At least three powerful explosions were heard in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv early in the morning, according to reporters from the AFP news agency. An AFP journalist saw a column of smoke rising over the city. Due to the nightly curfew, the location of the explosions was initially unclear. The Russian army is currently trying to encircle Kyiv. The city is still home to half of the once three million inhabitants. The only way out of town is to go south.
+++ 05:31 China refuses to take sides +++
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi sees his country “not as a party” in the conflict over the Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to official information, China rejects the imposition of sanctions in principle in a telephone call with his Spanish colleague José Manuel Albares. Nor do they want the sanctions to affect China. Wang Yi calls the conflict the result of an “accumulation and intensification of contradictions over the years” in the European security architecture. Wang Yi did not respond to American reports that Russia had asked the Chinese government for military and economic aid after the start of the war in Ukraine.
+++ 05:08 Orthodox Church of Ukraine: Killing the enemy is not a sin +++
The Orthodox Church of Ukraine does not consider the fight of the Ukrainian army against the Russian military as a sin. “We as a people do not strive for the death of those who are our neighbors. But since they came into our house, we protect our family, our homeland, our country,” Church leader Metropolitan Epifani said on Tuesday night from the online newspaper ” Ukrainska Pravda” quoted. The Ukrainian soldiers are there to protect all Ukrainians. “Defending yourself, killing the enemy – that’s not a sin,” Metropolitan Epifani said. “And whoever came to us with a sword will die by that sword.”
+++ 04:14 Mariupol counts over 2000 dead civilians +++
According to local authorities, more than 2,000 civilians have been killed in the besieged southeastern Ukrainian port of Mariupol. Since the start of the Russian war of aggression on February 24, 2,357 people have died, the city council announced during the night. Mariupol, with a population of around 400,000, has been surrounded by Russian units for days and cut off from the rest of the country. Ukrainian authorities are reporting heavy air strikes on the embattled city on the Azov Sea. Russia insists on only attacking military targets.
The adviser to the mayor of Mariupol speaks of an “inhuman” situation in the city.
(Photo: AP)
+++ 03:51 Chernobyl has electricity again +++
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Chernobyl nuclear ruins, which were taken by Russian troops, have electricity again. “Ukraine has informed the IAEA that the external power supply to the nuclear power plant (Chernobyl) has been restored today,” the IAEA said on Twitter. The Ukrainian energy supplier Ukrenergo had previously announced that the power supply to the plant and the city of Slavutysh had been damaged by Russian troops.
+++ 03:07 New video message from Zelenskyj: “Everyone is held accountable” +++
The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj wants to hold those responsible for the serious acts of war in his country accountable without forbearance. “We are working with our partners on new punitive measures against the Russian state,” he says in one video message. “Everyone responsible for the war. Everyone responsible for destroying democracy. Everyone responsible for repression against people. Everyone gets an answer.” The Russian military is definitely responsible for war crimes, for a “deliberately created humanitarian catastrophe” in Ukrainian cities, Zelenskyy said in the clip, which shows him in military gear in the presidential office in Kyiv.
+++ 02:40 NASA reaffirms cooperation with Russia in space +++
The US space agency NASA does not see the cooperation with Moscow in the International Space Station at risk. “We work together, we’ve been working together for more than 20 years and we will continue to do so,” said NASA ISS manager Joel Montalbano at a press conference. “We know what’s happening, but we can continue our work,” continued the NASA manager. The ISS is based on cooperation. “It’s not a process where one group can go on without the other. Everyone has to work together for us to be successful.” The return of US astronaut Mark Vande Hei, planned for the end of March, together with cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pjotr Dubrov in a Russian Soyuz space capsule will also take place as planned.
+++ 01:46 Great Britain: Russia could use biological or chemical weapons +++
According to information from the British Ministry of Defense, Russia could be planning to use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine. The ministry tweeted that this could happen in response to a fake attack on Russian troops. No evidence is given for this assumption. Similar fears had already been expressed by US government officials.
