March 20, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage of the war in Ukraine has moved here.

The Russian issued deadline for Mariupol authorities to surrender the city has now passed with Ukrainians rejecting the terms as a false choice.

The port city of Mariupol, which before the war was home to around 450,000 people, has been under near constant attack from Russian forces since early March with satellite images showing significant destruction to residential areas.

While the Russian ultimatum appeared to offer those who chose to surrender safe passage out of the city, it made no such guarantees for those remaining.

Russia has repeatedly been accused of targeting civilians, with trapped residents describing the onslaught as “hell.”

The Russian attacks have led to a total collapse in basic services — with residents unable to access gas, electricity or water. Bodies are being left in the street because there is either no one left to collect them, or it is simply too dangerous to try.

An official in the city said people are scared to leave their underground shelters even to get hold of essentials, meaning they were trying to drink less water and eat less food, only emerging to prepare hot meals.

Bombing of maternity hospital, theater: The city is increasingly bearing the brunt of Russia’s fierce assault on the country, with shelling day and night, said Major Denis Prokopenko, from the National Guard Azov Regiment. The assault has included deadly strikes on a maternity ward, and separate bombings of a theater and art school where hundreds of people were sheltering — the losses from which are still unknown as the rescue operations continue. The word “children” was spelled out on two sides of the theater before it was bombed, according to satellite images.

Civilians trapped: For weeks, Ukrainian officials have accused Russian forces of blocking evacuation corridors that would allow residents a safe escape from the city. Adviser to the mayor of Mariupol Petro Andrushenko said on his Telegram channel Sunday said people trying to flee the city in their cars were being shot at by Russian forces. The Ukrainian government said a relief convoy for the besieged city has repeatedly been blocked.

Taken against their will: On Sunday, the Mariupol City Council said residents are being taken to Russia against their will by Russian forces. Captured Mariupol residents were taken to camps where Russian forces checked their phones and documents, then redirected some of the residents to remote cities in Russia, the council said. Russia denied the accusations Saturday.

Why Russia wants to control Mariupol: The city is a strategic port that lies on a stretch of coast connecting the eastern region of Donbas with the Crimea peninsula, both of which have been under Russian control since 2014. Russian forces appear to be trying to take full control of the area to create a land corridor between the two regions, squeezing Mariupol with brutal military force.

“It is impossible to find words that could describe the level of cruelty and cynicism with which the Russian occupiers are destroying the civilian population of the Ukrainian city by the sea. Women, children, and the elderly remain in the enemy’s sights. These are completely unarmed peaceful people,” the Mariupol city council said last week.

US President Joe Biden will travel to Warsaw, Poland on Friday, following his meetings in Brussels, Belgium with NATO allies, G7 and European Union leaders, according to a statement from White House press secretary Jen Psaki.

Biden will hold a bilateral meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda.

“The President will discuss how the United States, alongside our Allies and partners, is responding to the humanitarian and human rights crisis that Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked war on Ukraine has created,” Psaki said. 

A shopping center and cars in an adjacent parking lot caught fire following Russian bombardment in Kyiv’s Podilskyi district, Ukraine State Emergency Service said late Sunday.

A total of 63 firefighters and 11 units worked to extinguish the flames that had reached as high as the third and fourth floors of the shopping center, the Emergency Service said. 

The mayor of Kyiv, as well as the city’s police, posted images of explosions in the Podilskyi district in Ukraine’s capital on Telegram Sunday.

One person was killed following the explosions, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

In an interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes, US Deputy National Security Adviser Daleep Singh discussed how America has the ability to expand its sanctions against Russia, including reaching “the commanding heights of the Russian economy.”

“We can broaden our sanctions. Take the measures, take the sanctions we’ve already applied, apply them in more targets. Apply them to more sectors,” he said.
“More banks, more sectors that we haven’t touched.”

Asked what that might entail, Singh said, “Well, the commanding heights of the Russian economy. It’s mostly about oil and gas, but there are other sectors too. I don’t wanna specify them, but I think (Russian President Vladimir) Putin would know what those are.”

