Ukrainian officials said 198 civilians had been killed since Russia invaded.
Russian troops have entered Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv and fighting was under way on Sunday, the head of the regional administration said on the fourth day of Moscow’s invasion of the pro-Western country. “The Russian enemy’s light vehicles broke into the city of Kharkiv,” Oleg Sinegubov said in a Facebook post, urging residents not to leave shelters. “The Ukrainian armed forces are eliminating the enemy.” While fighting raged in Kharkiv, the city administration in Kyiv, 400 km to the west, said the capital remained completely under the control of Ukrainian forces despite clashes with “sabotage groups”.
Here are the updates on the Russia-Ukraine crisis:
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Russian troops have entered Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv and fighting was under way on Sunday, the head of the regional administration said on the fourth day of Moscow’s invasion of the pro-Western country. “The Russian enemy’s light vehicles broke into the city of Kharkiv,” Oleg Sinegubov said in a Facebook post, urging residents not to leave shelters. “The Ukrainian armed forces are eliminating the enemy.”
Kremlin says ready for talks with Ukraine in Belarus
Putin salutes ‘heroism’ of Russian special forces fighting in Ukraine
#UkraineRussiaConflict | “My brother is stuck at Poland border in subzero temperature, no help forthcoming,” says Yashoda Nand Tripathi.
Families appeal for help as dozens of Indian students are stranded at the Ukraine-Poland border pic.twitter.com/ivteKvVGzl
– NDTV (@ndtv) February 27, 2022
Ukraine establishing foreign legion for volunteers from abroad
Ukraine is establishing a foreign “international” legion for volunteers from abroad, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday. “This will be the key evidence of your support for our country,” Zelenskiy said in a statement.
Russian troops have entered Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv and fighting was under way on Sunday, the head of the regional administration said on the fourth day of Moscow’s invasion of the pro-Western country. “The Russian enemy’s light vehicles broke into the city of Kharkiv,” Oleg Sinegubov said in a Facebook post. “The Ukrainian armed forces are eliminating the enemy.”
A blast was heard to the west of the Kyiv city centre on Sunday, minutes after air raid sirens, a Reuters correspondent reported.
Russia claims to have besieged two big cities in Ukraine south and southeast
Moscow claimed Sunday its troops had “entirely” besieged the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson and the city of Berdyansk in the southeast, as the Russian army pressed ahead with the invasion of the pro-Western country. “Over the past 24 hours, the cities of Kherson and Berdyansk have been completely blocked by the Russian armed forces,” defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies.
Ukraine crisis: 4th flight on its way from Bucharest to India
“Operation Ganga is underway. The fourth flight has left from Bucharest (Romania) to bring 198 Indian nationals to Delhi safely,” Foreign Minister S Jaishankar
Moscow claimed Sunday its troops had “entirely” besieged the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson and the city of Berdyansk in the southeast, as the Russian army pressed ahead with the invasion of the pro-Western country.
Russian troops enter Ukraine’s Kharkiv
Russian troop vehicles were seen on the streets of Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kharkiv on Sunday, Anton Herashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, wrote on Telegram. Videos published by Herashchenko and Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection showed several light military vehicles moving along a street and, separately, a burning tank.
Google has said it is pausing monetisation of Russian state-funded media and barring the outlets from running ads across its services, according to a statement seen by Reuters.
The uncertainty created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its impact on the global economy is piling more complexity onto the US central bank’s already tough fight to contain rising prices. Soaring energy and food costs have pushed inflation in the world’s largest economy to the highest pace in four decades, and the Federal Reserve is poised to raise the benchmark borrowing rate in March to put out the fire.
Russia has praised India’s “independent and balanced” position after Delhi abstained from a UN Security Council vote that deplored Moscow’s “aggression” against Ukraine.
India, along with China and the UAE, did not vote on the resolution Friday, a move in line with the fine balance Delhi has sought to strike between partnerships with Moscow and Western allies.
