War in Ukraine: at least eight dead in a bombing in kyiv, curfew introduced


Nicolas Tonev (on site), with AFP
modified to

11:44 a.m., March 21, 2022

THE ESSENTIAL

On the eve of the 26th day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russia claimed on Sunday, for the second day in a row, that it had used hypersonic missiles in Ukraine, this time to destroy a Ukrainian army fuel reserve in South. During the night, a bombardment in kyiv killed at least eight people, noted an AFP journalist, at a time when Russian forces are still seeking to encircle the Ukrainian capital. In Mariupol, the local authorities accused the Russian army of having bombed an art school the day before serving as a refuge for several hundred people.

The main information to remember:

  • a curfew introduced in kyiv
  • night bombing in Kyiv kills eight
  • Sunday bombings in Mariupol and kyiv
  • Biden travels to Poland this Friday
  • ten million displaced

A curfew introduced in kyiv

On Monday morning, the mayor of the capital, kyiv, decided to introduce a new curfew in the city from Monday evening to Wednesday morning. “It will start today at 8:00 p.m. (6:00 p.m. GMT) and last until 7:00 a.m. (05:00 GMT) on March 23,” Vitali Klitschko, a former world boxing champion, wrote on his Telegram channel. “Shops, pharmacies, gas stations, establishments will not be open tomorrow,” he said. “I ask everyone to stay at home or in shelters when the sirens sound.”

Several curfews have already been observed in the capital, which Russian troops are still trying to surround. The latest lasted 35 hours last week, from Tuesday evening to Thursday morning.

The Appeal of Volodymyr Zelensky

The Ukrainian president calls on the EU to stop all “trade” with Russia. “No euros for the occupiers, close all your ports to them, do not send them your goods, refuse energy resources”, pleaded the Ukrainian president. “Without trade with you, without your companies and your banks, Russia will have no more money for this war,” he added.

The Europeans, very dependent on Russian hydrocarbons, have so far ruled out sanctioning this sector, which is very important for Russia’s economy. “Please don’t sponsor the weapons of war of this country, of Russia”, said Volodymyr Zelensky, before addressing the Germans directly: “you have the strength, Europe has the strength”, he launched.

Eight dead in night bombing in kyiv

Russian forces are also still trying to encircle kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, where a bombardment on a shopping center on the night of Sunday to Monday, caused the death of at least eight people, according to the general prosecutor’s office. Bodies of victims were lying Monday morning in front of the Retroville shopping center, in the northwest of kyiv, noted an AFP journalist, while firefighters and soldiers were busy in the rubble to search for other victims.

The very powerful strike pulverized vehicles and left a gaping crater several meters wide in the parking lot in front of a charred and still smoking ten-storey building. Debris, destroyed vehicles, twisted scrap, littered the stage for hundreds of meters. “Enemy fire” caused a fire on several floors of the shopping center located in the Podilsky district, had for their part previously specified the emergency services on Facebook.

An ammonia leak in the Sumy region

In the north of the country, the regional governor of Sumy, Dmytro Zhyvytsky, reported an “ammonia leak” in the facilities of the Sumykhimprom company, affecting an area of ​​2.5 kilometers around the plant, which produces fertilizer. The extent and cause of the incident are unclear but residents have been told to seek refuge in basements or low-rise buildings to avoid exposure.

Russia’s Defense Minister said on Sunday evening that “nationalists” had “mined” the ammonia and chlorine storage facilities in Sumykhimprom “with the aim of massively poisoning the inhabitants of the Sumy region, in the event of a ‘Entry into the city of units of the Russian armed forces’.

Mariupol: Russian strikes recorded on Sunday

Russia claimed on Sunday, for the second day in a row, that it used hypersonic missiles in Ukraine, this time to destroy a Ukrainian army fuel reserve in the south. By using this kind of weapon, Russia “is trying to regain momentum” in the conflict in which its army has been bogged down, said US Defense Minister Lloyd Austin, saying that these weapons were “not a game-changer”. .

In Mariupol, a strategic city in south-eastern Ukraine, bombed for weeks and suffering from a shortage of water, gas and electricity, the local authorities accused the Russian army of having bombed the watch an art school serving as a refuge for several hundred people, ensuring that civilians were trapped under the rubble.

Biden in Poland this Friday

US President Joe Biden will travel to Warsaw on Friday to meet his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the White House announced on Sunday. This trip will come after Joe Biden’s visit to Belgium to meet NATO, G7 and European Union leaders and “will focus on continuing to bring the world together in support of the Ukrainian people and against the invasion of Ukraine by President Putin”, it is specified about this stay in Europe. “But there are no plans to go to Ukraine,” spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

Personnel rotations at Chernobyl

Staff rotations at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant began on Sunday for the first time since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the International Atomic Energy Agency announced. “Ukraine has informed the IAEA that approximately half of the personnel have finally been able to return home after working at the Russian-controlled site for nearly four weeks,” Director General Rafael Grossi said in a statement released. overnight from Sunday to Monday.

“The Ukrainian national regulatory authority has confirmed that those who left have already been replaced by other Ukrainian employees,” he added, “welcoming” this partial rotation.

Russian forces took control of the plant on February 24, but around 100 Ukrainian technicians who were finishing their night shift continued to manage daily operations at the site, where radioactive waste has been since the 1986 accident. the worst in history.

Ukraine rejects ultimatum to surrender Mariupol

Ukraine will not “lay down its arms and leave the besieged city” of Mariupol, its deputy prime minister told Ukrainian media, in reaction to the ultimatum posed by Russia. “There is no question of talking about surrender or laying down arms. We have already informed the Russian side about this,” Iryna Vereshchuk told the Ukrayinskaya Pravda newspaper. The Russian Defense Ministry had called on Ukraine to “lay down its arms” and demanded a “written response” to its ultimatum before 5 a.m. Monday, in the name of safeguarding the inhabitants and infrastructure of the city of Mariupol.

Ten million displaced

Ten million people, more than a quarter of Ukraine’s population, have now fled their homes due to Russia’s war, said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi.



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