Live blog: Missile hits Ukraine oil depot; Wagner Group 'deployed' to east

Ukraine makes an exasperated plea for Western weapons, and Russia now says its main focus is on taking control of eastern Donbass region, raising fears of a divided Ukraine as fighting continues on 33rd day.

Ukrainian soldiers ride a tank through the town of Trostsyanets, some 400 km eastern of capital Kiev, Ukraine, on March 28, 2022.
AP

Ukrainian soldiers ride a tank through the town of Trostsyanets, some 400 km eastern of capital Kiev, Ukraine, on March 28, 2022.

Monday, March 28, 2022

Ukraine says missile hit west Ukraine oil depot

A missile attack has hit an oil depot in western Ukraine, Rivne's regional governor said, marking the second attack on oil facilities in the region and the latest in a series of such attacks in recent days.

Western Ukraine has not seen ground combat, but missiles have struck oil depots and a military plant in Lviv, a major city close to Poland where hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have gone to escape fighting elsewhere.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested in an interview with Russian journalists released on Sunday that the attacks on oil depots are intended to disrupt the planting season in Ukraine, which is a major grain producer.

UK: Russia's Wagner Group deployed to eastern Ukraine

British military intelligence has said the Russian private military company, the Wagner Group, has been deployed to eastern Ukraine.

"They are expected to deploy more than 1,000 mercenaries, including senior leaders of the organisation, to undertake combat operations," Britain's Ministry of Defence said. 

Turkish president to meet Ukrainian and Russian delegations

Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he will meet briefly with the Ukrainian and Russian delegations ahead of their talks on Tuesday.

In a televised address following a Cabinet meeting, the Turkish leader also said that separate telephone calls he has been holding with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin were progressing in a “positive direction.”

Russian and Ukrainian negotiators are scheduled to begin two days of face-to-face talks in Istanbul on Tuesday.

Biden says ‘not walking back’ suggestion Putin should leave power

US President Joe Biden has refused to back down on his weekend declaration in a major speech that Russian leader Vladimir Putin "cannot stay in power", arguing that he was voicing personal "outrage."

"I'm not walking anything back... I want to make it clear, I wasn't then, nor am I now, articulating a policy change. I was expressing moral outrage that I feel -- I make no apologies for my personal feelings," he told reporters at the White House.

Ukraine communications service suffers outage

Ukraine’s national telecommunications provider Ukrtelecom has been knocked almost completely offline, suffering what network monitors called its most severe outage since Russia’s offensive began.

Government officials in Kiev say they are investigating whether a cyberattack is to blame.

The outage began in the morning and persisted into the evening. Alp Toker, director of the London-based monitor Netblocks, said connectivity for Ukrtelecom has collapsed to just 13 percent of pre-conflict levels.

Ukraine's top goal at Türkiye talks is to agree ceasefire with Russia - FM

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said Ukraine's most ambitious goal at talks with Russia in Türkiye this week was to agree a ceasefire.

"The minimum programme will be humanitarian questions, and the maximum programme is reaching an agreement on a ceasefire," he said on national television.

Rocket strikes oil depot in Ukraine's northwestern Rivne region

Russian forces have carried out a rocket strike on an oil depot in Ukraine's northwestern Rivne region, the Governor Vitaliy Koval said.

In a short video address posted online, Koval said emergency services were at the scene, but did not give further details.

Russia says it destroyed ammunition depots in Ukraine's Zhytomyr region

Russia's defence ministry has said its troops destroyed large ammunition depots in Ukraine's Zhytomyr region that it has said were being used to supply Ukrainian troops defending the suburbs of the capital, Kiev.

The ministry said it had hit 41 Ukrainian military sites in the last 24 hours.

US brands Russian firm Kaspersky 'security threat'

US regulators have deemed antivirus software maker Kaspersky a "threat to national security," a designation that will restrict its dealings in the United States.

The Federal Communications Commission has added Kaspersky to a threat list -- which blocks paying the firm with certain US government subsidies -- that also includes Chinese companies like Huawei and ZTE.

Kaspersky responded to the designation by saying it was imposed "on political grounds". "This decision is not based on any technical assessment of Kaspersky products," the firm added in a statement.