Ottawa flags “concerns” over Russian channel RT broadcasts
Canadian authorities expressed “concerns” on Saturday over the local broadcasting of state-funded Russian channel RT, which critics have long labelled a mouthpiece for the Kremlin. Regularly accused in the West of contributing to disinformation, RT is in the crosshairs of several European countries, with the heat on the channel amped up since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine this week. “I share the concerns of many Canadians about the presence of Russia Today in our broadcasting system,” Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez tweeted. “We’re looking at all options,” he added, amid growing calls in Canada to ban the channel.
China’s envoy to Ukraine said Sunday current conditions were too unsafe to evacuate citizens, days after the embassy said it would prepare plans to help people leave after the Russian invasion. In a lengthy video message on the embassy’s official WeChat account, Chinese ambassador Fan Xianrong sought to dispel rumours he had left Kyiv and reassure Chinese nationals left stranded in the war-torn country.
North Korea has accused the United States of being the “root cause of the Ukraine crisis” while defending Russia, in Pyongyang’s first official response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Washington has pursued “military supremacy in disregard of the legitimate demand of Russia for its security” according to the commentary, attributed to Ri Ji Song, a researcher at the North’s Society for International Politics Study.
Hollywood superstar Angelina Jolie recently shared a message of prayer for the people who are the victims of the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
Jolie took to her Instagram handle to share a statement on the Russia-Ukraine conflict in her capacity as a special envoy for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
“Like many of you, I’m praying for the people in Ukraine,” Jolie said in the statement adding, “My focus along with my @refugees colleagues is that everything possible is done to ensure the protection and basic human rights of those displaced, and refugees in the region.”
Exclusion from SWIFT, a very discreet but important cog in the machinery of international finance, is one of the most disruptive sanctions the West has deployed against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
Australia will supply weapons to Ukraine through NATO allies in Europe, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Sunday, days after Canberra said it would only provide Kiev with “non-lethal” assistance.
“We are already providing significant support in terms of non-lethal aid but I’ve just spoken to the Defence Minister [Peter Dutton] and we’ll be seeking to provide whatever support we can for lethal aid through our NATO partners, particularly the United States and the United Kingdom,” Morrison said as quoted by The Sydney Morning Herald.
Over 3,000 protesters have been detained in Russia over the last three days for participating in anti-war protests, a monitoring group has claimed.
“For the last three days, at least 3,093 people have been arrested for anti-war protests from all over Russia,” tweeted ‘OVD-Info Monitor’, a group tracking arrests during protests all over Russia.
With the evacuation of Indian students trapped in Ukraine picking up speed, the Bihar government has started helplines for boys and girls hailing from the state who had gone to the war-torn country for pursuing higher education and are now anxious to make an exit in the wake of the military crisis.
The helpline numbers issued by the state Disaster Management Department are 0612-2294204, 0612-1070 and 7070290170. An email-id has also been issued by the government — seoc-dmd@bihar.gov.in. The Bihar Bhavan in New Delhi has also issued a helpline number and email-id — 7217788114, rescm.bi@nic.in.
3rd flight carrying 240 Indians from Budapest lands in Delhi
A third flight carrying 240 Indians from Budapest has landed in Delhi. Earlier, Air India’s second evacuation flight from Romanian capital Bucharest carrying 250 Indian nationals who were stranded in Ukraine had landed at Delhi airport this morning.
Prince William, Kate Middleton praise Ukraine President Zelenskyy
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Prince William and Kate Middleton have spoken out in support of Ukraine and its President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. They backed Ukraine and its leader amid attacks from Russia in a message via Twitter on Saturday. “In October 2020 we had the privilege to meet President Zelenskyy and the First Lady to learn of their hope and optimism for Ukraine’s future,” the tweet read. It continued, “Today we stand with the President and all of Ukraine’s people as they bravely fight for that future.”
