The Russia-Ukraine conflict continued on Thursday as relevant parties are working to broker a peaceful solution.
On Wednesday, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia and Ukraine are continuing negotiations but there remains a long way to go, stressing that Moscow would like Kiev to be more active during the negotiations.
The withdrawal of Russian troops from the Kiev region was to facilitate the peace talks, he told France's LCI broadcaster earlier in the day, Xinhua news agency reported.
During an interview with Turkey's Haberturk television channel, Zelensky said: "In any case, we must find even small opportunities for the negotiation process. Without this, I think it is difficult to end the war."
Zelensky emphasised the importance of mediation by other countries, including Turkey, in the talks.
He instructed the government to formalise the cessation of Ukraine's trade with Russia, the presidential press service said in a statement Wednesday.
In fact, import and export operations between Ukraine and Russia have been completely terminated since the start of the conflict, the statement said.
The US on Wednesday imposed additional sanctions on Russia for its military operation in Ukraine, targeting the country's major financial institutions and the two daughters of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to a factsheet from the White House detailing the measures, US President Joe Biden will sign an executive order banning new investment in Russia by Americans no matter where they live.
15:16 PM(3 years ago )
The Greek Foreign Ministry announced that 12 members of the Russian diplomatic and consular missions in Greece have been declared as personae non gratae.
The decision was made on Wednesday in accordance with the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, the ministry said in a statement, adding that the Russian ambassador had been earlier notified of the decision, Xinhua news agency reported.
The statement, however, did not reveal any specific time schedule about the diplomats' departure.
(IANS)
15:13 PM(3 years ago )
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to a summit meeting in Budapest to make progress toward an immediate ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
"I suggested to President Putin that he should announce a ceasefire immediately," Orban told an international press conference on Wednesday following his landslide victory in the April 3 general elections, which secured him a fourth consecutive term as the country's leader.
Orban said that he spoke on the phone with Putin, who called him Wednesday morning to congratulate him on his election victory, Xinhua news agency reported.
"I know (the ceasefire) is not going to happen by itself, so I invited Putin, the presidents of Ukraine and France, and the German chancellor to Budapest, the sooner the better," Orban said.
The aim of the summit would be an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine. "They should hold talks here in Budapest with one goal: not yet peace negotiations, which would take a longer time, but an agreement on an immediate ceasefire."
15:12 PM(3 years ago )
The US is consistently building up its military biological potential in various regions of the world, taking advantage of gaps in international law, the Russian military has said.
Washington is creating biological laboratories in different countries and connecting them to a unified system, said Igor Kirillov, chief of the Radiation, Chemical and Biological Defence Forces of the Russian Armed Forces, Xinhua news agency reported.
In territories bordering Russia and China alone, there have been about 60 facilities modernised since 2005 with funding from the US military, he said at a meeting.
Kirillov noted that the US has spent more than $5 billion on military biological programmes since 2005.
According to him, these biological facilities are carrying out work in three areas: monitoring the biological situation in proposed areas for the deployment of military contingents of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation; collecting and delivering strains of dangerous microorganisms to the US; and studying potential agents of biological weapons.
Agents specific to a given region, having natural foci and capable of being transmitted to humans are also being studied, he added.
(IANS)
14:27 PM(3 years ago )
US President Joe Biden's top economic adviser has said that the US warned India against partnering too closely with Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, BBC reported.
"Our message to the Indian government is that the costs and consequences for them of moving into a more explicit strategic alignment with Russia will be significant and long-term," White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese told reporters.
"There are certainly areas where we have been disappointed by both China and India's decisions, in the context of the invasion," he added.
India has declined to level sanctions against Russia, as other countries have done.
The country, which the US sees as a counter to China's power in Asia, is the largest importer of Russian weapons, according to Bloomberg.
It comes after the US Deputy National Security Adviser Daleep Singh made an official visit to India last week.
(IANS)
08:12 AM(3 years ago )
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the talks between Ukraine and Russia will continue despite the evidence of "atrocities carried out by the Russian military", the Ukrinform news agency reported.
"In any case, we must find even small opportunities for the negotiation process. Without this, I think it is difficult to end the war," Zelensky was quoted as saying in an interview with Turkey's Haberturk television channel on Wednesday.
He emphasised the importance of the mediation mission of other countries, including Turkey, in the talks, Xinhua news agency reported.
At least 280 people, including children, were found dead in Bucha, some 28 km northwest of Kiev after the Ukrainian army retook control of the town from the Russian military.
(IANS)
08:11 AM(3 years ago )
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky instructed the government to formalise the cessation of Ukraine's trade with Russia, the presidential press service said in a statement.
The import and export operations between Ukraine and Russia have been completely terminated since the start of the conflict, the statement said on Wednesday.
According to Ukraine's Fiscal Service, Ukraine saw a 38.7 per cent year-on-year growth in trade with Russia in 2021 with a value of $10.09 billion. Exports grew by 26.5 per cent to $3.44 billion, while imports increased by 45.9 per cent to $6.65 billion, Xinhua news agency reported.
(IANS)
15:42 PM(3 years ago )
Cyprus cannot accept the US' suggestion to send its Russian-made weapons to Ukraine as this would create gaps in its deterrence capabilities, Defence Minister Charalambos Petrides said here on Tuesday.
Petrides was responding to press reports that unnamed US officials had sounded out the Cypriot government whether it would be willing to transfer to Ukraine all or part of the Russian-made armaments it possesses, Xinhua news agency reported.
He said that legal problems could also arise because of a stipulation that military systems purchased from Russia may not be sold to third parties.
(IANS)
15:13 PM(3 years ago )
Italy's foreign ministry has announced the expulsion of 30 Russian diplomats for what it called "reasons related to national security".
"This measure, taken in agreement with other European and Atlantic partners, was necessary for reasons related to national security," the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday, Xinhua news agency reported.
Also on Tuesday, Romania decided to expel ten Russian diplomats.
"The Romanian authorities have decided to declare as personae non grata on the territory of Romania ten people working in the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Bucharest, given that their activities and actions are contrary to the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961," the country's foreign ministry said in a press release.
(I
14:40 PM(3 years ago )
Spain will expel 27 Russian diplomats and embassy staff in the next few days, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares has said.
Albares told journalists on Tuesday that Yuri Korchagin, the Russian Federation's ambassador in Madrid, was not included in the list of those being expelled as Spain aims to keep the channels of negotiation open with Russia, Xinhua news agency reported.
Spain is thus following in the footsteps of a number of European countries that have announced the expulsion of Russian diplomats.
(IANS)
14:34 PM(3 years ago )
The Russia-Ukraine conflict continued on Wednesday as the European Union (EU) is proposing its fifth sanction package against Russia.
On Tuesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the package, which will be discussed and given the final approval by EU ambassadors on Wednesday, includes bans on coal imports worth 4 billion euros a year and on four Russian banks.
She added that the European Commission is also pushing for bans on Russian ships entering EU ports, on Russian and Belarusian road transport operators, and on imports of oil, wood and cement, seafood and alcohol from Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday said that Russia will be more prudent this year in exporting food, especially to countries that are pursuing a hostile policy towards Russia.
(IANS)
14:33 PM(3 years ago )
The European Union (EU) has declared a number of Russian diplomats working in Brussels "persona non grata" and ordered them to leave host nation Belgium, the bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.
"Today, I decided to designate persona non grata a number of officials of the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the EU for engaging in activities contrary to their diplomatic status," Borrell said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Russian Ambassador to the EU was summoned to communicate this decision, according to Borrell, EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Xinhua news agency reported.
Several EU member states also announced on Tuesday their decision to expel Russian diplomats.
(IANS)
09:14 AM(3 years ago )
More than $20 billion of international aid has been allocated for Ukraine amid its conflict with Russia, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported, citing Kyrylo Shevchenko, Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine.
"The financial aid allocated for Ukraine by now exceeds $20 billion. A part of it has already been disbursed," Shevchenko was quoted as saying on Tuesday.
In March, he said the international donors have pledged $15 billion in financial, technical and humanitarian aid for Ukraine, Xinhua news agency reported.
(IANS)
09:13 AM(3 years ago )
A meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is possible only after a peace treaty is ready, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
"Nothing has changed for us. We do not reject the possibility of such a meeting for our President," Peskov told a daily briefing on Tuesday.
"But we repeat once again that such a meeting is possible only after the text of the document is agreed upon," he added.
Moscow and Kiev have conducted several rounds of negotiations aimed at finalising a treaty to end the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, Xinhua news agency reported.
(IANS)
09:12 AM(3 years ago )
Russia will be more prudent this year in exporting food, especially to countries that are pursuing a hostile policy towards Russia, President Vladimir Putin said.
"This year, against the backdrop of a global food shortage, we will have to be more prudent in our food supplies abroad, namely, to carefully monitor the parameters of such exports to countries that are clearly hostile towards us," Putin added on Tuesday at a meeting to support the country's agricultural sector.
At the same time, he said the "increased production volumes make it possible to ensure food prices in Russia are lower than on the world market," Xinhua news agency reported.
Food self-sufficiency is Russia's competitive advantage and the country must protect its people from price fluctuations in the global food market, the Russian President added.
(IANS)
21:00 PM(3 years ago )
Women across Ukraine are grappling with the threat of rape as a weapon of war with growing evidence of sexual violence emerging from areas retaken from retreating Russian forces, The Guardian reported.
The world was horrified on Sunday by a picture taken by Mikhail Palinchak on a highway 20 km outside Kiev, in which the bodies of one man and three women were piled under a blanket. The women were naked and their bodies had been partially burnt, the photographer said.
The harrowing image adds to a mounting body of evidence that summary executions, rape and torture have been used against civilians in areas under Russian control since the Kremlin launched the invasion of its neighbour on February 24, The Guardian reported.
(IANS)
14:57 PM(3 years ago )
Russian troops accused of massacring, torturing and brutalising hundreds of Ukrainian civilians in the outskirts of Kiev may have committed even worse atrocities in villages and towns further from the capital, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned.
At least 410 innocent civilians were slaughtered in the cities of Bucha and Irpin to the west of Kiev, Ukraine has said, with bodies discovered littering roads and basements, and piled into hastily-dug mass graves as Russian troops fled the region at the weekend, leaving evidence of their crimes behind, Daily Mail reported.
Journalists based in Kiev who have visited the region since Russian forces withdrew say "clear evidence" of war crimes has been uncovered, including civilians shot with their hands bound behind their backs and other bodies that bear the marks of torture and rape.
But Tymofiy Mylovanov, the adviser to President Zelensky and Ukraine's former Finance Minister, says even worse atrocities may have been perpetrated to the east of Kiev in the suburb of Brovary and in villages along the highway to Chernihiv, a city near the Russian border, and has called on journalists and lawyers to go to the region to help document what has happened.