Chechen leader travels to Mariupol: reports

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has arrived in the embattled southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol to raise morale among fighters, Russian media reports have said.

"Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov is in Mariupol to raise the fighting spirit of our fighters", as well as bringing them extra equipment, Chechnya's National Politics Minister Akhmed Dudayev told state news agency RIA Novosti.
Any peace deal must not sell out Ukraine: UK

Any peace deal between Kiev and Moscow must not "sell Ukraine out" and should include provisions to automatically re-trigger sanctions if Russia acts aggressively, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has said.

The minister said that lessons needed to be learned from the "uneasy settlement" reached following the unrest of 2014, when Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, which she said "failed to give Ukraine lasting security".

"Putin just came back for more. That is why we cannot allow him to win from this appalling aggression," she told parliament.

Abramovich, Ukrainian negotiators hit by suspected poisoning - WSJ

Sanctioned Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich and Ukrainian peace negotiators have suffered symptoms of suspected poisoning earlier this month after a meeting in Kiev, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Abramovich and at least two senior members of the Ukrainian team, were affected, the WSJ report said. Their symptoms included red eyes, constant and painful tearing, and peeling skin on their faces and hands, the WSJ report added.

However, a US official has said that intelligence suggests the sickening of Abramovich and Ukrainian negotiators was due to an environmental factor, not poisoning. The US official told Reuters: "The intelligence highly suggests this was environmental," adding: "E.g., not poisoning." 

Fate of Mariupol theatre civilians still unknown: councillor

The fate of hundreds of civilians who took refuge in a theatre hit by Russian bombardment in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol is still unknown because of poor communications, a city councillor has said.

The theatre, believed to be harbouring more than a thousand people, was destroyed in an attack on March 16. Ukraine has claimed that Russia knew civilians were sheltering in the building.

City councillor Kateryna Sukhomlynova said that the lack of communications and the absence of local authorities in the southeastern city made it almost impossible to find out the civilians' fate.

US deploys 6 Navy aircraft to bolster NATO

The US Pentagon says it is deploying six Navy aircraft that specialise in electronic warfare and about 240 Navy personnel to bolster NATO defences in Eastern Europe.

Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby says the EA-18G “Growler” aircraft based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Washington state were scheduled to arrive at Spangdahlem air base in Germany, where they will be stationed. 

They are not intended for use in Ukraine, he said.

UN chief calls for ceasefire to allow Ukraine, Russia to broker peace

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on Ukraine and Russia to immediately agree to a humanitarian ceasefire to allow for the parties to negotiate an end to the month-long conflict.

Guterres said he is tasking Martin Griffiths, his humanitarian affairs coordinator, to work with Kiev and Moscow on laying the groundwork for a cease-fire.

Griffiths is expected to go to both capitals "as soon as that becomes possible," Guterres said.

Russian, Ukrainian delegations to meet in Istanbul on Tuesday

Delegations from Russia and Ukraine will hold fresh rounds of peace talks in Istanbul on Tuesday as the Russian attack on Ukraine has continued for over a month.

The two-day peace talks, to be held at the presidential Dolmabahce office, are set to start at 0730GMT (10:30AM local time). The talks will be closed to the press, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

Earlier today, a private plane carrying the Russian delegation landed at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport. The Ukrainian delegation is expected to arrive in Istanbul later this evening.

Ukrainian forces retake control of town of Irpin

Ukrainian forces have reportedly seized back full control of Irpin, the town near Kiev which has been one of the main hotspots of fighting with Russian troops, the town's mayor said.

"We have good news today - Irpin has been liberated," Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn said in a video post on Telegram.

"We understand that there will be more attacks on our town and we will defend it courageously."

Ukraine troops recapture village outside Kharkiv

Ukrainian forces have recaptured a small village on the outskirts of Ukraine's second-largest city Kharkiv, as Kiev's forces mount counterattacks against a stalling Russian operation, AFP news agency reported.

Members of the Ukrainian army were reportedly clearing and securing destroyed homes in the settlement of Malaya Rohan, about five kilometres (three miles) from Kharkiv, after pushing out Russian forces.

