Ukrainian attack on Belgorod, Kiev denies. "Russian missiles in Odessa, there are victims"

Edy Ongaro, nom de guerre “Bozambo”. He is the 46-year-old Italian killed by a hand grenade while fighting in the Donbass with the Donbass separatist militias. This was reported by the Northeast Red Star Collective with a post on Facebook and the circumstance was then confirmed by a close friend of Ongaro, Massimo Pin, who informed the family.

The 46-year-old, originally from Portogruaro (Venice), was formally wanted in Italy after being involved in a fight in a bar. He had kicked the operator in the abdomen and then hurled himself at a carabiniere. Released by the judge, who had granted the terms in defense, he had disappeared and we had news of him only through social media.

In the Donbass he had enlisted with the separatists of the Prizrak brigade along with several other foreign fighters. A kind of hero for the pro-Russians.

When Vladimir Putin signed on live TV the decree by which Moscow recognized the independence of the Donbass republics from Ukraine, he wrote on Facebook “this is our day”.

"Bozambo", the nom de guerre, he had chosen in memory of a partisan of the Second World War: to push him to fight - he said - was the memory of the violence inflicted by the fascists on his family.

Ongaro died in the village of Adveevka, in the enlarged Donetsk region, on the northern border. According to preliminary information, he was in a trench with other soldiers when a hand grenade dropped by enemy forces fell. He would have thrown his body on the bomb to protect the other comrades.

And before negotiations between Moscow and Kiev resumed today, according to TASS, two Ukrainian helicopters, flying at low altitude, entered Russian airspace and hit a fuel depot in the Belgorod region, setting fire to 8 of the 27 oil tanks. present in the area. An episode that according to the Russians will have its weight in the talks, even if it is denied by Kiev.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky released a video during the night in which he still asks for help as the Russian forces would be regrouping, ready to carry out "mighty attacks" against Donbass and the southern part of Ukraine, including Mariupol. "It is part of their tactics - he says - We know that they move away from the areas where we are beating them to concentrate on other very important ones ... where it can be more difficult for us".

Also from Kiev, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk reported that fourteen tons of food and medicines destined for civilians in Melitopol, halfway between Mariupol and Crimea, had been confiscated by Russian forces.

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Updates by the hour:

Russian missiles over the Odessa region: "There are victims"

Russia struck the Odessa region with three Iskander ballistic missiles. This was reported by the head of the regional state administration Maxim Marchenko, adding that "there are victims". Ukrinform reports it.

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The Red Cross: "Tomorrow new evacuation attempt from Mariupol"

The Red Cross will make another attempt tomorrow to rescue civilians from Mariupol in southern Ukraine. This was reported by the International Committee of the Red Cross, explaining that today's evacuation was unsuccessful because "the ICRC team, which includes three vehicles and nine people, did not reach Mariupol and could not facilitate the safe passage of civilians ".

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Extinguished the fire at the oil depot in Belgorod

The fire at the Belgorod oil depot in Russia was put out. This was announced by the governor of the region on the border with Ukraine, as reported by Tass. The area, denounced Moscow, had been hit in the night by an air raid by the Ukrainians.

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Kiev: "Still no response from Moscow"

“We have not yet received full responses to the proposals that have been expressed in Istanbul. We see some public comments from Russian officials, but we are waiting for a complete formal response from Russia. "This was said by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba - according to reports from Ukraine Pravda - recalling that Kiev presented its proposals during the talks in Istanbul last Tuesday The expected response from Moscow will clarify, he added, whether Russia has decided "finally to move to a constructive discussion of the agenda in search of mutually acceptable solutions".

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Biden: "Thirty other countries will release oil reserves"

US President Joe Biden said 30 other countries, after the United States, will release their oil reserves to cope with the difficulties created by the war in Ukraine. Biden did not say which countries these are. According to US sources, members of the International Energy Agency, who are meeting today in an extraordinary summit. The Agency does not include China and India.

