Russia-Ukraine War: More than 677,000 people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion.
New Delhi:
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that if a third World War were to take place, it would involve nuclear weapons and be destructive, the RIA news agency reported. Mr Lavrov has said that Russia, which launched what it calls a special military operation against Ukraine last week, would face a “real danger” if Kyiv acquired nuclear weapons.
Russian forces launched a massive strike on local government headquarters in the centre of Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv, killing at least 10 people.
Another apparent Russian airstrike on Kyiv’s main television tower in the capital city’s centre killed five, knocking down state broadcasting.
Residents in Kyiv dig in as satellite images show a Russian military column dozens of miles long bearing down on the city.
In a phone call to US President Joe Biden Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said that it is important to stop “aggressor” Russia “as soon as possible’.
Zelensky also asked the EU to “prove” it is with Ukraine by accepting it as a member, in a video address to the European Parliament.
“Without you, Ukraine is going to be alone,” he says.
More than 677,000 people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion, the UN’s refugee agency says, with the number rising rapidly.
Here are the LIVE updates on Ukraine-Russia War:
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Ukraine has thwarted Russia’s ‘sneaky’ plans: Zelensky
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday that his country had thwarted Russia’s “sneaky” plans, saying he was proud of the “heroic” resistance to Moscow’s invasion. (AFP)
Ukraine War: World Court To Start “Active Probe” Into War Crimes In Ukraine: Statement
The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor said Wednesday an active probe into possible war crimes in Ukraine “will immediately proceed” after his office received the backing of 39 countries. (AFP)
Ukraine War: ICC to start ‘active’ probe into war crimes in Ukraine
The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor said Wednesday an active probe into possible war crimes in Ukraine “will immediately proceed” after his office received the backing of 39 countries.
“I have notified the ICC Presidency a few moments ago of my decision to immediately proceed with active investigations in the situation,” in Ukraine, Karim Khan said. (AFP)
The World Bank on Wednesday announced it was halting all of its ongoing projects in Russia and Belarus in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
Citing the “hostilities against the people of Ukraine,” the development lender said it “has stopped all its programs in Russia and Belarus with immediate effect.”
Ukraine crisis: 1st Indian Air Force Flight With 200 Indians Lands In Delhi
The Indian Air Force’s first evacuation flight with 200 Indians from Romanian capital Bucharest landed at the Hindon air base here in the early hours of Thursday, sources said. (PTI)
Ukraine War: Blinken calls Putin’s nuclear rhetoric the ‘height of irresponsibility’
Top US diplomat Antony Blinken called President Vladimir Putin’s “provocative” nuclear rhetoric “the height of irresponsibility” Wednesday, days after the Russian leader put his strategic forces on alert after invading Ukraine. (AFP)
Ukraine War: France’s Macron Says Will Keep In Touch With Putin To Stop War In Ukraine
French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that he would speak with Russian leader Vladimir Putin as long as was needed to persuade him to stop Russia’s war in Ukraine. (AFP)
Indian Air Force’s C-17 has landed at Hindon Air base, the flight took off from Romanian Capital Bucharest with 200 Evacuated Indians.
Total 4 IAF C-17 will be landing at the Hindon Airbase today with Evacuated Indians from 2 from Romania, 1 each from Poland and Hungary.
Ukraine War: Macron says Europe in ‘new era’ after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that Europe had entered a “new era” after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and would need to invest in its defences and energy independence.
“Already our Europe has shown unity and determination,” Macron said in a televised address to the nation. “We have entered into a new era.”
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich on Wednesday confirmed he will sell the Premier League club amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russian billionaire Abramovich has decided it is in the “best interest” of the Champions League holders if he parts ways with the club he has transformed since his purchase in 2003.
Over 7,000 Russian servicemen have been killed since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while hundreds have been taken prisoner including senior officers, a military adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday.
A Russian army commander was taken to Belarus after being severely wounded, adviser Oleksiy Arestovich said in a televised briefing.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin today and discussed the situation in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, where over a thousand Indian students are stranded. Kharkiv is virtually under Russian control and the girl students have already been sent on their way to Ukraine’s western border by train — a 20-hour journey — with the help of Russians, government sources told NDTV. Efforts are on to evacuate the boys also, sources said shortly before the 6 pm deadline was about to expire.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has hastened his own downfall with a war in Ukraine that he cannot win, exiled opponent the former tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky charged on Tuesday.