(IANS)
14:56 PM(3 years ago )
Russia has blamed Ukrainian forces for firing on civilians in Bucha city near Kiev and alleged that its provoking the Russians for posting videos and pictures as it claimed that it had withdrew on March 30.
"We would like to emphasise that all Russian units withdrew completely from Bucha as early as March 30, the day after the Russia-Ukraine face-to-face round of talks in Turkey," a statement from Russian Defence Ministry said on Monday.
"The Ukrainian forces shot at people in Bucha, Kiev regionm regardless of whether they were carrying weapons or not. The main thing was that they were wearing white armbands. All the photos and videos published by the Kiev regime allegedly testifying to some 'crimes' committed by Russian servicemen in Bucha, Kiev region are just another provocation."
It said during the time that the town has been under the control of the Russian armed forces, not a single local resident has suffered from any violent action.
Russian servicemen have delivered and distributed 452 tonnes of humanitarian aid to civilians in the Kiev region, the Ministry added.
(IANS)
09:23 AM(3 years ago )
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared at the 64th annual Grammy Awards to give a pre-taped speech amid Russia's continued invasion of his country.
"The war. What is more opposite of music? The silence of ruined cities and killed people," Zelensky said.
09:20 AM(3 years ago )
Iryna Venediktova, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, said that the bodies of 410 civilians killed in Bucha, about 60 km from Kiev, have been taken to be examined by forensic experts, adding that any evidence gathered will be recorded for the ongoing case of Russian war crimes.
In a social media post, Venediktova said that experts from the forensic bureau will conduct DNA examinations, autopsies, and sampling of the bodies, reports Ukrayinska Pravda.
She said of the 410 bodies which were found between April 1-3, 140 of them have already been examined by prosecutors and other specialists.
According to the Prosecutor General, there is "crucial evidence of brutal war crimes perpetrated by the Russian Federation in the liberated territories of the Kiev region"
"This hell must be documented in order to punish its inhuman perpetrators."
The city of Bucha, along with Monastyrskyi, Irpin, Hostomel, Borodyanka, Makariv, Kopyliv, Motyzhyn, all in the Kiev region, were liberated from Russian forces on April 2.
(IANS)
09:19 AM(3 years ago )
Russia has been continuing to open humanitarian corridors in AKiev, Chernigov, Sumy, Kharkov and Mariupol directions, one to Russia and one through the territories controlled by the Kiev authorities towards the western borders of Ukraine since March 4, but the Ukrainian sides are "thwarting" the efforts, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Sunday.
"The Russian Armed Forces have opened an additional humanitarian corridor for the evacuation of civilians and foreign citizens from Mariupol to Zaporozhye (with an intermediate point in Berdyansk). At the same time, we are forced to state that the declared humanitarian operation was thwarted by the Kiev authorities, who were actually unable to control neo-Nazi-minded militants and ensure the safety of the specified corridor," the Defence Ministry said in a statement.
It said that the Ukrainian side has announced four more corridors in the Zaporozhye direction on March 31 but none of them in the direction of Russia. The Russian armed forces, as well as the formations of the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics, strictly observe the ceasefire on all routes, including those declared by the Ukrainian side, it added.
The Russian Defence Ministry also said that the section of the route adjacent to the city of Mariupol was repeatedly shelled with mortars and heavy machine guns by AFU units and nationalist battalions. As a result, the humanitarian convoy could not pass from Berdyansk to Mariupol.
08:29 AM(3 years ago )
Ukraine spends about $10 billion per month on the conflict with Russia, the presidential press service said.
"The Ukrainian state spends about $10 billion a month on hostilities," said a statement on the Ukrainian presidential website on Saturday, citing data from the Ministry of Finance.
Among Ukraine's sources of expenditure financing, the statement named the country's own tax revenues and assistance from Ukraine's international partners, Xinhua news agency reported.
09:19 AM(3 years ago )
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that he has discussed support for Ukraine with US President Joe Biden.
The situation on the battlefield in Ukraine and the diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis were other topics of the hour-long conversation, Zelensky was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the White House said Biden and Zelensky discussed delivering "military, economic, and humanitarian assistance" to Ukraine and imposing sanctions on Russia.
09:18 AM(3 years ago )
Ukrainian Defense Ministry's spokesman Olexandr Motuzyanyk on Wednesday confirmed that Russia has been withdrawing some troops from Kiev and Chernihiv directions, in central and northern Ukraine respectively, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported.
"The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine notes a certain partial relocation of individual units from the Kiev direction, as well as from the Chernihiv direction," Motuzyanyk told a media briefing.
However, there was no mass withdrawal of Russian troops from those areas, he was quoted as saying Xinhua news agency.
Motuzyanyk suggested that Russian forces may renew their offensive against Kiev and Chernihiv after replenishing the units that suffered the biggest losses in the battles.
22:21 PM(3 years ago )
The official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Major General Igor Konashenkov, said that Kiev was seriously considering the possibility of using biological weapons against the population of Donbass and the Russian Federation.
"The revealed facts prove that the Kiev regime seriously considered the possibility of using biological weapons against the population of Donbass and the Russian Federation," he said, RT reported.
The Russian armed forces are carrying out a planned regrouping of troops in the Kiev and Chernigov directions, Konashenkov said.
At the first stage of a special military operation, it was planned to force the enemy to concentrate his forces, means, resources and military equipment to hold large settlements in these directions, including Kiev, he explained.
16:51 PM(3 years ago )
Advanced talks between Russia and Ukraine to reach a peaceful settlement have relatively calmed down global commodities' prices.
Nonetheless, prices still remain at elevated levels but the latest trend shows a slower rate of appreciation.
Lately, the conflict which started over a month ago, seems to reach a partial resolution, after the two sides entered another round of talks.
16:49 PM(3 years ago )
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will be on a two-day official visit to India from Thursday, his first trip to the country since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine last month.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a one-line statement to announce the visit.
16:42 PM(3 years ago )
Ukraine established three humanitarian corridors on Wednesday, the country's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Telegram.
Two corridors were set up to allow Ukrainian civilians to flee the cities of Melitopol and Energodar in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, which were captured by Russia's forces, Xinhua news agency reported citing Vereshchuk.
Another humanitarian route was established in the eastern Donetsk region to evacuate people from the city of Mariupol, where active hostilities are underway, she added.
Last Thursday, Ukraine established seven humanitarian corridors, following nine corridors the previous day, according to Ukraine's government-run Ukrinform news agency.
14:09 PM(3 years ago )
Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has hinted at an agreement on "concrete steps" to reduce the number of Russian missiles hitting facilities in Ukraine. This was announced by Dmytro Kuleba after his talks with the US delegation led by President Joe Biden in Warsaw.
Kuleba did not specify the details, but hinted quite clearly at the prospect of obtaining additional weapons capable of shooting down missiles, European Pravda reported.
The Ukrainian Defence and Foreign Ministers, Oleksiy Reznikov and Dmytro Kuleba, visited Warsaw on Saturday for talks with their US counterparts. Biden personally joined the meeting, European Pravda reported.
During the meeting, Biden promised to achieve Ukraine's victory in the war with Russia.
22:18 PM(3 years ago )
During the talks between the Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Istanbul, the parties discussed an agreement on international security guarantees for Ukraine, a ceasefire and the resolution of humanitarian issues in Ukraine.
22:17 PM(3 years ago )
Russia has agreed to meet Kiev half-way and will allow a meeting of its leaders to be held on the same day that the final version of a peace treaty is pre-approved by the two nation's foreign ministers, Moscow's top negotiator said on Tuesday, after a new round of talks in Istanbul.
15:09 PM(3 years ago )
Russia does not intend to engage in charity and export gas to Europe for free, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said while commenting on statements by representatives of Western countries that they will not pay for deliveries in rubles.
Peskov also stressed that Moscow was not the initiator of such a development of the situation, since it was the Western states that unleashed an economic war against Russia, RT News reported.
Russia does not intend to supply Europe with gas for free, Peskov said on the air of the American television company PBS.
"No payment - no gas," TASS quoted Peskov as saying.
(IANS)
15:08 PM(3 years ago )
Russia does not intend to engage in charity and export gas to Europe for free, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said while commenting on statements by representatives of Western countries that they will not pay for deliveries in rubles.
Peskov also stressed that Moscow was not the initiator of such a development of the situation, since it was the Western states that unleashed an economic war against Russia, RT News reported.
Russia does not intend to supply Europe with gas for free, Peskov said on the air of the American television company PBS.
"No payment - no gas," TASS quoted Peskov as saying.
(IANS)
14:46 PM(3 years ago )
Against the backdrop of ongoing hostilities in Ukraine, calls for foreign businesses to leave the Russian market do not subside. Ukrainian oligarchs and big businessmen publicly declare that they have no assets left in Russia. But in fact, part of the establishment continues to control business in the Russian Federation through proxies and offshore companies, a media report said.
Among them are not only names of the Ukrainian Forbes, but also President Vladimir Zelensky, the RT News report said.
Ukrainian business media estimate the number of major Ukrainian businessmen doing business in Russia at hundreds of names. One of them sounds especially loud in the current situation - Zelensky.
So, in Russia, LLC Green Films and Platinumfilm continue to operate and receive income. These companies, founded by the current President of Ukraine and his comrades in 2012, are responsible for distribution, rental income and royalties from Kvartal 95's comedy shows and films, RT reported.
(IANS)
14:44 PM(3 years ago )
Ukraine has neutralised a massive cyber-attack on core IT infrastructure that impacted the entire nation.
According to global Internet access tracker NetBlocks, the nation's online connectivity collapsed to 13 per cent, leading to the most severe Internet disruption registered in Ukraine since the invasion by Russia.
The Ukrainian Internet Service Provider Ukrtelecom was the target of a "massive cyberattack," the government said late on Monday.
According to the State Service of Special Communication and Information Protection (SSSCIP) of Ukraine, the cyber-attack had been neutralised.
"The first cyberwar in human history is under way," said SSSCIP Chairman Yurii Shchyhol.
(IANS)
14:43 PM(3 years ago )
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan saidhe will meet with the negotiation teams from Ukraine and Russia on Tuesday before the new round of peace talks between the two warring sides begin in Istanbul.
"We will have a short meeting with the delegations," Erdogan said at a press conference after a cabinet meeting.
Turkey is "almost the only country that makes sincere efforts to resolve the ongoing crisis between Ukraine and Russia through dialogue", Xinhua news agency quoted the President as saying.
The two-day in-person talks scheduled are slated to begin at 10.30 a.m. (local time, about 1 p.m. IST) at the Dolmabahce Presidential Working Office in Istabul's Besiktas district.
(IANS)
12:34 PM(3 years ago )
While announcing that a UN official will spearhead a diplomatic effort for a ceasefire in Ukraine, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that he has been in "very close contact" with India on mediation efforts.
