Russia-Ukraine War: Russia resumes offensive after ceasefire

Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Saturday said that Ukraine will prevail in this war. "Survey says that 90% of Ukrainians are confident of their victory." 

He also informed that he had talks with United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. "We had discussions on our future steps and on imposing future sanctions on Russia. The US will also coordinate their efforts with the European allies."

"Russians go home," he said, referring to Russian forces.

Not longer after winding down 20 years of war,  President Joe Biden now finds the United States entrenched in a conflict in Ukraine, even without sending in U.S. troops, that could have a more far-reaching effect on a larger cross section of Americans than Afghanistan or Iraq ever did.

Fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq cost the lives of more than 6,900 U.S. troops and more than 7,500 U.S. contractors, and American spending topped USD2.3 trillion. But those wars had little impact on how the vast majority of Americans lived their daily lives. It was a 20-year period where people experienced both the Great Recession and the longest U.S. economic expansion, touchstones that were little influenced by the two grinding conflicts.

Now, five months after the end of the war in Afghanistan, the longest in U.S. history, Americans are entering complicated terrain with the Russian invasion in Ukraine. While Biden promises there will be no American forces on the ground there, he acknowledged the war waged by Russian President Vladimir Putin could have real impact on Americans' pocketbooks.

A Russian dictator, invading a foreign country, has costs around the world, Biden told Americans in his State of the Union address on Tuesday night.

The financial tumult of the most significant military campaign in Europe since World War II is already being felt.

This past week saw U.S. crude oil prices surge about 13per cent to roughly USD113 per barrel and the cost of natural gas reached a record in Europe as the war stoked market fears about a supply shock.

Key stock market indices, volatile for weeks, saw further losses as French President Emmanuel Macron warned the worst is yet to come after a lengthy phone call on Thursday with Putin.

Yet, in Washington -- as well as in European capitals -- there are signs of growing resolve to confront Putin and of a willingness to take on some economic pain in the process.

It's a markedly different tone than in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks that spurred the Afghanistan War. Then-President George W. Bush implored Americans then to stand against terror by going back to work and suggested Americans get down to Disney World as his administration tried to restore faith in the U.S. airline industry. Over the next 20 years, U.S. servicemembers, including more than 52,000 wounded in action, and their families would largely carry the burden.

In Washington, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, got ahead of the White House in recent days in pushing for sanctions directly targeting Russia's energy sector, the lifeblood of Putin's economy. The administration has been hesitant to target Russian oil out of concern such a move would also imperil the economies of the U.S. and Western allies.

Ban it, Pelosi said of Russian oil imports.

Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, introduced a bipartisan bill to do just that. The legislation would halt Russian oil imports to the U.S. by declaring a national emergency, something Biden could also do on his own.

If there was a poll being taken and they say, Joe, would you support 10 cents more a gallon for the people of Ukraine?' ... I would gladly, Manchin said.

Whether that view is widely held in the United States could go a long way to determine if Biden's popularity will rebound after sinking to dismal levels.

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said the sanctions on Russia could raise interest rates, slow the economy and drive up inflation and gas prices. He suggested Americans were prepared to sacrifice.

This comes at cost, Romney said. Nowhere near the cost of blood that would be involved if we let (Putin) run amok but it is not without sacrifice.

Public polling suggests Americans increasingly believe that the U.S. may have to do more to help Ukraine. Forty-five percent of Americans said in the days after Russia invaded that the U.S. was doing too little to help Ukraine. Another 37per cent said the U.S. was doing the right amount; just 7per cent said efforts were too much, according to a Quinnipiac poll this past week.

American politicians have shown greater resolve about what lies ahead as Ukrainians have demonstrated, in Biden's words, pure courage in intense fighting against Russian forces. There's also been a substantial change in European attitudes as the Russian military has pummeled Ukraine's biggest cities.

In Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz was quick to put Nord Stream 2, a recently completed USD11 billion Russia-to-Germany gas pipeline, on indefinite hold once Russia invaded, a reversal of Germany's previous position.

