On the fourteenth day of the invasion of Ukraine, on Wednesday, March 9, Russian troops surrounded at least four cities: Kharkiv (the second largest city in Ukraine), Sumy (northeast), Chernihiv (north of Kyiv) and the capital Kyiv. still under the control of Ukraine, which is preparing for the upcoming assault.
Russia and Ukraine have reached a ceasefire agreement that will allow the creation of several humanitarian corridors around areas hard hit by fighting in recent days.
Exploded children’s hospital in Mariupol
A children’s hospital in Mariupol, a besieged port in southeastern Ukraine, was destroyed by Russian shelling on Wednesday, regional official Pavlo Kyrylenko said. According to the first preliminary report, 17 adults were injured “among the hospital staff,” he said on Ukrainian television, specifying that “no children” and “no dead” were among the wounded at the moment.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky quickly responded on Twitter, writing that “people, children are lying under the rubble.” “Atrocities! (…) Stop these killings,” he wrote again. In a video posted on his Twitter account, we see blown-up buildings from the inside, debris, sheets of paper and shards of glass scattered on the ground.
Mariupol. A direct strike by Russian troops on the maternity hospital. People, children under the rubble. Atrocity! How long will the world continue to ignore terror? Close the sky now! Stop killing! You have power, but you seem to be losing your humanity. pic.twitter.com/FoaNdbKH5k
— Vladimir Zelensky (@ZelenskyyUa) March 9, 2022
The international community reacted quickly, with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson criticizing the “immoral” attack and the UN reminding that no medical facility “should be targeted”.
Some 300,000 civilians were squeezed into the fighting for several days in the strategic port of Mariupol, in the southeast of the country, on the Sea of Azov, deprived of water, food and electricity and where humanitarian aid could not reach.
Chernobyl nuclear power plant was disconnected from the power grid
After the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, it was Chernobyl’s turn to focus on Ukraine. The station, which caused the most serious civilian nuclear disaster in 1986, “was completely disconnected from the power grid due to the military actions of the Russian occupiers. Electricity is no longer supplied to the facility,” said the Ukrainian operator Ukrenergo. The Chernobyl site, located in the exclusion zone, includes decommissioned reactors and radioactive waste facilities.
Considering the time that has passed since the 1986 accident, “the thermal load of the pool and the volume of cooling water are sufficient to ensure efficient heat removal without electricity,” the IAEA calculated, which “does not see much safety.” impact,” she added.
Power outages “would create more problems” at the country’s four operating power plants, “where it is absolutely essential to cool the fuel in the core or in the pool,” the head of the IRSN estimates. From the very beginning of the Russian invasion, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi called for maximum restraint. He repeatedly offered to visit Ukraine to lay the groundwork for securing the facility during a conflict that first occurred in a country with a major nuclear program.
Negotiations progress
On Wednesday, Russians and Ukrainians agreed to maintain a ceasefire around a number of humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians, the Ukrainian government said.
Russia has seen “progress” in talks with Ukraine, a government spokeswoman said. Russia’s goals “do not include the occupation of Ukraine, nor the destruction of its state, nor the overthrow of the current government,” she said, confirming that they do not target civilians.
On Thursday, Turkey will host the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine, which will be their first face-to-face meeting since the start of Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has stepped up mediation efforts since the beginning of the crisis, said on Wednesday that “Turkey can negotiate with both Ukraine and Russia.” “We are working to ensure that the crisis does not turn into a tragedy,” he stressed.