Russia Ukraine War News Highlights: Russian troops are shelling Europe's largest nuclear power station in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow on Friday of resorting to "nuclear terror" and wanting to "repeat" the Chernobyl disaster after he said invading Russian forces shot at a nuclear power plant.
"No country other than Russia has ever fired on nuclear power units. This is the first time in our history. In the history of mankind. The terrorist state now resorted to nuclear terror," he said in a video message.
Ukrainian authorities said the safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was now secured, after a fire broke out Friday when the station came under fire from invading Russian forces. "The director of the plant said that the nuclear safety is now guaranteed. According to those responsible for the plant, a training building and a laboratory were affected by the fire," Oleksandr Starukh, head of the military administration of the Zaporizhzhia region, said on Facebook.
President Joe Biden spoke late Thursday with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky about a nuclear power plant in Ukraine that local officials said was attacked by Russian forces, a senior US official said. The official said only that the two presidents spoke, amid reports that the nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, caught fire after Russian attacks on it.
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Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | Govt of India:
So far 48 Flights under Operation Ganga have landed in India out of which 18 flights landed in last 24 hours. The total number of Indians who returned onboard these 18 flights is around 4000.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | Govt of India:
In terms of departure points, there'll be 5 flights each from Budapest, 4 from Suceava in Romania (which we mentioned yesterday), 3 from Rzeszow in Poland and 1 each from Warsaw, Bratislava (new departure point), Bucharest and Kosice in Slovakia.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | Govt of India:
Four tranches of humanitarian aid were sent earlier and today two more tranches were dispatched by IAF flights (Poland, Slovak, Romania). Today one IAF flight carried 6 tonne of material to Romania and second carried 9 tonne material to Slovakia.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | Just in: EU ready to adopt more Russia sanctions if war doesn't stop: von der Leyen
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | Russian invasion of Ukraine forces Swedes to rethink NATO membership
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has for the first time seen a majority of Swedes in favour of joining NATO, according to a poll, and signs are the political landscape could to change too in a country long known for neutrality. Sweden has not been in a war since 1814 and has built its foreign policy on "non-participation in military alliances." It remained neutral throughout World War Two even as neighbouring Nordic countries were invaded, and during the Cold War. A poll on Friday by Demoskop and commissioned by Aftonbladet newspaper showed 51% of Swedes are now in favour of NATO membership, up from 42% in January. People against joining fell to 27% from 37%. It's the first time such a poll has shown a majority in favour. However, Sweden's Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist said joining NATO was not an easy decision, nor one that could be rushed based on recent events alone. "To change the defence doctrine, that is a very huge decision, so you don't do it overnight and you cannot do it because of opinion polls," he told a news conference in Copenhagen where he met his Danish and British counterparts. However, the Sweden Democrats, the third biggest party in parliament, said on Friday it was reviewing its stance, which could give a majority in parliament to those who wish to join. "We are analyzing the situation now, hour by hour more or less, looking at the NATO issue, looking at other security policy collaborations and what we can do," Aron Emilsson, foreign policy spokesperson for the Sweden Democrats told Swedish Radio. "It is clear that everything is put in a completely different light right now," he said.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | Ukraine is 'theatre' of war between Russia and US/NATO: Sitaram Yechury
Amid a Russian military offensive against Ukraine, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury has said that the war is essentially between Russia and the US and NATO with Ukraine being its "theatre". In an article in the forthcoming edition of party mouthpiece People's Democracy, Yechury has called for an immediate ceasefire, and questioned the need for the existence and expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
"US imperialism, with its desire to strengthen its global hegemony post cold war confrontation, chose not only to retain the NATO but to further strengthen it and use it for military operations across the world, particularly in Europe and Central Asia. Instead of disbanding, US imperialism hastened the eastward expansion of NATO negating an assurance given to Gorbachev post-USSR dismembering," Yechury wrote. He said that last December, Russia proposed security guarantees between Russia and NATO members suggesting no further NATO expansion, no assault weapons on Russian borders and return to the 1997 NATO-Russia Founding Act, all of which were rejected by the US.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | Vladimir Putin denies Russia bombing Ukrainian cities
Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz denied that Russian troops were bombing Ukrainian cities, dismissing such information as fake, the Kremlin said Friday. Putin said reports about "the alleged ongoing air strikes of Kyiv and other large cities are gross propaganda fakes," the Kremlin said in a statement.He added that dialogue on Ukraine would be possible only if Russian demands are met. Putin "confirmed that Russia is open to dialogue with the Ukrainian side, as well as with everyone who wants peace in Ukraine. But under the condition that all Russian demands are met," the Kremlin said.These include the neutral and non-nuclear status of Ukraine, its "denazification", recognition of Crimea as part of Russia and of the "sovereignty" of separatist territories in eastern Ukraine. "Hope was expressed that during the planned third round of talks, the representatives of Kyiv will take a reasonable and constructive position," the Kremlin added.The next meeting of delegations from Russia and Ukraine is expected during the weekend, according to one of Kyiv's negotiators.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | BBC says pulling its journalists from Russia
BBC boss Tim Davie on Friday said the corporation was halting its coverage in Russia, as new legislation passed "appears to criminalise independent journalism"."It leaves us no other option than to temporarily suspend the work of all BBC News journalists and their support staff within the Russian Federation while we assess the full implications of this unwelcome development," he added.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | Ukraine still has 'significant majority' of its military aircraft: US official
Ukraine still has a "significant majority" of its military aircraft available nine days after Russian forces started their invasion of the country, a U.S. defense official said on Friday. " The Ukrainians still have a significant majority of their air combat power available to them, both fixed wing and rotary wing as well as unmanned systems and surface to air systems," the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | Russian forces driven out of Ukrainian city of Mykolayiv, governor says
Russian forces were driven out of the Ukrainian city of Mykolayiv after attacking it on Friday but fighting continued around the city outskirts, regional governor Vitaliy Kim said.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | Mexico will not send arms to Ukraine, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador says
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Friday that the country would not send arms to Ukraine after Ukrainian representatives had asked the country's Senate for arms and military assistance a day earlier. "We don't send guns anywhere. We are pacifists," Lopez Obrador said during his regular news conference. On Thursday, Ukrainian representatives sent a letter to the Mexican Senate urging that "only the military and massive support of our allies can help us push back the enemy." Lopez Obrador also reiterated earlier comments that Mexico would not follow many other countries and impose unilateral economic sanctions on Russia after Moscow invaded Ukraine. "We will not take any economic reprisals because we want to have good relations with all governments in the world," he said earlier this week. Mexican auto parts maker Nemak has suspended operations in Russia while bread maker Grupo Bimbo and tortilla maker Gruma< GRUMAB.MX> have paused their operations in Ukraine
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | US committed to do all necessary to make Ukraine war stop, Antony Blinken says
Washington is committed to doing every needed to stop the war in Ukraine, USSecretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday as he went into a meeting with his EU counterparts praising the bloc for the "historic" steps it has taken against Russia. "We are faced together with what is President Putin's war of choice: unprovoked, unjustified, and a war that is having horrific, horrific consequences for real people. For mothers, fathers. For children. We see the images on TV, and it has to stop," he told reporters in Brussels. "We're committed to doing everything we can to to make it stop. So the coordination between us is vital," he added, standing alongside the European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. He said that beyond the risk for Ukrainians, Russia's invasion has also put at risk fundamental principles established after two world wars that are important to keeping peace and security, "principles that President Putin is egregiously violating every single day".
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | WTI oil price jumps 5.0 percent on Ukraine fallout
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | Hundreds of NGOs call for import ban on Russian oil, gas
Hundreds of civil society groups and NGOs Friday called on governments worldwide to "reject and ban any import of fossil fuels from Russia" in order to cut off the main source of revenue for Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.It is "clear that this war machine has been funded, fed and fuelled by the coal, oil and gas industries that are driving both the invasion threatening Ukraine and the climate crisis threatening humanity's future," they said in an open letter."Putin's income streams must be dried out as soon as possible," said the letter, signed by the World Council of Churches, 350.org, Greenpeace and CAN International, an umbrella organisation of more than 1,500 climate NGOs.Approximately 40 percent of Russia's federal budget comes from oil and gas revenues, which also make up about three-fifths of Russian exports.
