Russia Ukraine News Highlights | The war in Ukraine is likely to be over by early May when Russia runs out of resources to attack its neighbour, Oleksiy Arestovich, an adviser to the Ukrainian president's chief of staff, said late on Monday. Talks between Kyiv and Moscow - in which Arestovich is not personally involved - have so far produced very few results other than several humanitarian corridors out of besieged Ukrainian cities.
In a video published by several Ukrainian media, Arestovich said the exact timing would depend on how much resources the Kremlin was willing to commit to the campaign. "I think that no later than in May, early May, we should have a peace agreement, maybe much earlier, we will see, I am talking about the latest possible dates," Arestovich said.
"We are at a fork in the road now: there will either be a peace deal struck very quickly, within a week or two, with troop withdrawal and everything, or there will be an attempt to scrape together some, say, Syrians for a round two and, when we grind them too, an agreement by mid-April or late April." A "completely crazy" scenario could also involve Russia sending fresh conscripts after a month of training, he said.
Still, even once peace is agreed, small tactical clashes could remain possible for a year, according to Arestovich, although Ukraine insists on the complete removal of Russian troops from its territory. The war in Ukraine began on Feb. 24 when Russian President Vladimir Putin launched what he called a "special military operation," the biggest attack on a European state since World War Two.
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Russia-Ukraine Conflict | NATO fears Russian chemical attack in Ukraine
NATO is worried Russia is gearing up to carry out a chemical attack in Ukraine, secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday, ahead of a meeting of the alliance's defence ministers.
"We are concerned that Moscow could stage a false flag operation possibly including chemical weapons," the NATO chief told reporters, citing "absurd claims" from Russia that Ukraine possesses biological weapons labs.
NATO, he said, remains "very vigilant" on that risk and stressed that Russia would have "a high price to pay" if it carried out such a "violation of international law".
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates |
Russia imposes sanctions on US President Joe Biden and several top US officials
Russia has placed sanctions on US President Joe Biden, reported news agency AFP. It has also placed sanctions on Secretary of State Antony Blinken, CIA Director William Burns, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and ten other administration officials and political figures.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Russia says it will offer its own UN resolution on Ukraine humanitarian situation
Russia will put forth its own draft of a resolution regarding humanitarian situation in Ukraine, Moscow's ambassador to the United Nations said on Tuesday. Answering a reporter's question, ambassador Vassily Nebenzia also said Russia will stop its invasion when the goals of its special military operation are achieved in Ukraine, including demilitarization.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | 'Close the sky', Kyiv residents beg after new strikes
Inside her glass-strewn Kyiv apartment, Alla Ragulina cries as she surveys the wreckage of a life shattered by a surge in Russian strikes on the capital.The sheer force of the early morning blast blew out the windows and threw the 64-year-old tax service employee against a wall.Her mother, who is blind and cannot walk, is now in hospital, one of the latest victims of a campaign of shelling that has raised fears of a Russian assault on Kyiv."The explosion was so big," says Ragulina through sobs, shaking with shock after going downstairs to be comforted by other residents."People were sleeping, glass pieces were flying around, I was literally pushed into the wall -- it's really a miracle that nobody was killed."Russian forces trying to encircle Kyiv have intensified strikes on the capital, which has so far been spared the fate of devastated cities such as the southeastern city of Mariupol and Kharkhiv in the northeast.Already gripped by a siege mentality, Kyiv was shaken by four blasts early on Tuesday, hitting residential buildings and a metro station, killing two people.The attacks threaten to drive still more people out of the city, from which an estimated half of its 3.5 million people have fled.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates |
Kyiv says Ukraine-Russia conflict talks resumeA senior Ukrainian negotiator said Tuesday that talks between Moscow and Kyiv on ending nearly three weeks of fighting in Ukraine had restarted, with both sides having signalled progress."Negotiations are ongoing," a member of the Ukraine delegation and presidential aide, Mykhailo Podolyak, wrote on Twitter, adding that his side would be pushing for a "ceasefire (and) withdrawal of troops from the territory of the country".
