Ukraine’s Zelenskyy doubles down on a call for direct talks with Russia’s Putin as the key to ending Moscow’s onslaught, now in its 27th day.
Tuesday, March 22, 2022
We are on the brink of survival: Zelenskyy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told the Italian parliament that his country was on the brink of surviving its conflict with Russian forces that he warned wanted to break through to the rest of Europe.
“For Russian troops, Ukraine is the gates of Europe, where they want to break in, but barbarism must not be allowed to pass,” he said.
He urged Italy to beef up sanctions against Russia and seize more assets from President Vladimir Putin and his allies as a way of pressuring Moscow into negotiating an end to the war.
Netherlands freezes $430 million in Russian assets
The Netherlands has frozen $431.24 million (392 million euros) in Russian assets and transactions as of March 21, the Dutch Finance ministry has said in a letter to parliament.
Kremlin accuses US of state-level ‘banditry’
The Kremlin has rejected US warnings that it may be preparing to conduct cyber attacks in response to Western sanctions, and said it did not engage in “banditry”.
US President Joe Biden has told businesses to do more to protect themselves against possible cyber attacks by Russia, warning there was “evolving intelligence” that Moscow was exploring options on that front.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “The Russian Federation, unlike many Western countries, including the United States, does not engage in state-level banditry.”
Day 27 of Russia’s Ukraine onslaught
troops forced out of Kiev suburb Makariv, make gains in Bucha, Hostomel, Irpin –
Defence Ministry
— TRT World (@trtworld) March 22, 2022
Ex-Russian state TV reporter quits over Ukraine conflict
Zhanna Agalakova, until her resignation this month a journalist with Russia’s state-controlled Channel One broadcaster, has said she quit in protest at the Russian offensive in Ukraine.
Agalakova, a former Channel One newsreader who at the time of her resignation was the station’s correspondent in Paris, told a news conference in the French capital: “When I spoke to my bosses, I said I cannot do this work any more.”
She said she believed Russian television was being used to pump out Kremlin propaganda, and that the authorities had for years been stifling independent media.
Ten Ukrainian hospitals destroyed since start of war
Ukrainian Health Minister Viktor Lyashko has reported that 10 hospitals had been completely destroyed since Russia began its offensive, and others could not be restocked with medicines and supplies because of fighting nearby.
Speaking on national television, he said Covid-19 testing was being carried out only in areas where there was no fighting, and this was complicating efforts to track the disease.
Russian Nobel laureate donates medal for Ukraine refugees
The joint Russian winner of last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, Dmitry Muratov, will donate his medal to help Ukrainian refugees.
Muratov, editor of Russia’s leading opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta, said that he and the newspaper had decided to donate the gold medal to a fund to help Ukrainian refugees.
He was awarded the 2021 prize alongside Maria Ressa of the Philippines for their efforts “to safeguard freedom of expression”.
Five dead in Russian strikes in east Ukraine: Kiev
Five people have been killed and more than a dozen wounded in Russian strikes on a war-scared town in eastern Ukraine on Monday, an official in Kiev reported.
“In the Donetsk region, Avdiivka was fired on by artillery and aircraft, the city was razed to the ground. Five civilians were killed and 19 were injured,” Ukraine’s ombudswoman, Lyudmyla Denisova, said in a statement.
Russia’s attacks on Ukraine are jeopardising the start of spring planting season as well as wheat harvest on which millions in the developing world depend. About half of the grain the World Food Programme buys to feed 125 million comes from Ukraine pic.twitter.com/acqGUu7KSU
— TRT World (@trtworld) March 22, 2022
Kremlin reportedly wants more ‘substantial’ talks on Ukraine
The Kremlin has said it would like the negotiations with Kiev aimed at ending Russia’s military action in Ukraine to have more substance.
“There is some kind of process happening. We would like more active and substantial (talks),” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists.
He added that Russia did not intend to make public its detailed demands to Ukraine.
500,000 refugees from Ukraine have mental health issues: WHO
About half a million refugees from Ukraine who have fled to Poland need support for mental health disorders, and 30,000 have severe mental health problems, according to the World Health Organisation.
Refugees arriving in Poland are suffering from a range of health problems, including diarrhea and dehydration, but the main need is for support due to trauma, Paloma Cuchi, WHO representative in Poland, told a briefing in Geneva.