The German government also reversed its long-held policy of not sending weaponry to a conflict zone and announced it would send anti-tank and stinger weapons to Ukraine. The German government  one of several European nations that have been laggard in meeting NATO countries' pledge to spend 2per cent of GDP on defense by 2024  said it would about triple its defense budget in 2022.

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck even called on his country to take on Putin in another way.

If you want to hurt Putin a bit, then save energy, he said

Even Hungary, whose pro-Russian strongman President Viktor Orban resisted speaking out against Russia in the leadup to the war, has condemned Russian military action, expressed support for sanctions, and agreed to give temporary protection to Ukrainian refugees entering Hungary.

At the White House, officials say the stiffening of European allies' resolve came after many had showed some wariness about confronting the Russians. U.S. national security officials released a steady drip of intelligence for more than two months before the war that suggested Putin was intent on a full-scale invasion.

But even so, in talks with Biden's national security team, some European allies seemed convinced  until right before Putin acted  that he would do something less than a full invasion.

Talk of reacting with half measures quickly melted away  even among some of the most reluctant European allies  once it became clear Putin had put his sights went far beyond disputed territories in eastern Ukraine.

Now, as the costs to Western economies mount, Biden and allied leaders' pain threshold will be tested further. Asked about the administration's confidence in unity as the costs of the war rise, White House press secretary sought to turn the focus back on Putin.

We are taking steps to stand up for democracy, stand up for democracy versus autocracy stand up to the actions of a brutal dictator, Psaki said. It is because of his actions that we are in this circumstance.

Edward Frantz, a historian at the University of Indianapolis, said Biden appeared to be headed toward a foreign policy sweet spot after the chaotic ending of the U.S. war in Afghanistan. In the final days of that war, 13 U.S. service members were killed in a suicide bomb attack as they assisted evacuation efforts at the Kabul airport.

As tangled and heart-wrenching as the withdrawal was, Biden had completed a campaign promise of ending the war, something his three predecessors failed to do. It also allowed him to more fully turn Washington's attention to what Biden sees as America's central foreign policy challenge: confronting the rise of economic and military adversary China.

Now, instead, we're back to the Cold War, Frantz said. If this is a long project and it certainly seems it will be the president now faces the challenge of selling to Americans why enduring some impact to our economy for Ukraine matters. That is not going to be easy.

(AP) 

Russia's 'special military operation' has resumed in Ukrainian cities after the temporary ceasefire ended. However, Ukraine had claimed that shelling prevented them from evacuating civilians in Mariupol and Volnovakha.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy had attempted to use provocations at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in order to convince Western countries to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine, Ukrainian Former Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has told Sputnik.

On Friday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that Ukrainian authorities attempted a provocation overnight by accusing Russia of creating a source of radioactive contamination at the Zaporizhzhia NPP. While patrolling the area adjacent to the station, a group of the Russian National Guard was attacked by a Ukrainian sabotage unit who opened fire on them from the windows of several floors of an educational and training complex located outside the NPP. The firing points of the Ukrainian sabotage group were suppressed by return fire.

"Of course, it was a deliberate provocation because, first of all, no sane Russian or Ukrainian soldier would ever dare to carry out this sort of provocation on the territory of Europe's largest nuclear power plant, which has six nuclear power units," Azarov said.

He noted that "even a minor fire at the training and retraining centre was still an emergency situation at such a supercategory nuclear facility."

"So, firstly, it is absolutely obvious that this was a well-considered provocation. Secondly, Zelenskyy's instant reaction which was at night and his instant message to the Americans and to the United Kingdom with absolutely false information itself show that this was a prepared provocation, which he was aware of, because he used this provocation to create a no-fly zone over Ukraine," Azarov concluded.

(ANI/Sputnik)

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks in Moscow on Saturday to discuss the Ukraine crisis, his spokesperson said. Israel also offered to mediate between Ukraine and Russia amid the ongoing crisis.

The third round of negotiations between the delegations of Ukraine and Russia may take place on March 7, Ukrainian media write with reference to the office of the President of Ukraine.

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday said that getting the mortal remains of a student back from war-affected Ukraine and evacuation of the other students were the priority of the government.

The Chief Minister, who met the bereaved family of the medical student Naveen here, handed over a cheque for Rs 25 lakh as compensation and assured his brother of a job. The brother was pursuing Phd.

