Russia-Ukraine War: Ukraine confirms strike on missile warehouse

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Saturday described the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a "very serious" matter, saying it has "shaken" the roots of international order. The visiting leader made the comments in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a joint media briefing after the 14th India-Japan summit here. A joint statement said that Modi and Kishida, in their talks, called for an immediate cessation of violence in Ukraine, pitched for resolution of the conflict through dialogue besides underscoring the importance of safety and security of nuclear facilities in that country. It said the two leaders expressed serious concern over the conflict and assessed its broader implications, particularly to the Indo-Pacific region, as well as the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.

Fighting is raging on multiple fronts in Ukraine, with intense combat in the besieged port city of Mariupol — site of some of the war's greatest suffering. Ukrainian officials say their forces there are battling the Russians over the Azovstal steel plant, one of the biggest in Europe. Overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused the Kremlin of deliberately creating “a humanitarian catastrophe,” but also appealed for Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet him for direct talks. The UN migration agency says nearly 6.5 million people have been displaced inside Ukraine, on top of the 3.2 million refugees who have already fled the country. Ukraine says thousands have been killed.

A Chinese diplomat says NATO should stick to what he claimed was a promise not to expand eastward. In a speech on Saturday, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng criticised the far-reaching Western sanctions imposed on Russia after it invaded Ukraine and said the root cause of the war in Ukraine “lies in the Cold War mentality and power politics. ” Echoing a Kremlin talking point, the Chinese envoy said if NATO's “enlargement goes further, it would be approaching the outskirts of Moscow' where a missile could hit the Kremlin within seven or eight minutes.

A Ukrainian military official has confirmed to a local news outlet that Russian forces carried out a missile strike Friday on a missile and ammunition warehouse in the Delyatyn settlement of the Ivano-Frankivsk region in western Ukraine.

The National Medical Forum has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to consider those medical students who have been evacuated from Ukraine as war victims.

Since the shelling began to intensify in Kyiv and Kharkiv about a week ago, Julia Entin has been working feverishly — thousands of miles away in Los Angeles — to evacuate Holocaust survivors in Ukraine who find themselves trapped in yet another conflict.

Until the missiles struck within walking distance of the cathedrals and cafes downtown, Ukraine’s cultural capital was a city that could feel distant from the war. The early panic had eased, and the growing response to morning air raid sirens was not to head downstairs but roll over in bed. But Friday's Russian airstrikes at dawn in Lviv, just outside the international airport, made nearby buildings vibrate and shook any sense of comfort as thick black smoke billowed.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni recently remarked that Russia's war on Ukraine should be seen in the context of Moscow being the “center of gravity” for Eastern Europe.

Ukraine's president said Russia is trying to starve his country's cities into submission but warned Saturday that continuing the invasion would exact a toll on Russia for “generations." The remarks came after Moscow held a mass rally in support of its bogged-down forces.

The office of the Prosecutor General in Ukraine has accused Russian security and military forces of kidnapping a Ukrainian journalist covering the Russian offensive in the east and the south of Ukraine.

President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, has said that if Ukraine does not agree with Russia now, it will eventually sign an act of surrender. According to Lukashenko, now the Russian side is offering Ukraine a settlement and an agreement, which are acceptable.

Four US soldiers were killed in a plane crash in a Norwegian town in the Arctic Circle during a NATO exercise unrelated to the Ukraine war, Norway's prime minister said Saturday. Jonas Gahr Stoere tweeted that they were killed in the crash on Friday night.
The cause was under investigation, but Norwegian police reported bad weather in the area.

Lviv: Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk announced Saturday that 10 humanitarian corridors have been agreed on with the Russians. They include a corridor from the besieged port city of Mariupol, several in the Kyiv region and several in the Luhansk region. She also announced plans to deliver humanitarian aid to the city of Kherson, which is currently under control of the Russian forces. In his nightly video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces are blockading the largest cities with the goal of creating such miserable conditions that Ukrainians will cooperate. He said the Russians are preventing supplies from reaching surrounded cities in central and southeastern Ukraine. Satellite images on Friday from Maxar Technologies showed a long line of cars leaving Mariupol as people tried to evacuate. Zelenskyy said more than 9,000 people were able to leave the city in the past day.

Moscow: The Russian military says it used its latest hypersonic missile, Kinzhal, for the first time in combat during its offensive in Ukraine. Spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said the hypersonic missiles destroyed an underground warehouse storing missiles and aviation ammunition of Ukrainian troops in the western Ivano-Frankivsk region. Konashenkov also said that the Russian forces used the anti-ship missile system Bastion to strike Ukrainian military facilities near the Black Sea port of Odesa. Russia first used the weapon during its military campaign in Syria in 2016.