Khodorkovsky told France 24 television in an interview from London that Putin’s decision to order an invasion of Ukraine was an “emotional” move by a leader who is increasingly “paranoid”.
“It is a suicide. He cannot win in Ukraine, even if they take Kyiv and the (eastern city) of Kharkiv. This is hastening his end.”
“The regime will decompose. It will not be rapid, we are talking about one or two years,” said Khodorkovsky, adding that the end could come about due to a collapse of the economy.
Khodorkovsky was long Russia’s most famous prisoner, jailed from 2003 to 2013 on charges his supporters said were manufactured for his daring to challenge Putin.
The UN General Assembly on Wednesday overwhelmingly adopted a resolution that “demands” Russia “immediately” withdraw from Ukraine, in a powerful rebuke of Moscow’s invasion by a vast majority of the world’s nations.
After more than two days of extraordinary debate which saw the Ukrainian ambassador accuse Russia of genocide, 141 out of 193 member states voted for the non-binding resolution.
China was among the 35 countries which abstained, while just five — Eritrea, North Korea, Syria, Belarus and of course Russia — voted against it.
The resolution “deplores” the invasion of Ukraine “in the strongest terms” and condemns President Vladimir Putin’s decision to put his nuclear forces on alert.
The UN General Assembly on Wednesday overwhelmingly adopted a resolution that “demands” Russia “immediately” withdraw from Ukraine, in a powerful rebuke of Moscow’s invasion by a vast majority of the world’s nations.
After more than two days of extraordinary debate which saw the Ukrainian ambassador accuse Russia of genocide, 141 out of 193 member states voted for the non-binding resolution.
China was among the 35 countries which abstained, while just five — Eritrea, North Korea, Syria, Belarus and of course Russia — voted against it.
The resolution “deplores” the invasion of Ukraine “in the strongest terms” and condemns President Vladimir Putin’s decision to put his nuclear forces on alert.
Just In| India abstains from voting against Russia at UNGA. 141 in favour, 5 against, 35 abstentions.
Just In| Moscow says 498 Russian troops killed in Ukraine, in first death toll since invasion: news agency AFP
Just In| PM Modi speaks to Putin, discusses safe evacuation of Indian students from conflict areas in Ukraine: News agency ANI
Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations accused Russia of seeking to commit genocide in his country during Wednesday’s rare General Assembly debate more than a week after Moscow’s invasion.
“They have come to deprive Ukraine of the very right to exist,” Sergiy Kyslytsya told the Assembly ahead of a vote seeking to demand Russia withdraw its forces from Ukraine.
“It’s already clear that the goal of Russia is not an occupation only. It is genocide.”
Just In| Ukraine delegation expected for talks Thursday, says Russian official: news agency AFP
Just In| Russian negotiator says ceasefire on agenda at Ukraine talks: news agency AFP
Just In| Ukraine UN envoy accuses Russia of ‘genocide’: news agency AFP
Russian forces shelled several Ukrainian cities on Wednesday as troops battled in the streets of Kharkiv and Ukraine’s president accused Moscow of wanting to “erase our country”.
Russia also said it had captured the Black Sea port of Kherson on the seventh day of Moscow’s invasion, while Russian artillery massed outside the capital Kyiv — raising fears of an imminent assault.
Several victims were reported killed by the shelling in southern and eastern Ukraine, adding to a civilian death toll of at least 350 people, including 14 children, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Russia has defied massive economic and diplomatic sanctions and growing global isolation to push on into pro-Western Ukraine, where its forces have encountered stiff resistance.
Just In| India asks Russia for safe passage for students in Ukraine’s Kharkiv: Government sources
Just In| Prime Minister Narendra Modi to chair a high-level meeting on the Ukraine issue at 8:30pm tonight.
Four C-17 aircraft of the Indian Air Force with approximately 800 evacuees from Ukraine will be landing at the Hindon airbase here on Thursday, sources said.
India has been evacuating its citizens through special flights from Ukraine’s western neighbours such as Romania, Hungary and Poland as the Ukrainian airspace has been shut since February 24 due to the Russian military offensive.
The IAF planes are also coming from these neighbouring countries only, sources mentioned.
Four IAF aircraft with approximately 800 Indian evacuees will land at the Hindon airbase between 1.30 AM and 8 AM on Thursday, the sources added.
Nearly 200 Indian students who reached Slovakia from war-hit Ukraine will fly home tonight, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Wednesday.