Kremlin: Chess federation should stay out of politics, overturn ban
The Kremlin has called on the International Chess Federation (FIDE) to stay out of politics and demanded it annul Monday’s decision to ban Russian grandmaster Sergey Karjakin from competition for six months over his stance on Ukraine.
The 32-year-old Karjakin, who challenged Magnus Carlsen for the world title in 2016, has defended his country’s actions on social media in recent weeks, drawing intense criticism from the chess world.
Russian newspaper that published military death toll in Ukraine reportedly hacked
Russia’s mass-market Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper has reported that it was hacked and a false story on Russian military deaths in Ukraine was posted on its site, the newspaper’s Kremlin correspondent has said.
Alexander Gamov, the journalist, said the story – which said nearly 10,000 Russian troops had been killed – was fake and was deleted after a few minutes.
Gamov provided the explanation for the story, which was picked up by some Western media, on the Kremlin’s daily conference call after Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he was unable to comment on the incident.
Ukrainian refugees in Poland are suffering from a range of health problems, including diarrhea, dehydration and trauma, while at least 30,000 suffer from severe mental health issues pic.twitter.com/0G7Ds1rliQ
— TRT World (@trtworld) March 22, 2022
Russian forces largely stalled in place: UK
Russian forces have not managed to take over the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol despite weeks of bombardment and days of street fighting, Britain’s defence ministry says.
In an update posted on social media, UK officials say that “despite heavy fighting, Ukrainian forces continue to repulse Russian attempts to occupy” the city.
It says Russian forces have made “limited progress” elsewhere in Ukraine in the last day, and remain “largely stalled in place.”
More than 3.5M people have fled Ukraine
The number of Ukrainians fleeing abroad have reached 3,528,346, the United Nations’ Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said.
More than 2 million had crossed the border into Poland.
Ukraine urges Russia to let supplies into Mariupol and to let civilians leave
Ukraine has made a new appeal to Russia to allow humanitarian supplies into the besieged southern city of Mariupol and to let civilians leave.
“We demand the opening of a humanitarian corridor for civilians,” Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Ukrainian television.
Vereshchuk also said Russia’s armed forces were preventing humanitarian supplies reaching residents of the southern city of Kherson. Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians.
Nearly half of all attacks on health systems worldwide in 2022 have occurred in Ukraine, according to the World Health Organization, and with millions of civilians trapped in a country facing daily Russian bombardment, lifesaving healthcare is becoming less and less available pic.twitter.com/Mpf3yWOqZy
— TRT World (@trtworld) March 22, 2022
Mayor urges people to flee Ukrainian city close to international airport
The mayor of the Ukrainian city of Boryspil, which is close to the Boryspil International Airport, has advised civilians to leave the city if they can because of fighting nearby.
Mayor Volodymyr Borysenko said in a video address that there was fighting in the Kiev region where Boryspil is located.
“There is no need to be in the city now as there is already fighting going on in the area around it. I call on the civilian population to be smart, reach out to our call centre and leave town as soon as an opportunity arises,” he said.
Russia says 78 of its aircraft have been seized abroad
78 Russian aircrafts have been seized abroad according to Russia’s transport ministry, the Interfax news agency reported, but Russian airlines have registered almost 800 planes in Russia.
The transport ministry said Russia was guided by Iran’s experience of how to service aircraft in a similar situation.
Pakistan PM suggests Islamic countries consider mediating in Russia-Ukraine conflict
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan has suggested that Islamic countries should discuss how to mediate and bring about a ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
“May I suggest that OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) during its discussion with foreign ministers, we should think about how … we can mediate, how we can bring about the ceasefire,” Khan told an OIC conference in Islamabad.
The Polish government has promised Ukrainian refugees access to health and social benefits, as well as work permits, to help rebuild their lives pic.twitter.com/tvbc1OzqrL
— TRT World (@trtworld) March 22, 2022
Russian attempt to capture Kiev is ‘suicide’ : Ukrainian official
One of Russia’s main priorities is to take control of the Ukrainian capital Kiev, but trying to do so is “suicide”, Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych has said in a televised interview.
He added that active hostilities between Ukraine and Russia could end within 2-3 weeks.
Japan summons Russian envoy after halt to peace treaty talks
Japan’s vice foreign minister has summoned Russia’s ambassador, the foreign ministry said, a day after Moscow’s decision to halt peace treaty talks with Tokyo following sanctions imposed by Japan over Ukraine.
Abramovich’s superyacht docks along southwestern Türkiye
A luxury yacht linked to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich has been moored in the scenic Mediterranean resort town of Marmaris on the Turkish Riviera.