+++ 01:07 Suspected of espionage: Slovakia expels Russian embassy employees +++
Slovakia expels three employees of the Russian Embassy in Bratislava on suspicion of spying in the country. The Slovakian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that they had to leave Slovakia within 72 hours because their activities contravened diplomatic rules. At the same time, at least three Slovak citizens were arrested who are said to have spied for money. Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad told the news portal Pravda.sk: “This is just the beginning. We’re going to continue. Clearly and consistently.”
+++ 00:35 Ukraine: Three out of ten escape corridors do not work +++
According to information from Kyiv on Monday, only seven of the ten planned evacuation corridors across the country from particularly hard-fought towns and villages worked in Ukraine. A total of around 4,000 people were taken to safer areas, says Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Wereschuk. Most civilians came from the Kyiv region (2028). Evacuations from Mariupol, on the other hand, also largely failed on the 19th day of the war. An aid column with medicine and water for the besieged port city will continue to be blocked, according to Wereshchuk.
+++ 00:09 Spain fixes suspected oligarch yacht +++
Spanish authorities have for the first time detained a yacht attributed to a Russian oligarch hit by EU sanctions. This is reported by the newspaper “El País” and other Spanish media. The General Directorate of the Spanish Merchant Navy is now checking whether the luxury yacht “Valerie” in the port of Barcelona actually belongs to the head of the Russian state-owned armaments company Rostec, Sergey Chemezov. A shell company is registered as the owner. The value of the 85 meter long ship is given as 135 million euros. Chemezov is on the EU sanctions list because of the Russian attack on Ukraine. He is an old acquaintance of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
+++ 23:36 Ukraine correspondent from Fox News seriously injured +++
A British journalist working for US broadcaster Fox News has been seriously injured in Ukraine. The foreign correspondent Benjamin Hall was taken to the hospital, the broadcaster said. The incident happened “outside of Kyiv”. “We have few details at the moment, but Ben is in the hospital and our teams on the ground are working to get more information,” the statement said. Ukrainian Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova said on Facebook that a British journalist was injured in both legs by shrapnel. She does not name a name, according to the picture of a press card it is a Fox News journalist.
+++ 23:06 USA urgently warn China against supporting Russia +++
Against the background of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, top representatives of the USA and China held “intensive” seven-hour consultations, according to US information. US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, expressed Washington’s “grave concern” about China’s rapprochement with Moscow at the meeting in Rome with Chinese foreign policy chief Yang Jiechi, a government spokeswoman said. China is Russia’s most important ally, but is trying to remain neutral in the conflict over Ukraine. Biden spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Sullivan made it clear to the Chinese side “there will be significant consequences should they provide military or other assistance, which of course violates sanctions or aids the war effort.”
+++ 22:41 Ukraine bans the import of Russian books +++
Two and a half weeks after the start of the Russian war of aggression, Ukraine bans the import of Russian books and other printed matter. The responsible State Committee for the Media announced that the “import of publishing products from the territory of the aggressor country” would be stopped. This should prevent its cultural influence on the Ukrainian population. Most people in Ukraine speak Ukrainian and Russian and read literature in both languages. The products of the larger and more diverse Russian book market are popular. Last year Ukraine imported 32 million books from Russia.
Window barred with books in Kyiv.
(Photo: AP)
+++ 22:22 USA could impose full trade embargo against Russia +++
In order to stop Russia’s war against Ukraine, the United States says it has other leverage at its disposal. The US government could, for example, impose a complete trade embargo on Russia, US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told CNBC. Also, the US could block Russia’s access to international waters. The US could also freeze nickel, uranium and titanium, as well as the crypto assets of Russian companies, CNBC reporter Kayla Tausche wrote on Twitter, citing an interview with Adeyemo.
Adewale “Wally” Adeyemo, US Deputy Secretary of the Treasury
(Photo: REUTERS)
+++ 22:10 EU will probably stop Russian steel and iron imports +++
According to diplomats, the EU has already agreed on a fourth package of sanctions. These include an import ban on steel and iron, a ban on investments in oil companies and the energy sector, and an export ban on luxury goods, including cars worth more than 50,000 euros. Further details are not yet known.
You can read about previous developments here.