March 7, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Russia is mounting resources to “encircle” the city of Dnipro in central Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council said in a Facebook post Sunday.

“The Russian occupation forces command is shifting its focus to the South, trying to deprive Ukraine of access to the Black and Azov Seas, which, in their opinion, will create conditions for economic suppression of the Ukrainian Resistance,” the post from Danilov read.

“The enemy does not give up hopes to seize Kyiv and mounts resources to encircle Dnipro,” it continued, adding that Russia’s plan was to “encircle the major cities, exsanguinate the Ukrainian Armed Forces and create a situation of humanitarian catastrophe for civilians.”

The European Union “needs to prepare for five million” refugees from Ukraine, the EU’s high representative Josep Borrell told journalists on Monday ahead of a meeting of European foreign ministers in Montpellier, France.

"We need to be prepared to receive five million people. We know that with the Syrian crisis in the 2015-16 years, which was the migrant crisis in Europe, we were talking about 1.5 million people; now it's going to be much more,” said Borrell.

Borrell said the EU must mobilize not just humanitarian aid, but also the bloc’s resources to support the EU countries bordering Ukraine set to receive refugees.

Some background: On Sunday, the UN refugee agency commissioner Filippo Grandi said more than 1.5 million refugees from Ukraine had crossed into neighboring countries in 10 days, describing the situation as "the fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II."

Video geolocated by CNN on Monday shows Russian tanks taking up positions in a densely-populated area just west of Kyiv.

The 17-second clip was apparently filmed by a resident in an apartment block in the district of Irpin, a site where Russian forces fired towards the capital on Sunday and Monday, killing several civilians.

The video shows at least five Russian tanks and their crews within a few yards of tall apartment blocks.

In the besieged city of Mariupol, living conditions have badly deteriorated and civilians are unable to leave safely.

On Saturday, Ukrainian authorities said thousands of civilians remain trapped in the southeastern city and accused Russian forces of breaching an agreement to pause fire to allow safe passage out.

“The situation in Mariupol is desperate,” Mirella Hodeib, spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), told CNN.

“People are now in their 10th day without water, without electricity, living in shelters, shelters are packed. The essentials are missing, a lot of healthcare needs as well.

“People need to have a safe passage to leave Mariupol and any other location where hostilities are active.”

According to Hodeib, the ICRC is “willing to facilitate” such a passage and is speaking to both Ukraine and Russia in a bid to safely evacuate civilians.  

“Safe passage is mandatory under international humanitarian law and both parties would need to agree on providing safe passage to civilians leaving those areas,” she said.

The third round of talks between Ukraine and Russia is scheduled to get underway Monday at 4 p.m. Ukraine time (9 a.m. ET), Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter.

Russian state news agency TASS reported Sunday that Russian negotiator Leonid Slutsky had also confirmed that the talks would take place on March 7. 

The location for this event has not been disclosed. The first round of talks, on February 28, and the second set, on March 3, both took place in Belarus. 

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will meet Thursday in Antalya, Turkey, according to the Russian foreign ministry. This has not yet been confirmed by the Ukrainian foreign ministry.

NATO is looking at further expanding its presence in Eastern Europe with more permanent positions being considered in the Baltic countries, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Monday.

Speaking alongside Lithuanian Foreign Minister Garbrielius Landsbergis, Blinken continued: “At the same time, we're continuously reviewing within NATO our defense posture, including looking at questions of extending the deployment of forces, looking at questions of more permanent deployments.

“All of that is under regular review and we’re engaged with NATO allies in doing just that.”

He reiterated the US and allies’ commitment to NATO's Article 5, which deems an attack on one country is an attack on all.

“If there is any aggression anywhere, on NATO territory on NATO countries, we the United States, all of our allies and partners will take action to defend every inch of NATO territory. It's as clear and direct as that," he said.

Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said Beijing is closely watching the events in Ukraine to evaluate its strategy towards Taiwan.

"When we watch the events in Ukraine evolving ... we are also watching very carefully what China may do to Taiwan," Wu said during a news conference on Monday.

"I'm sure the Chinese leaders [are] also watching and try[ing] to come up with their own conclusions."

Some background: Some analysts have pointed to parallels between Russia's designs on Ukraine and fears over the future of Taiwan -- a self-governing island democracy that China's Communist Party claims as its own and has not ruled out taking by force.

Wu was speaking at a press conference about additional steps that Taiwan is taking to help Ukraine, when CNN's Will Ripley asked if he is concerned the crisis in Ukraine makes it more or less likely for China to make a similar move.

In his response, Wu said the world has seen an "expansion of authoritarianism," pointing to the joint declaration issued by China and Russia last month.

"President Xi Jinping has also spoken about the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, including building up militarily around China," Wu said.

He refrained from making any predictions while Russia's invasion is still "unfolding" but noted that democracies around the world have come together to support both Ukraine and Taiwan. "I'm sure that will be a factor for the Chinese to take into their calculus," he added.

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Fears are mounting for civilians trapped in the besieged southern Ukrainian cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha, as the onslaught from Russian forces continues.

One man, who escaped from Volnovakha two days ago, told CNN about the conditions in parts of the city, where he spent days hiding in a basement.

"People are there for 11 days now. Some got out, but around 450 are still there," he told CNN, adding that he has had no communication with the people since he left, and they are still there as far as he knows.

Food and water are very limited, he warned, and the basement only gets fresh air when there is no shelling -- which is rare.

"It stinks a lot all the time. Children are vomiting. There is no place to lie down so people sleep sitting," he told CNN.

The United States and other NATO members have so far sent Ukraine 17,000 antitank missiles and 2,000 stinger anti-aircraft missiles, a senior US official told CNN.

Even before Russia's invasion began February 24, the skies above Europe have been filled with military cargo aircraft of the US and others, particularly C-17s, the backbone of the US airlift fleet. The flights have been repositioning troops along NATO's eastern flank, but also moving weapons to the transfer points where they can be delivered to Ukraine. And the pace of the flights has only increased.

Once Russia's invasion began, 14 countries have sent security assistance to Ukraine, some of whom had rarely sent such substantial equipment before, a senior Defense Department official previously told CNN

The "vast majority" of a $350 million US security assistance package has already been delivered to Ukraine, according to the official, only one week after it was officially approved by the White House.

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