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Kiev: "Kharkiv University destroyed by Russian raids"

Karazin National University was "completely destroyed" by Russian army airstrikes in Kharkiv. This was reported by Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Education Andriy Vitrenko, according to reports from Ukrainian TV Priamyi. The courses and activities will be moved to a "safer location," he added. Kazanin is one of the main universities in Ukraine, the second oldest after Lviv.

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Von der Leyen: "China does not interfere with sanctions in Moscow"

"It is not a conflict, it is a war. It is not a European affair, but a global one. And a possible global food crisis proves it. The EU expects China to take its responsibilities as a member of the UN Security Council. and exert its influence on Russia. We have been clear that, if China does not intend to support sanctions on Moscow, at least it will not interfere. For Beijing it would be a reputational damage, which affects trust and reliability. Businesses are closely following the question". This was stated by the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen at the end of the EU-China summit.

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CNN: "The Russians destroy the oncology area of the Chernihiv hospital"

The mayor of Chernihiv, a city in northern Ukraine, said Russian bombings destroyed a hospital's oncology department. "Some bullets hit the regional hospital directly and one of the buildings, the cancer unit, was completely destroyed. Three people were seriously injured," mayor Vladyslav Atroshenko told CNN.

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The mayor of Kiev: "Heavy clashes near the city"

Kyiv mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said "huge" battles are being fought in the north and east of the Ukrainian capital. The Guardian reports it. Klitschko has issued a warning to residents who have fled the city. The regional governor of Kiev said today that Russian forces were retreating in some areas around the capital but strengthening their positions in others.

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Lukashenko-Putin phone call, "Minsk supports Moscow in Ukraine"

Belarus supports the Russian operation in Ukraine. This was assured by Minsk leader Alexander Lukashenko in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to reports from Interfax citing the Kremlin.

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Evacuation of 2 thousand civilians from Mariupol is underway

About 2,000 civilians are being evacuated from the besieged city of Mariupol. The Guardian reports this, quoting the city council. Many private cars joined the 42 buses escorted by Red Cross and Ukrainian Emergency Service vehicles from nearby Berdyansk and headed for Zaporizhzhia, Mariupol city council said on Telegram, posting a video of the convoy.

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Moscow, gas payment in rubles mid-month, now ok to supplies

Russian gas supplies will not be interrupted if customers do not confirm the payment in rubles by April 1, that is, today, when the decree signed yesterday by Putin comes into force. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, as reported by Tass. "The situation is the following - says Peskov -: yesterday I was asked by many if the lack of confirmation in rubles means that gas supplies will be interrupted starting from April 1. No, that's not the case, and the decree that it was signed and published yesterday does not establish it. The payment of current supplies is not made today, it is done at the end of the second half of the month, in April or even at the beginning of May ", he explained.

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Russia and Ukraine negotiations today via videoconference

Russia and Ukraine will continue their negotiations today by videoconference. A source familiar with the situation told Tass. "Of course," he said in response to the question about the possible resumption of talks today.

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"Very dangerous to leave Mariupol"

It is "very dangerous" for anyone trying to leave Mariupol. This was stated by an assistant to the mayor of Mariupol Petro Andryushchenko, quoted by the international media. "The city remains closed to entry and it is very dangerous to go out with personal transport," Andryushchenko said on the Telegram messaging app. He also added that Russian forces have prevented even the smallest amount of humanitarian supplies from reaching trapped residents since Thursday, making it clear that a planned "humanitarian corridor" has not been opened.

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Moscow, Ukrainian attack sets fire to oil deposits in Russia

A fire has developed in several oil deposits - at least 8 - in the Belgorod region, in Russian territory not far from the Ukrainian border, and Moscow attributes the responsibility to the attack of two helicopters of the Ukrainian forces, which entered Russian airspace at low altitude. This was stated by the governor of Belgorod Oblast, which borders the Ukrainian region of Kharkiv, quoted by Tass. There are no casualties, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said. There would be at least two injured.

(Unioneonline / ss)

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