Mr Rijiju, one of the four Union ministers sent to coordinate the evacuation of Indians from Ukraine, reached the Slovakian city of Kosice.
“Good to see huge relief in the faces of our students who have reached Slovakia from Ukraine. All of them are given proper care and kept near Košice in Slovakia,” he tweeted.
He added that “189 of them are leaving tonight for India”.
Besides Mr Rijiju, ministers Hardeep Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Gen V K Singh (retd) are the four special envoys sent to neighbouring countries of Ukraine to coordinate the evacuation mission and help the Indian students.
IndiGo will send eight flights to Hungary, Poland and Romania on Thursday to evacuate Indians stranded in Ukraine following the Russian military offensive.
India is evacuating its citizens stranded in Ukraine from its neighbouring countries such as Romania, Hungary and Poland as the Ukrainian airspace has been shut down since February 24.
“Two flights each will be operated via Istanbul, from Delhi to Budapest (Hungary) and Rzeszow (Poland); and two flights each will operate from Mumbai to Bucharest (Romania) and Suceawa (Romania) via Istanbul on Thursday,” IndiGo’s statement said on Wednesday.
IndiGo said that while eight evacuation flights will depart from India on Thursday, its six repatriation flights will arrive in India on the same day.
- There has been a sharp increase in the number of Indians who have left Ukraine. We now estimate that nearly 17,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine borders since our advisories were issued
- During the last 24 hours, 6 flights have landed in India, taking the total number of flights that have landed in India to 15 and the total number of Indians who have returned on these flights to 3,352
- As many as 15 flights are scheduled over the next 24 hours. Some of these are already actually enroute
- Indian Air Force aircraft have joined Operation Ganga with the first C-17 flight from Bucharest (Romania) expected to return to Delhi later tonight. 3 more IAF flights will be undertaken today from Budapest (Hungary), Bucharest (Romania) and Rzeszow (Poland)
- Cities in eastern Ukraine remain an area of concern. Encouraging reports that some students were able to board trains out of Kharkiv last night, today morning…We’ve been in communication with Russian side regarding safe passage of our nationals from Kharkiv and other cities
- Chandan Jindal, an Indian national in Ukraine lost his life due to natural causes. His family is also in Ukraine
Just In| 17,000 Indians have left Ukraine so far, 3,352 Indians have returned as part of Op Ganga, says government.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Wednesday he had spoken with his South Korean counterpart about South Korea’s plan to participate in sanction against Russia.
“The Republic of Korea strongly condemns Russian aggression against Ukraine and plans to take active part in sanctions pressure on Russia,” Kuleba said on Twitter.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday called Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal and urged UN unanimity to condemn his invasion of Ukraine.
His comments came in parliament, where MPs gave a standing ovation to Ukraine’s ambassador in attendance.
Johnson wore a UK-Ukraine flag pin, and many lawmakers wore clothing in Ukraine’s blue and yellow colours.
“What we have seen already from Vladimir Putin’s regime, in the use of the munitions that they have already been dropping on innocent civilians, in my view already fully qualifies as a war crime,” Johnson said.
UK ministers have been warning that Putin, his cronies and commanders could face prosecution at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which has already opened a probe into the invasion.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday called Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal after civilians were bombed in Ukraine.
“What we have seen already from Vladimir Putin’s regime, in the use of the munitions that they have already been dropping on innocent civilians, in my view already fully qualifies as a war crime,” he told parliament.
#UkraineRussiaConflict | “The situation at Romanian Border is difficult because we have thousands of refugees, not only Indian students… There were about 3,000 Indian students already arriving in Romania yesterday”: Daniela Sezonov Tane, Romanian Ambassador pic.twitter.com/jvaECtx8CR
– NDTV (@ndtv) March 2, 2022
All Indian nationals in Kharkiv have been asked to leave immediately for their safety as Russian action intensified in Ukraine’s second largest city located in he east. In a tweet, the Indian Embassy underscored that they should reach Pesochin, Babaye or Bezlyudovka latest by 6 this evening.
URGENT ADVISORY TO ALL INDIAN NATIONALS IN KHARKIV.
FOR THEIR SAFETY AND SECURITY THEY MUST LEAVE KHARKIV IMMEDIATELY.