The UN chief said on Monday that he has asked Under-Secretary-General Martin Griffiths "immediately to explore with the parties involved the possible agreements and arrangements for a humanitarian ceasefire in Ukraine".
10:41 AM(3 years ago )
Delegations from Ukraine and Russia have arrived in the Turkish city of Istanbul to begin a new round of peace talks from Tuesday aimed at ending the ongoing war.
The in-person talks slated to begin at 10.30 a.m. (local time, about 1 p.m. IST), will be hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Dolmabahce Presidential Working Office in Istabul's Besiktas district, reports Xinhua news agency.
09:26 AM(3 years ago )
Dmytro Khilyuk, a journalist working for the Ukrainian Independent News Agency (UNIAN), was abducted by Russian forces on March 4 from a village in the Kiev region, a media watchdog announced.
In a statement posted on its website on Monday, the Media Initiative for Human Rights said on the eve of his disappearance, Dmytro wrote on Facebook that his village of Kozarovychi in Vyshhorod district, was "under occupation" and that there was no water, the shops were empty and the internet connection was very weak.
He claimed in his post that Russian troops were "going from house to house", and people remained inside their homes as there were periodic shooting in the village.
According to the watchdog, Khilyuk's disappearance was first reported by his friends in the media, who were unable to contact him.
His friends "learned from neighbours that Khilyuk was detained by people in Russian military uniform", the statement said.
(IANS)
09:25 AM(3 years ago )
Since the Russian blockade in Mariupol began on March 1, some 5,000 people have been killed, 170,000 others still remain under siege, while 150,000 were evacuated from the strategic Ukrainian port city, according to preliminary estimates.
Of the 5,000 victims, 210 were children, Ukrayinska Pravda reported citing the government estimates.
Before the ongoing siege began, 140,000 residents left the coastal city.
The estimates further revealed that 30,000 people have been deported by the Russian troops, forcefully taken to the captured territories in the east of Ukraine or to Russia.
(IANS)
20:36 PM(3 years ago )
The Chief Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence in Ukraine has obtained a list of Russian FSB officers involved in what it called criminal activities on behalf of Russia in Europe.
14:52 PM(3 years ago )
As Moscow's invasion of Kiev has entered its second month, SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the world cannot let Russian President Vladimir Putin win in Ukraine because if he can get away with it, this will be a message to other countries that perhaps they could get away with it too.
In an interview with Mathias Dopfner, the CEO of German publishing company Axel Springer, he said that the American government has done more for Ukraine than people may realise.
(IANS)
"But it has just not been very public. But it is important to do something serious. We cannot let Putin take over Ukraine. This is crazy," he told Dopfner at Tesla's factory in Fremont, California.
14:50 PM(3 years ago )
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that his country is willing to discuss the adoption of a neutral stance as part of a peace deal with Russia aimed at ending the war.
While speaking to a group of independent Russian journalists on Sunday for the very first time since the war began on February 24, the President said: "Security guarantees and the neutral, non-nuclear status of our state. We are ready to accept this. This is the most important point," CNN reported.
Zelensky told the journalists that, "this was the first point of principle for the Russian Federation, as I recall. And as far as I remember, they started the war because of this".
Any agreement would have to be put to the Ukrainian people in a referendum, he said, while stressing his desire to reach a concrete peace agreement.
"So this clause is a security guarantee clause for Ukraine. And since they say it's for them (security guarantees) as well, it's understandable to me, and it's being discussed. It's in-depth, but I'm interested in making sure it's not just another piece of paper.
"So we're interested in having that paper turned into a serious treaty to be signed," the President said.
(IANS)
14:49 PM(3 years ago )
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin agreed to hold the next round of Russia-Ukraine negotiations in Turkey's Istanbul city, the Turkish presidency said.
The two leaders had a phone conversation on Sunday and discussed the latest situation in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the negotiation process, the Turkish presidency added in a statement.
The two leaders "agreed that the next meeting of the negotiation teams of Russia and Ukraine will be held in Istanbul," the statement said.
During the conversation, Erdogan told Putin that a ceasefire and peace between Russia and Ukraine must be achieved as soon as possible and the humanitarian situation in the region should be improved, adding that Turkey would continue to "contribute in every possible way during this process."
(IANS)
21:34 PM(3 years ago )
Global crude oil prices are expected to further rise as Russian-Ukrainian war drags on.
The Russia-Ukraine crisis, as well as robust demand, has led to a global hike in crude oil prices.
The Brent-indexed crude oil prices stood at over $120 per barrel on last Friday and are expected to range between $115 to $130 per barrel in the coming days.
The trend is significant for India since international prices determine domestic petrol and diesel cost.
At present, India imports 85 per cent of its crude oil needs.
Till now, the high crude oil cost has led state-owned oil marketing companies to slightly increase the retail selling prices of petrol and diesel.
These prices were revised for the very first time on March 22 after a gap of more than 4 months.
19:06 PM(3 years ago )
US President Joe Biden's call for Vladimir Putin to be "removed" from power is setting off alarm bells among US foreign policy experts, who fear that it could escalate tensions even after the Kremlin scales back its war aims in Ukraine, Daily Mail reported.
"For God's sake this man cannot remain in power," Biden had said in a shocking apparent call for regime change in Moscow at the end of a impassioned speech from Poland.
The "unscripted" remark, which the White House scrambled to walk back as the Kremlin expressed fury, came at the end of an otherwise resolute and fiery speech rallying the free world to unite in opposition to "autocracy" and support of Ukraine.
Richard Haass, the Council on Foreign Relations president, tweeted his concerns that Biden had "just expanded US war aims, calling for regime change."
"However desirable it may be, it is not within our power to accomplish-plus runs risk it will increase Putin's inclination to see this as a fight to the finish, raising odds he will reject compromise, escalate, or both," wrote Haass, Daily Mail reported.
"Our interests are to end the war on terms Ukraine can accept & to discourage Russian escalation. Today's call for regime change is inconsistent with these ends," he added.
"The fact that it was so off-script in some ways makes it worse," because it could be read as Biden's genuine belief as opposed to his scripted words, Haas said.
Biden's remark could also diminish Putin's interest in compromise and increase his temptation to escalate in Ukraine, "because if he believes he has everything to lose then he'll believe he has nothing to lose," Haass said.
17:10 PM(3 years ago )
'Harry Potter' author J.K. Rowling has clapped back at Russian President Vladimir Putin's remark about 'cancel-culture' of the West, which tries to curb freedom of expression, reports 'Deadline'.
In the past few days, several big western corporations stationed in Russia, have canceled their action plans and big ticket releases in Russia owing to the Putin administration's invasion of Ukraine. In a televised meeting, Putin compared the cancellation of Russian cultural events with the actions of Nazi Germany.
He said, "Today they (the western nations) are trying to cancel a whole thousand-year-old country, our people. I am talking about the progressive discrimination of everything connected to Russia, a trend that is unfolding in a number of Western states and with the full connivance and sometimes the encouragement of the ruling elites. The notorious cancel culture has become a cancellation of culture."
15:11 PM(3 years ago )
Rocketing global food prices as a result of the war in Ukraine could trigger riots from those going hungry in poor countries, the head of the World Trade Organization has said.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala warned food-producing countries against hoarding supplies and said it was vital to avoid a repeat of the Covid-19 pandemic, when rich countries were able to secure for themselves the bulk of vaccines, reports the Guardian.
In an interview with the Guardian, the WTO director general expressed concern about the knock-on effects of Russia's invasion – stressing the dependence of many African countries on food supplies from the Black Sea region.
"I think we should be very worried. The impact on food prices and hunger this year and next could be substantial. Food and energy are the two biggest items in the consumption baskets of poor people all over the world," Okonjo-Iweala said.
(IANS)
15:10 PM(3 years ago )
The US has put Russian cyber-security firm Kaspersky Labs to the list of entities that pose an "unacceptable risk to US national security".
This is the first time a Russian company has been added to the list, which consists of Chinese tech giants like Huawei and ZTE.
The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has added Kaspersky to its Covered List, which identifies entities that pose an unacceptable risk to the country's national security.
Specifically, the Commission added three new entities to the list: China Mobile International USA, China Telecom (Americas) and Kaspersky Labs.
Kaspersky said it was disappointed with the FCC decision to prohibit certain telecommunications-related federal subsidies from being used to purchase Kaspersky products and services.
"This decision is not based on any technical assessment of Kaspersky products - that the company continuously advocates for a" but instead is being made on political grounds," the Russian firm said in a statement late on Saturday.
(IANS)
Entities that are on the FCC list are prohibited from receiving support through the agency's Universal Service Fund.
15:08 PM(3 years ago )
The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Ukrainian authorities have informed that there has been no staff rotation at the now-defunct Chernobyl nuclear power plant due to the takeover of the nearby city of Slavutych by Russian forces.
In a statement, the UN nuclear watchdog said it was informed on Saturday that the city, where a large number of the plant's staffers live, was seized by the Russian troops, making it difficult for the workers to regularly rotate and return to their homes.
Slavutych is located outside the Exclusion Zone that was set up around the plant after the 1986 nuclear disaster.
Russian forces took control of site on February 24, the day Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Kiev.
Last week, Ukraine's regulatory authority said that Russian shelling of checkpoints in Slavutych prevented the staffers from travelling to and from the site.
(IANS)
15:07 PM(3 years ago )
Ukraine's Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova said that 12 journalists have been killed in the country since Russia began its war on February 24.
In a Facebook post on Saturday, Venediktova said besides the 12 victims, there were 10 other journalists who "have received injuries of varying severity", Ukayinska Pravda reported.
According to the Prosecutor General, the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations indicates that the Russians have committed crimes against at least 56 members of the media, 15 of them citizens of other countries.
Of the 15, four are from the UK; two each from the Czech Republic, Denmark, the US, United Arab Emirates; and one from Switzerland.
(IANS)
15:06 PM(3 years ago )
US President Joe Biden met with Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov during his visit to Poland, "for an update on Ukraine's military, diplomatic and humanitarian situation," according to the White House.
Biden on Saturday dropped in a meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and their Ukranian counterparts, Kuleba and Reznikov.
They discussed "further efforts to help Ukraine defend its territory" and the US and its allies' ongoing actions towards Russia, the White House said in statement.
(IANS)
12:06 PM(3 years ago )
The Chief Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine's Ministry of Defence said that that the Russian budget does not have funds for further payments to the military for participation in the ongoing war against Kiev.
"After the promised payments to the military of the aggressors' army, the Russian military has had problems with funding. It has turned out that the budget does not provide for payment of these costs. And given the unsatisfactory state of Russia's financial system due to sanctions, additional funds cannot be found in the budget," Ukrayinska Pravda quoted the Directorate as saying.
In Crimea, the current budget for military units was used up in February after payments were made for "business trips" to those who took part in the war against Ukraine, it said.