According to information from the Marmaris Municipality, the 162-metre (531-foot) superyacht Eclipse – equipped with a mini-submarine, helipads, and a swimming pool – will dock at Marmaris for a week and then refuel.
Russian oligarchs subject to sanctions by Western countries as well as yachts linked to them were recently seized, denied fuelling, or even attacked amid Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine.
Ukraine forces recapture key Kiev suburb
Ukrainian forces have retook a strategically important suburb of the capital, as troops forced Russian forces out of the Kiev suburb of Makariv after a fierce battle, Ukraine’s Defence Ministry has said.
The regained territory allowed Ukrainian forces to retake control of a key highway and block Russian troops from surrounding Kiev from the northwest.
The ministry also said that their forces were still defending crucial port city of Mariupol and had destroyed a Russian patrol boat and electronic warfare complex.
Russian troops used stun grenades and gunfire to disperse a crowd of protesters in Ukraine’s Kherson city, according to Ukrainian armed forces
Kherson was the first major city to fall into the hands of Russian forces after they attacked Ukraine on February 24 pic.twitter.com/C8fpR5LOMY
— TRT World (@trtworld) March 22, 2022
No new agreements on corridors to evacuate civilians – Kiev
Ukraine has reportedly focused its efforts to evacuate civilians from besieged towns and cities on the city of Mariupol, but a new agreement with Russia to allow safe passage for trapped residents has not been announced.
“We are focusing on evacuations from Mariupol,” Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.
She listed a number of places from where buses would try to evacuate civilians but Mariupol was not among them. She also made no mention of any new agreements with Russia on establishing “humanitarian corridors” to evacuate civilians.
Russia’s Gazprom says it continues gas exports to Europe
Russian energy giant Gazprom has said it was continuing to supply gas to Europe via Ukraine in line with requests from European consumers.
The company said requests stood at 108 million cubic metres for March 22, up from 104.7 million cubic metres for March 21.
58,000 people fleeing Ukraine have taken shelter in Türkiye
Tens of thousands of Ukrainians fleeing the Russian incursion have taken shelter in Türkiye, the world’s top refugee-hosting country, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said.
Speaking during a live broadcast on TV NET, Soylu said 58,000 Ukrainians had arrived in Türkiye since the start of the conflict and his country had never discriminated against refugees based on their country of origin or ethnicity.
He noted that Türkiye hosts some 3.75 million Syrian refugees and the government’s perspective on the issue of migration was different than that of Europe’s.
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy’s references to the Holocaust during his speech at the Knesset criticised as an ‘unfounded comparison’ and an ‘attempt to rewrite history’ pic.twitter.com/WFYamkhCXx
— TRT World (@trtworld) March 22, 2022
Greece does not expect Ukraine crisis to derail economy ‘at the moment’
Greek Finance Minister Christos Staikouras has said he did not “at the moment” expect the Ukraine crisis to derail Greek economic growth while speaking at a banking conference in Athens.
The Greek economy is forecast to grow by around 4.5 percent to 5 percent this year.
Zelenskyy: Ukraine ready to discuss deal with Russia
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he is prepared to discuss a commitment from Ukraine not to seek NATO membership in exchange for a ceasefire, the withdrawal of Russian troops and a guarantee of Ukraine’s security.
“It’s a compromise for everyone: for the West, which doesn’t know what to do with us with regard to NATO, for Ukraine, which wants security guarantees, and for Russia, which doesn’t want further NATO expansion,” Zelenskyy said late on Monday in an interview with Ukrainian television channels.
Zelenskyy said that Kiev will be ready to discuss the status of Crimea and the eastern Donbass region held by Russian-backed separatists after a ceasefire and steps toward providing security guarantees.
Japan protests Russia move to drop peace talks over Ukraine
Japan has said it “strongly protests” Russia’s decision to abandon talks on a World War II peace treaty because of Tokyo’s strong response to the Russian assault of Ukraine.
“The latest situation occurred as a result of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, and Russia’s attempt to shift the issue to Japan-Russia relations is extremely unjustified and absolutely unacceptable,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in parliament.
Japan “strongly protests,” he added, condemning Russia for its actions to “unilaterally change the status quo by force.”
For live updates from Monday (March 21), click here
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
Live blog: Ukraine ‘on the brink of survival’ against Russian offensive
Source: Pinay Pop Showbiz