The Prosecutor General's office in Ukraine says a total of 112 children have been died in the country since the start of the Russian invasion.
The office says more than 140 children have been wounded since February 24. According to the UN children's agency, more than 1.5 million children had fled Ukraine. Most families have fled to Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Moldova and Romania. UNCIEF says women and girls travelling on their own are especially at risk of gender-based violence.

Moscow has never used the export of energy resources as an instrument of political pressure, since Russian energy companies have always fully fulfilled their obligations and continue to do so now, Director of the First European Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry Alexey Paramonov told Sputnik. "Moscow has never used the export of energy resources as an instrument of political pressure. Russian energy companies have always fully fulfilled their obligations. They continue to do so now," he said.In addition, Paramonov noted that Italy is very concerned about the future of energy supplies from Russia."Given Rome's significant dependence on Russian hydrocarbons, that reaches 40-45%, the rejection of reliable mechanisms for transporting energy resources that have developed over many decades would have extremely negative consequences for the Italian economy and for all Italians," the diplomat stressed.

Until the missiles struck within walking distance of the cathedrals and cafes downtown, Ukraine's cultural capital was a city that could feel distant from the war. The early panic had eased, and the growing response to morning air raid sirens was not to head downstairs but roll over in bed. But Friday's Russian airstrikes at dawn in Lviv, just outside the international airport, made nearby buildings vibrate and shook any sense of comfort as thick black smoke billowed. Still, the hours after the airstrikes were absent of the scenes in other Ukrainian cities that have horrified the world: shattered buildings and people fleeing under fire. Lviv was already returning to its centuries-old role as an ever-adapting crossroads. “In the morning it was scary, but we have to go on,” said Maria Parkhuts, a local restaurant worker. “People are arriving with almost nothing, and from where it's worse.” The city has been a refuge since the war began nearly a month ago, the last outpost before Poland and host to hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians streaming through or staying on. From the other direction come aid and foreign fighters. Midstream is a city that, on the surface, carries on amid world heritage churches and coffee kiosks. Food delivery cyclists with backpacks of global brands wobble down the cobblestones. Yellow trams ding through narrow streets lined with the history of one occupation after another, from the Cossacks to the Swedes to the Germans and the Soviet Union. The threat of another occupation by Russia, after so long a fight to break from its influence, and so close to the rest of Europe, is where the new Lviv emerges now.

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss believes that the sanctions against Russian businessmen imposed over the military operation in Ukraine will not be lifted."It's extremely difficult. These oligarchs have enabled Vladimir Putin to do what he's doing. There is blood on his hands," Truss told the Times newspaper when asked if the sanctions against the Russian businessman will be lifted. She added that Russian businessman Roman Abramovich, who owned FC Chelsea, was unlikely to return to the United Kingdom.Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine on February 24 to support the people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.The Western countries have strongly condemned the Russian military operation in Ukraine calling it an invasion and imposing harsh sanctions on Moscow.

A zoo in Ukraine has called on authorities to establish a humanitarian corridor to supply food, as well as to evacuate animals, as some of them have died due to hunger and cold. In a Facebook post on Friday, Mykhailo Pinchuk, owner of the Zoo XII Months in Demidov, said: "We need green corridors, we need to deliver food and diesel, please help. We need green corridors for the humanitarian aid delivery and for the evacuation of transportable animals." Pinchuk added that animals with frost tolerance in outdoor enclosures have died of hunger, while and exotic animals in need of heat, have died due to the cold, reports Ukrayinska Pravda. According to the owner, there is no electricity or gas in the park, and diesel stocks have also run out. "We need green corridors to bring in diesel, heat and feed them. We can't take out rhinos and giraffes, big animals, we don't even have medicine to put them to sleep. We need to negotiate green corridors," he insisted. Demidov is located some 46 km away from capital Kiev.

Russian Aerospace Forces have launched rocket attacks on strongholds of Ukrainian "nationalists", Defence Ministry in Moscow said. According to the Ministry, forces carried out the strikes in pairs from low & extremely low altitudes, RT News reported. "As a result of an air strike, a stronghold of a company of Ukrainian nationalists and camouflaged armoured vehicles were destroyed," it said. Meanwhile, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense said that the country's armed forces had lost access to the Sea of Azov. Earlier, Major General Igor Konashenkov, official representative of the Russian Defence Ministry, had announced the complete blocking of the exit for Ukrainian forces to the Sea of Azov. "Advanced detachments of the People's Militia of the DPR reached the administrative border of the Donetsk region and connected with the military units of the Russian Armed Forces, which took control of the regions of Ukraine along the coast of the Sea of Azov," Konashenkov said. According to him, "from today, the exit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to the Sea of Azov is completely blocked". Russia launches missile strikes on strongholds of Ukrainian 'nationalists'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russian forces are blockading Ukraine’s largest cities to create a “humanitarian catastrophe” with the aim of persuading Ukrainians to cooperate with them. He says Russians are preventing supplies from reaching surrounded cities in the center and southeast of the country. “This is a totally deliberate tactic,” Zelenskyy said in his nighttime video address to the nation, filmed outside in Kyiv, with the presidential office in the lamplight behind him. He said more than 9,000 people were able to leave besieged Mariupol in the past day, and in all more than 180,000 people have been able to flee to safety through humanitarian corridors. He again appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to hold talks with him directly. “It’s time to meet, time to speak,” he said. “I want to be heard by everyone, especially in Moscow.”