"Our first duty is to bring back his (Naveen) body back home, we are putting efforts for it. I'm in constant touch with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, officers and the Ukraine Ambassador," Bommai said.

Speaking to reporters after meeting Naveen's parents, he quoted the External Affairs Minister Jaishankar and said the body has been secured and embalmed, kept at a mortuary and that it cannot be brought back now as there has been constant bombing.

"He (Jaishankar) said, once the bombing in the region reduces, transportation arrangements will be made. As there is a ceasefire in some parts there might be an opportunity. I will speak to him as soon as I reach Bengaluru, and make all the efforts to insist on getting the body back at the earliest. It will also depend on the situation there," he added.

Naveen, the 21-year-old medical student, was killed in the Russian shelling of Kharkiv city last week.

Hoping for a quick end to the war, the Chief Minister said many students have walked to a safe place about 30 km from Kharkiv and transport arrangements have been made. However, there were a few stranded in bunkers in the besieged city and efforts to evacuate them were on.

According to the nodal officer and commissioner of Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority Manoj Rajan, 366 people have returned home so far from war-torn Ukraine. PTI 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to U.S. senators to impose a no-fly zone, a ban on Russian oil, and the suspension of Visa and Mastercard cards in Russia.

Ukrainian forces take control of Mykolaiv, seize Russian occupiers' equipment. According to Mykolaiv Oblast Governor Vitaly Kim, there are casualties among civilians, but their number is yet to be determined. Mykolaiv is a regional capital in southern Ukraine, the Kyiv Independent reported.

As the uncertain situation in Ukraine has become a major concern for the students doing medical education, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has recommended accommodating these students after the situation improves or in medical colleges in India.

"We have requested Centre to adjust them either in same medical colleges after situation improves or in private medical colleges in India because it is a matter of their career. We believe that the government of India will find out some way," said Dr Sahajanand Singh, President, IMA

Dr Jayesh M Lele, General Secretary, IMA said, "We understand that there are 18,0000 to 20,000 doctors in different years of medical education. So, we are requesting government as a member of the medical education a lot of parents are doctors, that they should be given a chance to rehabilitate themselves."

Dr Lele said that the students are already in mental agony and not giving them the opportunity is going to cause a lot of mental problems for them.

"Getting a place into the medical college we know will be difficult whether it's a private or a government. We don't want to lose those 20,000 to-be-doctors who have faced so many difficulties on their way back to India and already they are in mental agony and kind of nervousness. Not giving them the opportunity, these students will lose their two years, resulting in their bleak future because they will have to start all over again which is going to cause a lot of mental problems for them. So that is what we have requested the government to take into account," he further explained.

"We have requested to give us the appointment so that we can discuss our ways there are a lot of ways and means that the regulatory body National Medical Commission, Supreme Court can do about it and help the students to acclimatise themselves regularise into the government system," Dr Lele said.

The IMA on Friday also wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya about the fate and future of all MBBS students admitted to Medical schools or colleges in Ukraine and now returning to India from the war-hit country after the situation turned out to be hapless following Russia's ongoing military operation in Ukraine.

(ANI)
 

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday met six students, who recently returned from war-torn Ukraine.

The students belonged to the state's Naraingarh and Ambala.  

Khattar met Abhishek Verma, Harsh, Abhinav, Nidhi, Aman and Ashish, along with their family members, according to an official release here.  

The students expressed their gratitude towards the Centre and the state government for helping them return safely from Ukraine.  

Khattar said the government will extend all possible support in this matter.

He added that the government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was making all possible efforts to bring back students to the country safely.

To help stranded people, the state government has set up help desks at Delhi and Mumbai airports and a control room has also been set up at the state-level by appointing nodal officers.

The deputy commissioners have also been directed to keep in touch with the families whose children are still in Ukraine.

(PTI)

A residential building caught fire in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv after shelling by Russian forces.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday chaired a high-level meeting on the Ukraine issue. The Prime Minister has held regular high-level meetings over the Ukraine crisis since the war broke out.  

Martial law may be introduced in Moldova on March 9 in connection with the Russian threat, Belarusian media outlet NEXTA said quoting Deputy Goncharenko.