(IANS)
11:56 AM(3 years ago )
The Russian military hacked into a European satellite internet service that affected Ukrainian military communications, according to the US government officials.
The cyber attack hit the KA-SAT satellite broadband network, owned by Viasat, a US satellite communications company, as Russia began the invasion of Ukraine last month, the officials told The Washington Post.
Western intelligence agencies had launched a probe into the cyberattack that hit Viasat, resulting in a huge communications outage across Europe.
"We currently believe this was a deliberate, isolated and external cyber event," Viasat spokesperson Chris Phillips had said.
Officials from Viasat told Air Force Magazine that the attack was conducted through a compromise of the system that manages customer satellite terminals.
(IANS)
11:23 AM(3 years ago )
US President Joe Biden again called his Russian counterpart a "war criminal" due to the Moscow's continued invasion of Kiev.
Biden made the remarks during a joint briefing on the humanitarian efforts for Ukraine with Polish President Andrej Duda on Friday in Rzeszow, located close to the Poland-Ukraine border.
In his opening remarks, Biden, who arrived in Poland on Friday, said the "single-most important thing that we can do from the outset is keep the democracies united in our opposition and our effort to curtail the devastation that is occurring at the hands of a man who, quite frankly, I think is a war criminal".
"And I think it will meet the legal definition of that as well," he said.
On March 16, Biden had called Putin a "war criminal" for the first time which evoked condemnation from Russia.
(IANS)
11:18 AM(3 years ago )
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dymtro Kuleba said there has been no consensus with Russia on the four points of negotiations mentioned by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
"There is no consensus with Russia regarding the four points mentioned by the Turkish President. In particular, the only state language in Ukraine is Ukrainian and will remain so. And in general the classification of key negotiation topics into four points, or any other number, is inappropriate," Kuleba told Ukrayinska Pravda on Friday.
Earlier in the day, Erdogan told reporters that Moscow and Kiev were close to an agreement the four issues -- Ukraine's accession to NATO; recognition of the Russian language as the second official language in Ukraine; demilitarisation; and collective security.
But the Russian demands on the future status of Crimea and the eastern Donbas region continue to be the most important disagreement in negotiations, Xinhua news agency quoted the Turkish leader as saying.
(IANS)
11:16 AM(3 years ago )
The World Health Organization (WHO) has registered a total of 72 attacks targeting Ukrainian healthcare facilities since Russia launched its war on February 24.
According to the WHO's Surveillance System for Attacks on Healthcare (SSA), of the 72 attacks, 58 impacted facilities, 11 transportation, 16 personnel, 10 patients, eight supplies and one impacted a warehouse.
There were a total of 71 deaths and 37 injuries as a result of these attacks, the SSA added.
"We are concerned that this number is increasing daily," Jarno Habicht, the WHO's Ukraine country representative, told the BBC.
"Health facilities should be safe places for both doctors and nurses, but also patients to turn to for treatment. This should not happen."
(IANS)
09:27 AM(3 years ago )
Swedish music streaming giant Spotify is suspending its services in Russia after Moscow passed a new law earlier this month to crack down on free press and speech.
Spotify said it had no choice but to leave the Russian market, citing the law that essentially outlaws independent journalism.
"Spotify has continued to believe that it's critically important to try and keep our service operational in Russia to provide trusted, independent news and information in the region," a Spotify spokesperson told TechCrunch.
"Unfortunately, recently enacted legislation further restricting access to information, eliminating free expression and criminalising certain types of news puts the safety of Spotify's employees and possibly even our listeners at risk.
09:19 AM(3 years ago )
As Moscow's invasion of Kiev has been underway for more than a month now, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that his country's forces "have dealt powerful blows to the enemy", adding that there were "significant losses" on the Russian side.
In a video address posted on Facebook early Saturday morning, the President said: "Over the past week, our heroic Armed Forces have dealt powerful blows to the enemy, significant losses."
09:06 AM(3 years ago )
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky held a phone conversation to discuss the situation in Ukraine.
The two leaders on Friday discussed the situation on the ground and the stage of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, according to a statement issued by the Turkish presidency.
Erdogan told Zelensky that he once again had emphasised Turkey's support for Ukraine's territorial integrity at the NATO leaders' summit, which was held in Brussels on Thursday, said the statement.
The Turkish President said he had told the leaders of NATO members about Turkey's "active and principled policy, and the effective diplomatic efforts comprehensively."
"Turkey has put into practice all the help it can in this process," Erdogan told the Ukrainian President.
09:04 AM(3 years ago )
US President Joe Biden has said he was in favour of Russia being excluded from the Group of 20 (G20).
If Russia is not excluded, at least Ukraine should also be invited to the G20 group as an observer, Biden added at a press conference at the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) headquarters in Brussels on Thursday.
The US President is in Brussels to attend three summits addressing the Russia-Ukraine conflict, including the NATO extraordinary summit, the Group of Seven summit and the European Council meeting, Xinhua news agency reported.
Russia has not commented on Biden's statement so far.
(IANS)
18:47 PM(3 years ago )
Local officials in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol have said that at least 300 people are known to have been killed in the bombing on March 16 at the Drama Theatre, The Guardian reported.
About 1,300 were believed to have been sheltering in the building, with just 150 survivors having staggered out of the rubble immediately after the attack.
Sources said the bulk of those in the theatre had been hiding from the shelling under the stage and that rubble was blocking their exit.
There are no emergency services operating in Mariupol and the intense fighting and shelling near the theatre has prevented rescue attempts. The theatre was bombed by plane despite the word 'children' having been painted on the ground in white, The Guardian reported.
16:52 PM(3 years ago )
In the first major diplomatic engagement between India and China in nearly two years, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his visiting Chinese counterpart Wang Yi held extensive talks covering the eastern Ladakh row and the geopolitical turmoil triggered by the crisis in Ukraine.
13:09 PM(3 years ago )
The Russian Defence Ministry has claimed that investment fund Rosemont Seneca, currently managed by US President Joe Biden's son Hunter, funded the Pentagon's military biological programme in Ukraine.
The fund has resources in the amount of at least $2.4 billion, Xinhua news agency quoted Igor Kirillov, chief of the Radiation, Chemical and Biological Defence Forces of the Russian Armed Forces, as saying.
The US Agency for International Development, the George Soros Foundation, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were also involved in the funding and development of these programs, he added.
"The incoming documents have allowed us to trace patterns of interaction between US government agencies and Ukrainian biological facilities," he said.
The official added that the Defence Ministry has official documentation proving that 30 Ukrainian laboratories were involved in military biological activities.
(IANS)
12:40 PM(3 years ago )
In a virtual address to the European Council summit in Brussels, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the military alliance is "yet to show what it can do to save people" in the wake of Russia's continued war on Kiev.
In a late night address, Zelensky said that although Ukraine is not part of the 30-member defence alliance and was currently in a "grey zone between the West and Russia", yet "we defend our common values".
"And being in a grey zone, we are enlightened people, just like you! That helps us to defend ourselves for a month."
As the war completed 30 days on Thursday, the President said it had been "month of heroic resistance, a month of the darkest suffering. A month, when Russia enjoyed impunity for the destruction of the peaceful state, along with it the whole global security architecture".
He accused Russia of "investing absurd amounts of money in death, while the world invested in life".
Zelensky went on to thank Europe for uniting in their support for Ukraine, saying that three and a half million of the people who fled Ukraine are "already in the territory of NATO countries". "We are grateful for the support being provided to these people."
(IANS)
12:38 PM(3 years ago )
Ukraine and Russia have conducted the first prisoner swap since Moscow waged its war on Kiev on February 24, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said here
Ten Ukrainian prisoners-of-war held by the Russian military were released in exchange for 10 Russian soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces, Xinhua news agency quoted Vereshchuk as saying in a Facebook post.
Besides, Ukraine handed over 11 civilian Russian sailors, who were rescued from a sunken ship near Odessa to Russia in exchange for 19 Ukrainian civilian sailors, she added.
"Under terms of exchange, the rescue ship itself will also be returned to Ukraine and will be sent to the port in Turkey."
(IANS)
12:36 PM(3 years ago )
The UN member states have adopted a resolution on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine.
The resolution, drafted by Ukraine and allies, received 140 votes in favour and 5 votes against, while 38 countries abstained on Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported.
12:12 PM(3 years ago )
US President Joe Biden said that the NATO has "never been more united than it is today" in the face of Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine.
Addressing the media after a NATO summit here on Thursday, Biden said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is "getting exactly the opposite of what he intended to have as a consequence of going into Ukraine".
12:02 PM(3 years ago )
The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Ukrainian authorities have informed that workers of the now-defunct Chernobyl nuclear power plant were at risk due to continued Russian shelling of checkpoints in the city of Slavutych.
According to the UN watchdog, many people working at the plant live in the city which is located outside the Exclusion Zone that was established around the site after the 1986 nuclear catastrophe.
Read More...
11:59 AM(3 years ago )
Condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine in the strongest possible terms, NATO leaders called the ongoing war as the "gravest threat to Euro-Atlantic security in decades", adding that it has "shattered peace in Europe, causing enormous human suffering and destruction".
The remarks were made in a joint statement issued on Thursday by the heads of state and government of the 30 NATO members after the conclusion of a summit in Brussels.
The NATO members called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to "immediately stop this war and withdraw military forces from Ukraine, and call on Belarus to end its complicity, in line with the Aggression Against Ukraine Resolution adopted at the UN General Assembly on March 2".
"Russia should comply with the March 16 ruling by the UN International Court of Justice and immediately suspend military operations. Russia's attack on Ukraine threatens global security. Its assault on international norms makes the world less safe.
"President Putin's escalatory rhetoric is irresponsible and destabilising," the statement said.
(IANS)
11:58 AM(3 years ago )
The US has charged three Russians with hacking critical energy-related infrastructure in India by infiltrating into the system malware that could be used to disrupt it at will.
The charges that had been filed in a federal court in Kansas City against the three men described as officers of the Russian intelligence agency were disclosed on Thursday by the Department of Justice.
The US government is offering rewards of up to $10 million for information about each of them.
The charging document filed in court that was seen by IANS listed India among the countries where they had set up backdoor systems in energy infrastructure computer networks that could be potentially used for cyber warfare.
The document did not identify the facilities in India that had been affected but said broadly that the international targets "included global oil and gas firms, utility and electrical grid companies, nuclear power plants, renewable energy companies, consulting and engineering groups, and advanced technology firms".
Besides the US and India, it said, over 135 countries had been targeted and these included China, Pakistan, the UK, France and Germany.
(IANS)
11:56 AM(3 years ago )
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) has approved the deployment of four new battle groups in the eastern part of the alliance, including Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, declared Jens Stoltenberg, NATO's Secretary General during a press briefing.