"Putin has deliberately weaponized fossil gas to increase his existing energy dominance over the European Union and to threaten European nations that would come to Ukraine's aid," the letter said. "This needs to stop!"Some 40 percent of Europe's natural gas needs are supplied by Russia, with Germany, Hungary and Slovakia especially dependent."We call on you to urgently work with your European colleagues on ending this fossil fuel addiction once and for all," said the letter, addressing other importers of Russian oil and gas, such as the United States, Canada, China, India and Japan.The signatories also included Ukrainian officials and numerous civil society organisations.Roman Shakhmatenko, Ukraine's deputy environment minister, called on the world to "stop being indifferent".Countries should not simply replace Russian-produced fossil fuels with coal, oil and gas from other countries in order to avoid the worst ravages of global warming, the NGOs warned.A landmark UN report on climate impacts released this week reports a measurable increase in deadly storms, heatwaves, droughts and rainfall events all made worse by rising temperatures, with projections of far worse to come.On the last day of the 195-nation closed-door conference leading up to the report's release, Ukraine's head of delegation made a similar plea."We will not surrender in Ukraine, and we hope the world will not surrender in building a climate resilient future," Svitlana Krakovska told the closing plenary in English, according to multiple sources."Human-induced climate change and the war on Ukraine have the same roots -- fossil fuels -- and our dependence on them."
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | Gas prices soar to record highs on Ukraine crisis
European and UK gas prices surged to record peaks Friday on supply disruption fears as a result of key supplier Russia's ongoing attack on Ukraine.Europe's reference Dutch TTF gas price struck 213.895 euros per megawatt hour in afternoon deals, while UK gas prices hit 508.80 pence per therm.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | Senior officer at Army Headquarters:
The Ukraine situation has to be seen in the context of similar attempts that could be made by the Chinese PLA along our contested Northern borders. At no stage should people lose focus on the Northern borders.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | G7 to impose further sanctions on Russia if no ceasefire: Japan foreign minister
Foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) advanced economies agreed on Friday they would impose further sanctions on Russia if Moscow does not stop attacking Ukraine, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said. "We called on Russia to immediately stop its attack on Ukraine, which has even harmed ordinary citizens, and withdraw its forces," Hayashi told reporters. "We've agreed, as G7, to impose further, severe sanctions if Russia does not stop its assault." Hayashi participated in the G7 meeting, held in Brussels, via teleconference.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | IMA urges PM Modi to accommodate Ukraine-returned medical students in Indian colleges
Expressing concern about the future of medical students who have returned homfrom Ukraine, the Indian Medical Association has recommended to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that they be adjusted in India medical schools as a one-time measure. In a letter to Modi on Friday, the IMA stated that such students should be permitted to go to Indian medical colleges for the remainder of their MBBS course through an "appropriate disbursed distribution", but it should not be seen as an increase in the annual intake capacity.The IMA has recommended that this could be done following the modalities of distribution of students in other medical schools in India if an ongoing medical college is closed. This will also need the validation of certificate from relevant authorities so that the students' progression in Ukraine is permissible in Indian medical schools, the IMA said in the letter.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | Ukraine plans third round of Russia talks this weekend
Ukraine plans to hold a third round of talks this weekend with Russian officials to try to end the fighting triggered by Moscow's invasion, one of Kyiv's negotiators said Friday."The third leg could take place tomorrow or the day after, we are in constant contact," Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said, on the eighth day of the war.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | Olaf Scholz urges Vladimir Putin to end hostilities in Ukraine, allow aid
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Russian President Vladimir Putin in a telephone call on Friday to stop all hostilities in Ukraine and allow access for humanitarian aid, his office said.In a one-hour phone call, Scholz "called on the Russian leadership to immediately cease all hostilities and to allow humanitarian access to the embattled areas", a statement read.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in Chandauli, UP:
If war b/w Russia & Ukraine continues it'll cause more trouble. Most countries import oil, gas from Russia. If economy of countries like US is affected due to sanctions, entire world will have to pay & India will not be spared too.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | US senator calls for Putin's assassination
Senior US senator Lindsey Graham calledin a televised interview Thursday evening for "somebody in Russia" to assassinate President Vladimir Putin after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine."How does this end? Somebody in Russia has to step up to the plate... and take this guy out," the senator told conservative Fox News TV host Sean Hannity.He repeated the call later in a series of tweets, saying "the only people who can fix this are the Russian people.""Is there a Brutus in Russia?" asked the senator, referring to one of Roman ruler Julius Caesar's assassins.The former presidential candidate also wondered if "a more successful Colonel Stauffenberg" existed in the Russian military, alluding to the German officer whose bomb failed to kill Adolf Hitler in 1944."You would be doing your country -- and the world -- a great service," he added.