Singh described the impact of sanctions from the US and allies on the Russian economy, saying they’ve prompted Putin to take “some desperate measures.”

“He’s self-isolating his economy. Russia is now on a fast track to a 1980’s-style Soviet living standard. It’s looking into an economic abyss and that is that is the result of Putin’s choices and I can see from his reaction, that’s where it’s headed,” Singh said.
“This is Putin’s war. These are Putin sanctions and this is Putin’s hardship he’s putting on the Russian people.”

The Russian Defense Ministry has presented an ultimatum to the leadership of the besieged city of Mariupol: surrender before dawn on Monday. 

Both the government in Kyiv and the Mariupol city authorities have flatly rejected the Russian terms. 

Here’s what we know:

Deadline looms: The Russian Ministry of Defense has called on Mariupol local authoritie to surrender the city to Russian forces by 5 a.m. Moscow Monday (4 a.m. Monday in Mariupol and 10 p.m. ET Sunday), according to Russian state media.

Ukraine rejects deadline: In an interview late Sunday, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk rejected Russia’s terms, which were laid out in an eight-page document. 

 “We have already informed the Russian side about it. I wrote: ‘Instead of wasting your time to write an 8-page letter – open the corridor.’ We have informed the UN and the ICRC and are awaiting a response from the international community. This is a conscious manipulation and true hostage taking.” 

On its Facebook page, Mariupol city council also rejected Russian demands, saying “They gave time until the morning to formulate a response. But why wait so long?” There followed an expletive. 

Ceasefire:  The Russian Defense Ministry proposed “to the fighting parties to declare a ceasefire and guarantee its strict observance from 9:30 a.m. Moscow time,” (8:30 a.m. in Mariupol and 2:30 a.m ET).  

It would then open evacuation corridors to the city half-an-hour later, it said.

“All who lay down their arms are guaranteed safe passage out of Mariupol,” Russian state media outlet, RIA Novosti, quoted the head of the National Center for Defense Management, Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev,Mizintsev as saying. 

Russia blames Ukraine “bandits”: In calling on city officials to surrender, RIA Novosti quoted Mizintsev saying “we appeal to the odious bandits, who are responsible for hundreds of lives of innocent people, and now call themselves representatives of the official local authorities, of this unique city Mariupol.”

“It is you who now have the right to a historic choice – either you are with your people, or you are with bandits, otherwise the military tribunal that awaits you is only a minor thing that you have already deserved because of the despicable attitude towards your own citizens, as well as the terrible crimes and provocations already arranged by you,” Mizintsev said, according to RIA Novosti.

Some context: Mariupol has been under siege for several weeks and has seen some of the worst attacks in the war since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in February. These have included deadly strikes on a maternity ward, the bombing of a theater and art school, the losses from which are still unknown as the rescue operations continue.

Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky said Sunday that what Russian forces had done to Mariupol was an “act of terror that will be remembered for centuries”

The mayor of Kyiv, as well as the city’s police, posted images of explosions in the Podilskyi district in Ukraine’s capital on Telegram Sunday.

One person was killed following the explosions, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said late Sunday. Several explosions were heard in Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv, according to CNN’s team on the ground.

Images from the Kyiv police below:

Oleg Nikolenko, Ukraine Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, called Russia’s actions in Mariupol on Sunday “a chapter from WWII.”

“First they came to destroy the cities, bombing hospitals, theaters, schools, and shelters, killing civilians and children. Then they forcibly relocated the scared, exhausted people to the invader’s land. A chapter from WWII? No – the actions of the Russian army, today in Mariupol,” Nikolenko wrote.

The Mariupol City Council said Saturday residents are being taken to Russia against their will by Russian forces.

Russia denied the accusations Saturday.

According to the Russian state media outlet, RIA Novosti, Russian Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev said nearly 60,000 residents of Mariupol have “found themselves in Russia in complete safety.”

The Russian Ministry of Defense has called on Mariupol local authorities to surrender the city to Russian forces by 5 a.m. Moscow time Monday (4 a.m. Monday in Mariupol and 10 p.m. ET Sunday), according to Russian state-owned news agency, RIA Novosti.

