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LIVE Russia-Ukraine crisis: Closing Ukrainian airspace could 'risk World War III', says EU
20,000 foreign volunteers fighter have travelled to Ukraine, says minister
- By
- Web Desk
The Russian military assault on Ukraine is on its eleventh day.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Saturday that Ukrainian statehood is in jeopardy, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a “desperate plea” for more planes as Russian forces continued to batter strategic locations with missiles and artillery and a temporary cease-fire failed.
Sanctions from the West continued, something Putin likened to “declaring war.”
Here's the latest of all top developments on March 6
11.49pm: UK seeks to streamline sanctions process to increase pressure on Russia
11.35pm: TikTok says suspending posting of new videos from Russia
11.28pm: French President Macron also spoke to Ukraine President on Sunday
French President Emmanuel Macron held a phone call on Sunday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in which Macron told Zelenskiy of his earlier exchange with Russian President Vladimir Putin, said a statement from Macron’s office.
11.01pm: Russia-Ukraine conflict: Russian airstrikes destroy Vinnytsia airport in Central Ukraine
As the Russia-Ukraine crisis entered its eleventh day, eight rockets launched by Russia destroyed Vinnytsia airport located in Central Ukraine, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday.
Zelensky called on the Western nations and said, “The world has the power to close our skies for Russian rockets and aircraft.” He adds that Ukraine requires aircraft, to make Ukrainian skies safe.
The world has the power to close our skies for Russian rockets and aircraft.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
10.54pm: American Express says suspending ‘all operations’ in Russia, Belarus
American Express Co said on Sunday it was suspending all operations in Russia and Belarus, joining a growing number of Western corporations to boycott business there over Moscow's attacks on Ukraine.
"In light of Russia's ongoing, unjustified attack on the people of Ukraine, American Express is suspending all operations in Russia," the credit card company said in a statement on its website.
"We are also terminating all business operations in Belarus," American Express said.
10.41pm: UAE using role as UNSC leader to bring peace in Ukraine, Sheikh Mohamed tells Austrian leader
His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces stressed that the UAE, through its presidency of the UN Security Council during March, is doing everything in its power to encourage peaceful solutions to the Ukraine crisis, and to cooperate with all parties concerned to promote international peace.
10.29pm: Danes to vote on lifting EU defence opt-out over Russia tensions
Denmark will decide whether to overturn the country’s opt-out from part of the EU’s defence policy in a referendum to be held June 1 as a consequence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the prime minister said Sunday.
Mette Frederiksen told journalists she “strongly” supported lifting the opt-out, which sees Denmark abstain from participation in EU military operations and from providing support or supplies to EU-led defence efforts.
10.11pm: UK says Russia probably trying to deflect blame for Mariupol casualties
Britain said on Sunday that Moscow was probably blaming Ukraine for the breakdown of a ceasefire agreement to allow evacuations from Mariupol in a bid to deflect blame for civilian casualties in the port town, which is besieged by Russian forces.
“Russia has accused Ukraine of breaking the ceasefire agreement,” said a British Ministry of Defence intelligence update posted on Twitter.
“This is probably an additional attempt to diminish responsibility for civilian casualties caused by continued Russian strikes on the city.”
9.49pm: Ukraine open to discussing ‘non-NATO models’
Ukraine is not willing to compromise on its territorial integrity in talks with Russia but is open to discussing “non- NATO models” for its future, in a wider forum, one of its negotiators told Fox News.
Ukraine has pursued membership of the European Union and NATO, both opposed by Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin has cited Ukraine’s potential membership of NATO as evidence of what he portrays as NATO aggression toward Russia.
9.25pm: 20,000 foreign volunteers in Ukraine to fight Russians, says minister
Some 20,000 international volunteers have traveled to Ukraine to join in the fight against invading Russian forces, a top Ukrainian official said Sunday.
“This number is around 20,000 now. They come from many European countries mostly,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told US broadcaster CNN.