The four new battle groups deployed along eastern part of the NATO alliance were approved on Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported.
In total, there will now be eight NATO battle groups deployed along the eastern flank of the alliance, from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea.
The organisation's heads of states were called for an extraordinary meeting to discuss further support for Ukraine, in the context of the Russia-Ukraine conflict that started in February.
(IANS)
11:55 AM(3 years ago )
Ukraine set up seven humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians, the government-run Ukrinform news agency reported, citing Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.
At a media briefing, Vereshchuk on Thursday said 45 buses are set to evacuate civilians from the besieged city of Mariupol in Donetsk, adding that the evacuation will continue in towns and villages in the southern Zaporizhzhia and the central Kiev regions, Xinhua news agency reported.
On Wednesday, Ukraine established nine humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians from the above mentioned two regions.
(IANS)
22:32 PM(3 years ago )
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has ended globalisation as we know it, said the head of BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, CNN reported.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink told shareholders in a letter on Thursday that Russia's "decoupling from the global economy" following its assault on Ukraine has caused governments and companies to examine their reliance on other nations.
"The Russian invasion of Ukraine has put an end to globalisation we have experienced over the last three decades," Fink wrote, CNN reported.
The CEO, whose company manages $10 trillion in assets, predicted that Russia's isolation will "prompt companies and governments worldwide to re-evaluate their dependencies and re-analyse their manufacturing and assembly footprints".
But some countries could benefit from focusing on building up their domestic industries, as companies onshore or "nearshore" their operations, he said.
Fink said the Coronavirus pandemic had already set these wheels in motion, CNN reported.
"Energy security has joined the energy transition as a top global priority," Fink said.
While Fink anticipates that coal consumption may increase over the next year as Europe and Asia try to wean themselves off Russian oil and gas, soaring energy prices will likely make renewables more competitive, he said.
"Longer-term, I believe that the recent events will actually accelerate the shift towards greener sources of energy in many parts of the world," Fink wrote.
19:00 PM(3 years ago )
The disappearance of Russia's senior military officials from the public eye is an indication that the Russian government is looking to lay blame for the military failure in Ukraine, said Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine.
"Currently, they (Russian officials) are trying to find out who is to blame for Russia entering into this risky venture (the war in Ukraine) without having any information about our country. Their government structures are currently implicated in assigning blame (for Russia's military failure in Ukraine). The FSS (Federal Security Service), Russia's principal security agency and successor to the USSR's KGB are pointing their finger at the military for not having done their job well, and the military says that other structures are to blame," he said, Ukrayinska Pravda reported.
Danilov said that it is not only Sergey Shoigu, Russia's Minister of Defence, who is missing, but also many other Russian generals from whom there has recently been no communication.
"They have already replaced many of the generals. They believe that they will begin an offensive on our territory with fresh forces. I can say that this will not help them," Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine stressed.
He also stated that President Vladimir Putin of Russia "has destroyed the Russian Federation" over the 22 years of his rule.
"What is happening today is the destruction of the Russian Federation carried out by its president. No one was bothering them, they have destroyed themselves in these 22 years," Danilov claims.
18:59 PM(3 years ago )
The Centre for Counteracting Disinformation of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine has warned of possible chemical attacks being prepared by the Russian forces.
"Russian channels tell their audience daily about mythical laboratories that allegedly create chemical weapons in Ukraine."
"This is how the enemy 'grooms' the population of the Russian Federation regarding the use of chemical weapons by 'nationalists against the civilian population'. We emphasise that there are no such laboratories in Ukraine," the Council said, Ukrayinska Pravda reported.
Earlier, experts from the Russian Armed Forces have revealed new evidence of the involvement of the US Department of Defense in the development of biological weapons in Ukraine.
This was stated at a briefing by the official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry Igor Konashenkov.
Experts from the Russian troops of radiation, chemical and biological protection, in the course of studying documents, revealed new facts proving the direct involvement of the US Department of Defense in the development of biological weapons components in Ukraine, he said, RT reported.
According to Konashenkov, in the near future the Ministry of Defense will publish original documents that demonstrate that the Pentagon developed and approved the U-Pi-2 biological project.
It is noted that the main goal of this project was to conduct a molecular analysis of especially dangerous infections that are endemic to Ukraine.
"This work involved sampling the pathogen in old cattle burial grounds in order to obtain new strains of anthrax," a Russian defence official said.
15:01 PM(3 years ago )
Poland has ordered 45 staffers at the Russian Embassy in Warsaw to leave the country in less than a week, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here said.
This represents about half of the total Russian staff at the embassy, and its consular and trade representatives, reports Xinhua news agency.
"In total, 45 people with varying diplomatic status have been ordered to leave the territory of the Republic of Poland within five days," Ministry spokesman Lukasz Jasina announced.
(IANS)
15:00 PM(3 years ago )
Experts from the Russian Armed Forces have revealed new evidence of the involvement of the US Department of Defence (DOD) in the development of biological weapons in Ukraine.
Addressing a briefing, Defence Ministry official Igor Konashenkov said that Russian experts on radiation, chemical and biological protection, in the course of studying documents, revealed new facts proving the direct involvement of the DOD in the development of biological weapons components in Ukraine, RT News reported.
In the near future, the Ministry will publish original documents that demonstrate that the Pentagon developed and approved the U-Pi-2 biological project, the official added.
According to Konashenkov, the main goal of this project was to conduct a molecular analysis of especially dangerous infections that are endemic to Ukraine.
(IANS)
14:58 PM(3 years ago )
Russia's Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) has blocked the Google News service in the country for access to numerous materials containing unreliable information about Moscow's ongoing war in Ukraine, media reports say.
The access to the online resource news.google.com has been blocked, the telecoms regulator told Interfax on Wednesday.
"Based on a request from the Russian Prosecutor General's Office, Roskomnadzor has restricted access to the Internet service News.Google in the country," the statement said.
"The mentioned US Internet news resource provided access to numerous publications and materials containing unreliable, publicly significant information about the course of the special military operation in Ukraine," it added
(IANS)
12:19 PM(3 years ago )
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will announce on Thursday that his country will provide 6,000 additional missiles to Ukraine as Russia's ongoing war has completed a month.
Johnson is set to make the announcement at the NATO and G7 leaders' meetings in Brussels, the BBC reported.
Besides the extra missiles, Johnson will also unveil 25 million pounds ($33 million) of funding to help pay Ukrainian soldiers and pilots.
(IANS)
12:01 PM(3 years ago )
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for protests across the world on Thursday as Russia's ongoing invasion of Kiev completes a month since it started on February 24.
"The war of Russia is not only the war against Ukraine. Its meaning is much wider... Russia started the war against freedom... This is only the beginning for Russia on the Ukrainian land," Zelensky said in his nightly video message which he addressed in English for the first time.
09:47 AM(3 years ago )
Oksana Baulina, a Russian journalist reporting for investigative website The Insider, was killed during shelling in Kiev, according to media reports.
"Oksana Baulina, a journalist for The Insider, died under fire in Kiev while performing an editorial task. She was filming the destruction after Russian troops shelled the Podolsk district of the capital," Ukrayinska Pravda quoted the website as saying in a statement on Wednesday night.
"Another civilian was also killed, and two more people who accompanied her were wounded and hospitalised," the statement added.
The website went on to say that it "will continue to cover the war in Ukraine, including such Russian war crimes as indiscriminate shelling of residential areas which result in the deaths of civilians and journalists".
According to the Ukrayinska Pravda report, Baulina had previously worked for the Anti-Corruption Foundation founded by Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny.
Baulina was "forced to leave Russia after the organisation was added to the extremist list. She went to Ukraine as a correspondent, where she managed to make several reports from Lviv and Kiev", the report said.
08:48 AM(3 years ago )
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is set to considerably increase forces deployed on its eastern flank, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said.
Addressing a news conference on the eve of an extraordinary NATO summit to discuss the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, Stoltenberg added that he expected allies to agree to strengthen NATO's position "on land, in the air, and at sea".
"The first step is the deployment of four new NATO battlegroups. In Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia. Along with our existing forces in the Baltic countries and Poland, this means that we will have eight multinational NATO battlegroups all along the eastern flank. From the Baltic to the Black Sea," he said.
(IANS)
08:37 AM(3 years ago )
Russia has said it is expelling US diplomats in response to Washington's recent expulsion of Russian diplomats from the United Nations (UN).
The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday in a statement that it summoned a senior diplomat of the US embassy in Moscow on Wednesday and declared a list of American diplomats "persona non grata", Xinhua news agency reported.
The US side was told that any hostile actions against Russia will receive a decisive and adequate response, it added.
The Ministry did not disclose how many US diplomats are targeted and the deadline of their departure.
The US on February 28 announced the expulsion of 12 staff members of the Russian Permanent Mission to the UN in New York and a Russian national working with the UN Secretariat.
(IANS)
08:36 AM(3 years ago )
India, along with 12 other UN Security Council members, abstained on a resolution by Russia on the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.
The draft resolution by Russia was cosponsored by Syria, North Korea and Belarus. It failed to get adopted in the Council on Wednesday as it did not get the required nine yes votes to pass.
08:34 AM(3 years ago )
Russian President Vladimir Putin held a telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister (PM) Naftali Bennett to discuss the Ukrainian situation.
Putin and Bennett discussed the situation in Ukraine on Wednesday, Xinhua news agency reported.
The Israeli PM voiced his assessments of the situation regarding Ukraine and the ongoing negotiation process between Russian and Ukrainian delegations, the Kremlin said in a brief statement.
The Russian President shared his views on the Moscow-Kiev peace talks and the development of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, it added.
08:31 AM(3 years ago )
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will meet this week with a bipartisan group of Senators to discuss the opportunity of freezing Russia's $132 billion in gold reserves, Axios reported.
"Secretary Yellen regularly meets with members of Congress to discuss legislation. Additionally, Treasury staff frequently provide technical assistance on sanctions bills," the Department Spokesperson said.
Maine Senator Angus King claimed the legislation could pass the Senate as early as this week. The initiative is meant to deprive Moscow of the opportunity to mitigate the effects of Western sanctions on its economy by monetising its large gold reserves, punishing the Kremlin for its military action in Ukraine, RT reported.
"Russia's massive gold supply is one of the few remaining assets that Putin can use to keep his country's economy from falling even further. By sanctioning these reserves, we will further isolate Russia from the world's economy and increase the difficulty of Putin's increasingly --costly military campaign," King said.
The American politicians behind the initiative believe that Moscow is using gold to hinder the devaluation of its national currency, the ruble.
Washington, D.C. is concerned that vast gold reserves allow the Kremlin to purchase high-value currencies on the international market.
(IANS)
17:20 PM(3 years ago )
Ukrainian representatives are seeking to establish new humanitarian corridors in four regions in negotiations with Russia, the presidential press service said on Wednesday.