Ukrainian forces retake town south of Sumy - US official

The United States assesses that Ukrainian forces have retaken the town of Trostyanets, south of Sumy, from Russian forces, a senior US defense official has said.

"The Ukrainians are continuing to try to take back ground," the official told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

US proposes $6.9B to aid Ukraine against Russia, bolster NATO

The United States will spend $6.9 billion to help Ukraine fend off Russia's offensive and support NATO member countries under a budget proposal President Joe Biden's administration released.

The funds would represent Washington's latest allocation of defence aid after Russia's shock attack, and would be used to "enhance the capabilities and readiness of US forces, NATO allies, and regional partners in the face of Russian aggression," the White House said.

Nearly 5,000 people killed in Ukraine's Mariupol - mayor

Nearly 5,000 people have been killed in the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol since Russian forces laid siege to it, a spokesperson for the city mayor has said.

The spokesperson quoted data from the mayor's office that said about 90 percent of buildings in Mariupol had been damaged and about 40 percent had been destroyed.

More than 100 deaths in Kiev, including 4 children - mayor

There have been more than 100 deaths in the Ukrainian capital Kiev since Russia began its military operation, the city's mayor Vitali Klitschko has said.

In an address to city councillors of Florence, which is twinned with Kiev, Klitschko said more than 20 corpses could not be identified and four of the victims were children, while another 16 injured children are in hospital. 

Rome helping Ukraine with security guarantees - Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has spoken to Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi about Italy helping to create a system that will give Ukraine security guarantees to protect it from future threats.

"Discussed the course of countering Russian aggression. Thanked for the important defence and humanitarian support. Ukrainian people will remember this," Zelenskyy said on Twitter.

"We appreciate Italy's willingness to join the creation of a system of security guarantees for Ukraine," the Ukrainian president added.

Ukraine puts $565 billion price tag on Russian operation damage

The Ukrainian government has estimated the economic damages and losses from the Russian operation, which has been underway for just over one month, at nearly $565 billion.

Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on Facebook that the $564.9-billion (515.8-billion-euro) estimate includes immediate damage plus expected losses in trade and economic activity.

"It should be noted that every day the numbers change and unfortunately they are increasing," said Svyrydenko, who is also a deputy prime minister.

Putin 'does not appear ready' to compromise on Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin does not appear ready to make compromises to end the offensive in Ukraine, a senior US official said as Ukraine and Russia prepare for their first face-to-face peace talks in more than two weeks.

"Everything I have seen is he is not willing to compromise at this point," the senior US State Department official told Reuters news agency on condition of anonymity.

Russia praises Serbia for refusing sanctions

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has praised Serbia for refusing to impose sanctions against Moscow over its aggression in Ukraine, saying the Balkan ally has made “a smart choice.”

“We deeply respect the Serbian people, Serbian culture, Serbian history and commitment to traditional friends,” Lavrov said, adding “We are sure that they will continue to make smart choices in this situation.”

Although Serbia voted in favour of a UN resolution condemning Russia's operation, Belgrade has refused to join the US and the EU in imposing wide ranging sanctions against Moscow.

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Nearly 3.9M people flee Ukraine: UN

3,862,797 Ukrainians have fled the country since the Russian offensive began, an increase of 41,748 from the previous day's figures as the flow continues to slow, the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR has reported.

Of those who have left, 2.2 million have fled for neighbouring Poland, while more than half a million have made it to Romania. Nearly 300,000 have gone to Russia.

In total, more than 10 million people are now thought to have fled their homes, including nearly 6.5 million who are internally displaced.

Ukraine: No sign of Russian forces pulling back from Kiev

Ukraine sees no signs on the ground that Russia has given up a plan to surround the Ukrainian capital Kiev, Ukrainian defence ministry spokesperson Oleksander Motuzyanyk has said.

"According to our information, the Russian Federation has not abandoned its attempts, if not to capture, then to surround Kiev. For now we don't see the movement of enemy forces away from Kiev," he told a televised briefing.

160,000 remain in Mariupol, mayor says

The mayor of Mariupol has said that around 160,000 people remain in the besieged port city, Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne reported.

A “humanitarian catastrophe” would ensue if more evacuations are not possible, mayor Vadym Boychenko added.