“Many people in the world hated Russia and what it was doing in recent years, but no one dared to openly oppose and fight them,” he said.
9.18pm: Staff at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant under Russian orders, IAEA says
Staff at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant continue to operate it, but management is now under the orders of the commander of the Russian forces that seized it last week, the UN nuclear watchdog said on Sunday, citing Ukraine's regulator.
"I'm extremely concerned," International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said in a statement, adding that Russian forces had cut off some mobile networks and the internet, complicating communications with the plant.
"Management and staff must be allowed to carry out their vital duties in stable conditions without undue external interference or pressure."
9.04pm: US, Europe mulling bans on Russian oil imports, Blinken says
The United States said Sunday it was in “active discussions” with European nations about banning Russian oil imports as further economic penalty against Moscow for invading Ukraine, but stopped short of announcing an outright boycott.
With Western nations mulling the prospect of a boycott, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba waded into the debate to strongly call for a ban on such imports.
Russian oil and gas smells of Ukrainian blood
- Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba
8.41pm: Residents fleeing town near Kyiv caught in shelling
Ukrainians fleeing the town of Irpin just outside Kyiv were caught in shelling by Russian forces on Sunday and forced to dive for cover, Reuters witnesses said.
Irpin, some 25 km (16 miles) northwest of the capital, has seen intense fighting in recent days. Russia’s military is closing in on Kyiv, home to around 3.4 million people before the invasion sparked a mass exodus of civilians.
8.28pm: Denmark to hold referendum on EU defence opt-out
Danes will be asked to vote on Denmark’s European Union defence opt-out this year, the Danish news outlets Ekstra Bladet and BT reported on Sunday, citing unnamed sources.
Ending the opt-out would enable Denmark to take part in joint EU military operations and to cooperate on development and acquisition of military capabilities within the EU framework.
8.16pm: France’s Macron tells Putin he is concerned about looming attack on Odessa
French President Emmanuel Macron told Russian President Vladimir Putin during a phone call on Sunday of his concerns about a possible imminent attack on the Ukrainian city of Odessa, according to a statement from Macron’s office.
Macron also stated the importance of finding a negotiated settlement to the Ukraine crisis, and of protecting Ukraine’s nuclear facilities.
8.11pm: Macron, Putin call focuses on nuclear plants
A French official said Macron insisted on the need to ensure the International Atomic Energy Agency’s safety standards are respected at Chernobyl and in other nuclear plants. He told Putin these facilities must not be targeted by a Russian offensive or caught in the fighting.
Putin said he does not intend to attack nuclear plants and agreed on the principle of a “dialogue” between IAEA, Ukraine and Russia on this issue, according to the official, who spoke anonymously in line with the French presidency’s practices. Potential talks are to be organized in the coming days, he said.
8.08pm: Putin tells Macron Russia not seeking to attack Ukraine nuclear plants
8.05pm: Russia warns countries offering airfields to Ukraine would be entering conflict
Any country offering its air fields to Ukraine for attacks on Russia may be considered as having entered the conflict, Russia defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov was quoted as saying on Sunday.
The use of the airfield networks of these countries to base Ukrainian military aircraft and their subsequent use against the Russian armed forces may be regarded as the involvement of these states in an armed conflict.
- Igor Konashenkov
7.55pm: EU leader says no to closing Ukraine airspace
European Union leader Charles Michel said Sunday closing Ukraine’s airspace could spark a world war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly called on NATO countries to stop the Russian onslaught on his country by imposing a no-fly zone. Western leaders have refused for fear of triggering a wider war in Europe. Deploying fighter jets over Ukraine could “in current circumstances” be considered as “NATO’s entry into the war and therefore risk World War III,” Michel said in an interview with the public broadcaster France Inter.