The news agency said the Ministry of Defense would open humanitarian corridors to the city by 10 a.m. local time Monday (4 a.m. ET Monday) and “wants to receive a written response from Kiev to these proposals before 5:00.”

RIA Novosti attributed its reporting to comments made by the head of the National Center for Defense Management of the Russian Federation, Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev.

“From 10 a.m. to 12 o’clock – for all armed units of Ukraine and foreign mercenaries is a temporary suspension of fighting along the route agreed with Ukraine. From 12 o’clock, there will be a simultaneous passage of humanitarian convoys with food, medicine and basic necessities,” Mizintsev said.

This latest demand comes as the Mariupol City Council said Saturday residents are being taken to Russia against their will by Russian forces.

“Over the past week, several thousand Mariupol residents have been taken to Russian territory,” the city said in a statement. “The occupiers illegally took people from the Livoberezhny district and from the shelter in the sports club building, where more than a thousand people (mostly women and children) were hiding from the constant bombing.”

Captured Mariupol residents were taken to camps where Russian forces checked their phones and documents, then redirected some of the residents to remote cities in Russia, the statement said, adding the “fate of the others is unknown.”

In calling on city officials to surrender, RIA Novosti quoted Mizintsev saying “we appeal to the odious bandits, who are responsible for hundreds of lives of innocent people, and now call themselves representatives of the official local authorities, of this unique city Mariupol.”

“It is you who now have the right to a historic choice – either you are with your people, or you are with bandits, otherwise the military tribunal that awaits you is only a minor thing that you have already deserved because of the despicable attitude towards your own citizens, as well as the terrible crimes and provocations already arranged by you,” Mizintsev said, according to RIA Novosti.

RIA also reported Mizintsev said nearly 60,000 residents of Mariupol “found themselves in Russia in complete safety.”

This post has been updated

Russian troops in southern Ukraine are “still attempting to circumvent Mykolaiv as they look to drive west towards Odesa,” the British Ministry of Defense said late Sunday.

These forces, advancing from Crimea, “have made little progress over the past week,” the ministry tweeted.

Meanwhile, “Russian naval forces continue to blockade the Ukrainian coast and launch missile strikes on targets across Ukraine,” the ministry added, while warning “the blockade of the Ukrainian coast is likely to exacerbate the humanitarian situation in Ukraine (and) prevent vital supplies reaching the Ukrainian population.”

Earlier Sunday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted he spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and told him he will advance “Ukraine’s interests at meetings of NATO and the G7,” set to take place this week.

“The UK will continue to step up military, economic and diplomatic support to help bring an end to this terrible conflict,” Johnson tweeted.

One person has been killed following explosions in Kyiv’s Podilskyi district, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said late Sunday.

Several explosions were heard in Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv, according to CNN’s team on the ground.

The explosions hit the Ukrainian capital’s Podil district, including residential and business areas, Klitschko said. The Podil neighborhood is part of the city’s larger Podilskyi District.

The blasts hit “some houses and on the territory of one of the shopping centers. Rescuers, paramedics and police are already on scene,” Klitschko said via Telegram.

Also via Telegram, Klitschko said rescuers are extinguishing a large fire in one of the shopping centers in the Podilskyi district of the capital. He added medical, rescue and police services are on site.

Earlier Sunday, massive anti-aircraft fire erupted above Kyiv. CNN saw anti-aircraft cannons firing into the night sky for several minutes in what appeared to be at least two anti-aircraft rockets that were also fired into the air.

It’s not clear what the Ukrainians were firing at, but the CNN crew saw an illuminated dot traverse the sky over the capital, which may have been an aircraft.

Nearly half of Chernobyl’s nuclear plant staff were able to rotate and return to their homes, Ukraine’s nuclear regulator, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said Sunday.

Those who were able to leave the plant had been working for nearly four weeks, according to the IAEA.

