“Around 1,300” Ukrainian troops have been killed in the war so far, said Ukraine’s President.
Ukraine prepared Sunday for a “relentless defence” of Kyiv as the capital faced possible encirclement by advancing Russian forces who have also kept up a bombardment of the besieged southern port city of Mariupol.
A mosque in Mariupol, where 80 civilians were taking shelter, has been shelled by Russian forces, Ukraine’s foreign ministry said today. This comes after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said the mayor of Melitopol was kidnapped by Russian soldiers occupying the city.
Russian forces have advanced ever closer to the capital from the north, west and northeast, raising fears of Kyiv becoming encircled imminently. Russian strikes also destroyed an airport in the town of Vasylkiv, south of the city, while troops shot at a group of women and children evacuees leaving a village near Kyiv, killing seven.
The war, which began on February 24 when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbour, has continued for over two weeks now.
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Stung by criticism of its lacklustre approach to refugees fleeing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the UK on Sunday unveiled a new scheme to allow them to stay with Britons for up to three years.
The “Homes for Ukraine” programme will allow “tens of thousands” to gain access to work, healthcare and education, even without family ties to Britain, cabinet secretary Michael Gove said.
The government wanted to try to ensure that “every available home” is opened up “to those who are fleeing persecution”, he told Sky News.
“There are a large number of people in this country, generous hearted and in a position to provide homes, and businesses and charities as well,” added Gove, whose portfolio includes housing.
Hosts will be given £350 ($457, 418 euros) a month and must commit to a minimum stay of six months — potentially a stumbling block when Britons are grappling with the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.
Nine people died and 57 were injured in Russian air strikes overnight on a Ukrainian military base close to the city of Lviv, the city’s mayor said Sunday.
“Unfortunately we have 9 dead. 57 people were injured,” Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadoviy wrote on Telegram.
A bus carrying around 50 Ukrainians went off the road in Italy, leaving one dead and several injured, fire fighters said on Sunday.
The accident occurred on the highway between Cesena and Rimini, on the north eastern coast. Pictures posted by the fire fighters on Twitter show the bus had overturned.
Rescue operations are still underway, fire fighters said.
Russian forces are attempting to surround Ukrainian forces in the east of the country as they advance from the direction of Kharkiv in the north and Mariupol in the south, Britain’s defence ministry said on Sunday.
“Russian forces advancing from Crimea are attempting to circumvent Mykolaiv as they look to drive west towards Odesa,” the ministry said in an intelligence update posted on Twitter.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to an influx of refugees into the border town of Berehove in the Transcarpathia region, and an exodus of its ethnic-Hungarian population fleeing conscription.
Around half of Berehove’s population of 22,000 is ethnic-Hungarian, the bilingual street signs, architecture and historical plaques testifying to its Magyar heritage.
But despite its location beside the Hungarian border and far from the fighting, the war has upended life in the town.
Its hotels, private boarding houses, and even schools now host refugees, some of the two million Ukrainians internally displaced by the war so far.
Russian troops launched multiple air strikes on a military training ground outside Ukraine’s western city of Lviv, near the border with Poland, a local official said Sunday.
Russia “launched an air strike on the International Centre for Peacekeeping and Security,” some 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of Lviv, head of the Lviv regional administration, Maxim Kozitsky, said on his verified Facebook page, adding that eight missiles were fired.
Ukraine prepared Sunday for a “relentless defence” of Kyiv as the capital faced possible encirclement by advancing Russian forces who have also kept up a bombardment of the besieged southern port city of Mariupol.
In a video address posted on social media late Saturday night, President Volodymyr Zelensky said nevertheless the Russians did not have the strength or spirit to conquer Ukraine.
“The Russian invaders cannot conquer us. They do not have such strength. They do not have such spirit. They are holding only on violence. Only on terror. Only on weapons, which they have a lot,” he said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis are to hold talks in Istanbul on Sunday, a meeting analysts say will focus on coordination as war continues in Ukraine.
The meeting comes as Ankara seeks to shore up its credentials as a regional power player by mediating in the conflict.
On Thursday, the Turkish resort city of Antalya hosted the first talks between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba since the start of Russia’s invasion.
They failed to broker a ceasefire. Now Mitsotakis will see Erdogan, mindful that the burgeoning conflict in Ukraine looms larger than the long-standing tensions between Athens and Ankara.
Russia Inch Closer To Kyiv, Ukraine Says Fleeing Civilians Killed: 10 FactsRussian forces have advanced closer to Ukraine capital Kyiv from the north, west and northeast. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky also said Russia was sending new forces after suffering what he said were its biggest losses in decades. Here is a ten-point cheat sheet on the Russia-Ukraine war today.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Sunday that Russia might use chemical weapons following its invasion of Ukraine and that such a move would be a war crime, according to an interview in German newspaper Welt am Sonntag.
“In recent days, we have heard absurd claims about chemical and biological weapons laboratories,” Stoltenberg was quoted by Welt am Sonntag as saying, adding that the Kremlin was inventing false pretexts to justify what could not be justified.
“Now that these false claims have been made, we must remain vigilant because it is possible that Russia itself could plan chemical weapons operations under this fabrication of lies. That would be a war crime,” Stoltenberg was quoted as saying.
Russia Ukraine War – The Lonely Envoy: Russia’s UN Representative On The DefensiveIt was the middle of an emergency session of the UN Security Council, late on the evening of February 23, and Vassily Nebenzia looked shaken — his face pale, his shoulders sagging.
Russia, the country he represents at the United Nations, had just invaded Ukraine, sending shock waves around the world that continue to reverberate today. Read more here.
The United Nations will have multiple meetings this week about Russia’s war in Ukraine, though it is unclear if they will lead to the adoption of an official text, diplomats said.
On Monday, the Security Council will discuss the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Polish foreign minister Zbigniew Rau is expected to speak during the session, one of the diplomatic sources told AFP Saturday.
Although this is an annual meeting, it will place special focus on the war in Ukraine and will likely see fresh calls for peace.
Britain will pay people to open their homes to Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion as the government moves to deflect anger over its response to the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War Two.
The new scheme called “Homes for Ukraine” will let refugees from the war come to Britain even if they do not have family ties, the government said on Sunday.
Britain will pay people 350 pounds ($456) a month if they can offer refugees a spare room or property for a minimum period of six months.