7.48pm: Five wounded after Russian forces fire at anti-occupation protest in Ukraine, says agency
Russian forces opened fire at a protest against their occupation of the southern Ukrainian city of Nova Kakhovka on Sunday, wounding five people, Ukrainian news agency Interfax Ukraine said, citing eyewitnesses.
Around 2,000 people had taken to the streets of Nova Kakhovka to show their opposition to the invasion by waving Ukrainian flags and calling on Russian forces to leave, the agency reported. Similar protests were staged in other occupied areas, it said.
7.42pm: Russia says sovereign bond payments will depend on sanctions
Russia’s finance ministry said on Sunday that sovereign bond payments to non-residents would depend on the sanctions imposed by the West.
“The actual possibility of making such payments to non-residents will depend on the limiting measures introduced by foreign states in relation to the Russian Federation,” the finance ministry said.
7.33pm: Russia scrambles to contain sanctions fallout
Black market fears, problems with online payments and the looming spectre of inflation — Russian officials are scrambling to deal with the effects of sanctions imposed on Russia over its military operation in Ukraine.
On the streets of Moscow, there is little sign of panic — restaurants are open and busy during an extended state holiday that will last through March 8 when the country marks International Women’s Day.
7.18pm: ‘Very credible’ reports Russia committed war crimes: Blinken
AFP
Washington has seen “very credible reports” that Russia has committed war crimes during its military operation on Ukraine, particularly in attacking civilians, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday.
But President Joe Biden’s top diplomat also hailed the resilience of the Ukrainian people and said Russian leader Vladimir Putin was “destined to lose” the war that has already claimed hundreds of lives, including civilians.
We’ve seen very credible reports of deliberate attacks on civilians, which would constitute a war crime
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
7.06pm: Putin signs law to seize illegal funds held by officials
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law allowing funds to be seized from the bank accounts of officials if the sum of the deposits exceeded their declared incomes over three years and was shown to be illegal, state television said on Sunday.
6.51pm: Putin blames Kyiv for failed civilian evacuations
Reuters file
Russian President Vladimir Putin in a telephone call with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron blamed Kyiv for failed civilian evacuations from the key Ukrainian port city of Mariupol which is surrounded by Russian troops, the Kremlin said Sunday.
Putin “drew attention to the fact that Kyiv still does not fulfil agreements reached on this acute humanitarian issue,” according to a statement from the Kremlin, after two agreements to evacuate Mariupol fell though following allegations of ceasefire breaches.
6.44pm: Russia takes BBC World News off air
Reuters file
The BBC said on Sunday that its World News television channel has been taken off the air in Russia as Moscow clamps down further on foreign media during its attacks on Ukraine.
BBC World News presenter Victoria Derbyshire first announced the suspension to viewers outside Russia on Sunday.
6.37pm: Blinken: US, allies discuss Russia oil imports
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the United States and its allies are having a “very active discussion” about banning the import of Russian oil and natural gas in the latest escalation of their sanctions in retaliation for its attacks on Ukraine.
Asked about oil and gas imports, Blinken told CNN on Sunday that President Joe Biden convened a meeting of his National Security Council on the subject the day before. Biden and Western allies have until now held off on sanctions against Russia’s lucrative energy industry to avoid blowback on their own economies.
“We are now talking to our European partners and allies to look in a coordinated way at the prospect of banning the import of Russian oil while making sure that there is still an appropriate supply of oil on world market."
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
6.33pm: Two reactors operational at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
Ukraine has told the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that two out of the six reactors at the country’s largest Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station (NPP) are working and the radiation levels are normal, days after Russian forces took control of the site in the country’s south-east, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi has said.
6.31pm: Russian banks may issue cards with China's UnionPay
Credit cards issued by Russian banks using the Visa and Mastercard payment systems will stop functioning overseas after March 9, Russia's central bank said on Sunday, adding that some local lenders would look to use China's UnionPay system instead.
Its announcement came after US payments firms Visa Inc and Mastercard Inc said they were suspending operations in Russia, joining the list of companies that are severing business links with Russia.