In a message to Indian nationals, especially students, in Ukraine, the Indian Embassy in Kyiv said that the last two weeks have been harrowing and challenging. However, Partha Satpathy, Ambassador of India to Ukraine, said he is proud of the maturity and fortitude displayed by Indians in continuing to stay brave during these difficult times.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that Moscow would consider any third-party declaration of a no-fly zone over Ukraine as participation in the armed conflict.

Speaking at a meeting with female pilots on Saturday, Putin said Russia would view any move in this direction as an intervention that "will pose a threat to our service members.

That very second, we will view them as participants of the military conflict, and it would not matter what members they are, the Russian president said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pushed NATO to impose a no-fly zone over his country, warning that all the people who die from this day forward will also die because of you as Russian forces were battering strategic locations in Ukraine.

NATO has said a no-fly zone, which would bar all unauthorised aircraft from flying over Ukraine, could provoke widespread war in Europe with nuclear-armed Russia.

(AP)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair another high-level meeting on the Ukraine crisis shortly. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that any country that sought to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine would be considered by Moscow to have entered the armed conflict.

Italy has seized property worth $150 million from Russian oligarchs. According to foreign media reports, the list includes villas of billionaire Alisher Usmanov and Russian state TV host Vladimir Soloviev, yachts of Russia’s richest man, Alexei Mordashov, and Gennady Timchenko.

"Violating the agreements reached, Russia continues to launch missile and bomb strikes on Mariupol, Volnovakha, and other 🇺🇦 cities. The ongoing shelling makes it impossible to open humanitarian corridors for the safe evacuation of civilians, the delivery of medicines, food," Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted.

In a press conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, " The neutral status of Ukraine is needed so that the country does not join NATO. The consequences of a conflict between Russia and NATO, if it happened, 'are clear to everyone'."

He added, "Russia immediately responded to Kyiv's request for a humanitarian corridor from Mariupol, but the neo-Nazis are not letting anyone out."

"15 flights have landed in the last 24 hours with around 2,900 onboard... Approximately 13,300 people returned to India so far. 13 flights are scheduled for the next 24 hours," informs MEA.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson, Arindam Bagchi, said that the current situation in the Ukrainian city of Sumy is a matter of concern. He informed that almost all Indians have been evacuated from Kharkiv. 

"From Pisochyn and Kharkiv, we should be able to clear out everyone in the next few hours, so far I know no one left in Kharkiv. The main focus is on Sumy now, the challenge remains ongoing violence & lack of transportation; the best option would be a ceasefire," he said.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in a press conference, on Saturday said that India is trying to contact all nationals still in Ukraine. MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi informed that also all Indians have been evacuated from Kharkiv. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin holds press conference as the war enters day 10.

Eleven flights with more than 2,200 Indian evacuees will operate from Ukraine's neighbouring countries to India on Sunday, the Civil Aviation Ministry said.

About 3,000 Indians were airlifted on 15 flights to India on Saturday, the ministry's statement noted.

"These included 12 special civilian and 3 Indian Air Force (IAF) flights," it added.

The Ukrainian airspace has been shut since February 24 due to the Russian military offensive against it. Indian citizens who were stuck in Ukraine are being airlifted via its neighbouring countries such as Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland.

(PTI)

Western countries have increased the dispatch of mercenaries to the combat zones in Ukraine. The UK, Denmark, Latvia, Poland, and Croatia have officially allowed their citizens to participate in hostilities on the territory of Ukraine: the Russian Embassy in India.

It added, "In total, according to Ukrainian President Zelensky, around 16,000 foreign fighters are expected in Ukraine. About 200 of mercenaries from Croatia have already entered the country through Poland and joined uncontrollable nationalist units in the South East of Ukraine."

In a massive development, Russian media has reported that one of the Ukrainian negotiators has been shot dead by Ukraine's SBU (Security Service of Ukraine).

South Korean tech company, Samsung has suspended product shipments to Russia "due to current geopolitical developments," joining other global giants like Apple and Microsoft who have stopped sales and services in the country after it attacked Ukraine.