Russian missiles have hit the Ukrainian town of Vasylkiv southwest of the capital, Kyiv, setting an oil terminal ablaze, the town’s mayor said in a video posted online. “The enemy wants to destroy everything around,” said the mayor, Natalia Balasinovich.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday said that Brussels would propose to freeze the assets of the Russian central bank, in a major escalation of sanctions against Moscow following the invasion of Ukraine.
Von der Leyen also said the EU would remove “certain” Russian banks from the SWIFT payment system, in response to a key demand of Kyiv to punish Russian President Vladimir Putin.
US, Allies To Remove Russian Banks From Global Payment System SWIFT
Germany and its Western allies agreed to cut Russia out of the SWIFT global payment system, a spokesperson for the German government said on Saturday, in a third sanctions package aimed at halting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine says Russian troops blow up gas pipeline in Kharkiv
Russian troops have blown up a natural gas pipeline in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s state service of special communications and information protection said on Sunday.
A Ukrainian company in charge of building and maintaining roads said it was removing all road signs that could be used by invading Russian forces to find their way around the country.
China does not seem to be helping Russia with the Western financial sanctions on Moscow over its aggression in Ukraine, a senior Biden Administration official has said.
“The latest time suggests that China’s not coming to the rescue,” the official said during a conference call on Saturday, according to Sputnik News Agency.
“I think it was reported… that China was actually restricting some of its banks to provide credit to facilitate energy purchases from Russia, which suggests that much like has been the pattern for years and years, China has tended to respect the force of US sanctions,” the official said further.
Donald Trump emerged from political exile Saturday to blast President Joe Biden and NATO over the Ukraine crisis and reprise his false claims of a stolen 2020 election in a speech to grassroots Republicans. Trump blamed Russia’s invasion of its neighbor on Biden’s “weakness” and lavished praise on President Vladimir Putin’s intellect.
North Korea’s missile launch on Sunday is “regrettable” and never desirable while the world is trying to resolve the crisis in Ukraine, South Korea’s National Security Council said, urging the neighbouring country to return to talks.
SpaceX billionaire Elon Musk said on Saturday that the company’s Starlink satellite broadband service is available in Ukraine and SpaceX is sending more terminals to the country, whose internet has been disrupted due to the Russian invasion.
“Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals en route,” Musk tweeted.
Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals en route.
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 26, 2022
The Russian army has been ordered to broaden its Ukraine advance “from all directions” after Ukraine said it had repulsed an attack on capital Kyiv but “sabotage groups” remained in the city. Read the latest developments here
Russian missiles have hit the Ukrainian town of Vasylkiv southwest of the capital, Kyiv, setting an oil terminal ablaze, the town’s mayor said in a video posted online.
Photographs and video posted online showed large flames rising under the night sky.
Indian nationals, mostly students, who were evacuated from Ukraine heaved a sigh of relief as the Air India flight carrying them landed at the airport here in the early hours of Sunday.
The returnees belonged to different states, including Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh and Kerala etc. They thanked the Indian government for evacuating them and saving their lives.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday said that he had spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking “political support”, shortly after Russia praised India’s decision to abstain from a vote at the United Nations to condemn its invasion.
French President Emmanuel Macron called on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to demand the speedy withdrawal of Russian troops from Belarus, the Elysee Palace said in a statement after the two leaders’ phone talks.
Air India’s second evacuation flight from Romanian capital Bucharest carrying 250 Indian nationals who were stranded in Ukraine landed at the Delhi airport in the early hours of Sunday, government officials said.
Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia welcomed the evacuees at the airport by handing out roses to them.
Germany and its Western allies agreed to cut Russia out of the SWIFT global payment system, a spokesperson for the German government said on Saturday, in a third sanctions package aimed at halting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The sanctions, agreed with the United States, France, Canada, Italy, Great Britain and the European Commission also include limiting the ability of Russia’s central bank to support the rouble.