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Humanitarian aid convoy hits problems trying to reach Mariupol - Ukrainian deputy PM Iryna Vereshchuk
Ukraine faced new problems trying to deliver humanitarian aid to the besieged city of Mariupol on Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said. Vereshchuk said a convoy with supplies for Mariupol was stuck at nearby Berdyansk and accused Russia of lying about fulfilling agreements to help trapped civilians. Convoys of private cars were not sufficient to evacuate people from Mariupol and buses needed to be let through, she said.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Russia drafting thousands in Syria for Ukraine war: monitor
Russia has drawn up lists of 40,000 fighters from Syrian army and allied militias to be put on standby for deployment in Ukraine, a war monitor said Tuesday.The Kremlin said last week that volunteers, including from Syria, were welcome to fight alongside the Russian army in Ukraine.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and activists said Russian officers, in coordination with the Syrian military and allied militia, had set up registration offices in regime-held areas."More than 40,000 Syrians have registered to fight alongside Russia in Ukraine so far," said Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the UK-based monitor.Moscow is recruiting Syrians who acquired combat experience during Syria's 11-year-old civil war to bolster the invasion of Ukraine it launched on February 24.Russian officers deployed as part of the force Moscow sent to Syria in 2015 to support Damascus had approved 22,000 of them, Abdel Rahman said.Those fighters are either combatants drawn from the army or pro-regime militias who have experience in street warfare and received Russian training.In a country where soldiers earn between $15 and $35 per month, Russia has promised them a salary of $1,100 to fight in Ukraine, the Observatory reported.They are also entitled to $7,700 in compensation for injuries and their families to $16,500 if they are killed in combat.Another 18,000 men had registered with Syria's ruling Baath party and would be screened by the Wagner Group, a Russian private military contractor with links to the Kremlin, the monitor said.Misinformation about Syrian recruits in Ukraine has been spreading online.Last week, pictures were shared of a Syrian soldier they said had died in Ukraine, but it later appeared he had been killed in his homeland in 2015.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | 2,000 cars left Ukraine's Mariupol via humanitarian corridor, says local authorities
Some 2,000 civilian cars have been able to drive out of the besieged southeastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol along a humanitarian evacuation route, the city authorities said Tuesday."As of 14:00 (1200 GMT) it is known that 2,000 cars left Mariupol," the city council said on Telegram, adding that a further 2,000 vehicles are waiting to leave the city.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Will continue to support Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his people, says Boris Johnson
Wewill continue to support Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyrZelenskyyand his people –tightening economic sanctions and providing support to help Ukrainians protect themselves from bombardment, UK PM Boris Johnson said.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | More than three million flee Ukraine war, half of them children: UN
More than three million people have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded on February 24, nearly half of them minors, with a child becoming a refugee every second, the UN said."We have now reached the three-million mark in terms of movement of people out of Ukraine," Paul Dillon, a spokesman for the United Nations migration agency (IOM), told reporters.Less than three weeks into the invasion, "three million lives uprooted. Three million women, children and vulnerable people separated from their loved ones," IOM chief Antonio Vitorino said in a tweet."We need an immediate cessation of hostilities."The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, meanwhile put the total number of refugees to date at 2.97 million.More than half of them, 1.8 million, have fled to Poland, it said.The UN children's agency meanwhile said that more than 1.4 million of those who have fled are minors."On average, every day over the last 20 days in Ukraine, more than 70,000 children have become refugees," UNICEF spokesman James Elder told reporters in Geneva. That amounts to around 55 every minute, "so almost one per second," he said."This crisis in terms of speed and scale is unprecedented since World War II, and is showing no signs of slowing down."
"Like all children driven from their homes by war and conflicts, Ukrainian children arriving in those border countries are at significant risk of family separation, of violence, of sexual exploitation and trafficking," Elder warned."They're in desperate need of safety, stability and child protection services, especially those who are unaccompanied or have been separated from their families," he said.Elder, who had just returned to Geneva after spending two weeks in Lviv in western Ukraine, described the immense suffering behind the numbers.
"Each one of those children by and large had their father explain to them that their father was staying behind," he said.He said the children he saw "didn't cry. That's not well-behaved children, that's a sign of trauma."Inside Ukraine, the situation is bleaker still.Elder described heartbreaking scenes of paediatricians trying to manage the large numbers of children arriving with wounds of war."The doctors use stickers to prioritise treatment," he said."A green sticker on a child means injured but we leave them, yellow sticker on a child means needs attention, a red sticker on a child means critical attention immediately," he said."And when the paediatricians are forced to put a black sticker on a child, it means the child is alive, but do not give attention, because we don't have the resources and that child will die."