PROCEED TO PESOCHIN, BABAYE AND BEZLYUDOVKA AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
UNDER ALL CIRCUMSTANCES THEY MUST REACH THESE SETTLEMENTS *BY 1800 HRS (UKRAINIAN TIME) TODAY*.– India in Ukraine (@IndiainUkraine) March 2, 2022
Just In| EU ban on Russian state media RT, Sputnik enters into force: official
An Indian student has died in Ukraine while being treated in hospital for an illness.
Chandan Jindal, 21, had been studying in Ukraine’s Vinnytsia for four years. He was from Punjab’s Burnala.
He fell ill on February 2 and had a surgery. On February 7, his father Shishan Kumar and uncle Krishna Kumar travelled to Ukraine to be with him.
Chandan died yesterday, according to officials.
Russian and Belarusian athletes will be allowed to compete at the upcoming Beijing Winter Paralympic Games, the international committee said Wednesday, after questions were raised about their participation as the world reacts with alarm to Russia invading Ukraine.
The International Paralympic Committee said in a statement that the athletes will take part as neutrals and will compete under the Paralympic flag and not be included in the medal table.
Just In| EU excludes 7 Russian banks from SWIFT network under sanctions: official
Just In| India advises all Indians in Ukraine’s Kharkiv to leave immediately ‘for their safety, security’ amid heavy shelling
Eighty years after the ravine at Babi Yar served as the mass grave of 30,000 Jews murdered by Ukraine’s Nazi occupiers, five more corpses lay on the ground Wednesday covered in dust and fine layer of snow.
A father, a mother and their teenage son and daughter were killed as they left a store with provisions before Kyiv’s nightly curfew.
A fifth body was that of a television journalist, judging by the press card that police found on him and shown to AFP, after Tuesday’s Russian attack on the capital’s television mast.
State broadcasting resumed with a back-up antenna shortly after the missile damaged but failed to topple the tower.
Four people have been killed and another nine wounded during shelling in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, where Russian forces landed on Wednesday, the emergencies services said.
“Four dead, nine injured,” the services said, citing preliminary information.
Kharkiv, a largely Russian-speaking city near the Russian border, has a population of around 1.4 million.
It has been a target for Russian forces since President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine last Thursday and which intensified on Tuesday.
Ukraine’s army said there were immediate clashes after Russian troops landed earlier in the day.
“Russian airborne troops landed in Kharkiv… and attacked a local hospital,” the army said in a statement on messaging app Telegram.
“There is an ongoing fight between the invaders and the Ukrainians.”
German logistics giant DHL announced Wednesday it was stopping deliveries to Russia and Belarus, joining a growing list of Western businesses to cease operations in the countries after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
The “inbound services to Russia and Belarus have been suspended”, DHL said in a statement, adding that it was “not accepting shipments to those countries until further notice” after also closing its offices and operations in Ukraine.
The West has announced sanctions against Russia and the world is criticising Vladimir Putin for launching full-scale attack on Ukraine. But a poll conducted by an agency is claiming that trust in Russian President has actually gone up since the war began last week.
It, however, should be noted that the poll has been conducted by state-owned Public Opinion Foundation. It claims that support for Putin seemingly soared amid Ukraine invasion, from 60 per cent to 71 per cent in less than a fortnight.
Nearly 8,36,000 refugees have now fled the conflict in Ukraine for safety in neighbouring countries, United Nations figures showed Wednesday.
In all, 835,928 people have fled the country’s borders, the according to the website of the UN refugee agency, UNHCR — a huge jump from the 677,000 announced Tuesday afternoon by agency chief Filippo Grandi. More than half have headed west into Poland.
Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny urged Russians to stage daily protests against Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, saying the country should not be a “nation of frightened cowards”.
“I am urging everyone to take to the streets and fight for peace,” he said in a statement posted on Facebook, calling on Russians not to be afraid of going to prison. “Everything has a price and now, in the spring of 2022, we should pay that price.”
Russian forces said they had captured a Ukrainian port on Wednesday as Russian and Ukrainian troops battled for another urban centre and President Volodymyr Zelensky said Moscow wanted to “erase” his country.
As the conflict intensified further on the seventh day of the invasion, the Russian army said it had taken control of the Black Sea port of Kherson in southern Ukraine.
Russian paratroopers also landed in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-biggest city, triggering clashes in the streets, Ukrainian forces said.
After Washington branded Russian President Vladimir Putin a “dictator”, Ukraine’s leader said a strike on Tuesday on a television mast in the capital Kyiv demonstrated Russia’s threat to Ukrainian identity.