Russian forces were preventing civilians from evacuating from the city and had been turning back some who tried to make it out, he said.

North Macedonia declares Russian diplomats personas non grata

North Macedonia has declared five Russian diplomats personas non grata for violating diplomatic norms and ordered them to leave the country in five days, the foreign ministry has said in a statement.

The Russian ambassador in the country was informed the five people have carried out activities that are contrary to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and had to leave, the ministry said.

"There will be an adequate response" from Russia, Interfax news agency quoted a source in the Russian embassy in Skopje as saying.

Russia expels three Slovakian diplomats

Russia has decided to expel three Slovakian diplomats in response to the expulsion of three employees of the Russian Embassy in Slovakia.

The diplomats were told them to leave the country within 72 hours, the foreign ministry said.

Slovakia expelled three Russian embassy staff earlier in March based on information from its secret service.

Russia to restrict visas for people from 'unfriendly countries'

Russia is preparing retaliatory visa measures that would restrict entry for citizens from "unfriendly countries", Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

Russia orders gas payments in roubles by March 31

Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed the government, central bank, and Gazprom company to switch the payments for the deliveries of gas to “unfriendly countries” to roubles by March 31.

The order was to implement “a set of measures to change to the Russian rouble the currency of payment for natural gas supplies to the European Union and other countries that have introduced restrictive measures against citizens of the Russian Federation and Russian legal entities.”

Putin also called for a report on the implementation of the assignment on March 31, a statement on the Kremlin website said.

Germany: G7 rejects Russia's demand to pay for gas in roubles

The Group of Seven major economies have agreed to reject Moscow’s demand to pay for Russian natural gas exports in roubles, the German energy minister has said.

Robert Habeck told reporters that “all G-7 ministers agreed completely that this (would be) a one-sided and clear breach of the existing contracts.”

He said officials from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada met on Friday to coordinate their position and that European Union representatives also were present.

Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul 'the right step': Turkish parliament head

The talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials set to be held in Istanbul are the culmination of Türkiye’s relentless efforts to broker peace between the two sides, the Turkish parliament speaker has said.

He discussed the Ukraine crisis and Ankara’s push for peace between Moscow and Kiev in meetings with top Slovenian officials, including President Borut Pahor, Prime Minister Janez Jansa and Igor Zorcic, speaker of Slovenia’s National Assembly.

“This is the right step. It is what needs to happen,” Mustafa Sentop said, adding that “Türkiye is the only country that has been in talks with both Ukraine and Russia since the beginning and has been striving for a cease-fire.”

Romania tries to defuse mine found floating off Black Sea coast

A Romanian military dive team has been trying to defuse a mine detected some 70 kilometres offshore in the Black Sea, the defence ministry has said, one of several found drifting in recent days.

Russia's main intelligence agency said earlier in March that several mines had drifted to sea after breaking off from cables near Ukrainian ports, a claim dismissed by Kiev as disinformation and an attempt to close off parts of the sea.

Russia adds German broadcaster to 'foreign agent' list

Russia's justice ministry has added German broadcaster Deutsche Welle to a list of media organisations it has labelled as "foreign agents", a designation that requires outlets to publish a disclaimer on all its publications.

Deutsche Welle's website was blocked by state communications regulator Roskomnadzor in early March.

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Independent Russian paper suspends operations

Leading independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, which is edited by Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov, has suspended operations after receiving warnings from Russian authorities.

The newspaper reported being warned by Roskomnadzor, the state communications regulator.

“After this we are stopping the release of the newspaper on the website, on (social) networks and on paper, until the end of the ‘special operation on the territory of Ukraine,’” the newspaper said in a statement.

Putin, Zelenskyy meeting needed once sides closer on key issues: Lavrov

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy should happen once the two sides are closer to agreeing on key issues.

Speaking to Serbian media outlets, Lavrov added that any meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy to exchange views on the conflict right now would be counter-productive.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin said talks between negotiators from Moscow and Kiev have so far made no major breakthroughs as the delegations prepare for a new round of talks in Istanbul.

Ukraine halts civilian evacuations

Ukraine said it was pausing evacuations of civilians from besieged regions of the country because intelligence reports suggested Russian troops were planning attacks on humanitarian routes.