Quoting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the press service said that Ukraine seeks to establish new routes for evacuation of civilians in the Kiev region in central Ukraine, Kharkiv and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine, and Zaporizhzhia in the southern part of the country, Xinhua news agency reported.
A total of 7,026 people were rescued from the besieged city of Mariupol on Tuesday, where the active hostilities between Ukrainian and Russian forces were underway, it added.
15:01 PM(3 years ago )
Russian troops occupying the Chernobyl nuclear power plant have "looted and destroyed" a laboratory at the site, Ukrainian officials claim, BBC reported.
The State Agency of Ukraine for Exclusion Zone Management said the Russians had damaged their Central Analytical Laboratory -- which processed a lot of radioactive waste.
The Ukraine agency said that the laboratory had "highly active samples and samples of radionuclides, which today are in the hands of the enemy", BBC reported.
The lab, which cost about six million euros to set up, had also contained "valuable analytical equipment" that were not available elsewhere in Europe, the agency said.
(IANS)
10:03 AM(3 years ago )
Russian President Vladimir Putin has held a phone conversation with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, during which they discussed the situation in Ukraine.
"A thorough exchange of views on the situation in Ukraine, including on the ongoing negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian representatives, continued," the Kremlin was quoted by Xinhua news agency as saying.
The phone conversation was held at the initiative of the French side, it added.
22:49 PM(3 years ago )
Russia has said that Kiev's idea to put peace deal terms up for a referendum will only hurt the ongoing talks.
Moscow launched a military campaign against Ukraine late last month.
22:48 PM(3 years ago )
Dmitry Polyansky, First Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN, said that the Russian side has requested for a vote on its draft humanitarian resolution on Ukraine on March 23.
"Yes, we have asked for a vote. We think this is the right time," Ria Novosti quoted him as saying, RT reported.
On March 18, it was reported that Russia cancelled the vote on a resolution on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine in the UN Security Council.
Earlier, Russia had cancelled the vote on the resolution on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine in the UN Security Council. This was stated by the Russian Permanent Representative to the organisation, Vasily Nebenzya.
22:40 PM(3 years ago )
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday spoke on phone with his UK counterpart Boris Johnson and discussed the situation in Ukraine, an official statement said.
15:59 PM(3 years ago )
Russia's false accusation that Ukraine has biological and chemical weapons is a "clear sign" that a desperate President Vladimir Putin is considering using them himself, US President Joe Biden said.
The US President said Putin's "back is against the wall and now he's talking about new false flags he's setting up including, asserting that we in America have biological as well as chemical weapons in Europe – simply not true. I guarantee you", the Guardian reported.
15:19 PM(3 years ago )
Dmitry Rogozin, Director General of Russian space agency Roscosmos, claimed that the alleged biological weapons being developed in Ukraine "have an impact on the female reproductive system and the immunity of certain ethnic groups".
"These weapons affect both the reproductive function of women of a certain nationality, and the immune system of a particular ethnic group in general, causing allergies, intolerance to traditional food and susceptibility to diseases, leading to a weakening of the nation's immunity and its extinction without the impact of wars," RT News quoted Rogozin as saying.
He recalled that in the period from March 2017 to April 2018, he headed the government commission on bio- and chemical safety, which considered the encirclement of Russia by American biological laboratories.
"The purpose of these biological experiments conducted by the Pentagon using biomaterials obtained from experimental Slavs of Ukraine and other countries neighbouring Russia is to develop an 'ethnic weapon' against the Russian population," he said.
(IANS)
15:15 PM(3 years ago )
After failing to capture Kiev, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been forced to change his war tactics in Ukraine and is moving to a strategy of "protecting key territorial goals".
This was reported by The Wall Street Journal citing unnamed high-ranking US officials, said UNIAN.
One of the interlocutors said that, given the data received, the effective defence of the Ukrainian Armed Forces prompted Putin to adjust his tactics.
Now the Russian President wants to force Kiev to accept Moscow's claims to the southern and eastern territories of Ukraine.
Thus, Russia wants to create a "land corridor" between the west of the country and the occupied Crimea in 2014, as well as expand control over Donbas.
(IANS)
10:28 AM(3 years ago )
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a bill extending the martial law in in the country as Moscow's invasion of Kiev was nearing a month.
According to Parliament, the legislation extended the current martial law for 30 days starting from 5.30 a.m. on March 26, reports Xinhua news agency.
On March 14, Zelensky had submitted a draft bill in Parliament calling for the extension.
The President had first declared the martial law on February 24 after Russia launched its military invasion of Ukraine.
In a televised address to the nation, the President announced that all able-bodied men from 18-60 years old were not allowed to leave Ukraine as the country began a general mobilisation of all reserve forces.
08:56 AM(3 years ago )
As Moscow has continued its invasion of Kiev, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he is ready for negotiations with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, but warned that if the talks fail, it "would mean that this is a third World War".
"I'm ready for negotiations with him. I was ready for the last two years. And I think that without negotiations we cannot end this war," Zelensky said while speaking to CNN on Sunday night.
08:38 AM(3 years ago )
Russia and Ukraine have made progress on the "critical" articles of a ceasefire agreement being negotiated, but some issues still require decisions by their leaders, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said.
"If the parties do not step back from their current positions, we can say that we are hopeful for a ceasefire," Cavusoglu told local daily Hurriyet.
08:04 AM(3 years ago )
Humanitarian corridors from Ukraine's Mariupol will be opened from 10 a.m. Moscow time (0700 GMT) on Monday, Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the Russian National Defense Control Center, has said.
Up to 130,000 civilians, including 184 foreigners from six countries, are "currently held hostage in the city," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement, citing the official.
"In order to save human lives and preserve the infrastructure of Mariupol ... Russia will open humanitarian corridors from Mariupol in the eastern and western directions upon the agreement with the Ukrainian side from 10 a.m. Moscow time (0700 GMT) tomorrow, on March 21," Mizintsev was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.
Russian forces and Donetsk's units will "declare a 'complete silence regime' and guarantee its observance from 9:30 a.m. Moscow time (0630 GMT)," he added.
Russia is waiting for Kiev's response to the proposed measures until 5 a.m. local time (0200 GMT) on Monday, according to the official.
21:09 PM(3 years ago )
The Andhra Pradesh government on Sunday said a total of 918 students, including a few belonging to other states, had been repatriated to the state from war-hit Ukraine.
While 692 students were brought back by the government under Operation Ganga, another 226 returned home on their own, AP Special Task Force chairman M T Krishna Babu said.
Only one student said he was staying back in Ukraine while another reached his relatives house in Poland, Krishna Babu said in a release.
21:08 PM(3 years ago )
The Russian military said it delivered a precision strike on the training base of the Special Operations Forces (SSO) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, where foreign mercenaries were based.
"High-precision air-launched missiles struck at the training centre for special operations forces of the Ukrainian armed forces, where foreign mercenaries who arrived in Ukraine were based, in the area of Zhytomyr Region," said a statement by the Russian Defence Ministry, RT reported.
According to the agency, more than 100 military SOF and foreign mercenaries were destroyed by the strike.
20:37 PM(3 years ago )
“I'm ready for negotiations with Putin, but if they fail, it could mean World War III,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
(ANI)
18:48 PM(3 years ago )
Ukraine’s General Staff sees high risk of attack from Belarus on western Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Armed Forces have said that according to Ukrainian intelligence, in the next several days, Belarus will join Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, reported by ‘The Kyiv Independent’.
18:35 PM(3 years ago )
Since the start of the Russian invasion, at least, 115 children have been killed and over 150 have been injured.
News agency 'The Kyiv Independent' quoted the Ukrainian chief prosecutor's office as saying, "Since the 'special military operation' by Russia, which began on February 24, these numbers are not just figures but the scale of grief and the broken destinies of hundreds of Ukrainian families.”
Earlier, the office had informed that most of the children, who have borne the brunt of Russia's invasion were from Kyiv, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Sumy, Kherson and Zhytomyr regions.
According to the United Nations, over three million people have been forced to flee .
Reports suggest that at least 50 to 100 bombs fall every day in the besieged city of Mariupol and the estimates of casualties remain inconclusive.
18:26 PM(3 years ago )
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has issued a stark message to China to choose the right side in the Russia-Ukraine conflict as he claimed that there are some signs of second thoughts in Beijing.
In an interview with The Sunday Times' on his way back from a tour of the Middle East, the UK Prime Minister accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying to establish a new authoritarian world order and said China risked being on the wrong side of history by not condemning his actions.
17:47 PM(3 years ago )
German Agriculture Minister Cem Ozdemir suggested that the Germans eat less meat and refrain from wasting food in order to contribute to the fight against Russia, which, according to him, is allegedly using food supplies as a weapon.
"Despite the fact that I am a vegetarian, I will not preach that everyone should go vegetarian. But let's put it this way: eating less meat would be a contribution against Putin," the German minister told Spiegel magazine when asked if the German authorities would have to increase the allocation of German-produced grain for public consumption, RT reported. Ozdemir claims that Russia is "using its export power."
17:45 PM(3 years ago )
A group of influential people who oppose President Vladimir Putin and who plan to assassinate him, is forming among the Russian business and political elite, according to the Chief Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine.
The goal of this group is to remove Putin from power as soon as possible and restore economic ties with the West, destroyed by the war in Ukraine.
17:29 PM(3 years ago )
Ukraine Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweets information on the "losses of the Russian armed forces in Ukraine, March 20."
Ukraine Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweets information on the "losses of the Russian armed forces in Ukraine, March 20."#RussiaUkraineConflict pic.twitter.com/s8KNaxm2dB
— ANI (@ANI) March 20, 2022
17:06 PM(3 years ago )
Ukrainian authorities said on Sunday that Russia had bombed a school sheltering 400 people in the besieged port of Mariupol, as Moscow claimed that it had again fired a hypersonic missile in Ukraine, reports AFP News Agency.
21:58 PM(3 years ago )
The United States does not allow Ukraine to agree to the conditions put forward by Russia in the negotiations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed on Saturday.
18:08 PM(3 years ago )
President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, has said that if Ukraine does not agree with Russia now, it will eventually sign an act of surrender.
15:12 PM(3 years ago )
The Russian military destroyed an underground warehouse with ammunition belonging to the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the help of the Kinzhal aviation missile system, a Defence Ministry official said.
Major General Igor Konashenkov, the Ministry's official representative, said the Kinzhal aviation missile system with hypersonic aeroballistic missiles destroyed the warehouse located in Ukraine's Ivano-Frankivsk region on Friday, RT reported.
The Kh-47M2 Kinzhal, also known as 'Dagger', is a Russian nuclear-capable hypersonic aeroballistic air-to-ground missile.
It has a claimed range of more than 2,000 km, Mach 10 speed, and an ability to perform evasive manoeuvers at every stage of its flight.