Five people were killed in the attack on the tower at Babi Yar, the site of a Nazi massacre in which over 33,000 people were killed — most of them Jews.
India has requested Russia for the emergency evacuation of its citizens stranded in Ukraine through Russian territory, informed Russian Ambassador-designate to India Denis Alipov on Wednesday.
Four people have been killed and another nine wounded during shelling in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, the emergencies services said on Wednesday.
“Four dead, nine injured,” the services said, citing preliminary information.
European gas prices surged by around 50 percent Wednesday to a record high on supply fears following key producer Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Europe’s reference Dutch TTF gas price hit 194.715 euros per megawatt hour in morning deals.
UK gas prices jumped as high as 463.84 pence per therm, close to the record 470.83 pence struck in December.
The assault on Ukraine also sent oil prices rocketing Wednesday because Russia is also one of the world’s biggest crude producers.
European benchmark Brent North Sea oil earlier spiked to $113.02 per barrel, the highest level since 2014.
French President Emmanuel Macron will discuss the war in Ukraine during a broadcast address slated for 1900 GMT on Wednesday, Macron’s office said in a statement.
Macron had said in a February 24 televised address to the nation that he would regularly update the French about the Ukraine crisis.
Macron has led European efforts to avert war in Ukraine, flying to Moscow last month to meet Putin and spending hours on the phone with him and other world leaders over the past weeks to mediate.
Macron has yet to make his decision to run for re-election in April’s presidential election but is widely expected to do so and to win in the vote. The deadline for candidates to declare they are running is on March 4.
Nigeria’s government on Wednesday planned to start airlifting more than 1,000 citizens stranded in countries neighbouring Ukraine after they fled the Russian invasion.
African countries have been scrambling to help citizens living in Ukraine who crossed over borders into Poland, Romania and Hungary, especially after reports some were mistreated or blocked at the frontier.
Three jets chartered from local carriers Max Air and Airpeace would leave on Wednesday, with the capacity to bring back nearly 1,300 people from Poland, Romania and Hungary, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
“The first batch of evacuees are expected to arrive in Nigeria on Thursday, March 3,” Gabriel Aduda, permanent secretary for the ministry, said in the statement.
Union Minister Gajendra Shekhawat said that more people will be evacuated in the next two or three days.
Mr Shekhawat said, “All of you have come with a sad memory to India. Many of you must not have been able to sleep for hours, days… The government working day and night for you…More people to be evacuated in next 2-3 days.”
He further said, “I know that you might not have slept for days before coming to India due to fear. I want to tell you that even the officials and Ministers were worried about your safety.”
Under Operation Ganga, Air India flight 1946 landed in India, carrying 215 students stranded in Ukraine from Bucharest at 9.30 am
Russia is gathering troops closer and closer to Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital’s mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote in an online post on Wednesday.
“We are preparing and will defend Kyiv!,” he added. “Kyiv stands and will stand.”
Ukrainian deputy defence minister Hanna Malyar said on Wednesday authorities were looking into information about possible Russian rocket or artillery fire on the airport of Ukraine’s Black Sea port city of Odessa.
Russia will not allow Ukraine to obtain nuclear weapons, TASS news agency quoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying on Wednesday.
Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine last week in what it called a special operation to demilitarise and “denazify” the country, a justification dismissed by Kyiv and the West as propaganda.
The Kremlin said Russian officials were ready to hold a second round of talks with Ukraine on Wednesday but it was not clear if Ukrainian officials would turn up.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said there was contradictory information regarding the talks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that Russia must stop the bombing of Ukrainian cities before talks could take place.
Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has called on Russians to stage daily protests against Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine, his spokesperson wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.
“Alexei Navalny has called for people to go out and protest against the war every day at 19:00 and on weekends at 14:00. The main squares of your towns, wherever you are,” spokesperson Kira Yarmysh wrote.
Navalny’s movement had previously called for a campaign of civil disobedience to protest against Russia’s invasion of its neighbour.
Navalny, the most prominent opponent of President Vladimir Putin, was jailed last year after he returned to Russia from Germany following his recovery from what Western laboratory tests established was an attempt to poison him with a nerve agent in Siberia. Russia denied carrying out such an attack.
European Union diplomats have approved new sanctions against Belarus for its supporting role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, an EU senior diplomat told Reuters on Wednesday.