6.15pm: Zelensky tells Russians to protest before it's too late
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed directly to Russians on Sunday to take to the streets in protest against the Kremlin's attacks on his country or risk their own poverty and repression.
"Citizens of Russia! For you, this is a struggle not only for peace in Ukraine! This is a fight for your country. If you keep silent now, only your poverty will speak for you later. And only repression will answer."
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
6.07pm: UN says 364 civilian deaths confirmed so far
The UN human rights office says it has confirmed the deaths of 364 civilians in Ukraine since the Russian military operation began on February 24.
The Geneva-based office said that another 759 civilians had been injured as of midnight Saturday. The rights office uses strict methodology and only reports casualties it has confirmed.
5.50pm: Child refugee, 11, crosses border into Slovakia alone
An 11-year-old boy from Ukraine has crossed the border into Slovakia with just a plastic bag, a passport and a telephone number written on his hand, Slovak police said Sunday.
“He came all alone from Zaporizhzhia because his parents had to stay in Ukraine,” police spokeswoman Denisa Bardyova told AFP.
Volunteers took care of the boy, who arrived on Saturday, and provided him with food and drink.
5.01pm: Ukraine official says assault halts evacuations for 2nd time
A Ukrainian official says a second attempt to evacuate civilians from a southern city under siege for a week has failed due to continued Russian shelling.
Evacuations from the port city of Mariupol were scheduled to begin at noon local time during a 10am to 9pm local ceasefire, Ukrainian military authorities said earlier Sunday.
4.57pm: Putin, Macron holding talks
French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday held new telephone talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Elysee said.
The call, which a presidential official said lasted 1 hour 45 minutes and was at Macron’s request, was the fourth time they had spoken since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
It came after a tense call on March 3 which the Elysee said had left Macron feeling “the worst is to come” in Ukraine with Putin intent on seizing “the whole” of the country.
4.50pm: Pope Francis demands humanitarian corridors for refugees
"Rivers of blood and tears are flowing in Ukraine. This is not just a military operation but a war which is sowing death, destruction and misery."
- Pope Francis
4.48pm: Russia’s Putin calls on Ukraine to stop fighting
President Vladimir Putin warned Ukraine on Sunday that Russia’s military operation would only be halted if Kyiv stopped resisting and fulfilled all of the Kremlin’s demands.
Putin told Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan by telephone that Ukraine’s negotiators should take a more “constructive” approach at talks with Moscow to take into account the reality on the ground.
4.35pm: Russia detains over 1,100 at Ukraine conflict protests
AFP
Over 1,100 people in cities across Russia have been detained at protests on Sunday against Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine, a monitor said, more than a week after the assault began.
OVD-Info, which monitors detentions at opposition protests, said that by around 2.20pm Moscow time on Sunday, 1,103 people had been detained across 35 cities.
The highest numbers held were in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk and in Yekaterinburg in the Urals.
3.59pm: Erdogan talks with Putin, calls for an ‘urgent general ceasefire’
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for an 'urgent general ceasefire' in talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, an official has said.
3.23pm: US ‘working actively’ on deal for Polish fighter jets to Ukraine
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that the United States was “working actively” on a deal with Poland to supply Ukraine with jets.
Multiple US news outlets reported Saturday that US officials told them of the possible deal, in which Poland would send Soviet-era aircraft to Ukraine in return for American F-16 fighter jets.
“Can’t speak to a timeline but I can just say we’re looking at it very, very actively. We are looking actively now at the question of airplanes that Poland may provide to Ukraine and looking at how we might be able to backfill should Poland decide to supply those planes.”
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
3pm: Ukraine warns Russia preparing to shell port city Odessa
Map of Ukraine locating areas where explosions, strikes and fighting have been reported and under Russian control. Updated as of March 6, 0900 GMT - AFP / AFP
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Sunday that Russian forces are preparing to shell Odessa, a historic port city on the Black Sea coast.
