Russian troops remain stalled outside Kiev and rain fire on other Ukrainian cities even as the two sides project optimism over efforts to negotiate an end to the fighting continuing on the 22nd day.
Thursday, March 17, 2022
Zelenskyy urges Germany to tear down new Russian ‘Wall’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged Germany in an emotional video address before parliament to help destroy a new “Wall” Russia was erecting in Europe.
“It’s not a Berlin Wall – it is a Wall in central Europe between freedom and bondage and this Wall is growing bigger with every bomb” dropped on Ukraine, Zelenskyy told MPs.
“Dear Mr Scholz, tear down this Wall,” he implored German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, evoking US President Ronald Reagan’s Cold War appeal in Berlin.
UK military intelligence: Russia’s assault in Ukraine has largely stalled
Russia’s assault in Ukraine has largely stalled on all fronts, with Russian forces suffering heavy losses and making minimal progress on land, sea or air in recent days, British military intelligence has said.
“Ukrainian resistance remains staunch and well-coordinated,” The Ministry of Defence said.
“The vast majority of Ukrainian territory, including all major cities, remains in Ukrainian hands.”
Russia will put its enemies such as US in their place: Medvedev
Russia has the might to put enemies led by the United States in their place and Moscow will foil the West’s Russophobic plot to tear Russia apart, one of President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies has said.
Dmitry Medvedev, who served as president from 2008 to 2012 and is now deputy secretary of Russia’s security council, said the United States had stoked “disgusting” Russophobia in an attempt to force Russia on its knees and then rip it apart.
“It will not work – Russia has the might to put all of our brash enemies in their place,” Medvedev said.
Russia says it hit military depot in western Ukraine
Russia’s armed forces hit a military depot in the Rivne region in western Ukraine yesterday, Russian news agencies have reported, citing the defence ministry.
High-precision missiles hit a depot in Sarny, Rivne region, destroying storage facilities for missiles and ammunition, the ministry said.
Ukraine hopes nine humanitarian corridors will operate
Ukraine hopes to evacuate civilians through nine “humanitarian corridors” from cities including the encircled port city of Mariupol, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk has said.
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy tells German parliament that most sanctions and help came too late to stop Russian aggression, adding that Ukraine will join the EU pic.twitter.com/UlwCqGTpLq
— TRT World (@trtworld) March 17, 2022
Losses mount in Ukrainian city of Chernihiv: governor
Losses are mounting in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, with 53 people killed by Russian forces the day before alone, the regional governor has said.
“We are suffering heavy losses – 53 citizens were killed yesterday,” Governor Viacheslav Chaus said.
Russia conducting ‘anti-cartel’ checks at sugar producers
Russia’s Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) has said it is conducting “anti-cartel” inspections at major sugar producers in light of a sharp increase in sugar prices and a shortage of supply on the market.
Annual inflation in Russia accelerated to its highest since late 2015 as of March 11, with the weakening rouble in response to events in Ukraine and unprecedented sanctions against Moscow sending prices soaring.
Hundreds feared trapped in Ukraine theatre hit by air strike
Ukrainian authorities have struggled to determine the fate of hundreds of civilians who had been sheltering in a theater smashed by a Russian air strike in the besieged city of Mariupol.
A photo released by Mariupol’s city council showed an entire section of the large, 3-storey theatre had collapsed after the strike.
Several hundred people had taken refuge in the building, seeking safety amid Russia’s 3-week, strangulating siege of the strategic Azov Sea port city.
Russian govt sites facing ‘unprecedented’ cyber attacks
Russian government websites are facing unprecedented cyber attacks and technical efforts are being made to filter foreign web traffic, the TASS news agency has cited the digital ministry as saying.
The ministry was working to adjust to the new conditions, it said, as cyber attacks ratchet up. “If previously their power at peak moments reached 500 gigabytes, then now it is at 1 terabyte,” the ministry said.
“That is two to three times more powerful than the most serious incidents of this kind that have been previously reported.”
Downed missile hits Kiev apartment block, kills one
At least one person has been killed and three wounded after remains of a downed missile hit a residential building in the Ukranian capital, Kiev, Ukraine’s emergency service has said.
The 16-storey building was struck at 5:02AM local time, it said in a statement, adding that 30 people have been evacuated so far and a fire has been put out.
Biden’s comments on Putin ‘unacceptable and unforgivable’: Kremlin
US President Joe Biden’s reference to Russian leader Vladimir Putin as a “war criminal” over his military operation in Ukraine is “unacceptable and unforgivable,” the Kremlin has said.
