Ukraine War: The vote is to be set for Friday morning.

New Delhi:

The United States, Britain, France, Albania, Norway and Ireland have requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting Thursday because of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Ukraine, diplomatic sources said.

“Russia is committing war crimes and targeting civilians,” the British diplomatic mission to the UN said Wednesday on its Twitter account. “Russia’s illegal war on Ukraine is a threat to us all.”

Earlier in the day, Russia asked to again postpone a UN Security Council vote on a resolution it drafted about the “humanitarian” situation in Ukraine.

The vote, first scheduled for Wednesday and then pushed to Thursday afternoon, is to be set for Friday morning — unless the draft is dropped altogether due to lack of support from Moscow’s allies.

Discussions are also underway, according to other diplomatic sources, to allow Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to speak to the United Nations General Assembly.

France and Mexico, which drafted a resolution calling for a “cessation of hostilities” in Ukraine, have given up presenting their text to the Security Council, where Russia — which holds the rotating presidency for March — can veto it.

They were instead to present it to the General Assembly, where no country alone can block a text.

Here are the LIVE Updates on Ukraine-Russia War:

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Russia’s Gameplan For Ukraine: Where It Has Failed

Nowhere in Ukraine has Russia’s invasion gone to plan, but a combination of geography, better troops, shorter supply lines and weaker opposition means Moscow’s campaign has progressed enough in the south to show what President Vladimir Putin at least intended. Read more

Just In| Volodymyr Zelensky tells German MPs Russia building new ‘Wall’ against freedom: news agency AFP

German MPs Give Zelensky Standing Ovation Before Video Address

• German deputies gave Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a standing ovation Thursday ahead of a video address he was due to give before the Bundestag lower house.
• One day after a searing appeal for help before the US Congress, Zelensky was expected to ask Berlin for further military and financial assistance.

Russia Will Put Its Enemies Such As US In “Their Place”: Ex-President Dmitry Medvedev

• Russia has the might to put enemies led by the United States in their place and Moscow will foil the West’s Russophobic plot to tear Russia apart, one of President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies said on Thursday.
• Dmitry Medvedev, who served as president from 2008 to 2012 and is now deputy secretary of Russia’s security council, said the United States had stoked “disgusting” Russophobia in an attempt to force Russia on its knees and then rip it apart.
• “It will not work – Russia has the might to put all of our brash enemies in their place,” Medvedev said.

One killed in new Kyiv strike: rescuers

• One person was killed and three injured when debris from a downed rocket hit a Kyiv apartment block Thursday, as Russian forces press in on the capital, emergency services said.
• Russian troops trying to encircle Kyiv have launched early morning strikes on the city for several successive days, putting traumatised residents further on edge.
• Rescuers evacuated 30 people from the 16-storey building in eastern Darnitsky district after it was struck at 5:02 am (0302 GMT), the State Emergency Services of Ukraine said.

In A Chilling And Televised Threat, Putin’s Big Warning

• Vladimir Putin warned he would cleanse Russia of the “scum and traitors” he accuses of working covertly for the U.S. and its allies.
• Facing economic meltdown three weeks into his invasion of Ukraine, the Russian leader lashed out at domestic critics. He accused the West of wanting to destroy Russia in a televised video conference with dark undertones. 
• “Any people, and particularly the Russian people, will always be able to tell apart the patriots from the scum and traitors and spit them out like a midge that accidentally flew into their mouths,” Putin said.
• He went further: “I am convinced that this natural and necessary self-cleansing of society will only strengthen our country, our solidarity, cohesion and readiness to meet any challenge.”

UK military intelligence says Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has largely stalled

• Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has largely stalled on all fronts, with Russian forces suffering heavy losses and making minimal progress on land, sea or air in recent days, British military intelligence said on Thursday.
• “Ukrainian resistance remains staunch and well-coordinated,” The Ministry of Defence said. “The vast majority of Ukrainian territory, including all major cities, remains in Ukrainian hands.”

Theatre bombed in Ukraine, Biden slams ‘war criminal’ Putin

• Ukraine accused Russia Thursday of bombing a theatre that was sheltering more than 1,000 civilians in the city of Mariupol, after US President Joe Biden branded Vladimir Putin a “war criminal”.
• The latest assaults on civilians across Ukraine came as President Volodymyr Zelensky made a searing appeal for help to the US, which responded by pledging $1 billion in new weapons to fight Russia’s invading army.
• Officials across Ukraine are struggling to count the civilian dead — with authorities saying 103 children have been killed since the invasion began — who have been targeted in homes, hospitals, ambulances and food queues.
• In the port city of Mariupol — where more than 2,000 people have died so far — a Russian bomb hit the Drama Theatre, which city council officials said had been housing over 1,000 people. 
• “The only word to describe what has happened today is genocide, genocide of our nation, our Ukrainian people,” the city’s mayor Vadim Boychenko said in a video message on Telegram.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s ‘Servant of the People’ series returns to Netflix

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s series ‘Servant of the People’, which inspired him to enter into politics, is back for streaming on Netflix in the US.
• According to The Hollywood Reporter, the satirical series originally streamed on Netflix from 2017 to 2021.
• ‘Servant of the People’ follows a teacher (Zelenskyy) who unexpectedly becomes president after a rant against corruption goes viral on social media.
• The show ran for three seasons and ended when Zelenskyy decided to run for President of Ukraine in 2019 under the banner of a new political party floated by him ‘Servant of the People’.
• After much demand from the public due to ongoing Russia’s military operations in Ukraine and the heroism of Zelenskyy in defending his country, Netflix is currently streaming the series for its US subscribers.
• Russia launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24 which was condemned by the Western nations.
• Zelenskyy, recently addressed the US Congress, virtually.

‘More than a thousand’ were sheltering in bombed Ukraine theatre: local official

• Ukraine claimed Wednesday that Russia had destroyed a theatre harbouring more than a thousand people in the besieged port city of Mariupol, with the toll as yet unknown.
• “Today, the invaders destroyed the Drama Theatre. A place, where more than a thousand people found refuge. We will never forgive this,” the Mariupol local council said in a Telegram post.

US Isn’t Accepting More Ukrainian Refugees. Here’s Why

More than 3 million people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries since Russia invaded on Feb. 24, according to United Nations data, but the United States has only admitted several hundred Ukrainian refugees so far, leaving some critics questioning U.S. government policy. Read more

In World Court, Indian Judge Votes Against Russia For Invading Ukraine

• The UN’s top court on Wednesday ordered Russia to suspend its invasion of Ukraine, saying it was “profoundly concerned” by Moscow’s use of force. “The Russian Federation shall immediately suspend military operations that it commenced on 24 February on the territory of Ukraine,” pending the final decision in the case, presiding judge Joan Donoghue told the International Court of Justice, or ICJ.
• “The court is profoundly concerned about the use of force by the Russian Federation which raises very serious issues in international law,” Justice Donoghue told a hearing in The Hague.
• Kyiv dragged Moscow to the UN’s top court days after Russia’s attack on February 24.
• India’s judge at the ICJ, Justice Dalveer Bhandari, also voted against Russia.