Russia's war in Ukraine: Latest developments

International Desk :    |    ০৭:২৬ পিএম, ২০২২-০৩-১৪

 Here are the latest developments in Russia's war in Ukraine:

  - China hits back after aid claims-
   China accuses Washington of spreading "disinformation" over Beijing's role in the Ukraine conflict, without directly addressing reports in US media that Russia is seeking Chinese military and economic aid.  The Chinese embassy in Washington DC says it has no knowledge of the requests, which are reported shortly after the White House announces a high-level US delegation will meet a top Chinese official in Rome Monday.

  Washington has warned Beijing against helping Russia evade sanctions.  - Strike hits Kyiv apartments -  One person is killed and 12 others injured after an air strike on a residential building in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.  The toll was revised down from an earlier figure of two dead.

  - Russia-Ukraine talks Monday -
  Talks between the two sides are to resume Monday by videoconference, according to Ukrainian negotiators and the Kremlin, after both sides hail progress at earlier rounds aimed at ending more than two weeks of fighting.
  - Moscow says West wants 'artificial default' -  Russia's finance ministry accuses foreign countries of trying to force the country into an "artificial default" through unprecedented sanctions.

  Russia has said it will hit back with its own measures, and has put limits on local media and international news sources.  On Monday, Instagram was no longer accessible after Moscow accused parent company Meta of allowing calls for violence against Russians.
  Meta had earlier said it would permit calls to violence like "death to the Russian invaders" from users in Ukraine, drawing criticism including from the UN.

  - Black Sea blockade -
  Britain's defence ministry says Russia has established a naval blockade on the Black Sea coast, "effectively isolating Ukraine from international maritime trade".  "Russian naval forces are also continuing to conduct missile strikes against targets throughout Ukraine," it says

  - Nearly 2,200 killed in Mariupol -

  Nearly 2,200 residents of Ukraine's besieged city of Mariupol have been killed since hostilities began, the local authorities say, raising the toll by almost 1,000 since Wednesday. Mariupol faces "a worst-case scenario" if the warring parties do not urgently reach a "concrete humanitarian agreement", the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warns.

  Turkey has asked Russia for help securing the safety of its citizens in the besieged city, where multiple attempts to evacuate civilians have failed.

  - Zelensky warns NATO -
   Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warns NATO could see member states come under Russian attack if they don't act to impose a no-fly zone over his country.

  He warns it is "only a matter of time" before Russian rockets hit NATO territory, a day after 35 people were killed in Russian air strikes on a military training ground outside Lviv, near the Polish border.  Russia says the strike killed up to 180 "foreign mercenaries".

  - Kadyrov says he's in Ukraine -
  Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov says he is in Ukraine's Hostomel, an airfield near Kyiv captured by Russian forces early in their invasion. The Chechen former rebel-turned-Moscow-ally, who has been accused of numerous abuses, calls on Ukraine to surrender "or you will be finished".

  - US journalist killed -
  A US journalist is shot dead in Irpin, medics and witnesses say, becoming the first foreign reporter killed since Russia's invasion.  Papers found on the reporter's body identify him as 50-year-old video documentary maker Brent Renaud.

  - Power restored to Chernobyl -
   Electricity has been restored at Ukraine's retired Chernobyl nuclear power plant that was seized by Russian forces in the first days of the invasion, energy officials in Kyiv say. But the IAEA continues to warn that staff at the site face a "dire situation" because they have been unable to rotate out.

  - Hundreds held in Russia protests -
  Russian police detain more than 800 people across 37 cities for protesting Moscow's "military operation" in Ukraine.
  Nearly 15,000 people have reportedly been detained at rallies across the country since the invasion began February 24.

  - Nearly 2.7 million flee -
  Almost 2.7 million people have fled the war in Ukraine, more than 100,000 of them in the past 24 hours, the UN says. More than half have gone to Poland.