“We believe such rhetoric to be unacceptable and unforgivable on the part of the head of a state, whose bombs have killed hundreds of thousands of people around the world,” said Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, according to the state news agencies TASS and Ria Novosti.
Peskov was responding to a question about an earlier comment made by Biden with regard to Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.”I think he is a war criminal,” Biden told reporters earlier.
Kiev, Moscow continue talks over video
Ukrainian and Russian delegations have held another round of talks by video. An official in Zelenskyy’s office said that the main subject under discussion was whether Russian troops would remain in separatist regions in eastern Ukraine after the conflict and where the borders would be.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks, said Ukraine was insisting on the inclusion of one or more Western nuclear powers in the negotiations and on the signing of a legally binding document with security guarantees for Ukraine.
In exchange, the official said, Ukraine was ready to discuss a neutral status. Russia has demanded that NATO pledge never to admit Ukraine to the alliance or station forces there.
Ukraine swapped 9 Russian soldiers to free detained mayor: official
Ukraine handed over nine captured Russian soldiers to ensure the release of the mayor of the Ukrainian city of Melitopol, a senior official has said.
“Ivan Fedorov was released from Russian captivity…For him, Russia received nine captured soldiers who were born in 2002 and 2003. These are actually children,” Darya Zarivnaya, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s press aide, said in a televised speech.
The head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, said that Fedorov, who was kidnapped by the Russian army on March 11, has been released.
Ukraine’s president outlines demands for talks with Russia
Ukraine’s president has reiterated the importance of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity amid ongoing peace talks with Russia.
“My priorities in the negotiations are absolutely clear: the end of the war, security guarantees, sovereignty, restoration of territorial integrity, real guarantees for our country, real protection for our country,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video message released by Ukraine’s Presidency.
Zelenskyy also called on Russian soldiers to lay down their weapons to get a chance to survive.
US President Joe Biden has called Russian President Vladimir Putin “a war criminal” over Russia’s attack on Ukraine pic.twitter.com/Qm9tSJ0w6x
— TRT World (@trtworld) March 17, 2022
Ukraine: Russia bombed theatre sheltering ‘more than 1,000’ civilians
Ukraine has claimed that Russia had destroyed a theatre harbouring more than a thousand people in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, with the toll as yet unknown.
Officials posted images that appeared to show the once gleaming whitewashed three-storey theatre hollowed out and ablaze, with bricks and scaffolding piled high.
“The invaders destroyed the Drama Theatre. A place where more than a thousand people found refuge. We will never forgive this,” the Mariupol City Council said in a Telegram post.
Ukraine’s military says it targeted Kherson airbase
Ukrainian military forces have dealt a punishing blow to the airport in Kherson, which Russian troops had seized early in the conflict, the General Staff said. It said the Russians were trying to remove any surviving military equipment.
Satellite photos taken by Planet Labs PBC and analysed by The Associated Press show helicopters and vehicles on fire at the airbase.
Russia seized the southern port city without a fight in the first days of the offensive. Control over Kherson allows Russia to restore freshwater supplies to Crimea; Ukraine cut off the water after Russia annexed the peninsula in 2014.
Covering the Russia-Ukraine conflict is becoming increasingly dangerous for journalists.
Dozens have been wounded and at least five have now lost their lives pic.twitter.com/URZFajj1OK
— TRT World (@trtworld) March 16, 2022
Panama: Three ships hit in Black Sea since start of Ukraine assualt
Three Panamanian-flagged ships have been hit by Russian missiles in the Black Sea since Russia’s offensive in Ukraine last month, Panama’s Maritime Authority said.
One ship sank, the maritime authority said in a statement, but there were no casualties reported.
Russia accuses Ukraine of preparing to use chemical weapons
Ukraine’s security service plans to carry out a chemical attack on civilians and then blame it on Russia, Russia’s Defence Ministry has said.
“We know for sure that with the support of Western countries, the SBU (Security Service of Ukraine) is preparing a provocation with the use of toxic substances against civilians.
“The purpose of the provocation is to accuse Russia of using chemical weapons against the population of Ukraine,” ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said at a daily briefing in Moscow.
Russian attack on Ukraine has caused casualties and destruction of infrastructure, forcing people to seek refuge in neighbouring countries. UN estimates the total number of refugees may top four million pic.twitter.com/xLUy8Sduvb
— TRT World (@trtworld) March 16, 2022
For live updates from Wednesday (March 16), click here
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
Live blog: Russia building new ‘Wall’ against freedom in Europe – Zelenskyy
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