The war in Ukraine, all updates
From hour to hour, the main events of the day. The UN Security Council meets on Monday, new talks between the Ukrainian and Russian delegations in sight
The war in Ukraine does not stop, we continue to fight after the invasion of the Russian troops. Strategic places such as nuclear power plants and large cities, those that may prove to be strategic for territorial control, are being targeted.
Over the weekend, further talks should take place between the delegations from Kiev and Moscow, while on Monday - as requested by the US and Albania - the UN Security Council will meet.
Meanwhile, Moscow, after ten days of war, has announced a 5-hour truce to open humanitarian corridors and allow the evacuation of civilians from Mariupol and Volnovakha, two locations under siege and subjected to intense bombing, but in fact so far the initiative has not never left. Mariupol authorities have informed that the evacuation of civilians has been postponed due to multiple violations of the truce by Russian forces, which continue to bomb the city and its surroundings, on the intended route for the humanitarian corridor. According to Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, however, the evacuation of the two cities did not go ahead because "no one showed up".
Complicating the situation is also the news - so far only given by the Ukrainska Pravda of Kiev - that the Ukrainian secret services (Sbu) have killed a member of the delegation participating in the talks, accused of treason. The man was reportedly killed in an attempted arrest after "strong evidence" was gathered that he was leaking information to Russia.
THE DAY:
19.30 - Bennett flies to Scholz after Putin
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett at the end of the 3-hour conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow is flying to Berlin where he is awaited by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Israeli public TV says so. Bennett and Scholz had already met last Wednesday in Jerusalem.
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18.35 - Ukrainians regain control of Mykolayv
The Ukrainian armed forces have regained control of Mykolayv, a port city in the south, where the Russians had entered yesterday. The Kyiv Independent reported, adding that the Ukrainian military has confiscated Russian equipment.
The governor of Mykolayv Oblast, Vitaly Kim, spoke of civilian casualties, without specifying the number.
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18.20 - Russians seize psychiatric hospital with 670 patients
Russian forces have seized a psychiatric hospital where 670 people reside in Borodyanka, about 60 km from Kiev. This was reported by the governor of the region Oleksiy Kuleba, quoted by the Guardian. "They are people with special needs, they need constant help, many of them have been bedridden for years. They are running out of water and medicines," he adds.
According to local sources, the attackers are believed to have arrived Chechen forces and contacts with the institute are interrupted.
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6.10 pm - Surprise Bennett in Moscow to talk to Putin
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is in Moscow in the Kremlin for talks with President Vladimir Putin on Ukraine. This was reported by the Israeli media citing Kremlin sources. Bennett's visit was described as 'unusual' as the flight took place on Saturday and the Israeli premier is notoriously religious. In recent days, Bennett had spoken twice with Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelensky and twice also with Putin.
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5.50 pm - Moscow confirms: "Resumption of the offensive in Mariupol"
The Russian offensive in Mariupol "has resumed due to the reluctance on the Ukrainian side to exert pressure on the nationalists to prolong the truce". This was announced by the Russian Defense Ministry, according to reports from TASS.
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5.30 pm - Blinken at the border between Poland and Ukraine - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is visiting the border between Poland and Ukraine, where Ukrainian refugees cross the border fleeing the war after the Russian invasion.
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17.20 - Red Cross: “Stop the humanitarian corridors” - The humanitarian corridors from Mariupol and Volnovakha will not be built today. This was reported by some Ukrainian media citing sources of the Red Cross, according to which the first attempt at a safe exit for civilians has failed. "We continue the negotiations constantly. I hope that tomorrow the evacuation of women, children and the elderly will take place but for now Russia continues to bomb", said - according to the same sources - the Deputy Prime Minister for the reintegration of the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories, Irina Vereshchu.
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5 pm - Zelensky: "10 thousand Russian soldiers killed, without knowing why" - "Nearly 10 thousand Russian soldiers were killed". Ukrainian President Zelensky said: "It is terrible, they are 18, twenty, almost children, soldiers who have not been explained that they were going to fight. Russia should give them another chance", stressed the Ukrainian leader. however assuring that the Russians will "lose" this war.
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4.15 pm - Putin against the no-fly zone - Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed that any country's decision to impose a no-fly zone on Ukraine would be equivalent to a declaration of war. "Any move in that direction would be seen by us as participation in the armed conflict," the Kremlin chief said during a meeting with Aeroflot.
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15.30 - "Only 400 evacuated to Volnovakha due to Russian raids" - Ukrainian authorities have reported that only 400 people were evacuated from Volnovakha and neighboring settlements during the temporary ceasefire announced today, due to Russian bombing. The initial plan was to evacuate over 15,000 civilians during the truce, which began at 8 am in the Italian morning. "Although we had the intention and the necessary transport to evacuate many more people, we had to stop the movement of the column, because the Russians started bombing Volnovakha again without mercy and it was very dangerous to move," regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said, as reports the BBC.
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3 pm - Putin: "The sanctions are like a declaration of war" - The sanctions that are imposed on Russia are like a declaration of war: this was declared by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. "Much of what is happening now and what we are witnessing and what will happen - said Putin, quoted by the Interfax agency - is undoubtedly a way to fight against Russia. And these sanctions that are imposed on us are as a declaration of war ".
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2.30 pm - Putin: "The humanitarian corridors hindered by nationalists"
"The work of the humanitarian corridors, in particular that of Mariupol, is prevented by Ukrainian nationalists": said the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, quoted by Tass.