It can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads and can be launched from Tu-22M3 bombers or MIG 31 K interceptors.
The Kinzhal entered service in December 2017 and is one of the six new Russian strategic weapons unveiled by President Vladimir Putin earlier this month.
In addition, the Russian coastal missile system "Bastion" destroyed radio and electronic intelligence centres in Odessa, the Ministry said.
(IANS)
13:40 PM(3 years ago )
As Moscow's war on Kiev entered the 24th day on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged "meaningful negotiations on peace" with Russia.
In his nightly video address posted early Saturday on Facebook, the President said: "Meaningful negotiations on peace, on security for us, for Ukraine - are the only chance for Russia to reduce the damage from its own mistakes.
"It's time to meet. Time to talk. It is time to restore territorial integrity and justice for Ukraine. Otherwise, Russia's losses will be so huge that several generations will not be enough to rebound."
Zelensky's remarks come as Russia has continued its assault on Ukraine, targeting major cities and infrastruction.
(IANS)
13:36 PM(3 years ago )
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said that since Moscow started its invasion of his country on February 24, more than 30 settlements in the Kiev region has been "liberated", which were temporarily occupied by the Russian military.
In a video address on Friday, the President said: "During the defence of Kiev, more than 30 settlements in the region, which were temporarily occupied by the enemy, were liberated."
According to the President, the commander of the Land Forces, Alexander Syrskyy, has been leading the defence of Kiev since the beginning of the invasion 24 days ago, reports Ukrayinska Pravda.
Zelensky added that due to Syrskyy's professional and courageous actions, the Russian military suffered significant losses and was driven away from the capital.
The President has awarded Syrskyy the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, second class.
(IANS)
13:33 PM(3 years ago )
Ukraine's cyberpolice, a law enforcement agency within the Ministry of Internal Affairs, said it has blocked 1,500 Russian resources which had an audience of about 15 million people, in an attempt to stop propaganda information on Moscow's ongoing war on Kiev.
In a statement issued on Friday, the agency said: "Citizens are actively helping law enforcement to counter the Russian occupiers on the information front. With the help of chatbots in the Telegram, users report hostile actions on the territory of our state, as well as detected propaganda and misinformation."
On February 26, the cyberpolice had created the Telegram channel 'StopRussiaChannel | MRIYA' and Telegram bot, https://t.me/stopdrugsbot, which "helped counter pro-Russian propaganda and disinformation by sending complaints about dangerous content on social networks".
(IANS)
12:15 PM(3 years ago )
Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the situation in Ukraine during a telephone call with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.
The Russian president on Friday explained that the country's armed forces were doing everything possible to save civilian lives and open humanitarian corridors for the safe evacuation of the population, in response to concerns raised by the French leader.
The leaders also talked about the developments with regard to the ongoing peace negotiations, and discussed Russia's approach toward possible agreements, Xinhua news agency reported.
The French leader expressed concern over the situation in Mariupol, and called for an immediate ceasefire, local media reported.
(IANS)
12:14 PM(3 years ago )
Ukraine's positions at the peace talks with Russia remain unchanged, Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said on Friday.
"Our positions remain unchanged: a ceasefire, the withdrawal of troops and strict security guarantees with specific formulas," Podolyak, who is also a member of the Ukrainian delegation to the peace talks with Russia, tweeted.
The fourth round of negotiations between Ukrainian and Russian delegations started on Monday via video link, Xinhua news agency reported.
On Wednesday, Podolyak said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky may hold talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in the coming days.
(IANS)
12:13 PM(3 years ago )
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that Russia will pay a "high price" for its conflict with Ukraine, the presidential press service said.
"By attacking us, they will destroy everything that Russian society has achieved over the past 25 years," Zelensky said in an address to the nation.
In a phone conversation with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin criticised Kiev for "trying to delay the negotiation process in every way possible, putting forward more unrealistic proposals", Xinhua news agency reported.
Ukrainian and Russian delegations have held several rounds of negotiations in a bid to broker a solution to the conflict between the two countries.
(IANS)
22:38 PM(3 years ago )
India told the UN Security Council meeting on Friday said it attaches importance to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) and stressed that any matter relating to obligations under the convention should be addressed through consultations and cooperation between the parties concerned.
22:14 PM(3 years ago )
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has predicted that the war against Ukraine will set Russia back by decades - "to the disasters of the 90s".
21:49 PM(3 years ago )
Amid the Russia-Ukraine war, China's President Xi Jinping on Friday told his US counterpart Joe Biden that inter-state conflicts are in no one's interests and both countries should "shoulder our due international responsibilities".
20:50 PM(3 years ago )
Russian troops have used up almost their entire stockpile of missiles and some types of ammunition.
As a result, a number of companies working in the Russian arms industry have been switched to round-the-clock mode, according to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Ukrayinska Pravda reported.
19:13 PM(3 years ago )
Ukraine is "humiliating" Russia on the battlefield and "wiping the floor with them in terms of world opinion", the BBC quoted a UK military expert as saying.
Professor Michael Clarke, former director of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank, says: "The Russians are making almost every tactical mistake it is possible to make."
17:55 PM(3 years ago )
Revered Ukrainian actress Oksana Shvets has been killed in a Russian rocket attack on a residential building in Kyiv, according to the Young Theatre, where she was part of the troupe. She was reportedly 67.
15:09 PM(3 years ago )
Russian State Duma Deputy Yevgeny Fedorov has proposed a 10-year ban on the work of foreign companies that will not return to the country's market until May 1.
A copy of the letter addressed to the head of the Ministry of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov was reported by RT.
14:51 PM(3 years ago )
The ExoMars rover mission, built in partnership with Russia, has been suspended by the European Space Agency (ESA) in the wake of Moscow's ongoing war on Ukraine.
ExoMars rover was slated for launch in September 2022.
The decision to suspend the mission comes after ESA's ruling Council meeting, held in Paris on March 16-17, with representatives of the agency's 22 member states.
The meeting "acknowledged the present impossibility of carrying out the ongoing cooperation with Roscosmos on the ExoMars rover mission with a launch in 2022", according to the ESA statement.
The council also "mandated the ESA Director General to take appropriate steps to suspend the cooperation activities accordingly".
(IANS)
14:49 PM(3 years ago )
India has said it was ready to "engage" in diplomacy to end the war in Ukraine where the UN has raised "grave fears" for millions of people.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has "emphasized that there is no option but the path of dialogue and diplomacy", India's Permanent Representative, T.S. Tirumurti, said on Thursday.
14:48 PM(3 years ago )
Ukrainian Armed Forces have said that Russian troops cannot resume the attack on Kiev in the near future due to their losses, and instead they are focusing on the separatist Donbas region.
The military said Russian forces did not conduct active offensive operations in the Polissya region.
"The aggressors' main efforts were focused on maintaining the previously occupied borders and carrying out preparatory measures for a possible attack on Kiev," Ukrayinska Pravda reported citing the Armed Forces as saying.
The low moral and psychological condition of private soldiers and sergeants of the occupying forces, as well as the lack of experienced commanders of tactical units after the losses inflicted by Ukrainian defenders, rule out resuming offensive operations in the near future, a briefing said.
Russian have concentrated their main efforts on preparing for the attack on Severodonetsk and the encirclement of Mariupol (Luhansk and Donetsk directions).
They did not carry out offensive operations in Volyn and continued to strengthen the protection of the Ukrainian-Belarusian border by units of Belarusian Armed Forces, the military said.
(IANS)
12:49 PM(3 years ago )
As Russia continues its war against Ukraine, more than 3,800 people were evacuated in the last 24 hours via "green corridors" from various cities, a government official in Kiev said.
According to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, Deputy Head of the Office of the President, 2,000 Mariupol citizens managed to leave in their own cars along the "green corridor" on Thursday and they are currently in Zaporizhzhya, where they are being treated, reports Ukrayinska Pravda.
Tymoshenko said that some cars are still on the road and a temporary aid station has been set up in Berdyansk.
On Friday, people who will walk from Mariupol have to reach Mangush, where they will be taken by bus to Berdyansk, and then to Zaporizhzhya, he added.
Meanwhile, 1,810 residents of Bucha, Vorzel, Gostomel, Borodyanka and Shevchenkiv also managed to escape safely.
(IANS)
12:47 PM(3 years ago )
A US State Department spokesperson said that an American citizen has been killed in Ukraine's Chernihiv due to "heavy artillery attack" from Russian forces, the media reported.
"We can confirm the death of a US citizen in Ukraine on March 17," the BBC quoted the spokesperson as saying in a statement late Thursday.
"We offer our sincerest condolences to the family on their loss. Out of respect to the family during this difficult time, we have no further comment."
The victim has been identified as James Whitney Hill, who was killed by heavy artillery attacks on unarmed civilians in the city, the BBC quoted a New York Times report as saying.
According to The New York Times, Hill travelled to Ukraine last December with his Ukrainian partner so she could be treated at a local hospital for multiple sclerosis.
In recent weeks, Hill had been writing about the deteriorating situation.
12:46 PM(3 years ago )
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and his visiting Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu during their talks on Thursday agreed to focus on organising a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported.
"We understand that all key issues related to ending this war must be resolved with President Putin," Kuleba said after the talks, Xinhua news agency reported.
He reaffirmed Kiev's readiness to continue working on all diplomatic tracks to end Russia's offensive against Ukraine and withdraw Russian troops from Ukraine.
For his part, Cavusoglu said Turkey stands ready to host a meeting between Zelensky and Putin.
"Now, we are focusing our efforts on organizing a meeting of leaders of Ukraine and Russia," Cavusoglu said.
(IANS)
12:44 PM(3 years ago )
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that he held a telephone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss France's support for Ukraine.
"Discussed the support for Ukrainians in the fight against Russian aggression, especially in the defense sphere," Zelensky tweeted.
According to him, during the talks, a special emphasis was put on the continuation of peaceful dialogue aimed at ending the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, Xinhua news agency reported.
"We must strengthen the anti-war coalition," Zelensky said.
(IANS)
12:42 PM(3 years ago )
The Russian Foreign Ministry has asked Washington to provide all information on the activities of alleged "US-linked biological laboratories" in Ukraine.
"The nervous and unjustified reaction of the United States to Moscow's concerns only confirms the extremely dangerous and illegal activities carried out in these facilities," the ministry's spokesperson Maria Zakharova told a briefing.
"We can see the stubborn silence, the reluctance to talk about the issue on international platforms, the concealment of facts, and the destruction of evidence," she was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.
Zakharova noted that these laboratories in Ukraine have worked directly "in conjunction with the Pentagon."
Due to the absence of a verification mechanism under the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC), it is impossible to monitor the degree to which these laboratories are involved with US programs, she said.
Washington has been opposing a verification mechanism since 2001, the diplomat stressed.