Russian forces have made progress in southern Ukraine since their February 24 attacks, overrunning the city of Kherson and besieging the port of Mariupol, but Odessa has so far been largely spared.
“This is going to be a military crime. This is going to be a historical crime”
- Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky
2:54pm: Ukraine is Europe’s ‘fastest growing refugee’
People rest at a refugee reception center at the Ukrainian-Polish border crossing in Korczowa on March 5, 2022. Photo: AFP
The number of people fleeing Russia’s attacks on Ukraine has topped 1.5 million, making it Europe’s fastest growing refugee crisis since World War II, the United Nations said on Sunday.
“More than 1.5 million refugees from Ukraine have crossed into neighbouring countries in 10 days,” the UN High Commissioner for Refugees tweeted.
The UN described the outflow as “the fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II”, having reported on Saturday that nearly 1.37 million refugees had fled.
2:34pm: Ukrainians fleeing fighting arrive in Poland in record numbers
Record numbers of refugees headed into Poland from Ukraine with the total number expected to surpass 1 million people later on Sunday as Russian forces escalated their attack.
Fresh data shows Polish border guards cleared as many as 129,000 people at border crossings on Saturday, the most in a single day since the war started, bringing the total to 922,400.
“Check-in is as simplified as possible. The point is to confirm the identity of persons, verify documents, check the databases if they are not wanted persons. It takes a few minutes. Forecasts indicate that today the number of people who entered Poland from Ukraine from February 24 will exceed one million.”
- Polish Border Guard spokeswoman Anna Michalska
1:49: Limited Russian cease-fire revived in Ukraine; talks planned
Russian forces will observe a temporary cease-fire Sunday in two Ukrainian cities, an official in one of the country’s two pro-Russia separatist regions said after an agreement to allow civilians to evacuate collapsed a day earlier amid continued shelling.
Eduard Basurin, the head of the military in separatist-held Donetsk territory, said safe passage corridors for residents of the besieged port city of Mariupol and the city of Volnovakha would reopen Sunday. He did not say for how long nor whether a cease-fire would accompany the evacuation.
A promised cease-fire in Mariupol failed amid scenes of terror Saturday. Ukrainian officials said the evacuation was aborted because the city remained under attack.
Map showing the city of Mariupol in Ukraine, besieged by Russian troops on March 5. Photo: AFP
1:40pm: Police detain more than 316 people at anti-war protests in Russia
Police detained more than 316 people at anti-war protests in 16 cities across Russia on Sunday, the OVD-Info protest monitor said.
There was no immediate comment from police. Reuters was not able to independently verify the information.
12:33pm: Ukraine port city Mariupol to attempt civilian evacuation
An Ukrainian serviceman walks past destroyed buildings in the village of Shyrokyne near Mariupol. Photo: AFP
The Ukraine port city of Mariupol, which is surrounded by Russian troops, said Sunday it will begin efforts to evacuate its civilian population, after earlier efforts were scuppered by ceasefire violations.
“From 1200 (1000 GMT) the evacuation of the civilian population begins,” city officials said in a statement, which said a ceasefire was agreed with Russian-led forces surrounding the city.
12:09pm: Russia strikes Ukrainian military air base with long-range weapons
Ukrainian SU-27 planes fly over Ozerne air base, Zhytomyr region on December 6, 2018 during a dispatching ceremony of the troops to the east of the country. Photo: AFP
Russia struck and disabled Ukraine’s Starokostiantyniv military air base with long-range high-precision weapons, Russia’s defence ministry said on Sunday.
“The Russia armed forces continue to strike the military infrastructure of Ukraine,” Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.
“On the morning of March 6, strikes were carried out by high-precision long-range weapons. The Ukrainian air force base near Starokostiantyniv was disabled.”
