- The Russian offensive stopped in front of Kyiv
- The President of Ukraine said that the defense lines have been maintained
- Moscow says it has taken Kherson, the mayor said troops on the streets
- The UN voted overwhelmingly to condemn the Russian invasion
- The total number of refugees exceeds 1 million – UNHCR
BORODYANKA / LVIV, Ukraine, March 3 – Ukrainian negotiators during talks with Russian officials on Thursday called for a ceasefire and humanitarian corridors to evacuate besieged citizens as Moscow’s invasion forces surrounded and bombed cities.
Hundreds of Russian soldiers and Ukrainian civilians have been killed since President Vladimir Putin sent troops over the border on February 24. Russia itself was immersed in isolation. Read more
The United Nations says more than 1 million refugees have fled in just seven days, and the humanitarian crisis is deteriorating.
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Adviser to Ukrainian President Mykhailo Podoliak tweeted a photo of himself and other negotiators sitting at a conference table in an undisclosed location. Ukrainians wore combat clothing and winter jackets, Russians wore suits and ties.
Ukraine will demand an immediate ceasefire, a truce and “humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians from destroyed or constantly shelled villages / towns,” Podoliak said.
Neither side expected a breakthrough after the first round of talks in Belarus on Monday saw no progress.
Despite an initial battle plan that Western nations said aimed at rapidly overthrowing Kyiv, Russia has taken over only one city, the southern port of the Dnieper River, Kherson, where its tanks entered on Wednesday.
As the main assault force was halted for days on a highway north of Kyiv, Russia changed its tactics, escalating its bombing of cities. Parts of the center of Kharkov, a city of 1.5 million people, were blown up in ruins.
Mariupol, the main port of eastern Ukraine, is surrounded by heavy bombing, with no water or electricity. Authorities say they cannot evacuate the wounded. The city council compared the situation to the siege of Leningrad by World War II. Read more
‘NOTHING TO LOSE EXCEPT FREEDOM’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky remained in Kyiv, releasing regular video updates for the nation. In his latest statement, he said Ukrainian lines are being maintained. “We have nothing to lose but our own freedom,” he said. Read more
The British Ministry of Defense said that the main part of the huge Russian column advancing towards Kyiv is still 30 km (19 miles) from the city center, held back by Ukrainian resistance, mechanical damage and congestion. Read more
In Borodyanka, a town 60 km (40 miles) northwest of Kyiv where locals repulsed a Russian attack, burnt pieces of destroyed Russian armor were scattered on a highway surrounded by ruined buildings.
“They started firing from their armored personnel carrier at the park in front of the post office,” said a man in the apartment where he was living with his family, targeting a Russian armored personnel carrier.
“Then these bastards set fire to the tank and started firing at the supermarket, which was already on fire. It lit up again. An old man ran outside like crazy, with big round eyes and said, “Give me a Molotov cocktail! burning! … Give me gas, we’ll make a Molotov cocktail and burn the tank! ”
Emergency services in the eastern Chernihiv region say 22 bodies have been removed from the rubble of a Russian air strike. Earlier, Governor Vyacheslav Chaus said at least nine people had been killed in an air strike that had hit homes and two schools.
The smoke is rising from the oil depot, which according to local authorities was damaged by shelling in Chernihiv, Ukraine, in this photo of the printout published on March 3, 2022. Press Service of the Ukrainian State Emergency Service / Distribution via REUTERS
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Camera footage from the car’s dashboard, confirmed by Reuters, shows buildings in Chernigov suddenly blown up by obvious rockets. The street was engulfed in a fireball, and a cloud of black smoke rose into the sky.
Two cargo ships have been attacked in Ukrainian ports. Six crew members were rescued at sea after an Estonian-owned ship exploded and sank near Odessa, and at least one crew member was killed when a Bangladeshi ship exploded in Olbia. Ukraine is one of the largest exporters of grain and edible oils in the world from its Black Sea ports.
‘YOU’RE LYING TO YOURSELF’
Against the backdrop of Moscow’s growing diplomatic isolation, only Belarus, Eritrea, Syria and North Korea voted with Russia against an urgent UN General Assembly resolution condemning Moscow’s “aggression.”
Putin spoke by telephone with French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday, telling him that Russia would achieve its goals, including demilitarization and Ukraine’s neutrality, the Kremlin said.
Macron told Putin that he was “lying to himself” about the government in Kyiv, which Moscow said was a threat to its security and the war would cost Russia dearly, a French official said. Read more
In Russia, where most major opposition figures have been imprisoned or exiled during repression in the past year, authorities have banned reports describing the “special military operation” as an “invasion” or “war.”
Radio Echo of Moscow, one of Russia’s few remaining liberal voices, shut down on Thursday after authorities ordered it to be shut down.
Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Friday, removing some 77 protesters by truck. Activists circulated footage of a little girl crying behind bars, arrested for holding a “No War” sign.
RESERVED PRELIMINARY
Military analysts say Russia’s advance has been a tactical fiasco, with poorly maintained columns now confined to roads as spring thaws turn Ukrainian soil to mud. Every day, the main force behind the attack lies on a highway north of Kyiv, and its condition is deteriorating, said Michael Coffman, an expert on the Russian military at the Wilson Center in Washington.
“The longer the Russian forces stand ahead, the lower their readiness and performance will be,” he said.
As the likelihood of a quick victory dwindles, Russia may abandon the tactics it used in Syria and Chechnya, where it destroyed the cities of Aleppo and Grozny.
Russia has already admitted to killing nearly 500 of its soldiers. Ukraine claims to have killed nearly 9,000 people, although this cannot be confirmed.
Kherson, a provincial capital of about 250,000 people, is the only significant city center to fall.
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said a preliminary team had left The Hague for the region of Ukraine to launch an investigation into possible war crimes. Russia denies targeting civilians, saying it aims to “disarm” Ukraine and arrest leaders it falsely calls neo-Nazis. Read more
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Report by Pavel Polityuk, Natalia Zinets, Alexander Vasovich in Ukraine and other Reuters offices, Peter Peter Graf; Edited by Alex Richardson and Angus McSwon
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