IAEA Director Gen. Rafael Grossi tweeted that he welcomed news of the staff’s rotation, emphasizing “they deserve our full respect and admiration for having worked in these extremely difficult circumstances. They were there for far too long. I sincerely hope that remaining staff from this shift can also rotate soon.”

Grossi also said he is “continuing consultations with a view to agree on a framework for the delivery of IAEA assistance. The initiative aims to ensure safety and security at Ukraine’s nuclear sites.”

On March 15, Ukraine informed the UN’s nuclear watchdog the Chernobyl nuclear power plant had reconnected to the national electricity grid after losing on-site power. 

As of Monday, the site had been receiving all required power from the repaired line, enabling the staff to switch off the emergency diesel generators they were relying on since March 9, it said in a statement.

Since Russian troops took control of the nuclear plant on February 24, the plant’s 211 technical personnel and guards had not been able to leave, meaning they had been “in effect living there for the past three weeks,” according to the watchdog. 

The Ukrainian regulator told the IAEA the information it received regarding Chernobyl was “controlled by the Russian military forces” and consequently it could not “always provide detailed answers to all” questions posed.

The Russian Ministry of Defense has called on Mariupol local authorities to surrender the city to Russian forces, according to Russian state media outlet, RIA Novosti.

The news agency attributed its reporting to comments made by the head of the National Center for Defense Management of the Russian Federation, Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev.

“We appeal to the odious bandits, who are responsible for hundreds of lives of innocent people, and now call themselves representatives of the official local authorities, of this unique city Mariupol. We are aware that in the current situation little depends on you, since you are under the full control of nationalist battalions, but we very much hope that you, including the mayor of the city, have at least something human in you left, at least a sense of compassion for the civilians entrusted to you,” Mizintsev said, according to RIA Novosti.

The Mariupol City Council said Saturday residents are being taken to Russia against their will by Russian forces.

“Over the past week, several thousand Mariupol residents have been taken to Russian territory,” the city said in a statement. “The occupiers illegally took people from the Livoberezhny district and from the shelter in the sports club building, where more than a thousand people (mostly women and children) were hiding from the constant bombing.”

Captured Mariupol residents were taken to camps where Russian forces checked their phones and documents, then redirected some of the residents to remote cities in Russia, the statement said, adding the “fate of the others is unknown.”

In calling on city officials to surrender, RIA Novosti quoted Mizintsev, saying: “It is you who now have the right to a historic choice – either you are with your people, or you are with bandits. Otherwise the military tribunal that awaits you is only a minor thing that you have already deserved because of the despicable attitude towards your own citizens, as well as the terrible crimes and provocations already arranged by you.”

RIA went on to report the Colonel-General said nearly 60,000 residents of Mariupol “found themselves in Russia in complete safety.”

A deputy commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, Captain of the First Rank Andrei Paliy, was killed during fighting in the region of the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, two senior Russian officials said.

In a statement on Telegram, Mikhail Razvozhaev, the governor of Sevastopol, said, “Andrei Nikolaevich chose to defend his homeland as his life’s work and died for our peaceful future. In 1993, he refused to take the oath of allegiance to Ukraine, remained loyal to Russia by leaving for [Russia’s] Northern Fleet.”

Sevastopol is the headquarters for Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. The port city is in Crimea, annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014.

Ekaterina Altabaeva, a Russian senator from Sevastopol, said on VK.com, a popular Russian social network, that the city had “suffered a heavy, irreparable loss.”

According to Altabaeva, Paliy graduated from the Kyiv Higher Naval Political School – a school for political officers of the Soviet navy – and took part in Russia’s 2008 war against Georgia.

“I knew Andrei Nikolaevich personally. An officer with a capital O, a courageous defender of our Motherland, devoted to the oath and to the Navy,” she said. “Andrei Nikolaevich loved Sevastopol with all his heart. His whole life was dedicated to the Hero City.”

Thousands of Russian troops have been killed in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began nearly one month ago, US and NATO officials told CNN this week, and Russia is now struggling to resupply those forces as it faces sagging troop morale and fierce Ukrainian resistance.

