Russia Attacks Ukraine, Day 10, HIGHLIGHTS | Moscow, Kyiv To Hold Third Round Of Talks On Monday: Report
Russia-Ukraine Crisis HIGHLIGHTS: Follow this page for all the updates and Breaking News on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Moscow, Kyiv to hold third round of talks on Monday, reports AFP quoting Ukraine negotiator.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces were holding key cities in the central and southeastern part of the country Saturday, while the Russians were trying to block and keep encircled Kharkiv, Nikolaev, Chernihiv and Sumy.
We're inflicting losses on the occupants they could not see in their worst nightmare, Zelenskyy said. He alleged that 10,000 Russian troops were killed in the 10 days of the war, a claim that could not be independently verified. The Russian military doesn't offer regular updates on their casualties. Only once, on Wednesday, they revealed a death toll of nearly 500.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that any country that sought to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine would be considered by Moscow to have entered the conflict, news agency AFP reported.
"Any movement in this direction will be considered by us as participation in an armed conflict by that country," the Russian leader said during a meeting with Aeroflot employees.
"Russia-Ukraine crisis will have consequences for the whole world including Russia-India ties, to what extent, it will be reflected, can't say now. There may be an impact in terms of transactions, possibility of financial cooperation in connection with sanctions," news agency ANI quoted Russian envoy as saying.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called a high-level meeting this evening to discuss the ongoing Ukraine crisis, news agency ANI reported.
During the meeting, PM Modi is likely to take an update on government's efforts to bring Indian stranded in Ukraine back.
Russia's flagship carrier Aeroflot will stop all flights abroad with the exception of those to Belarus from March 8, the TASS news agency quoted the company as saying on Saturday.
An AirAsia India evacuation flight from Suceava in Romania carrying 170 Indian evacuees from Ukraine landed at Delhi early morning on Saturday, an airline official said.
This was the first such flight operated by the Bengaluru-based budget carrier under 'Operation Ganga,' a central government initiative to bring back Indian citizens from war-torn Ukraine.
Since the beginning of Moscow's war on Kyiv, the Russian forces have lost more than 10,000 people, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has claimed.
Also among the losses were 269 tanks, 945 armoured combat vehicles, 105 artillery systems, 50 MLRS, 19 air defense, 39 aircraft, 40 helicopters, UNIAN reported.
Several students are still stuck in Kharkiv. We left Ukraine on March 1st amid bombing & shelling. After crossing the Poland border Indian govt provided us help, Pratyush Chaurasia who escaped from Kharkiv and reached Rzeszow in Poland told news agency ANI.
"I was stranded in Kharkiv, we boarded the train for western Ukraine. We traveled at our own risk as the situation is so horrible that nobody could have evacuated us from there. War is hurting our education prospects," said Akash.
Students are still stuck in Sumy. They have nothing to eat & also facing a shortage of water. The ceasefire will help to reach out to borders, says a student who escaped from Kharkiv and reached Rzeszow in Poland.
We are deeply concerned about Indian students in Sumy, Ukraine. Have strongly pressed Russian and Ukrainian governments through multiple channels for an immediate ceasefire to create a safe corridor for our students: Arindam Bagchi, MEA Spokesperson stated in a tweet
"Have advised our students to take safety precautions, stay inside shelters and avoid unnecessary risks. Ministry and our Embassies are in regular touch with the students," Bagchi wrote further.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said that 66,224 Ukrainian men had returned from abroad to join the fight against Russia's invasion, as reported by Reuters.
The embassy of India in Ukraine says they arranged buses to evacuate 298 Indian students from Pisochyn, in Kharkiv
F1 team Haas drops Russian driver Nikita Mazepin.
Ukrainian port city Mariupol to begin civilian evacuation at 0900 GMT, the city mayor said, as reported by AFP.
Russia ready to evacuate Indian students, other foreign nationals from Ukraine: envoy tells UN Security Council, PTI reported
More than 1.2 million refugees have left Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on February 24, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Of the 1,209,976 refugees who have fled, more than half crossed into Poland, CNN reported the UNHCR as stating.
Others went to other neighboring countries including Hungary, Slovakia, Moldova, and Romania.
More than a million left within just the first week, and many more are “on the move both inside and outside the country,” with many internally displaced families, according to UNHCR.
Air raid alert in Kyiv. Residents asked to go to the nearest shelter, reports Ukraine's The Kyiv Independent.
Amid an escalating Ukrainian crisis, US Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Poland and Romania next week to unite her European allies against Russian aggression.
Her visit will demonstrate the strength and unity of the NATO Alliance and U.S. support for NATO's eastern flank allies in the face of Russian aggression. It will also highlight our collective efforts to support the people of Ukraine, her deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said on Friday.
She is scheduled to travel to Warsaw, Poland and Bucharest, Romania March 9-11.
During her meetings with the leaders of Poland and Romania, the Vice President will advance our close coordination in response to Russia's unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine, Singh said.
They will discuss our continuing support for the people of Ukraine through security, economic, and humanitarian assistance and our determination to impose severe economic consequences on Russia and those complicit in Russia's invasion, she said.
Harris's meetings will also focus on how the United States can further support Ukraine's neighbours as they welcome and care for refugees fleeing violence, Singh said. (PTI)
Russia has fired more than 500 missiles in the week since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine began. Russia is launching all different types of missiles at a rate of about two dozen per day, a Pentagon official said, as reported by Ukraine's The Kyiv Independent.