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | UK announces 350 new sanctions listings on Russia
The British government said on Tuesday it had added 350 new listings under its Russia sanctions regime and nine new listings under its cyber sanctions regime. Among those in the latest round of sanctions wereAndreyMelnichenko, who owned majorfertiliserproducerEuroChemGroup and coal companySUEK, PyotrAven, an oil investor who built a European business empire with an estimated net worth of $4.7 billion, and Russia'sdefenceminister SergeiShoigu.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Russia says received guarantees from US on Iran nuclear deal
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday that Moscow had received guarantees from the US on its ability to trade with Tehran as part of ongoing talks to salvage the Iran nuclear deal."We received written guarantees. They are included in the text of the agreement itself on the resumption of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear program," Lavrov told reporters during a press conference with his Iranian counterpart in Moscow.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Russia captain Dzyuba left out of squad over Ukraine conflict
Russian captain Artem Dzyuba has asked to be left out of the squad for friendly matches later this month because of the "difficult situation in Ukraine", coach Valery Karpin said on Tuesday."Given the difficult situation in Ukraine, where many members of his family live, Artem apologised and asked, for family reasons, not to be selected," Karpin said on the site of the Football Union of Russia."We agreed to stay in touch and I will keep a close eye on his next few matches with Zenit Saint Petersburg."Russia, which hosted the last World Cup finals in 2018, have been thrown out of the playoffs for this year's finals in Qatar because of its military action over Ukraine, although they have appealed against FIFA's decision.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Swiss neutrality under fire over Ukraine war
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has pushed Switzerland to shed taboos, with calls for rearmament and unprecedented sanctions putting its deeply engrained neutrality to the test of a war in Europe.Critics in Switzerland have warned that government moves could "torpedo" one of the wealthy Alpine nation's key principles, dictating no involvement in conflicts between other states.After Russian troops entered Ukraine on February 24, Bern cited that neutrality when it initially refrained from jumping onboard with biting sanctions imposed by the European Union.But four days later, the government buckled to international pressure and imposed all the EU sanctions, prompting criticism it was throwing neutrality to the wind. The move, which the government insisted was "compatible" with its neutrality, was widely welcomed on the international stage. It even earned a mention in US President Joe Biden's State of the Union address, when he hailed that "even Switzerland" was with those striving to hold Moscow accountable for its aggression.But at home, it sparked outrage from the far right, which demands total neutrality, both on military and political.The largest party, the populist right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP), has threatened to push the issue to a referendum, as part of the country's direct democracy system.The SVP has also lashed out at Bern's efforts to gain a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council, warning this would "torpedo" the country's neutrality.The government has argued that if it is granted the seat in June elections, it can simply abstain on issues that cast doubt on its neutrality.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Ukrainian region issues country-wide air raid warning
The northern Ukrainian region of Chernihiv issued a warning of country-wide air attacks on Tuesday, urging citizens to head to shelters. It was not immediately clear whether other regions had issued similar warnings of new air strikes by Russian forces that invaded Ukraine on February24. "Attention. Air raid ALL UKRAINE! Take shelter!," said the warning, shared in an online post.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | UK slaps heavy tariffs on Russian imports, including vodka
The UK government on Tuesday imposed an additional 35 percent import tariff on a swathe of Russian goods, including vodka, and banned exports of luxury products because of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine."We want to cause maximum harm to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's war machine while minimising the impact on UK businesses," the Department for International Trade said in a statement.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Sumy evacuation extremely complex as our students faced prospect of being caught in crossfire: EAM
Sumy evacuation was extremely complex as our students faced the prospect of being caught in crossfire. Their evacuation from the city needed a credible ceasefire. This finallymaterialiseddue to the personal intervention of PM himself with the Presidents of Ukraine & Russia,EAMDr SJaishankarin RajyaSabha
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | In line with India's principle of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, foreign nationals were also evacuated from conflict zones & brought to India, says EAM S Jaishankar
In line with India's principle ofVasudhaivaKutumbakam, foreign nationals were also evacuated from conflict zones & brought to India. They included 147 citizens of 18 countries. Many Ukrainian nationals that are family members of Indian nationals have also been evacuated,EAM said.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Ukraine capital under fire as NATO leaders visit Kyiv
Russia's offensive in Ukraine edged closer to central Kyiv on Tuesday, with a series of strikes hitting a residential neighbourhood as the leaders of three NATO member countries planned a visit to the embattled capital. Shortly before dawn, large explosions thundered across Kyiv from what Ukrainian authorities said was artillery strikes.At least one person was killed and many others remained trapped inside as shelling ignited a huge fire and a frantic rescue effort in a 15-story apartment building. Shockwaves from an explosion also damaged the entry to a downtown subway station that has been used as a bomb shelter.City authorities tweeted an image of the blown-out facade, saying trains would no longer stop at the station. The leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia will on Tuesday travel to the Ukrainian capital on a European Union mission to show support for the country as Russia's forces move closer to Kyiv.