11:45am: Ukraine says over 11,000 Russian troops killed
More than 11,000 Russian troops have been killed since Moscow launched an attack of Ukraine on Feb. 24, the Ukrainian armed forces’ general staff said on Sunday.
A day earlier, it put Russian casualties at over 10,000. It did not report Ukrainian casualties.
11:30am: Residents of Ukrainian orphanage flee to safety
People evacuated from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic get on a train to be evacuated deep into Russia in the town of Taganrog, on February 20, 2022. Photo: AFP
More than 200 from an orphanage in Ukraine’s conflict zone arrived in the western city of Lviv on Saturday after a 24-hour train journey with their carers.
The 215 children, ranging from toddlers to teenagers, left their orphanage in Zaporizhzhia, in southeast Ukraine, on the day Russian troops attacked a nearby nuclear power station.
“My heart is being torn apart,” said Olha Kucher, director of the Zaporizhzhia Central Christian Orphanage. Then she started sobbing. “I’m sorry . . . I simply lack words. And I feel so sorry for these children. They’re so young.”
As night fell and the temperature plunged, the children waited patiently on a platform at Lviv train station, the older ones looking after the young, while orphanage staff carefully counted them all.
The very young clutched cuddly toys. None of the children cried or complained.
10am: UK intelligence says Russia targeting populated areas
British military intelligence said on Sunday that Russian forces were targeting populated areas in Ukraine but that the strength of resistance was slowing the Russian advance.
“The scale and strength of Ukrainian resistance continue to surprise Russia,” British military intelligence said in an update. Russia “has responded by targeting populated areas in multiple locations, including Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol.”
“Russia has previously used similar tactics in Chechnya in 1999 and Syria in 2016, employing both air and ground-based munitions,” British military intelligence said.
10am: Foreigners who fled the conflict zone team up to help others escape
Foreign students from Ukrainian universities wait for trains at the railway station in Zahony, Hungary, close to the Hungarian-Ukrainian border on early morning, on March 4, 2022. Photo: AFP
Jarred by discriminatory treatment and left to evacuate themselves from Ukraine, people from African, Asian and Latin American countries who succeed in getting out are forming impromptu networks to help thousands of others hoping to flee.
Ukrainian border guards “separated Africans, together with Indians, from the rest and directed us to the Romanian border” scores of miles away, Alexander Somto Orah, 25, a Nigerian student in Ukraine said. “They told us that if we try to push our way through, they are going to shoot us.” Video shared with The Associated Press shows the confrontation.
United by fear and outrage after days in the freezing weather, the young foreigners started to protest. “We raised our hands and told them we are students and just want to go home,” Orah said. Eventually, they were allowed to cross.
Since reaching Poland’s capital, Warsaw, he has returned to the border multiple times to help other foreigners leave Ukraine, drawing on his experience.
More details here
8:25am: US officials travel to Venezuela, a Russian ally, for talks - source
Senior US officials traveled to Venezuela on Saturday to meet with President Nicolas Maduro’s government, seeking to determine whether Caracas is prepared to back away from its close ties to Russia amid its attack of Ukraine, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The trip is the highest-level US visit to Venezuela in years after the two countries broke diplomatic relations amid a campaign of US sanctions and diplomatic pressure aimed at ousting Maduro, a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
8:08am: Putin warns against imposing no-fly zone over Ukraine
“Any movement in this direction will be considered by us as participation in an armed conflict by that country.”
- Russian President Vladimir Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Saturday that Moscow would consider any country imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine to have entered into the conflict, while he also equated global sanctions with a declaration of war.
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has pleaded with the West to support a no-fly zone as his besieged country continues to resist Moscow’s attack, now in its second week.
Putin, who has dubbed his incursion a “special military operation” to defend separatist regions and previously argued that Ukrainian statehood is a fiction, also threatened his ex-Soviet neighbour’s continued existence should its leaders “do what they are doing”.