Three C-17 heavy-lift transport aircraft of IAF, that took off yesterday from Hindan airbase, landed back at Hindan this morning. These flights evacuated 629 Indian nationals from Romania, Slovakia & Poland & also carried 16.5 tonnes of relief load from India to these countries, ANI reported.
Till date, the IAF has flown 10 flights to bring back 2056 passengers, while taking 26 tonnes of relief load to these countries, as part of Operation Ganga.
Strategic Ukrainian port city Mariupol 'blockaded' by Russian forces, says Mariupol's mayor as reported by news agency AFP.
Zelensky condemns NATO decision to rule out Ukraine no-fly zone, reports News Agency AFP.
Multiple explosions were heard in Kharkiv. Residents are asked to go to the nearest shelter, reports The Kyiv Independent
Washington, Mar 5 (PTI) Russia's invasion of Ukraine is an attack on not only this country, but also on the security of Europe, US President Joe Biden has said.
In an interaction with reporters during a bilateral meeting with President Niinist of Finland on Friday, Biden said the two nations have been in regular touch for some time now.
He said they have coordinated on a united, transatlantic response to the Russians and holding them accountable for their unprovoked and unjustifiable aggression against Ukraine.
And we agreed it's not only an attack on Ukraine, it's an attack on the security of Europe and on global peace and stability, Biden said in the Oval Office of the White House.
Earlier in the day, Biden spoke with President Andrzej Duda of Poland to discuss their countries' response, and those of allies, to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including ongoing efforts to impose severe consequences on Russia.
Biden underscored the United States' commitment to the security of Poland and all of our NATO Allies, White House said in a statement of the call.
He welcomed Poland's partnership in hosting 9,000 US forces, including 4,700 additional service members deployed there in recent weeks, to reassure eastern flank allies, deter Russian aggression against NATO, read the statement.
In Brussels, Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said the US has sent an additional 7,000 troops to Europe and repositioned its forces already on the continent to strengthen NATO's eastern flank.
We continue to tighten our severe economic sanctions on Russia, he said.
Yesterday, President Putin said his so-called special military operation' is proceeding exactly as planned.
Well, it's hard to imagine that his plan included inspiring the Ukrainian people to defend their country with such tenacity; strengthening the resolve and solidarity of NATO and the EU; uniting the world in opposition to Moscow, including 141 countries at the United Nations, he said.
Blinken continued saying that the Russian invasion has apparently come to unite an unprecedented number of international businesses, associations, cultural institutions that have cut ties with Russia and caused the Russian economy to go into freefall".
He said the country's financial state has motivated tens of thousands of Russians to protest and countless more to leave the country, and is "increasingly turning Russia into a pariah state.
If that was President Putin's plan, well, you can say it's working. Russia has never been so isolated; we have never been more united, Blinken said.
Earlier, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin had a chance to speak with the Polish Minister of Defence Mariusz Blaszczak to discuss impacts of the precious unprovoked and unjust war against Ukraine, his spokesperson John Kirby said.
A deconflation line has been placed between the US and Russia, he said.
It's only been in place for a couple of days, I think since early this week. It is basically a phone line, a phone connection to the Russian Ministry of Defense. It is being administered out of European Command Headquarters, Kirby said in response to a question.
When we tested it, they did pick up the other end. And they acknowledged that they got the call. So, we know it works. We think again, this is as we've done before, like in Syria, we think it's valuable to have a direct communication vehicle at that level at an operational level. To reduce the risks of miscalculation, Kirby said.
And to be able to communicate in real time if need be. Particularly because now the airspace over Ukraine is contested by both Russian and Ukrainian aircraft.
So that contested airspace now buttress is right up against NATO. So smart thing to do. And we're glad it's in place. We're glad that the Russians have acknowledged that they will use it, he added.
Background
Russia Ukraine Crisis HIGHLIGHTS: With the conflict between Russia and Ukraine worsening, Russian military forces on Friday seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest nuclear plant, located southeast of Ukraine.
Russia took control of the plant after shelling the facility, sparking a fire and raising fears that radiation could leak from the damaged power station.
The chief of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog Rafael Mariano Grossi assured that there was no release of radiation at the Ukrainian nuclear plant.
Grossi said the building hit by a Russian "projectile" at the Zaporizhzhia plant was "not part of the reactor" but instead a training centre at the plant.
UKRAINE-RUSSIA CONFLICT: FULL COVERAGE
On the other hand, as Russia continues to step up the attack in Ukraine after failing to seize control of any major Ukrainian city even after nine days of the war, Indian Embassy in Ukraine has asked its nationals to travel to the Polish borders of Budomeirz and Shehyni-Medyka.
In a fresh advisory to Indians stranded in Ukraine, the Indian Embassy said that a team has visited Polish borders of Budomeirz and Shehyni-Medyka and smooth movements at these points have been facilitated.
It has also advised students to pass through these borders during the day to avoid waiting at these points at night.
The Embassy also stated that in case of any medical emergency nearby border guards may be contacted immediately. Ambulances are ready at all these checkpoints to help citizens.
Over 20,000 Indians have left the Ukraine border since we issued our advisories, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Friday, adding that there are more people, but it's reassuring to see that these many people have left the war-torn country.
Addressing a press conference, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi also informed that as many as 16 evacuation flights, including IAF's C-17 aircraft, are scheduled for the next 24 hours.
The Government of India had requested Ukrainian authorities for special trains but has not heard anything yet, Bagchi said. Meanwhile, Indian authorities are arranging buses for its citizens.
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