The US may show understanding of India's plans to buy discounted oil for economic reasons from Russia, US President Joe Biden's spokesperson Jen Psaki has indicated. Asked at her daily briefing on Friday about "largest democracy" India buying oil from Moscow, she said that while the US has banned Russian oil import, "every country has not made that decision. And we recognise that and they have different economic reasoning as to why different countries do including some in Europe". She said that US official have been in touch "with Indian leaders at a range of levels" but Biden has himself not reached out to them on the issue. A senior-level US delegation headed by Under Secretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland is starting a South Asia tour from Saturday during which it is scheduled to hold meetings with Indian officials. "What we would project or convey to anyone around the world is that the world, the rest of the world, is watching where you're going to stand as it relates to conflict, whether its support for Russia in any form," she said. Psaki had said at her briefing on Tuesday that India would not be violating US sanctions if it imported oil from Russia. While some major Russian petroleum companies have been put under US sanctions, Washington has not banned the buying of oil, gas or coal because of the devastating impact that would have on its close European allies that depend on Moscow for a sizable part of their energy needs.

The United States is still concerned about China providing military support to Russia even after President Joe Biden spoke with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, on Friday to discourage him from aiding Moscow in its military operation in Ukraine, said White House spokesperson Jen Psaki."We have that concern. The President detailed what the implications and consequences would be if China provides material support to Russia," Psaki said when asked whether the Biden administration is still concerned Beijing might help Russia, reported Sputnik."That is something we will be watching and the world will be watching," Psaki said.Biden on Friday held a video call with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and warned China of implications and consequences if China provides material support to Russia.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said that since Moscow started its invasion of his country on February 24, more than 30 settlements in the Kiev region has been "liberated", which were temporarily occupied by the Russian military. In a video address on Friday, the President said: "During the defence of Kiev, more than 30 settlements in the region, which were temporarily occupied by the enemy, were liberated." According to the President, the commander of the Land Forces, Alexander Syrskyy, has been leading the defence of Kiev since the beginning of the invasion 24 days ago, reports Ukrayinska Pravda. Zelensky added that due to Syrskyy's professional and courageous actions, the Russian military suffered significant losses and was driven away from the capital. The President has awarded Syrskyy the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, second class. Earlier, Zelensky had signed a decree to confer state awards ti 138 servicemen of the Armed Forces.

Ukrainian ballet star Artyom Datsishin has lost his life amid Russia's ongoing military operation in the Eastern European country.Datsishin passed away on Thursday from wounds he suffered in Russian shelling weeks earlier. He was 43, news portal People reported after obtaining the information from Evening Standard.Datsishin was a principal dancer with the National Opera of Ukraine. He would be cremated on Friday in Kyiv. A few days ago, Ukraine bid farewell to actress Oksana Shvets who was killed in a Russian rocket attack on a residential building in the capital city.On February 24, Russia began a military operation in Ukraine, responding to calls for help from the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in countering the aggression of Ukrainian troops. The Russian Defense Ministry said the special operation is targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure only. According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, almost 600 civilians have been killed and more than 1,000 injured in Ukraine since the start of the conflict.

Ukraine's positions at the peace talks with Russia remain unchanged, Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said on Friday. "Our positions remain unchanged: a ceasefire, the withdrawal of troops and strict security guarantees with specific formulas," Podolyak, who is also a member of the Ukrainian delegation to the peace talks with Russia, tweeted. The fourth round of negotiations between Ukrainian and Russian delegations started on Monday via video link, Xinhua news agency reported. On Wednesday, Podolyak said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky may hold talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in the coming days.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that Russia will pay a "high price" for its conflict with Ukraine, the presidential press service said. "By attacking us, they will destroy everything that Russian society has achieved over the past 25 years," Zelenskyy said in an address to the nation. In a phone conversation with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin criticised Kiev for "trying to delay the negotiation process in every way possible, putting forward more unrealistic proposals", Xinhua news agency reported. Ukrainian and Russian delegations have held several rounds of negotiations in a bid to broker a solution to the conflict between the two countries.