US and allied intelligence assessments vary widely as to exactly how many Russian forces have been killed to date, sources familiar with the intelligence tell CNN. But even the lowest estimates are in the thousands.

One such assessment found approximately 7,000 Russian troops have been killed so far, said one of the sources. But that figure, first reported by The New York Times, is on the higher end of US estimates, which vary because the US and its allies have no precise way of counting casualties. Some estimates place the number of Russian troops killed in Ukraine at about 3,000, while others suggest more than 10,000 have died.

Four of the seven established humanitarian corridors out of the besieged southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol were operational on Sunday, said Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.

In total, almost 7,295 people were evacuated during the day, Vereshchuk said in a video address. Among them, 3,900 people were evacuated from Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia by buses and private transport.

“Due to the violation of the ceasefire, the evacuation from Borodyanka to Bila Tserkva failed for the second day in a row, and it was not possible to deliver humanitarian aid to the village of Mala Rohan. Communication with six people who were supposed to deliver aid to the city of Vovchansk was lost,” Vereshchuk said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry also released a statement Sunday, claiming to have evacuated more than 330,000 people – including 68,963 children – since the invasion’s beginning.

The United Nations said within the invasion’s first week, more than one million Ukrainian refugees fled to neighboring countries.

The Russian military claimed on Sunday that it had launched a series of strikes on military targets in Ukraine employing hypersonic and cruise missiles on Saturday night and Sunday morning.

US officials have also confirmed to CNN that Russia launched hypersonic missiles against Ukraine last week, the first known use of such missiles in combat.

It’s late Sunday night in Kyiv. Here are more of the headlines from Sunday in the Russia-Ukraine conflict:

Turkey wants to see Ukraine’s independence recognized and is working hard to achieve peace, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said during a party gathering in Antalya on Sunday.

While Turkey has strong ties to both Ukraine and Russia, the war between two large neighbors of Turkey is affecting the country as well as the rest of the world, he said. 

“We strongly objected the annexation of Crimea in 2014. If the world had given the proper response to Crimea annexation, then, we wouldn’t be in this situation today” Çavuşoğlu added. 

He believes both sides are close to an agreement in fundamental areas. Ukraine’s independence is among the conditions discussed which Turkey wants it to be guaranteed. Along with UN Security Council and Germany, Turkey wants to be guarantors for Ukraine’s independence. 

Ibrahim Kalin, the presidential spokesperson, posted updates on his Twitter page indicating Turkey is continuing their efforts to end the war in Ukraine. He took parts of his interview with Al Jazeera and posted this update: “The humanitarian toll is becoming heavier by the day. There will be no winners in this war. A peace deal is not impossible.” 

Kalin added: “The most difficult conditions to agree are Russia’s demand of recognition of Crimea annexation under Russia and also recognition of so-called independence of two republics in Donbas region. They are main issues and I think they are most difficult to reach an agreement on, Kalin added. The other four topics in discussion are Ukraine’s neutrality, disarmament and security guarantees for Ukraine, and work so-called de-Nazification”. 

Both officials emphasized President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has continuous communications with both Russian and Ukrainian officials in this process to achieve an end to the war.

Turkey hosted an international meeting last week, including a meeting between Ukrainian and Russian Foreign Ministers. 

As recent as last Friday, Russia launched missile strikes near an airport in Lviv, a strategic Ukrainian city not far from the Polish border that had until now largely been spared from the relentless bombardment witnessed across the rest of Ukraine during the war.

There are over 200,000 internally displaced people now in Lviv, a city of just over 700,000 people.

As Russia’s invasion spreads further west of the city, these images capture moments of daily life in Lviv.

“Putin must not win this war,” Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday, adding that it was “heartbreaking” to see what Russia is doing in Ukraine.

“We are trying to do everything what we can to support and help Ukraine to fight this war. Putin must not win this war,” Kallas said on “State of the Union.” 

Kallas, who will be attending the upcoming NATO summit, said that NATO’s strategy should focus on ending the war by using “smart containment”, meaning that NATO should move from a “deterrence posture” to a secure “defense posture,” raising NATO nations’ contribution to strengthen each nation’s defense and ultimately NATO as a whole and focusing on cooperation. 