The senator, who has served in congress for over twenty years and has at times been a close ally to former president Donald Trump, had earlier in the day introduced a resolution condemning the Russian president and his military commanders for committing "war crimes" and "crimes against humanity."Ukraine says at least 350 civilians have been killed since Putin launched the invasion last week and more than 1.2 million have fled the country.Moscow says it does not target civilians, despite evidence from the ground showing that Russian forces bombing civilian areas in cities as they seek to push deeper into Ukraine.The Russian ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov blasted Graham's statements as "unacceptable and outrageous."He called out what he said was "off the scale" hatred towards Russia in the United States and demanded "official explanations and a strong condemnation of the criminal statements.""It is impossible to believe that a senator of a country that promotes its moral values as a 'guiding star' for all mankind could afford to call for terrorism as a way to achieve Washington's goals in the international arena," he told reporters, according to a post on the embassy's Facebook page.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | Michelin Guide suspends activities in Russia: Statement
French food bible, the Michelin Guide, is suspending its restaurant recommendations in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, it said Friday. "Given the severity of the current crisis... we have made the choice not to promote Moscow as a destination," the Michelin group said in a statement.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | Michelin Guide suspends activities in Russia: Statement
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | Ukraine accuses Russian troops of rape
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Friday accused Russian troops of raping women and backed a call for the creation of a special tribunal to punish Moscow's aggression."We have numerous cases of, unfortunately, when Russian soldiers rape women in the Ukrainian cities," Kuleba told a briefing at London's Chatham House think-tank.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | How exactly does the West plan to cripple Russia economically through sanctions?
More than a week after Ukraine was invaded by Russia, the country has been hit with a deluge of economic sanctions, trade measures and punitive banking restrictions by the US, European Union and other Western allies such as Japan, Canada and the UK.The US has announced a long list of economic and trade sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin, senior cabinet ministers, Russian government officials and members of parliament, prominent oligarchs and even banks and companies. Even as Putin shows no signs of toning down his military assault, the sanctions hope to hit Russia financially and effectively shut down its economy.Similar sanctions have been used earlier by the US against the regimes in Iran and North Korea, which effectively excluded them from global financial flows and removed all possibility of them interacting with the global economy independently.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | Turkey renews effort to mediate in Ukraine war
Turkey’s foreign minister says Ankara wants to bring Russia and Ukraine’s top diplomats together for talks during an international diplomacy forum in the country next week.Speaking Friday to reporters in Brussels where he attended a NATO meeting, Mevlut Cavusoglu said Russian Foreign Minister Seygey Lavrov has confirmed his attendance at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum to be held in the Mediterranean coastal city between March 11-13.Cavusoglu said a meeting between Lavrov and Ukraine’s Dmytro Kuleba could be possible, but added that he was not certain Ukrainian officials would be able to attend.Turkey, which has close ties to both Ukraine and Russia, has been trying to balance its relations with both. It has repeatedly offered to mediate between the two.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | MEA:
We are reiterating that we are not aware of any Indian being held hostage. They are facing difficulty due to security reasons particulary in Kharkiv,Ukraine, but no hostage situation.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | MEA:
We have evacuated one Bangladeshi national and received request from a Nepalese national for evacuation.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | MEA:
Can't say we are moving downward (as of yet...) We will continue Operation Ganga till the last person gets evacuated. Roughly 2000-3000 (more Indians) likely to be there, the number can vary.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | It's a war crime to attack a nuclear power plant, says US Embassy in Ukraine
The United States Embassy in Ukraine has said that attacking a nuclear power plant constitutes a war crime. In a tweetthe Embassy wrote "It is a war crime to attack a nuclear power plant. Putin's shelling of Europe's largest nuclear plant takes his reign of terror one step further."