"Samsung Electronics said on March 5 that shipments to Russia have been suspended "due to current geopolitical developments", The Kyiv independent, a Ukraine media outlet reported.

Civilians' evacuation in Mariupol was postponed as Russian forces fail the temporary ceasefire agreement. The evacuation was scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. but Russian forces didn't stop shelling the area, reports claimed. 
 

The UK government has unilaterally called off the scheduled visit of Pakistan's National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf to London apparently because of Islamabad's policy towards Russia's military offensive against Ukraine, according to a media report on Saturday.

The visit, which was scheduled for next week, was called off on Friday without mentioning any reason, the News International newspaper reported.

However, according to sources, the visit was cancelled due to Pakistan's policy towards the Russia-Ukraine conflict, it said.

Ukraine has claimed that Russia is not following the agreed cease. Moscow had announced its decision to allow humanitarian corridors in two cities- Mariupol and Volnovakha. According to Russia's defence ministry, a route connecting Mariupol and Volnovakha has been chosen as a humanitarian corridor where citizens are allowed to leave and get access to medical facilities. 

The International Organisation for Migration says the number of people who have left Ukraine since fighting began has now reached 1.45 million.

The UN migration agency, citing figures from government ministries in countries where they have arrived, said Saturday that 787,300 of them went to Poland. Some 228,700 fled to Moldova, 144,700 to Hungary, 132,600 to Romania and 100,500 to Slovakia.

The IOM said that nationals of 138 countries have crossed Ukraine's borders into neighbouring nations.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he was sure that Ukrainian refugees would soon be able to return home, and tens of billions of dollars would be allocated to Ukraine for reconstruction.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Charles Michel, President of the European Council in Brussels as the two discussed their "support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity."

While the war has entered its 10th day, Ukrainian athletes won 3 gold medals, 3 silver and one bronze in the biathlon discipline on the opening day of the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing.

The Haas Formula 1 Team on Saturday said they have terminated Nikita Mazepin's contract and their title partnership with Uralkali with immediate effect.

"Haas F1 Team has elected to terminate, with immediate effect, the title partnership of Uralkali, and the driver contract of Nikita Mazepin," said a statement from the team.

 The Russian military says it destroyed a warehouse in Zhytomyr that contained weapons sent by the US and Europe, Belarusian media outlet NETA reported.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will address international media reporters at 7 pm (Kyiv time) on the ongoing Russian invasion of the ex-Soviet state. The announcement was made by the country’s foreign ministry on Twitter which informed that the briefing would be held online.  

We are deeply concerned about Indian students in Sumy, Ukraine. Have strongly pressed Russian and Ukrainian governments through multiple channels for an immediate ceasefire to create a safe corridor for our students," Arindam Bagchi, MEA Spokesperson, said.

He added, "Have advised our students to take safety precautions, stay inside shelters and avoid unnecessary risks. Ministry and our Embassies are in regular touch with the students."

American multinational financial technology company Paypal stopped operations in Russia on Saturday. In a letter released later, it noted that it supports “Ukrainian people and stands with the international community in condemning Russia’s violent military aggression in Ukraine.”

Evacuated 6222 Indians in last 7 days from Romania & Moldova. Got a new airport to operate flights in Suceava (50 km from the border) instead of transporting students to Bucharest (500 km from the border). 1050 students to be sent home in next 2 days: Jyotiraditya Scindia said in a tweet

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Saturday told the Himachal Pradesh assembly that 309 people from the state have been evacuated from war-torn Ukraine so far.

Speaking during the budget session, the chief minister said 149 students from the state are still stuck there.

Several students from the state are still stuck in Ukraine's Kharkiv and Sumy, the chief minister said.

However, there is a bit of respite that the evacuation of students has also begun from Kharkiv, he added.

Every possible effort is being made to evacuate the students and the number of flights has been increased to do so, Thakur said.

Indians have been brought back in large numbers in Air Force and other planes from Ukraine's neighbouring countries Romania, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia in the last two-three days, he added.

Several more Indians will be brought back to India from Ukraine's neighbouring countries in the coming days, he added.

The state government is in contact with the stranded students and their parents, he added.