“There are some capabilities that are too expensive for any individual state, but if we do them together here in Europe to protect our territories, we are stronger,” she said, nations should move to isolate Russia “at all the political levels that is possible.”

When asked about Poland’s proposal to send peacekeepers to Ukraine, Kallas said that first peace must be achieved, and that Russia is not showing any intentions of achieving it. 

“We can only have a peacekeeping mission if we have peace, but you know, if you look at what is happening in Ukraine, peace is nothing that we see there. It’s a war that is going on, and I don’t see that Russia has any intention of doing anything to achieve peace. So first we should have peace, then, to keep it,” she said. “Sometimes in order to achieve peace, we have to have the willingness to use military power.” 

Kallas said they do not see the possibility of a third World War in Europe and that the effort should be on ending this war.

Kallas also compared deportations happening in Mariupol to what Russia did in the 1940s where Estonians were put in “cattle cars” sent to Siberia. 

She said that Putin’s is feeding into the right-wing narrative in Europe and the US by creating a refugee crisis.

“He is creating this huge migration pressure to Europe and what we see in different countries, we also see that the Far Right now picking up the tone” and not helping refugees coming from Ukraine, she added. 

“The enemy is Russia and not the refugees,” Kallas said.

US and NATO officials believe Russian President Vladimir Putin has not backed off his original demands in peace talks with Ukraine and there is a heavy dose of skepticism in western capitals about how credible Moscow’s engagement truly is — even as the status of those negotiations remains difficult to decipher, according to multiple sources briefed on the situation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has recently indicated he is willing to consider some concessions to Russia to help bring an end to the violence, including a neutrality policy albeit one underpinned by robust security guarantees, raising more questions about the current state of talks and specific elements of any peace deal that may be under consideration. 

“I’m ready for negotiations with [Putin]. I was ready for the last two years. And I think that without negotiations, we cannot end this war,” Zelensky told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria in an exclusive interview Sunday morning, but warned that if any negotiation attempts fail, it could mean the fight between the two countries would lead to “a third World War.”

Ukrainian and Russian negotiators have met four times since the start of Russia’s invasion.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov weighed in on the possibility of Ukraine agreeing to neutral status during a media event in Moscow on Saturday, saying “after our operation in Ukraine ends, and I hope its ends with a signing of a comprehensive agreement on the issues I mentioned — security issues, Ukraine’s neutral status with the guarantees of its security as the President [Putin], a couple of months ago as I recall, commented at a news conference on our initiative of non-expansion of NATO, he said we understood every country needs guarantees of its security,” said Lavrov.

But details on negotiations remain scant with many NATO countries, and the US, remaining on the outside looking in when it comes to the secretive peace talks, with one European defense official calling negotiations “a bit of a dark avenue right now.”

The Biden administration still sees no indication that Putin is willing or ready to deescalate the conflict — making it difficult for US officials to be optimistic about the current state of negotiations, one source familiar with the situation said. 

But at the same time, this source also said that the US is not pressuring Ukraine to accept or reject specific concessions and is not involved in the negotiation process. 

CNN has reached out to the US National Security Council for comment but hasn’t received a response.

Read more here:

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a concert in Moscow on March 18, 2022, to mark the anniversary of the annexation of Crimea.

Related article US and NATO officials struggle to decipher status of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine

Kylie Atwood and Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report

Hundreds of people turned out Sunday in the central Ukrainian town of Enerhodar to protest the detention of its deputy mayor, Ivan Ignatevich Samoydyuk.

Enerhodar — which is close to the Zaporizhzia nuclear power station that was occupied by Russian forces on March 4 — has seen sporadic protests since.

There appeared to be scuffles with Russian soldiers around a vehicle, followed by volleys of shots into the air. 

Samoydyk’s son — also named Ivan — told CNN that “about 30 minutes after the rally began, a military vehicle with five or six Russian soldiers arrived. They tried to detain two people but the residents fought back and didn`t let that happen.”