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | More deaths and more suffering expected in Ukraine in days to come, NATO says
The war in Ukraine will cause more deaths and destruction over the coming days, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday, calling on Russia's President Vladimir Putin to withdraw all troops from Ukraine without conditions. "The days to come are likely to be worse, with more deaths, more suffering and more destruction," Stoltenberg told reporters after a meeting of the alliance's foreign ministers in Brussels.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | More explosions heard in Kyiv in sign assault is intensifying
Up to a dozen explosions were heard in downtown Kyiv on Friday morning and air raid sirens wailed, in an apparent sign Russian missile strikes on and around the capital were intensifying. Reuters witnesses in the centre of the city of 3.4 million people could not immediately confirm the cause of the blasts, but they were more frequent than in recent days and some were louder. There were no immediate reports of casualties. While no major assault has been launched on Kyiv yet, the capital has been shelled and Russian forces unleashed fierce firepower to try to break resistance in the nearby town of Borodyanka. Drone footage from the town to the northwest of Kyiv on Thursday showed flattened houses and a badly damaged apartment block, with some homes charred and still on fire. Burned out military vehicles littered a main road. In Kyiv's Borshchahivka neighbourhood, some 18 km west of the centre, the twisted metal remnants of a missile, which Ukrainian air defences apparently downed overnight, lay in the middle of a street a few metres from a bus station. Tens of thousands of residents have fled the capital to the relative safety of the west of Ukraine and neighbouring countries. Many remain, and on Friday some people's message for the Russian military was one of defiance. Liliya, a woman wearing a black coat and pointing at the missile debris, said Moscow was guilty of "genocide" against Ukraine. "These bloodthirsty creatures came to kill us," she said. Nearby, Igor Leonidovich, a bespectacled man of 62, described himself as an ethnic Russian and said he moved to Ukraine as a boy over 50 years ago. "They all (Russian invaders) should go to hell," he said. "I cannot believe what I am seeing with my own eyes. The situation is deteriorating for everyone, but especially for occupying forces." Russia says its actions in Ukraine are a "special operation" not designed to occupy territory but to destroy its neighbour's military capabilities and capture what it calls dangerous nationalists.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | MEA:
Evacuationlooks difficult without a ceasefire. We urge the parties concerned- Ukraine & Russia, to have a local ceasefire at least, so that we can evacuate our people, students.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | MEA:
Highest attention on the easternUkraineparticularly Kharkiv and Pisochin. We have managed to get some buses there. 5 buses already operational, more buses later in the evening; 900-1000 Indians stranded in Pisochin & 700+ in Sumy. We are concerned about Sumy.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | MEA:
Over 20,000 Indians have left the Ukraine border since we issued our advisories. There are more people, but it's reassuring to see that this many people have left Ukraine.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | Moscow says next move in talks depends on Ukraine
The Kremlin told Russians on Friday to rally around President Vladimir Putin and said that what happened next in the negotiations over Ukraine would depend on Kyiv's reaction to this week's talks between the two sides. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call that no documents had been agreed with Ukraine at the talks, but that Moscow had told the Ukrainian side how it saw the solution to the war. Russia invaded Ukraine last week in a move it describes as a "special military operation". "The talks that took place were a good opportunity to clearly convey to the Ukrainian side our vision of solving this problem. Going forward, everything will depend on the reaction of the Ukrainian side," Peskov said. He was speaking after a second round of talks held on Thursday, after which the two sides said they had reached an understanding on the need to create humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians. Asked about a call by U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham on Twitter for someone in Russia to "take out" Putin, Peskov said it was an example of hysterical Russophobia. "Of course, these days not everyone is managing to preserve a sober mind, I would even say a sound mind," he said. He called for national unity from Russians. "Now is not the time to divide, now is the time for all to unite, be together, and unite of course around our president."
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | A total of 5,245 Indians airlifted from Romania to India till 3rd March, says the Government of India
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | Over 18,000 refugees have come from Ukraine to Germany
Over 18,000 refugees have come to Germany from Ukraine so far and about 3,000 of them are not Ukrainian nationals, a German Interior Ministry spokesperson said on Friday. "But of course, people who are now fleeing the war zone can enter the EU, regardless of whether they are Ukrainian asylum seekers or third-country nationals," the spokesperson said. He added that most of the non-Ukrainians had a permanent residence in Ukraine, which means they do not have to go through an asylum procedure.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | EU eyes more Russia sanctions, NATO wary of Ukraine calls for no-fly zone