Congress legislator Asha Kumari said it has been learnt that Russia would provide a safe corridor for evacuation of the students stranded in Kharkiv and Sumy.

She sought to know the present status of the corridor.

The Congress legislator further claimed that the students stuck in Kharkiv and Sumy did not have even water to drink. "They are melting snow to drink water," she added.

At this, the chief minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had already spoken with the heads of both Russia and Ukraine for safe evacuation of the Indian students. He hoped that every stuck student would be brought back to India safely soon.

(PTI) 

Ukrainian defence ministry, on Saturday, tweeted a video of a Russian helicopter going down. In a tweet, it wrote, “This is how the Russian occupiers are dying. This time in a helicopter! Glory to Ukraine.” In the clip, a Russian chopper is seen being hit by a missile fired by Ukrainian Air Defense System.

Hours after Russia announced a ceasefire in Ukraine, a media report revealed that railway tracks near Irpin have been blown off by Russian troops. According to Nexta, “Occupiers blew up the railroad tracks near Irpin, making it impossible to evacuate people by rail”. The administration now plans to evacuate the refugees by buses.

After 10 days of consistent artillery attack on Ukraine, Russia finally announced a ceasefire on Saturday. Later, the country’s defence ministry, as cited by Russian news agencies Interfax,  announced a route connecting Mariupol and Volnovakha has been chosen as a humanitarian corridor where citizens are allowed to leave and get access to medical facilities.  

The ministry said that the route would be demilitarized and people would be allowed to leave and seek aid. The Mariupol- Nikolskoe - Rozovka - Pologi - Orekhov - Zaporozhye route has been chosen as a humanitarian corridor, the authorities of Mariupol said. The route is about 64 km which will take over an hour to cover on a vehicle. The area has been demilitarised and thus won’t suffer shelling anymore.

Here's how the route looks like

On Saturday, Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted a video showing people protesting against Russian invasion. “Millions of people express their solidarity with our country, call on their government to take more resolute actions and to close the sky over Ukraine,” it wrote.

Russian Federation is poised to deploy up to 1000 more mercenaries to Ukraine in coming days and weeks, CNN reported citing a senior western intelligence officer. He further warned that Moscow could “bombard cities into submission.” His statement came as Russia declared a ceasefire starting at 10 am (Moscow time) on Saturday to allow people to escape the war. Previously, the officer said that the US had already seen "some indications" that Russian mercenaries may be involved in Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in "some places".  

Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov, on Saturday, said 66,224 Ukrainian men had returned from abroad to help fight against Russia’s invasion. Russian Federation, on February 24, began its invasion of Ukraine triggering global condemnation. On Saturday, it announced a ceasefire to allow people to escape. However, it did not specify a timeframe for the ceasefire.   

There has been no immediate confirmation from Ukraine regarding the implementation of the Russian ceasefire. Earlier on Saturday, Moscow announced a ceasefire to allow civilians stuck in conflict-hit cities including Mariupol and Volnovakha to escape. However, a report by The Guardian stated that the arrangements of the ceasefire and humanitarian corridor still remain unclear. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz over the phone late on Friday. According to a statement by German Chancellory, the Russian Czar told his German counterpart that the third round of talks between Russia and Ukraine has been scheduled for this weekend. 

The second round of talks were held on Thursday but ended inconclusively. However, Russia announced a ceasefire following the negotiations in order to allow civilians to escape. Moscow launched the attack on February 24. 

Marking another success for Operation Ganga, a plane carrying 170 Indians from Suceava in Romania landed safely in New Delhi. The landing took place in the wee hours of Saturday. 

After continuing attacks on Ukraine for 10 days, the Russian Federation declared a ceasefire starting at 10 a.m. (Moscow time) on Saturday to allow civilians to leave Mariupol and Volnovakha. Mariupol, a key port town in Ukraine has been under blockade since Thursday. 

"Today, March 5, from 10 am Moscow time, the Russian side declares a regime of silence and opens humanitarian corridors for the exit of civilians from Mariupol and Volnovakha," Russian Defence Ministry said.