The aim of the visit is to express the EU's unequivocal support for Ukraine and its freedom and independence, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala tweeted. He will be joined by Slovak Prime Minister Janez Jana, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Poland's deputy prime minister for security and the leader of the conservative ruling party.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | One child becoming a refugee every second in Ukraine: UN
Some 1.4 million children have now fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on February 24, meaning nearly one child a second has become a refugee, the UN said Tuesday."On average, every day over the last 20 days in Ukraine, more than 70,000 children have become refugees," James Elder, spokesman for the UN children's agency UNICEF, told reporters in Geneva.That amounts to around 55 every minute, "so almost one per second," he said.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Russia seeks new 13-year jail term for opposition leader Navalny
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Kyiv to impose curfew for 'difficult and dangerous' 36 hours
Kyivwill impose a 36-hour curfew from Tuesday night amid a "difficult and dangerous moment" after several Russian strikes, MayorVitaliKlitschkosaid.The announcement came as Russia launched fresh attacks in Ukraine's capital, which has nearly been encircled by Moscow's troops in the third week of the invasion and that has lost an estimated half of its 3.5-million pre-war population."Today is a difficult and dangerous moment," former boxing championKlitschkosaid in a statement on Telegram."This is why I ask allKyivitesto get prepared to stay at home for two days, or if the sirens go off, in the shelters."The curfew from 8 pm (1800 GMT) on Tuesday until 7 pm (1700 GMT) on Thursday was a "decision of the military command", he said.It comes as the Polish, Czech and Slovenian prime ministers weretravellingtoKyivby train on Tuesday in the first visit by foreign leaders to the capital."Movement aroundKyivwithout special permits is forbidden. It is only allowed to go outside with the aim to get to the shelters," he added.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | UK's Chancellor says the country will increase tariffs on hundreds of Russian goods, the Spectator Index has reported.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Ukraine says 'massive destruction' at Dnipro airport after shelling
Overnight shelling caused massive damage at the airport in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, regional authorities said Tuesday."During the night the enemy attacked the Dnipro airport. Two strikes. The runway was destroyed. The terminal is damaged. Massive destruction," Dnipro region governor Valentin Reznichenko said on Telegram.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Just in: Kyiv to impose 36-hour curfew from late Tuesday, says Mayor
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | China does not want to be 'affected' by Russia sanctions: foreign minister
China does not want to be impacted by Western economic sanctions on Russia, state media reported Tuesday, as pressure grows on Beijing to withdraw support from an isolated Moscow.Beijing has refused to condemn its close ally Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, while blaming the United States and NATO's "eastward expansion" for worsening tensions.Moscow and Beijing have grown closer in recent times, in what Washington sees as an increasingly hostile alliance of the authoritarian nuclear powers."China is not a party to the crisis, still less wants to be affected by the sanctions," Wang Yi said, according to a readout of a phone call with his Spanish counterpart Jose Manuel Albares published on Tuesday.China has "always opposed using sanctions to solve problems, let alone unilateral sanctions that has no basis in international law, which will... harm people's livelihood in all countries", Wang said according to the readout.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Ukrainian presidential adviser says Ukraine war is at a crossroads
An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that the war in Ukraine was at a crossroads that could lead to an agreement at talks with Russia or a new Russian offensive. "We are at a crossroads. Either we will agree at the current talks or the Russians will make a second attempt (at an offensive) and then there will be talks again," adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Polish, Czech, Slovenian PMs to visit Ukraine on Tuesday
Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that he would visit the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Tuesday with the agreement of the European Union and the United Nations. Morawiecki and his counterparts from the Czech Republic and Slovenia will travel to Ukraine to meet President Volodomyr Zelenskyy.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Russian offensive edges deeper into Kyiv, more talks planned
The Russian offensive in Ukraine edged closer to central Kyiv on Tuesday even as the two countries kept open a narrow diplomatic channel with more planned talks. Shortly before dawn, large explosions thundered across Kyiv. A series of Russian strikes hit a residential neighborhood in the capital, igniting a huge fire and a frantic rescue effort in a 15-story apartment building.