A second official said this week that the aim of new sanctions against Minsk is was stop exports of any further Belarusian goods to the EU, on top of those already subject to sanctions.
Sanctions would also hit oligarchs, the central bank and would cut Belarusian banks off from the SWIFT banking system, the second official had said.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov said on Wednesday it was difficult to foresee the scale and depth of Western sanctions the Russian economy in response to Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine, the Interfax news agency reported.
Western countries have taken unprecedented measures to isolate Russia’s economy and financial system over its invasion of Ukraine, including sanctions on its central bank and the exclusion of some of its lenders from global payments system SWIFT.
The Embassy office in Ukraine is being set up in Lviv, which will enable our Embassy teams to spread out to the border areas of Ukraine with Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania: Foreign Secretary pic.twitter.com/sSCbb5wcq6
– PIB India (@PIB_India) March 2, 2022
Athens on Wednesday launched an operation to evacuate Greek diplomats, journalists and other citizens from the Ukrainian city of Mariupol as Russian forces pushed further into the country.
A Greek foreign ministry source said a convoy of cars would head west under Russian assurances of safety, picking up people from other cities including Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia.
Spain will supply “military hardware” to Ukraine following Russia’s invasion of its pro-Western neighbour, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told parliament on Wednesday.
“I… want to announce to you that Spain will deliver offensive military hardware to the Ukrainian resistance,” Sanchez said.
The European Commission on Wednesday proposed to grant temporary protection to people fleeing war in Ukraine, including a residence permit and access to employment and social welfare.
Designed to deal with mass arrivals of displaced persons in the EU, the new legislation will provide the same level of protection in all member states.
The proposal, which had been previously announced, will be discussed by EU interior ministers on Thursday.
US President Joe Biden warned Vladimir Putin that the Russian leader “has no idea what’s coming”, as Western nations tightened an economic noose around Russia, whose invading forces bombarded Ukrainian cities and appeared poised for an advance on Kyiv.
Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have fled the fighting since Putin ordered a full-scale invasion nearly a week ago, with a miles-long Russian military convoy north of Kyiv readying to advance on the capital.
We are in touch with the Indian authorities for Indians stranded in Kharkiv, and other areas of eastern #Ukraine. We have received India’s requests for emergency evacuation of all those stuck there via Russain territory…: Denis Alipov, Russian Ambassador-designate to India pic.twitter.com/EgmN6LQd52
– ANI (@ANI) March 2, 2022
Belarus said on Wednesday it had stepped up security at its western and southern borders as Russia invades neighbouring Ukraine.
Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday that his country had no plans to join Russia’s military operation in Ukraine and dismissed Kyiv’s allegations that Russian troops were attacking Ukraine from Belarusian territory.
More than 2,500 Chinese nationals in Ukraine have been moved out of the country, foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a regular media briefing on Wednesday.
China has said previously that there were about 6,000 Chinese citizens living in the country.
Amid intensified efforts by the central government to evacuate the thousands of Indians stranded in war-hit Ukraine, the pilot of a special SpiceJet flight from Hungary’s Budapest to New Delhi expressed pride in the courage demonstrated by the plane full of passengers and reassured them that they were now safe.
In a video, the pilot is seen making a heartening announcement to all passengers aboard the nine-hour flight.
The Indian Air Force or IAF will not be significantly impacted by United State’s sanctions on Russia and India’s relations with both the countries are strong, Vice Chief Air Marshal Sandeep Singh said today.
“We know the geopolitical situation is difficult (currently)… Our relations with Russia will continue,” Air Marshal Singh said at a press briefing in Delhi.
Russia started its military offensive against Ukraine on February 24. Western nations including the US have imposed major economic and other sanctions on Russia following the offensive.
Italian oil giant Eni said Tuesday it would withdraw from the Blue Stream gas pipeline linking Russia to Turkey, in which it has a 50 percent stake.
“Eni intends to sell its stake” in Blue Stream, a company spokesman said, following moves by rivals BP and Shell to divest from Russia-linked projects after Moscow invaded Ukraine.
The company controls the gas pipeline — which links the two countries via the Black Sea — equally with Russian energy giant Gazprom.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on Wednesday the country was set to receive Stinger and Javelin missiles from abroad, as well as another shipment of Turkish drones.
Several Western countries have pledged to supply Ukraine with weapons to fend off a Russian invasion.