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13.52 - New tweet from the Pope for peace
Pope Francis today released a new tweet on his account in Ukrainian and Russian, in addition to the other nine languages usually used to invoke peace in Ukraine.
"We ask the Queen of Peace to spread her mantle over us: under your protection we seek refuge, Holy Mother of God: do not despise the pleas of us who are in trial, but free us from all danger, oh glorious and blessed Virgin! ", it is read.
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13.28 - EU to stop privileged relations with Russia at the WTO
EU member countries support the European Commission's proposal to end privileged relations with Russia at the World Trade Organization (WTO). "There is strong support to work with like-minded countries on a joint declaration and a willingness to take appropriate trade measures as an action," a spokeswoman for the European Commission said. "From the EU point of view, these" commercial "measures would be adopted according to the same procedures used for the adoption of the previous sanctions packages".
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1.10 pm - Ukrainian media, 007 from Kiev kill their negotiator, "he was a spy"
Ukrainian secret services (Sbu) killed a member of the Ukrainian negotiating team on charges of treason. According to sources in the Kiev media Ukrainska Pravda, the man was killed during an attempted arrest. The same source reveals that there was "strong evidence" that he was leaking information to Russia.
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12.45 - Di Maio: "Putin's war must be stopped immediately with diplomacy"
"This war unleashed by Putin against democracy and freedom must be stopped immediately, using the diplomatic card to find peace". Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio writes it on Facebook in a post in which some dramatic photographs of the war are attached. "In Serhii the Russian bombs took away the 16-year-old son Iliya, he was playing football in Mariupol. Yevghen's house, in Irpin, no longer exists: hit by a Russian bombing, destroyed. In addition to no longer having his own. home, Oleg, a citizen of Žytomyr, no longer has his wife, a victim of this mad war ", adds Di Maio.
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12.30 - Mariupol: "Too many violations, we cannot evacuate"
The evacuation of civilians from the Ukrainian city of Mariupol has been postponed due to multiple violations of the truce announced by Russia. This was reported by the municipal authorities who invited civilians to reach the shelters. The evacuation that should have started this morning "was postponed for security reasons" because Russian forces "continue to bomb Mariupol and its surroundings", the municipality wrote on Telegram.
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12 pm - Ukraine to European governments: "Close ports to Russian ships"
"Dear European friends! Help us stop Putin. Make your voice heard and ask your governments to close European ports to Russian ships". The twitter site of the Ukrainian government writes it.
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11.50 am - From 6 March Ukraine will be able to import gas from Poland
Ukraine will be able to import gas from Poland from 6 March, including gas from Polish LNG terminals. The operator of the gas transit system managed by the Ukrainian state announced today in a statement. The two transit operators have agreed to introduce guaranteed capacity for gas imports and "this allows for the physical import of gas from Poland, including from the LNG terminal, on a guaranteed basis," the Ukrainian company said.
Ukraine, one of the largest gas consumers in Europe, has not imported gas from Russia since 2015 and buys it in Europe.
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11.30 - Erdogan-Putin phone call scheduled
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expects to hear Vladimir Putin on the phone tomorrow. "This war must be stopped immediately, it is necessary to sit at the negotiating table. Our president is conducting very intense diplomacy. He will have talks with Putin tomorrow," said Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin.
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11 am - Mariupol, Russians observe no respite on the whole route
Mariupol municipal authorities say the Russians are not observing the truce announced by Moscow all along the agreed route. "We are negotiating with the Russian side to confirm the truce along the entire evacuation route", ie along Mariupol, Nikolske, Rozivka, Polohy, Orikhiv, Zaporizhzhia.
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10.30 - F1, Haas fires the Russian driver Mazepin
Haas, Formula 1 team, has fired Russian driver Nikita Mazepin. Relations with Uralkali, the team's main sponsor, a company owned by the driver's father, Dmitry Mazepin, were also interrupted. The decision was made due to the conflict in Ukraine. "Like the rest of the Formula 1 community, the team is shocked and saddened by the invasion of Ukraine and wishes for a swift and peaceful end to the conflict," said a statement.
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9.32 am - Personnel from the Chenobyl plant "trapped" by the Russians
Personnel at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant were trapped 10 days after its capture by Russian forces. "We cannot replace people, they have already been working their shift for 10 days. They are divided into two groups, which replace each other, but they are mentally and physically, emotionally tired," said Yury Fomichev, mayor of Slavutych, a city in northern Ukraine built for personnel evacuated from the nuclear power plant after the 1986 disaster.
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9.15 am - Evacuation to Mariupol
Mariupol begins at 9 GMT, 10 in Italy, the evacuation of civilians. Municipal authorities also indicated that evacuation is scheduled until 14 GMT, 15 in Italy. More than 200,000 people will be evacuated from Mariupol and more than 15,000 from Volnovakha, according to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk.
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8.50 am - The bombings continue
During the night, raids, explosions, rockets were reported in several parts of Ukraine. The eastern city of Sumy is also affected. Alarm sirens sounded in Kiev, Zhytomyr and Chernihiv.
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7.30 - Opening of humanitarian corridors
From Moscow, a note from the Ministry of Defense announces that starting at 10 (local time) there will be a ceasefire to allow the opening of humanitarian corridors in Mariupol and Volnovakha.
(Unioneonline)