Shockwaves from an explosion also damaged the entry to a downtown subway station that has been used as a bomb shelter. City authorities tweeted an image of the blown-out facade, saying trains would no longer stop at the station. When Russia launched the war nearly three weeks ago, fear of an imminent invasion gripped the Ukrainian capital, as residents slept night after night in subway stations or crammed onto trains to flee. But as the Russian offensive bogged down, Kyiv saw a relative lull. Fighting has intensified on the outskirts in recent days, and sporadic air raid sirens ring out around the capital.
There was a rare glimmer of hope in the encircled port city of Mariupol after a convoy of 160 civilian cars left along a designated humanitarian route, the city council reported. Over the past 10 days or so, the lethal siege has pulverized homes and other buildings and left people desperate for food, water, heat and medicine. The latest negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, held by video Monday, were the fourth round involving higher-level officials from the two countries and the first in a week. The talks ended without a breakthrough after several hours, with an aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying the negotiators took a technical pause and planned to meet again Tuesday.
The two sides had expressed some optimism in the past few days. Mykhailo Podolyak, the aide to Zelenskyy, tweeted that the negotiators would discuss peace, cease-fire, immediate withdrawal of troops & security guarantees. Previous discussions, held in person in Belarus, produced no lasting humanitarian routes or agreements to end the fighting. Zelenskyy is seeking to extend martial law until April 24 and to require men ages 18 to 60 to stay in the country to fight. Zelenskyy submitted the extension in a bill to parliament, which is expected to vote on it this week.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | European leaders going to Ukraine's embattled capital
The leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are travelling to Ukraine's capital Tuesday on a European Union mission to show support for the country as Russia's forces move closer to Kyiv.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said in a tweet: The aim of the visit is to express the European Union's unequivocal support for Ukraine and its freedom and independence. He will be joined by Slovak Prime Minister Janez Jana, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who is Poland's deputy prime minister for security and the leader of the conservative ruling party.
Russia's offensive in Ukraine edged closer to central Kyiv on Tuesday, with a series of strikes hitting a residential neighborhood in the capital as the two countries planned a second day of talks.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Ukraine aims to deliver aid to Mariupol and open more humanitarian corridors
Ukraine plans to open nine "humanitarian corridors" on Tuesday to evacuate civilians from areas besieged by Russian forces and will try to deliver humanitarian supplies to encircled Mariupol, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said. Vitaliy Koval, the governor of the northern region of Rivne, said separately that the death toll from a Russian air strike on a television tower in his region on Monday had risen to at least 19.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates
| Prime Ministers of the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia will travel to Kyiv on Tuesday to meet President Volodomyr Zelenskiy as representatives of European Union leaders, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on social networks
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Ukraine's capital under fire; NATO nation leaders to visit
Russia's offensive in Ukraine edged closer to central Kyiv on Tuesday, with a series of strikes hitting a residential neighborhood as the leaders of three NATO member countries planned a visit to Ukraine's embattled capital. Shortly before dawn, large explosions thundered across Kyiv from what Ukrainian authorities said was artillery strikes. The shelling ignited a huge fire and a frantic rescue effort in a 15-story apartment building. At least one person was killed and others remain trapped inside.
Shockwaves from an explosion also damaged the entry to a downtown subway station that has been used as a bomb shelter. City authorities tweeted an image of the blown-out facade, saying trains would no longer stop at the station. The leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are traveling to Ukraine’s capital Tuesday on a European Union mission to show support for the country as Russia’s forces move closer to Kyiv.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Medical student returns to Andamans from Ukraine
A medical student from Andaman and Nicobar Islands has returned home from war-torn Ukraine, officials said on Tuesday. Swetha Dam, a resident of Port Blair, was stranded on the Sumy State University campus for 14 days. She and other Indian students were evacuated in buses to Poltava, from where they were taken to Poland on a train arranged by the Indian embassy.
