflict with Russia “with a fair peace.”
“Our delegation also worked on this in negotiations with the Russian party,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address. “Pretty good, as I was told. But let’s see. They will continue.”
Russian air strikes targeting a military base in Yavoriv have rattled nerves in neighbouring Poland and sent another wave of refugees scrambling to cross the border to safety pic.twitter.com/dv7Nkrbzxd
— TRT World (@trtworld) March 15, 2022
Power supply restored to Ukraine’s Chernobyl plant
Power supply has been renewed to Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the Ukraine 24 television station reported, adding that authorities had notified the International Atomic Energy Agency.
On Monday, state-owned grid operator Ukrenergo said the Chernobyl plant was relying on electricity from diesel generators after its external power supply had again been damaged.
Abramovich jet lands in Moscow
A jet linked to sanctioned oligarch Roman Abramovich has landed in Moscow after taking off from Istanbul following a brief stop there, FLIGHTRADAR24 data shows.
The jet linked to Abramovich, the owner of Britain’s Chelsea soccer club, arrived in Istanbul from Israel on Monday, shortly after he was seen in Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport.
Abramovich was among seven Russian billionaires added to a British sanctions list last week to try to isolate President Vladimir Putin over Russia’s operation in Ukraine. European Union diplomats have embraced a similar move.
Ukraine launches website for cryptocurrency donations
The Ukrainian government has launched the “Aid for Ukraine” website in partnership with crypto-firms FTX and Everstake that will funnel donations to Ukraine’s central bank as it combats the Russian offensive.
“Cryptocurrencies play a significant role in Ukraine’s defence,” Oleksandre Borniakov, Ukraine’s deputy minister of Digital Transformation, said in a statement.
“Cryptocurrency assets have proven to be extremely valuable in facilitating the flow of funding to Ukrainian citizens and soldiers and in raising awareness and interest among the global public,” he added. Website users can currently offer donations in 10 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, ether, tether and dogecoin.
UN chief warns Russia’s operation is hurting poor countries
The United Nations chief has warned that Russia’s offensive in Ukraine is holding “a sword of Damocles” over the global economy, especially poor developing countries that face skyrocketing food, fuel and fertilizer prices and are now seeing their breadbasket “being bombed.”
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters that 45 African and least developed countries import at least one-third of their wheat from Ukraine and Russia, and 18 of them import at least 50 percent. These countries include Egypt, Congo, Burkina Faso, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, he said.
“All of this is hitting the poorest the hardest and planting the seeds for political instability and unrest around the globe,” Guterres warned.
“Stop the war. Do not believe the propaganda. They’re lying to you here”
An employee at Russia’s state-affiliated Channel One television interrupts a live news broadcast protesting against Russia’s attack on Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/vC8bOp8J0s
— TRT World (@trtworld) March 14, 2022
Conflict could be over by May – Ukrainian presidential adviser
Russian offensive in Ukraine is likely to be over by early May when Moscow runs out of resources to attack its neighbour, Oleksiy Arestovich, an adviser to the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, has said.
Arestovich said the exact timing would depend on how much resources the Kremlin was willing to commit to the campaign, adding: “I think that no later than in May, early May, we should have a peace agreement, maybe much earlier, we will see, I am talking about the latest possible dates.”
“We are at a fork in the road now: there will either be a peace deal struck very quickly, within a week or two, with troop withdrawal and everything, or there will be an attempt to scrape together some, say, Syrians for a round two and, when we grind them too, an agreement by mid-April or late April.”
New Zealand to allow Ukrainian-New Zealanders to sponsor family
New Zealand’s government has said it will introduce a new policy that will enable about 4,000 family members of Ukrainian-New Zealanders to move to the country in the short term following Russia’s offensive.
Ukrainian-born New Zealand citizens and residents will be able to sponsor a Ukrainian family member and their immediate family, Immigration Minster Kris Faafoi said in a statement. Those accepted will be granted a two-year work visa and their children will be able to attend school.
“The 2022 Special Ukraine Policy will be open for a year and allow the estimated 1,600 Ukrainian-born citizens and residents in New Zealand to sponsor parents, grand-parents and adult siblings or adult children and their immediate family,” Faafoi said. “This is the largest special visa category we have established in decades.”
Ukraine says Russia forces retreat at Mariupol
The Ukrainian military has repelled a Russian attempt to take control of the strategic port of Mariupol, its General Staff said in a statement, adding Russian forces retreated after suffering losses.
The Russian military has besieged the Azov Sea port city of 430,000 for a week and a half, leaving its residents desperate for power, water and food.
More than 2,500 residents of Mariupol have been killed by the Russian shelling, Kiev says.
READ MORE:
Pregnant woman, baby die after ‘Russia bombing’ in Ukraine’s Mariupol
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Source: TRTWorld and agencies
Live blog: Russia pounds away at Ukraine as sides plan more talks
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