The World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that the ongoing conflict in Ukraine is further threatening global food security, with food prices already at an all-time high. Jakob Kern, the WFP's Emergency Coordinator for Ukraine, told an online press conference that the conflict has triggered a wave of hunger across the globe, Xinhua news agency reported. As the world's largest and fourth-largest exporters of wheat respectively, Russia and Ukraine together are responsible for 29 per cent of the global wheat trade. Therefore, the two countries are critical to ensuring the food security of many countries around the world. Global food and fuel prices have increased sharply since the start of the conflict, Kern said. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization's Food Price Index, they reached an all-time high in February 2022. The price of wheat increased by 24 per cent from February 21 to March 15, Kern said. "These hikes will affect local food prices and, through these, access to food, especially for millions of people who are already struggling to put food on the table," he added. "This year we are at a crossroads: either we rise to the challenge of meeting immediate needs while at the same time supporting programs that build long-term resilience at scale, or we face even bigger problems down the line," Kern said.

Amid escalating war between Russia and Ukraine, the UN migration agency on Friday (local time) estimated that nearly 6.5 million people have now been displaced inside Ukraine. Meanwhile, 3.2 million people have already fled the country, said the International Organisation for Migration.It also suggested that Ukraine is fast on a course in just three weeks toward the levels of displacement from Syria's devastating war - which has driven about 13 million people from their homes both in the country and abroad.The findings come in a paper issued by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. It cited the IOM figures as "a good representation of the scale of internal displacement in Ukraine -- calculated to stand at 6.48 million internally displaced persons in Ukraine as of March 16." 

Russia has fired 1,080 missiles at Ukraine since the start of the invasion, a senior U.S. defense official told BBC.

US President Joe Biden on Friday (local time) held a video call with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and warned China of implications and consequences if China provides material support to Russia while also reiterating that the US continues to oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo on the Taiwan issue, a White House readout informed."President Biden detailed our efforts to prevent and then respond to the invasion, including by imposing costs on Russia. He described the implications and consequences if China provides material support to Russia as it conducts brutal attacks against Ukrainian cities and civilians," the readout said.Xi said, "As leaders of major countries, we (China and the US) need to think about how to properly address global hotspot issues and, more importantly, keep in mind global stability and the work and life of billions of people," as quoted by Xinhua.On the question of Taiwan, Biden reiterated that U.S. policy on Taiwan has not changed, and emphasized that the United States continues to oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo, the readout said.Xi spoke sharply on the question of Taiwan saying that some people in the U.S. have sent a wrong signal on the issue of Taiwanese independence, adding that "this is very dangerous."

Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the situation in Ukraine during a telephone call with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron. The Russian president on Friday explained that the country's armed forces were doing everything possible to save civilian lives and open humanitarian corridors for the safe evacuation of the population, in response to concerns raised by the French leader. The leaders also talked about the developments with regard to the ongoing peace negotiations, and discussed Russia's approach toward possible agreements, Xinhua news agency reported. The French leader expressed concern over the situation in Mariupol, and called for an immediate ceasefire, local media reported.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday (local time) held a phone call with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and discussed the growing number of civilian casualties in the ongoing conflict while talking about the efforts to bring an end to the war."Secretary Blinken and Foreign Minister Kuleba discussed the growing number of civilian casualties caused by President Putin's brutal and unjustified war of choice. The Secretary commended the incredible courage and fierce determination of the Ukrainian people as they defend their country against Russian forces who have shown little regard for human life," a US State Department readout said.Secretary of State Blinken also reaffirmed "the United States' steadfast commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity" and reiterated the American support through assistance.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday spoke to European Council President Charles Michel and discussed further strengthening of support to the war-torn country and also the membership of the European Union (EU) to Ukraine."Discussed with President of the Council Charles Michel @eucopresident further support to in countering aggression, strengthening the anti-war coalition, prospects for restoring peace in. Special attention was paid to our movement towards membership in the #EU," Zelensky said in a tweet.The European Council President Michel in a series of tweets talked about the discussion and the proposal of setting up a solidarity fund with Ukraine."We exchanged views with the President @ZelenskyyUa on strengthening our consolidated support for Ukraine. Specific elements of the current talks between Ukraine and Russia were discussed," Michel said, adding, "We support the establishment of the Solidarity Fund with Ukraine to provide basic services and address the urgent needs of citizens." "The fund will provide liquidity to the ongoing support of the government and in the long run will be the basis for rebuilding a free and democratic Ukraine after the cessation of hostilities. Partners can contribute to the Fund through an international donors' conference," Michel explained.Reiterating the EU's support to Ukraine in its war effort against Russia, Michel said, "We are building a broad anti-war coalition. The courage and resilience shown by Ukrainians is impressive. The EU will continue to support you in the face of Kremlin aggression."