He said: “Immediately after that, an armored personnel carrier accompanied by several dozen armed Russian soldiers arrived at the rally site to disperse the demonstration.” 

Samoydyk told CNN that on Saturday “during a phone call with one of his subordinates, my father said that he was being stopped by the Russian military.”

The younger Samoydyk added: “The big problem is that my father is responsible for the livelihood of the city,” including providing food for the operational personnel at the Zaporizhzia plant.

“The staff of the Zaporizhzhya NPP is extremely concerned about the events taking place in the city, and does not know whether it is safe for them to go to their shifts at all, whether they risk disappearing at any time in the same way it happened to my father,” Samoydyk told CNN. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday he is ready to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but warned that if any negotiation attempts fail, it could mean the fight between the two countries would lead to “a third World War.”

“I’m ready for negotiations with him. I was ready for the last two years. And I think that without negotiations, we cannot end this war,” Zelensky told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria in an exclusive interview Sunday morning.

On the negotiations, Zelenksy said, “if these attempts fail, that would mean that this is a third World War.”

Here are more of today’s latest developments around the Russia-Ukraine conflict:

Ukrainian protesters were met with force in Berdyansk, as Russian military troops appeared to detain at least two protesters, and kick at least one of them on Sunday.

Russian military troops first occupied Berdyansk government buildings on Feb. 27. Berdyansk sits on the Azov Sea and is roughly 45 miles — 70 kilometers — southwest of Mariupol.

The videos have been geolocated and their authenticity confirmed by CNN. 

In the first video, which appears to have been taken before the detentions, protesters are singing “Chervona Ruta,” a popular Ukrainian pop song, near the boardwalk that runs along the Azov Sea.

The second video shows that at some point, the Russian military troops appearing to detain at least two protesters — their hands are tied behind their backs. One of the protesters is kicked repeatedly by one of the troops while on the ground, while their hands are behind their back.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said there are “no plans,” for US President Joe Biden to travel to Ukraine this week as he heads to Europe for snap emergency summits.

“The trip will be focused on continuing to rally the world in support of the Ukrainian people and against President Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, but there are no plans to travel into Ukraine,” she said in a tweet.

On CNN’s “State of the Union,” US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield cast major doubt on the possibility for President Joe Biden to visit Ukraine this week when he heads to Europe, saying “as far as I know, it’s not on the table.”

Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine’s former president, told CNN’s Jim Acosta on Saturday that a Biden visit to Ukraine would be a “symbol of our solidarity.”

He continued, saying that Biden was a “very good friend of mine and a very good friend of Ukraine,” adding that a visit by the US president would be “an extremely right step to demonstrate that the whole world is together with us against Russia.”

Read the tweet:

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 16: U.S. President Joe Biden (L) speaks on Ukraine as Secretary of State Antony Blinken looks on during an event in the South Court Auditorium at Eisenhower Executive Office Building near the White House on March 16, 2022 in Washington, DC. President Biden delivered remarks on U.S. assistance to Ukraine. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Related article Biden's European trip will be heavy on displays of Western unity but could be light on actions to stop Putin's Ukraine war

Fifty-six elderly residents of a care home in the eastern Ukrainian town of Kreminna were killed when a Russian tank opened fire on a care home, according to the head of the Luhansk region.  

Serhii Haidai said the attack happened nine days ago, on March 11, and that fifteen other residents of the care home had been abducted and taken to the town of Svatove in what is now Russian-occupied territory.  

Haidai first reported the attack in a video statement posted to Twitter on March 12 but said at the time he had no information on casualties, indicating Ukrainian emergency services and officials had come under fire when they tried to gain access the area.  

“[Russian forces] opened fire on a nursing home for elderly people with a tank. There were only elderly people living there, many of them with disabilities. We have no idea how many people have died and how many survived. When we tried to reach the scene, they started shelling us,” he said on March 12.  

In his statement posted Sunday on Telegram, Haidai said it had still not been possible to reach the scene of the attack.

Kreminna lies immediately to the west of the towns of Rubizhne and Severodonetsk, two towns that have seen some of the most intense fighting in the eastern part of the country.  