US President Joe Biden today said that Russia’s Vladimir Putin will pay over the long run even if he makes gains on the battlefield in Ukraine. Russia has begun targetting civilian areas in Kharkiv, Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. Read more
After more than 100 countries spoke during two days of extraordinary debate, the UN General Assembly was poised to vote Wednesday on whether it will vigorously deplore Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and demand Moscow withdraw troops immediately.
The vote on the draft resolution is being touted by diplomats as a bellwether of democracy in a world where autocracy is on the rise in countries from Myanmar to Venezuela, and comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces bear down on Kyiv while terrified Ukrainians flee.
The resolution is non-binding, but — if it passes — will serve as a powerful rebuke to Russia on the world stage and a marker of its isolation. The vote must reach a two-thirds threshold to pass.
At least 21 people were killed and 112 wounded in shelling in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv in the last 24 hours, regional governor Oleg Synegubov said on Wednesday.
The authorities have said Russian missile attacks hit the centre of Ukraine’s second-largest city, including residential areas and the regional administration building.
More than 113,000 Ukrainians have fled to Romania in the first six days since Russia invaded Ukraine by land, sea and air, border police data showed on Wednesday.
They have entered Romania through its four land border checkpoints with Ukraine, but also through its checkpoints with Moldova, data showed. More than half of them have already exited the country on their way to Bulgaria and Hungary.
Over 450,000 people entered Poland from Ukraine since a Russian invasion of the country started last Thursday, Deputy Interior Minister Pawel Szefernaker told private Radio Zet on Wednesday.
He added that the number of people entering Poland fell slightly on Tuesday to 98,000 from a record number of over 100,000 on Monday.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky today said that he was not iconic, but Ukraine was. The Ukrainian President has emerged as a formidable leader for his spirited defiance in the face of the Russian’s offensive.
Asked about his transition from a comic actor to a wartime leader during a CNN interview, Zelensky said, “It’s very serious, it’s not a movie… I’m not iconic, I think Ukraine is iconic.” Read more
Russia-Ukraine War: Google Blocks Russia State Media From Play App Store In Europe
Alphabet Inc’s Google said on Tuesday that it has blocked mobile apps connected to RT and Sputnik from its Play store, in line with an earlier move to remove the Russian state publishers from its news-related features.
Russia-Ukraine War: Taiwan President To Donate Salary For Ukraine Relief Efforts
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said on Wednesday that she, Vice President William Lai and Premier Su Tseng-chang will each donate one month’s salary to help with humanitarian relief efforts for Ukraine.
Days after visiting the Ukrainian capital Kyiv to film scenes for his documentary on Russia’s invasion, Hollywood actor-director Sean Penn found himself among thousands of refugees fleeing to Poland, joining the exodus on foot.
Penn, 61, posted a photo to his Twitter feed on Monday showing the movie star wearing a backpack and toting a piece of luggage on wheels as he trudged along the shoulder of a road beside a line of cars stretching into the distance. Read more
Twitter will comply with the European Union’s sanctions on Russian state-affiliated media RT and Sputnik when the EU order takes effect, the social network said on Tuesday.
“The European Union (EU) sanctions will likely legally require us to withhold certain content in EU member states,” a Twitter spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Reuters.
As Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine, bombing major cities like Kharkiv, CNN journalist Bijan Hosseini has described what he calls his sister’s incredible 108-hour journey to reach Poland, facing “racism”, injuries and sub-zero temperatures.
“During her escape she experienced racism, injuries, freezing temps and sleep deprivation. Her story is only one of the hundreds of thousands of people trying to get out,” he wrote in a Twitter thread posted on Tuesday.
The journalist said his sister is adopted, and from Sierra Leone, and this played a significant role in prolonging her exit. Read more
Accusing his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin of waging a “premeditated and unprovoked” war against Ukraine, President Joe Biden in his maiden State of the Union Address said the United States is ready to tackle the challenge posed by him.
“Throughout our history we’ve learned this lesson – when dictators do not pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos. They keep moving. And, the costs and threats to America and the world keep rising,” Biden said addressing the joint session of the Congress in his first State of the Union.
Russian airborne troops landed in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Wednesday, the Ukrainian army said, adding that there were immediate clashes.
“Russian airborne troops landed in Kharkiv… and attacked a local hospital,” the army said in a statement on messaging app Telegram. “There is an ongoing fight between the invaders and the Ukrainians.”
Kharkiv, a largely Russian-speaking city near the Russian border, has a population of around 1.4 million.