"This suggests that the Americans are not just carrying out prohibited activities, but also blocking all possibilities for specialized international institutions to verify their prohibited activities in the field of biological weapons," she said.
Moscow is proposing to resume work on a legally binding protocol on an effective verification mechanism within the BTWC, Zakharova said.
Last week, US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland testified before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Ukraine, admitting "Ukraine has biological research facilities."
"We are working with the Ukrainians on how they can prevent any of those research materials from falling into the hands of Russian forces should they approach," she said.
(IANS)
13:36 PM(3 years ago )
The US Treasury Department announced the launch of a multilateral task force which will "collect and share information to take concrete actions, including sanctions, asset freezing, and civil and criminal asset seizure, and criminal prosecution" against Russian Oligarchs and elites.
In a statement, the Department said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Attorney General Merrick B. Garland on Wednesday virtually met with representatives from Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the European Commission, to launch the Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs (REPO) multilateral task force.
The task force was first announced by on February 26.
"The task force, consisting of Finance Ministry and Justice or Home Ministry in each member jurisdiction, each committed to using their respective authorities in concert with other appropriate ministries to collect and share information to take concrete actions, including sanctions, asset freezing, and civil and criminal asset seizure, and criminal prosecution," said the statement.
(IANS)
13:34 PM(3 years ago )
Facebook's parent company, Meta has announced that it removed a deepfake video of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asking citizens to "lay down arms" amid Russia's ongoing war on Kiev.
In the video, Zelensky appears to stand behind a presidential podium and in front of a backdrop, both of which feature the Ukrainian coat of arms.
Wearing a green shirt, Zelensky speaks in Ukrainian, appearing to tell his countrymen to put down their weapons, reports Sky News.
However, Nathaniel Gleicher, Meta's head of security, on Wednesday tweeted that the video had been removed from the company's platforms.
"Earlier today, our teams identified and removed a deepfake video claiming to show President Zelensky issuing a statement he never did. It appeared on a reportedly compromised website and then started showing across the internet," Gleicher said.
Meanwhile, Zelensky also posted a video to his official Instagram account exposing the video.
(IANS)
13:30 PM(3 years ago )
The US has announced an additional $800 million in security assistance to Ukraine, bringing the total of American aid committed to Ukraine to $1 billion in just the past week, the White House announced in a statement.
The additional funding also raised the total US assistance to Ukraine since the start of the Joe Biden administration to $2 billion, according to the statement issued on Wednesday.
The new $800 million assistance package includes 800 Stinger anti-aircraft systems; 2,000 Javelin, 1,000 light anti-armour weapons, and 6,000 AT-4 anti-armour systems; 100 Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems; 100 grenade launchers, 5,000 rifles, 1,000 pistols, 400 machine guns, and 400 shotguns; over 20 million rounds of small arms ammunition and grenade launcher and mortar rounds; 25,000 sets of body armour; and 25,000 helmets.
The statement went on to say that the US "continues to expedite the authorisation and facilitation of additional assistance to Ukraine from our allies".
"At least 30 countries have provided security assistance to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began (on February 24). In 2022, the Department of State authorised third-party transfers of defensive equipment from more than 14 countries, a number that continues to grow as allies and partners increase support to Ukraine."
Regarding the latest assistance, President Biden said the "package on its own is going to provide unprecedented assistance to Ukraine" as "(Russian President Vladimir) Putin is inflicting appalling devastation and horror on Ukraine, bombing apartment buildings, maternity wards, hospitals".
(ANI)
09:42 AM(3 years ago )
For the first time since Moscow waged its war on Kiev on February 24, US President Joe Biden called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin a "war criminal" as the latter is "inflicting appalling devastation and horror on Ukraine".
Biden made the remarks while responding to a reporter's question at the White House on Wednesday, the BBC reported.
09:41 AM(3 years ago )
The United States on Wednesday welcomed an International Court of Justice order that asked Russia to immediately suspend its military operations in Ukraine.
Describing it as a significant ruling, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said that the ICJ "clearly and unequivocally" ordered Russia to immediately suspend its military operations.
22:11 PM(3 years ago )
Ukraine gained a complete victory in its case against Russia at the ICJ. The ICJ ordered to immediately stop the invasion. The order is binding under international law. Russia must comply immediately. Ignoring the order will isolate Russia even further: Ukraine President.
(ANI)
22:05 PM(3 years ago )
As Russia hammered Kiev with artillery with its troops within 30 km of the capital, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky made a direct appeal on Wednesday to US Congress for putting his country under a no-fly zone, a proposal US President Joe Biden had rejected.
"Russia has turned the Ukrainian sky into a source of death for thousands of people," Zelensky said over a video link from Ukraine and asked, "To create a no-fly zone over Ukraine to save people, is this too much to ask?"
In an emotional speech, he invoked the powerful symbols of US crises of foreign attacks, the 1941 Pearl Harbour attack by Japan and the 9/11 terrorist attack, to reinforce his plea for help.
"Our country experiences the same, every day, right now at this moment," he said.
Zelensky's proposal included a modified version, a "humanitarian no-fly zone", that would provide a safe air corridor for providing relief supplies rather than blanketing the country.
21:01 PM(3 years ago )
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that the West is pushing Kiev to bloodshed.
"It is also clear to us that Western patrons are simply pushing the Kiev authorities to continue the bloodshed," Putin said, RT reported.
He noted that the supply of weapons and the dispatch of mercenaries continued.
19:59 PM(3 years ago )
Russian hackers broke into the live newsfeed of the TV channel Ukraina 24 and posted a fake "statement" of surrender by President Volodymyr Zelensky. The President immediately recorded a video suggesting that the Russians lay down their weapons.
18:08 PM(3 years ago )
Ukraine is demanding a special version of neutrality with legally verifiable and non-protocol security guarantees.
Mykhailo Podolyak, a member of the Ukrainian delegation and adviser to the head of the Ukrainian Public Administration said this in a comment for Ukrayinska Pravda.
According to Podolyak: "We understand our partners' attempt to remain a proactive party in the negotiation process. Hence the words about the 'Swedish' or 'Austrian' model of neutrality. But Ukraine is now in a state of direct war with Russia. Therefore, the model can only be 'Ukrainian' and only about legally verified security guarantees."
Podolyak said that this means absolute security guarantees. Valid, not protocol. And it means that the signatories of the guarantees would not stand aside in the event of an attack on Ukraine, as they do today.
He said they are actively participating on the side of Ukraine in the conflict and officially ensuring that we are immediately supplied with the necessary amount of weapons."
16:48 PM(3 years ago )
Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov said that the proposal to create in Ukraine the format of a non-bloc state with its own army, following the example of Austria or Sweden, can be considered as a compromise.
"This is an option that is really being discussed now and which can be considered as a real compromise," he answered a question from journalists, RT reported.
The head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, said that at the talks Kiev was proposing to create in Ukraine an Austrian or Swedish version of a demilitarized state with its own army.
Medinsky specified that this is being discussed at the level of the leaderships of the ministries of defence of the two countries.
He also added that the key issue for Russia is the status of Crimea and Donbass.
Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are not easy, but there is some hope for a compromise. This was stated in an interview with RBC by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
"I am guided by the assessments given by our negotiators. They state that the negotiations are not going well for obvious reasons," Lavrov said.
16:42 PM(3 years ago )
Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are not easy, but there is some hope for a compromise, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
"I am guided by the assessments given by our negotiators. They state that the negotiations are not going well for obvious reasons," Lavrov said in an interview with RBC, RT reported.
However, according to him, there is some hope for a compromise.
The head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, said that Russia's goal in negotiations with Kiev has not changed - Moscow needs a peaceful, free, neutral and independent Ukraine, and an "agreement for generations" is needed.
"We need a peaceful, free, independent Ukraine, neutral – not a member of military blocs, not a member of NATO, a country that is our friend, neighbour, with which we are developing relations together, building our future, and which is not a springboard for military and economic attacks against our country," he said.
Medinsky also explained why negotiations with Ukraine began to take place online.
14:23 PM(3 years ago )
The Council of Europe without Russia loses its meaning, the organisation has only one way out - to dissolve itself. This was stated by Speaker of the Russian State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin.
"The Council of Europe is losing its meaning. All the last time he devoted to Russia, its criticism, condemnation, pressure, appeals and resolutions. Without our country, colleagues from the Council of Europe will have nothing to do. There is only one way out - to dissolve itself", he said, RT reported.
Volodin added that after leaving the council, Russia intends to pay more attention to bilateral relations.
The Council of Europe has become a NATO propaganda tool. This was stated by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova.
"A long time ago everything turned to dust and decay in the Council of Europe. This organisation has become just an instrument of NATO propaganda, I did not make a reservation now. We have repeatedly spoken about this, it was the structures of the alliance and the member states of the alliance, through the appropriate mechanisms of NATO, that largely formed the agenda within the framework of the Council of Europe," she said.
13:48 PM(3 years ago )
Russia is using secret 'decoy dart' missiles -- which they have refused to export to stop the West reverse-engineering them -- to strike Ukrainian targets, the US intelligence has claimed, Daily Mail reported.
Mobile rocket launchers in Russia and Belarus are believed to be shooting Moscow's Iskander-M missiles while deploying decoy systems to fool Ukrainian air defence.
These dart-shaped armaments, originally thought to be cluster bombs, have been seen on social media from almost the beginning of Russia's invasion, the report said.
To hit key targets, the Russian military use Iskander missiles that have a range of up to 500 kilometers, around 300 miles, and carry a much more powerful warhead that can destroy big buildings and some fortified facilities, Daily Mail reported.
The darts protect the Iskander rockets from air defence missiles by using heat-seeking and radar technology to fool defence systems, a US intelligence officer claims according to the New York Times.
They confirmed the darts used and pictured work with the Iskander missiles.
Some Iskander missiles were reportedly fired from the territory of Russian ally Belarus, which has served as a staging ground for the Russian invasion.
Combating these short-range ballistic missiles has proved a difficult task for the Ukrainian air defence systems trying to prevent the onslaught that is targeting civilians in Kyiv and Kharkiv.
(IANS)
08:00 AM(3 years ago )
The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday that 313 Canadian officials have been barred from entering Russia, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Defence Minister Anita Anand, and most members of the House of Commons of the Parliament are among the blacklisted officials, the ministry said in a statement, Xinhua news agency reported.
The restrictions were introduced in retaliation for the anti-Russian hostility of the current Canadian government, it said.
(IANS)
22:37 PM(3 years ago )
Russian President Vladimir Putin during a telephonic conversation with the head of the European Council, Charles Michel, said that Kyiv is not demonstrating a serious attitude towards finding mutually acceptable solutions during negotiations with Moscow.
22:32 PM(3 years ago )
Russia has imposed personal sanctions against US President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Tuesday.
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