The European Union will step up sanctions against Russia, foreign ministers gathered in Brussels said on Friday, but they resisted Kyiv's calls for military action that would risk dragging the NATO military alliance into the war. In Brussels for talks with NATO and EU peers, the bloc's top diplomat Josep Borrell said that all options remained on the table with regard to new sanctions against Russia for the invasion of its neighbor Ukraine. "We will consider everything," Borrell told reporters when asked about the possible suspension of the EU's gas imports from Russia. Ireland's Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said a fourth round of sanctions could affect more Russian banks' access to the SWIFT international transfer system, bar Russian ships from European ports and cut imports from Russia. "I also suspect that we'll be banning other imports like steel, timber, aluminium and possibly coal as well," he said. It was not immediately clear, however, when the 27-nation EU would be able to agree on exact measures given member states' divisions on doing business with Moscow and some countries' heavy reliance on Russian energy supplies. "Each day the west is importing energy from Russia to the tune of $700m," Eurointelligence think-tank said in a note.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | As Ukraine pushes oil over $100, Nigerians see mixed blessings
Weaving in between the Lagos traffic, hawkers selling plantain snacks and water more recently offer drivers another treat: jerry cans filled with petrol to help with fuel shortages.Petroleum-producing nations may be reaping extra revenue since Ukraine's crisis pushed oil prices above $100 a barrel, but Nigerians this week were struggling with yet another round of fuel scarcities.President Muhammadu Buhari says Africa's top producer has a "great opportunity" with higher oil prices, but that was a hard sell for Lagos accountant Abdulazeez Oyefeso after three hours in a line for fuel."It's more revenue for the country, but it doesn’t get down to the common man," Oyefeso said, leaning against his Lexus among the cars snaking along Lagos’s main Alfred Rewane road near a gas station.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | Montenegro declares Russian diplomat persona non grata
Montenegro has declared a Russian diplomat persona non grata over violations of diplomatic norms and ordered him to leave the country in the next 72 hours, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday. "The reason for making this decision is an assessment of the Russian diplomat's activities that contravene the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations, made by relevant security institutions in Montenegro," the ministry said, without giving further details. Montenegro has joined international sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | The Kremlin calls on Russians to 'unite' around Putin
The Kremlin on Friday called on Russians to rally around President Vladimir Putin, more than one week after Moscow launched an invasion of Ukraine."Now is not the time to be divided," the Kremlin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, responding to a question on pleas from public figures to end the war. "Now is the time to unite, to unite around our president."
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | More than 400 Nigerians who fled Ukraine return home
A first batch of more than 400 Nigerians who fled Ukraine following the Russian invasion were flown home on Friday.The group, most of whom were students, arrived shortly after 0630 GMT on a chartered flight from Romania's capital Bucharest, one of the hubs from where African governments are scrambling to extract stranded citizens.Nigerian foreign ministry official Gabriel Aduda tweeted pictures of the group inside an aircraft late on Thursday, saying "415 Nigerians mostly students fleeing the Ukraine-Russian war from Bucharest."After landing in the capital Abuja, many looked tired but relieved that their ordeal was over. "I'm very happy to be back home, thank you, Nigeria!" one young woman said as she walked off the tarmac and into the terminal.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | India abstains in UNHRC vote on establishing independent commission of inquiry on Russia-Ukraine crisis
India on Friday abstained in a vote in the UN Human Rights Council that has decided to urgently establish an independent international commission of inquiry as a result of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.The 47-member Council voted on a draft resolution on the situation of human rights in Ukraine.The resolution was adopted with 32 votes in favour, two against (Russia and Eritrea) and 13 abstentions, including India, China, Pakistan, Sudan and Venezuela.The countries voting in favour included France, Germany, Japan, Nepal, UAE, UK and the US. The countries voting in favour included France, Germany, Japan, Nepal, UAE, UK and the US.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | 'Whole world is against you', Ukraine envoy tells Putin after UN vote
An overwhelming vote at the UN Human Rights Council on Friday to investigate abuses following Russia's invasion of Ukraine should show President Vladimir Putin "the whole world is against you", Kyiv's ambassador said."The message to Putin has been clear: You're isolated on a global level and the whole world is against you," Ukrainian ambassador Yevheniia Filipenko told reporters after the vote.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | Euro dips below $1.10 for first time since 2020
The euro sank close to a two-year low under $1.10 on Friday as the Ukraine conflict continues to cloud the eurozone's economic recovery from the pandemic.The European single currency slid in late morning deals to $1.0992, the lowest level since May 2020, as the greenback benefited also from its status as a haven investment.
Russia Ukraine War News LIVE Updates | GlobalData cuts Indian economy growth forecast for 2022 amid Russia-Ukraine crisis
GlobalData, a London-based data analytics and consulting company, on Friday said it has lowered India’s economy growth forecast to 7.8 per cent for 2022 due to the nation’s exports being impacted by the Russia-Ukraine war and spiking oil prices causing ripple effects.In a statement, it said rupee is likely to further depreciate against US dollar while soaring commodity prices will push inflation up. However, Indian banking sector will likely remain resilient."The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war will have a negative impact on India’s exports and spike in oil prices will cause ripple effects on input prices and consumer goods leading to inflationary pressures.""Against this backdrop, GlobalData revises down the country’s economy growth forecast by 0.1 percentage point to 7.8 per cent for 2022,” the statement said.