“We were stranded in Ukraine for 14 days since the current hostilities broke out. After being evacuated from Sumy to Poland, we were provided with food and shelter. “I express my gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian government machinery for bringing us back safely to our country,” she told PTI after returning to the archipelago on Monday. The students had landed at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi on Friday. She is among two students from the Union territory who were stranded in Ukraine. The other student has also returned to India and is currently in Chennai.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Blasts rock Kyiv as talks with Russia to resume
A series of powerful explosions rocked Kyiv early Tuesday even as talks between Ukraine and Russia were set to resume. At least three large blasts were heard in the centre of the capital early Tuesday, and an AFP journalist saw a column of smoke rising. The cause was not immediately clear but Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko tweeted a photograph of smoke coming from a damaged block of flats, with firefighters in attendance.
"Podil district of Kyiv is a place to get coffee and enjoy life. Not anymore. Explosive just hit 30 minutes ago," she said. Just hours earlier President Volodymyr Zelensky -- wearing his now-signature military-green Tee-shirt -- issued a defiant video address claiming Russia was beginning to realise victory would not come on the battlefield.
"They have already begun to understand that they will not achieve anything by war," Zelensky said, describing the latest round of talks between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators positively. "Pretty good, as I was told," he said of Monday's first day of discussions. "But let's see. They will continue tomorrow." The two sides are far apart, with Moscow demanding Ukraine turn away from the West and recognise Moscow-backed breakaway regions.
Ukrainian negotiators say they want "peace, an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian troops". Almost three weeks after vast columns of Russian forces marched across the border, Moscow's forces have bombarded and besieged several Ukrainian towns and cities. The capital Kyiv is surrounded to the north and east and nearly half its population of three million people have fled. Only roads to the south remain open, city authorities have set up checkpoints and residents are stockpiling food and medicine. The United Nations estimates almost 2.8 million people have fled Ukraine and some 636 civilian deaths have been recorded, including dozens of children. The true toll is likely far higher.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Russia's share of arms import to India fell from 69% in 2012-17 to 46% in 2017-21: Report
Russia's share of arm imports to India fell from 69 per cent in 2012-17 to 46 per cent in 2017-21, according to a report released on Monday by Stockholm-based defence think-tank SIPRI. Russia started a war against Ukraine on February 24, which led the US and other western countries to impose extremely harsh economic sanctions on the country. "Between 201216 and 201721 Indian arms imports decreased by 21 per cent. Despite this, India was the world's largest importer of major arms in 201721 and accounted for 11 per cent of total global arms imports in the period," the report noted.
Russia was the largest supplier of major arms to India in both 201216 and 201721, but India's imports of Russian arms dropped by 47 per cent between the two periods as several large programmes for Russian arms wound down, said the report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). This, combined with India's increased efforts to diversify its arms supplier base, meant that Russia's share of total Indian arms imports fell from 69 per cent to 46 per cent, it mentioned. In contrast, India's arms imports from France increased more than tenfold, making it India's second largest arms supplier in 201721, it stated.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Ukraine crisis shows need to reform UN Security Council
Japan's foreign minister said on Tuesday Russia's invasion of Ukraine showed the need to reform the Security Council of the United Nations, on which the country holds a permanent seat. Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi told a regular news conference Japan would do its utmost to reform the council, as he made an appeal for the Asian nation to become a permanent member.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Russia says there will be no domestic food shortages
Russia said on Tuesday there was no risk of a food shortage on the domestic market and cautioned consumers against rushing out to stock up on staples after the West slapped sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. Russia's economy is facing its gravest crisis since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union after the United States and Europe cut Russia off from swathes of the global economy due to Moscow's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.
"There are no conditions for risks of a shortage or for a reduction in product range," Deputy Prime Minister Viktoria Abramchenko said in a statement. "It is not worth driving up artificial demand with purchases for the future," Abramchenko said. "We will reorient the market and establish mutually profitable trade, expand our partnership network with friendly countries." Russia has already taken steps to safeguard its food market in light of Western sanctions.
Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on Monday signed an order banning the export of white and raw sugar until Aug. 31, and banning wheat, rye, barley and maize exports to neighbouring Eurasian Economic Union states until June 30. President Vladimir Putin says the "special military operation" in Ukraine is essential to ensure Russian security after NATO admitted members up to Russia's borders and Western countries supported pro-Western leaders in Kyiv. Ukraine says it is fighting for its existence. The United States and its European and Asian allies have condemned the Russian invasion. China has called for calm.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Two dead in strike on Kyiv housing block
A strike on a housing block in Kyiv killed at least two people on Tuesday, the emergency service said as several areas of the capital came under attack. "The bodies of two people were recovered, 27 people were rescued," Ukraine's emergency service said on Facebook, adding that the 16-storey building was located in the Sviatoshynsky district in western Kyiv.
#Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Graphic - World's biggest arms exporters
Graphic - World's biggest arms exporters #
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Russian strikes hit apartment building in Kyiv
A series of Russian strikes hit a residential neighbourhood of Ukraine's capital on Tuesday, igniting a huge fire and frantic rescue effort in a 15-story Kyiv apartment building. At least one person was killed and others remain trapped inside.
The Ukrainian military said in a statement that the strikes were artillery strikes. They hit the Svyatoshynskyi district of western Kyiv, adjacent to the suburb of Irpin that has seen some of the worst battles of the war. Flames shot out of the apartment building as firefighters rescued people from ladders. Smoke choked the air. Flames shot out of the apartment building as firefighters rescued people from ladders.
A firefighter at the scene confirmed one person died and that several have been rescued alive but others are still inside as rescuers try to reach them. Russian forces also stepped up strikes overnight on the northwest suburbs of Irpin, Hostomel and Bucha, the head of the Kyiv region Oleksiy Kuleba said on Ukrainian television. Russian forces also renewed efforts Tuesday to capture the important port city of Mariupol in the south, and unleashed new artillery strikes on downtown Kharkiv in the east, the general staff of Ukraine's armed forces said on Facebook.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates
| External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar gave a presentation on the evacuation exercise under Operation Ganga to help stranded Indians leave war-stricken Ukraine at BJP parliamentary meeting
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Medical student returns to Andamans from Ukraine
A medical student from Andaman and Nicobar Islands has returned home from war-torn Ukraine, officials said on Tuesday. Swetha Dam, a resident of Port Blair, was stranded on the Sumy State University campus for 14 days. She and other Indian students were evacuated in buses to Poltava, from where they were taken to Poland on a train arranged by the Indian embassy.
“We were stranded in Ukraine for 14 days since the current hostilities broke out. After being evacuated from Sumy to Poland, we were provided with food and shelter. “I express my gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian government machinery for bringing us back safely to our country,” she told PTI after returning to the archipelago on Monday. The students had landed at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi on Friday. She is among two students from the Union territory who were stranded in Ukraine. The other student has also returned to India and is currently in Chennai.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Blasts rock Kyiv as talks with Russia to resume
A series of powerful explosions rocked Kyiv early Tuesday even as talks between Ukraine and Russia were set to resume. At least three large blasts were heard in the centre of the capital early Tuesday, and an AFP journalist saw a column of smoke rising. The cause was not immediately clear but Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko tweeted a photograph of smoke coming from a damaged block of flats, with firefighters in attendance.
"Podil district of Kyiv is a place to get coffee and enjoy life. Not anymore. Explosive just hit 30 minutes ago," she said. Just hours earlier President Volodymyr Zelensky -- wearing his now-signature military-green Tee-shirt -- issued a defiant video address claiming Russia was beginning to realise victory would not come on the battlefield.
"They have already begun to understand that they will not achieve anything by war," Zelensky said, describing the latest round of talks between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators positively. "Pretty good, as I was told," he said of Monday's first day of discussions. "But let's see. They will continue tomorrow." The two sides are far apart, with Moscow demanding Ukraine turn away from the West and recognise Moscow-backed breakaway regions.