In the aftermath of Russian attacks on Zaporizhzhia NPP, UK PM Boris Johnson said that Europe was under the threat of a nuclear disaster. Speaking to La Repubblica, Johnson said he believes Putin intends to “double down” on his invasion of Ukraine, as the Russian president envisages “no way out” but to “continue with the destruction”.

Furthermore, he recalled his telephone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and said that any attack on the nuclear power plant is “clearly a matter of our common European health and safety”. 

“We remember what happened with Chernobyl, the radioactive clouds spread over the whole continent, and indeed, also to North America, as far as I can remember. There is clearly a risk... I am concerned about how we stop a disaster: there are other Ukrainian plants and there are certainly other Ukrainian radioactive nuclear waste sites,” he said.

Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko said that the port city has been under the Russian blockade. Calling for immediate assistance and a humanitarian corridor, he said that Mariupol is running out of food. He also asserted that there is no heat, water or electricity.

(Image: AP)

SpaceX founder Elon Musk has said that he will not block Russian news sources “unless at gunpoint”. Musk, who has expressed blatant support for Ukraine, justified his stance by saying that he was “a free speech absolutist.” Since the start of the invasion, Musk has been offering assistance to Kyiv with internet facilities through his satellite broadband enterprise Starlink.

A total of 14 planes carrying military aid landed near Ukraine’s border on Friday, according to New York Times. The cargo consisted of weapons to be transferred inside Ukraine, which continues to repulse the Russian invasion for the 10^th day. US President Joe Biden has announced US$32.5 billion in aid to the war-hit country.

International Gymnastics Federation is set to suspend Belarusian and Russian athletes from the competition starting Monday, according to a report by Nexta. Not only athletes belonging to the two countries but also judges and other officials would be subjected to the ban. The report said that they will not be allowed to participate in FIG-sponsored competitions until further notice.

As Russian aggression continued for the 10th day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he will hold an online meeting with representatives of the United States Senate on Saturday. According to a report by CNN, both Democratic and Republican US senators received an invitation to attend a Zoom meeting with Zelensky on Saturday. The emergency meeting is scheduled to take place at 09:30 am (16:30 Kyiv time) 

US President Joe Biden held a bilateral meeting with his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinistö on Friday. While addressing reporters from the Oval Office, Biden quipped that the world would be a safer place if Scandinavian nations were in charge of global affairs. “You know my predecessor who sat in this seat, President Obama, used to say it would be alright if we left everything to the Nordic countries,” Biden said. Replying to him, Niinistö jokingly said, "Well, we usually don’t start wars." 

A top military official from US Defence Forces said that since the begging of the invasion, Russia has fired more than 500 missiles on Ukraine. "The Ukrainians still have a significant majority of their air combat power available to them, both fixed-wing and rotary-wing as well as unmanned systems and surface-to-air systems," the official told Reuters. This comes as the US established a hotline with Russia. 

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on March 4 at the UN that Russian forces are now 20 miles, and closing, from Ukraine’s second-largest nuclear facility – the Yuzhnoukrainsk Nuclear Power Station in southern Ukraine’s Mykolaiv Oblast.

A missile fragment, presumably from a Russian missile, fell in the yard of Ukrainian Prez Vlodymyr Zelenskyy's state dacha near Kyiv. The photos were shared by Presidential spokesperson Sergii Nykyforov on his Facebook page. According to Nykyforov, the Ukrainian President joked, "Missed me" when he saw them. 

Image Credits: Sergii Nykyforov/Facebook

Ukraine's embattled President Volodymyr Zelensky said NATO would be responsible for the deaths of Ukrainians due to its refusal to help Kyiv protect its skies from Russian warplanes. “All the people who die from this day forward will also die because of you, because of your weakness, because of your lack of unity,” he said in a nighttime address.  His statement comes as NATO rejected Zelenskyy's plea for a "No Fly Zone" over Ukraine.  

Late on Friday, US Embassy in Kyiv said that Russia's bombardment of Zaporizhzhia was a "war crime". In a tweet, embassy officials asserted that "Putin's shelling of Europe's largest nuclear plant takes his reign of terror one step further." Russia attacked the nuclear power plant on Friday, following which it caught fire. 

Multinational food brands Coca-Cola and Danone are leaving the Russian market, Nexta reported on Saturday.