7am: Ukrainian paramedic remembered for bravery
A Ukrainian paramedic who was shot while on her way to evacuate injured people from the outskirts of Kyiv was buried in the country’s capital on Saturday.
Valentyna Pushych was known locally as “Romashka,” which means “Daisy.” A friend described her as a “daredevil,” who was never afraid to “get under bullets.’
She was always “running to the most dangerous places” to rescue to the injured, Nataliia Voronkova said.
Pushych used to be a well-paid worker at a transport and logistic company. But in 2016, she joined the army as a paramedic in response to the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Several women, including some dressed in camouflage jackets, cried as her body lay in a casket at a service. A portrait of Pushych was on a wall nearby.
At the cemetery, red roses were placed on Pushych’s body. After she was buried, the dirt was covered with the flag of Ukraine.
6:48am: Hundreds of men have been lining up in Kyiv to join army
Ukrainian soldiers help a man on a wheelchair as people try to flee crossing the Irpin river in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, March 5, 2022. Photo: AP
An order from Ukraine’s government prohibited men between the ages of 18 and 60 from leaving the country to keep them available for military conscription.
But some like Volodymyr Onysko volunteered to fight.
“We know why we are here. We know why we defend our country. And our guys that are actually standing there and fighting Russian military forces,” he told Britain’s Sky News. “We know what we are doing and that’s why we will win.”
6:46am: Ukrainian refugees near 1.5 million
An elderly woman is helped while crossing a destroyed bridge as she tries to leave the city of Irpin, in the Kyiv region, Ukraine March 5, 2022. Photo: Reuters
The number of Ukrainian refugees was expected to reach 1.5 million on Sunday as Russia continued its attack 11 days after attacking Ukraine and Kyiv pressed for further Western action, including more sanctions and weapons.
Moscow and Kyiv traded blame over a failed ceasefire plan that would have let civilians flee Mariupol and Volnovakha, two southern cities besieged by Russian forces. Another round of talks was tentatively planned for Monday as Ukrainians who could escape spilled into neighboring Poland, Romania, Slovakia and elsewhere.
More details here
6:40am: Send more planes, Zelenskyy's 'desperate' plea to Congress
A man holds his child as families, who fled Ukraine due to the Russian attack, wait to enter a refugee camp in the Moldovan capital Chisinau on March 3, 2022. Photo: AFP
Fighting for his country's survival, Ukraine's leader made a 'desperate' plea Saturday to American lawmakers for the United States to help get more warplanes to his military and cut off Russian oil imports as Kyiv tries to stave off the Russian attack.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy opened the private video call with US lawmakers by telling them this may be the last time they see him alive.
More details here
6:30am: Putin says Ukraine’s future in doubt as cease-fires collapse
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Saturday that Ukrainian statehood is in jeopardy and likened the West’s sanctions on Russia to “declaring war,” while a promised cease-fire in the besieged port city of Mariupol collapsed amid scenes of terror.
With the Kremlin’s rhetoric growing fiercer and a reprieve from fighting dissolving, Russian troops continued to shell encircled cities and the number of Ukrainians forced from their country grew to 1.4 million. By Saturday night Russian forces had intensified their shelling of Mariupol, while dropping powerful bombs on residential areas of Chernihiv, a city north of Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said.
“If they continue to do what they are doing, they are calling into question the future of Ukrainian statehood, and if this happens, it will be entirely on their conscience.”
- Russian President Vladimir Putin
He also hit out at Western sanctions that have crippled Russia’s economy and sent the value of its currency tumbling.
More details here
6:25am: Biden welcomes Visa, Mastercard decisions to suspend operations
US President Joe Biden, in a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, welcomed decisions by Visa and Mastercard to suspend their operations in Russia, the White House said on Saturday.
"President Biden noted his administration is surging security, humanitarian, and economic assistance to Ukraine and is working closely with Congress to secure additional funding," a White House readout of the call added.
More details here
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