"Our intelligence has reported possible provocations by the occupiers on routes of humanitarian corridors. Therefore, for reasons of public safety, we are not opening humanitarian corridors today," Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a statement on social media.

Türkiye detects second naval mine in Black Sea

Türkiye’s defence ministry has said military teams were working to disable a second naval mine that was detected floating off the country's Black Sea coast.

On Monday, the ministry said Underwater Defence Teams that were dispatched to the site off the coast of Igneada, near the border with Bulgaria, had managed to secure the mine and were now working to “neutralise” it.

On Saturday, Turkish authorities closed the Bosporus — the landmark waterway between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara — to traffic as a precaution as the Turkish coast guard responded to reports of a drifting mine-like object which was later “neutralised.”

Kremlin says Biden's comments on Putin a cause for concern

The Kremlin has said that US President Joe Biden's comments that Vladimir Putin could not remain in power were a cause for concern.

Biden made the comments to a crowd in Warsaw on Saturday. He later said that the United States does not have a policy of regime change in Russia.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow would continue to closely follow Biden's statements.

UK sees stalled flighting, Black Sea blockade

Russian forces have made no significant progress in the past 24 hours amid continuing supply problems and aggressive resistance from Ukrainian fighters, UK defence officials have said.

Poor morale and a lack of momentum have compounded the problems facing Russian forces, Britain’s Ministry of Defense claimed in its latest intelligence briefing. Heavy fighting continues around Mariupol as Russian forces try to capture the port on the Sea of Avov, which connects to the Black Sea, the ministry said in a briefing posted on Twitter. 

Earlier, the ministry said Russia was maintaining a blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea coast, cutting off maritime trade with the country.

All parties concerned in confrontation with Russia except China: envoy

China’s ambassador to the US said that of all parties concerned in the Ukraine, only China has Russia’s ear.

Qin Gang said China was uniquely positioned to help peacefully resolve what he called “the crisis.” “Now, all parties concerned are in serious confrontation with Russia except China. Only China has the ear of Russia,” Qin said in an interview.

Qin blamed NATO’s eastward expansion for having provoked Russia. “Russia feels duped by NATO on its eastward expansion. It feels threatened and cornered,” Qin said.

New fires reported in Chernobyl exclusion zone

New fires have broken out in the exclusion zone around the defunct Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which is occupied by Russian forces, according to Ukrainian authorities.

"Significant fires have started in the exclusion zone, which can have very serious consequences," Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk has said.

"However, today it is impossible to control and extinguish fires in full due to the capture of the exclusion zone by the Russian occupation forces." The International Atomic Energy Agency has said "the situation remained unchanged" in relation to safeguards at Chernobyl and other nuclear plants in Ukraine.

At least 1,100 Ukrainians evacuated in last 24 hours 

At least 1,100 civilians have been evacuated in Ukraine in the last 24 hours, the country’s deputy prime minister has said.

Iryna Vereshchuk, who is also minister for reintegration of the temporarily occupied territories, said in her daily briefing published on Instagram that civilians have been evacuated to safe areas through two humanitarian corridors.

Noting that they will continue to evacuate civilians from the besieged city of Mariupol, Vereshchuk said evacuations from the northeastern Sumy region will start on Monday.

Zelenskyy outlines agenda of fresh talks with Russia

Ukraine's priorities at the Ukrainian-Russian talks in Türkiye this week will be "sovereignty and territorial integrity," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told his nation in his nightly address.

"We are looking for peace, really, without delay," he said. "There is an opportunity and a need for a face-to-face meeting in Türkiye. This is not bad. Let's see the outcome."

Ukraine is prepared to consider declaring neutrality and offering security guarantees to Russia including nuclear-free status, he said, adding Russian President Vladimir Putin must meet with him to seek an end to the fighting.

Biden says he wasn’t calling for regime change in Russia

US President Joe Biden has said that he was not calling for regime change in Russia when he said on Saturday that President Vladimir Putin "cannot remain in power."

"No," Biden said as he left a church service in Washington when asked by a reporter whether he was calling for regime change in the country.

For live updates from Sunday (March 27), click here

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