Ukrainian negotiators say they want "peace, an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian troops". Almost three weeks after vast columns of Russian forces marched across the border, Moscow's forces have bombarded and besieged several Ukrainian towns and cities. The capital Kyiv is surrounded to the north and east and nearly half its population of three million people have fled. Only roads to the south remain open, city authorities have set up checkpoints and residents are stockpiling food and medicine. The United Nations estimates almost 2.8 million people have fled Ukraine and some 636 civilian deaths have been recorded, including dozens of children. The true toll is likely far higher.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | PM Modi briefed on evacuation from Ukraine in BJP Parliamentary Party meet
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | China denies U.S. claim that Russia asked for help in Ukraine
China denied on Tuesday claims by U.S. officials that Russia had sought military assistance in Ukraine and accused Washington of spreading "malicious disinformation" that risked escalating the conflict. "The U.S. has repeatedly spread malicious disinformation against China on the Ukraine issue," the Chinese embassy in London told Reuters in a statement.
"China has been playing a constructive role in promoting peace talks," it added. "The top priority now is to ease the situation, instead of adding fuel to the fire, and work for diplomatic settlement rather than further escalate the situation." Several U.S. officials said Russia had asked China for military equipment after its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, sparking concern in the White House that Beijing might undermine Western efforts to help Ukrainian forces defend their country. The Kremlin denied any such request had been made.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Loud explosions heard in centre of Ukraine capital Kyiv
At least three powerful explosions were heard in the centre of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv Tuesday morning, AFP journalists said, although the cause was not immediately known. An AFP journalist also saw a column of smoke rising in the distance, but was unable to get there due to a night curfew which is in effect until 0500 GMT.
Explosions are sometimes caused by air defence weaponry. There were no immediate statements from official sources. Fighting has intensified in recent days around Kyiv, which is almost completely surrounded by Russian forces that invaded Ukraine on February 24. More than half of Kyiv's three million inhabitants have fled the city since the start of the Russian offensive. Several deaths and injuries were reported on Monday after air strikes on different parts of the capital. Fierce fighting has been going on for several days between Russian and Ukrainian forces on the northwest outskirts of Kyiv.
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | UN says women pay highest price in conflict, now in Ukraine
Women and girls pay the highest price in all crises and conflicts from Myanmar and Afghanistan to the Sahel and Haiti, and “the horrifying war in Ukraine now joins that list,” the head of the U.N. women’s agency said Monday. Undersecretary-General Sima Bahous told the opening session of the Commission on the Status of Women’s annual meeting that with every passing day the war is damaging the lives, hopes and futures of Ukrainian women and girls.
And, she added, the fact that it is between “two wheat and oil producing nations threatens food security and access to essential services the world over” and “this, too, will impact women and girls the hardest.” Bahous didn’t mention men who are being killed and wounded in the Ukraine fighting, though she said: “I pray that they (women) — and all those who are experiencing conflict — will soon know peace.” Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the world is still male-dominated, “the results of millennia of patriarchy that excludes women and prevents their voices from being heard.”
Russia Ukraine News LIVE Updates | Elon Musk's 'Putin challenge' gets response from top Russian official. Shots fired as Tesla chief hits back
Billionaire Elon Musk, who has been on a tweeting spree, reiterating his support for war-torn Ukraine, indulged a war of words with a top Russian official after he challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin to a fight, with nothing less than the fate of Ukraine. "I hereby challenge Vladimir Putin to single combat. Stakes are Ukraine," Elon Musk had tweeted.
"Do you accept this fight?" he added in Russian, directly addressing the official English-language Twitter account of the 69-year-old president. Dmitry Rogozin, the director general of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, responded to his viral tweet, quote-tweeting verses from Alexander Pushkin’s poem titled “The Tale of the Priest and of His Workman Balda”.
The Tesla and SpaceX chief, who has over 77 million followers, did not let it end there. He replied to the Russian official with his meme, among his favourite tools of communication on Twitter. The meme shows a shirtless Putin riding a bear on the left side and Musk holding up a flame. “I see you are a tough negotiator. Ok, you can have 10 per cent more pay per view money,” Musk said.
“He can even bring his bear.” Musk, 50, had already offered his support for Kyiv, tweeting "Hold strong Ukraine" this month while also offering "my sympathies to the great people of Russia, who do not want this" war. He also responded to a Kyiv plea by activating the Starlink internet service in Ukraine and sending equipment to help bring connectivity to areas hit by Russian military attacks. The Russia-Ukraine war began when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 in what it calls a special military operation. Putin’s actions have been condemned by most of the world.