CNN has been unable to independently verify the claim.  

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s campaign in Ukraine is “stalled,” which is why he has resorted to “disgusting” attacks against civilians there.

“We’ve seen deliberate targeting of cities and towns and civilians throughout the last several weeks,” Austin told CBS’s “Face the Nation.” 

“And again, I believe that he’s taking these kinds of steps because as was described earlier, his campaign has stalled. He’s not been able to achieve the goals as rapidly that he wants to achieve as rapidly as he wants to achieve them. And so he’s, he’s resorting to the types of tactics that we see on display every day. And again, this is really disgusting.”

Austin added later that “the maneuver forces on the ground are essentially stalled and it’s been, it’s had the effect of him moving his forces into a wood chipper.” 

Even so, Austin said there does not yet appear to be evidence that mercenaries or foreign fighters have shown up in Ukraine to help Russia. “We have not seen mercenaries show up on the battlefield, to my knowledge,” he said.

Asked about Russia’s claim that it has launched hypersonic missiles against Ukraine, Austin said he does not believe Russia’s use of such missiles would be a “game changer,” though he cautioned that he “cannot confirm or dispute” that they have been deployed.

“I would not see it as a game changer,” he said. “I think, again, the reason that he’s resorting to using these types of weapons is because he’s trying to reestablish some momentum … you kind of question why he would do this. Is he running low on precision guided munitions?”

US officials confirmed to CNN on Saturday that Russia had used hypersonic missiles in its war against Ukraine.

Austin also said that if Putin used chemical or biological weapons against Ukraine, “he would see a significant reaction from not only the United States but also the global community.”

“And again, I don’t want to speculate about what exactly would change our calculation. I think, I think, you know, engaging in hypotheticals is probably not helpful here, either. But I think this is a very serious step. And as you heard our president say, we won’t take that lightly.”

President Zelensky was asked about Vladimir Putin’s claims that the Ukrainian government is full of neo-Nazis. He said that he cannot take these statements by Putin “seriously” and called it “laughable.” 

Zelensky added that Putin is in an information bubble but he noted that remarks like this from the Russian president worry him about what he is capable of.

“I’m not afraid of anything except for people, but the fact – the fact is that if he is serious about this statement he might be capable of very horrendous steps because that would mean that this is not a game for him. If he really believes in this, if it’s not a game, then we will just continue fighting against it. If it’s a game. But if it’s not a game, if he’s serious about it, if he thinks that this is his mission to conquer our territory and if he sees signs of neo-Nazis in our country, then many questions emerge about what else he is capable of doing for the sake of his ambitions, for the sake of his mission.” 

Zelensky called Putin’s remarks “very frightening, very hazardous.”

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that if his country had been admitted into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization alliance earlier, then Russia would not have invaded the country.

“If we were a NATO member, a war wouldn’t have started. I’d like to receive security guarantees for my country, for my people,” Zelensky told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on “GPS,” adding that he was grateful for the aid NATO has provided since the invasion began. “If NATO members are ready to see us in the alliance, then do it immediately because people are dying on a daily basis.”

He continued, “But if you are not ready to preserve the lives of our people, if you just want to see us straddle two worlds, if you want to see us in this dubious position where we don’t understand whether you can accept us or not — you cannot place us in this situation, you cannot force us to be in this limbo.”

“I requested them personally to say directly that we are going to accept you into NATO in a year or two or five, just say it directly and clearly, or just say no,” Zelensky said. “And the response was very clear, you’re not going to be a NATO member, but publicly, the doors will remain open,” he said.

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At least 902 civilians have been killed and 1,459 injured since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said Sunday.

The OHCHR added that most of the casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple-launch rocket systems, and missile and air strikes.

In a statement, the UN body detailed the 902 deaths as “179 men, 134 women, 11 girls, and 25 boys, as well as 39 children and 514 adults whose sex is yet unknown.”

OHCHR said that 248 civilians had died in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

According to the UN Office, the actual figures could be “considerably higher, especially in Government-controlled territory and especially in recent days, as the receipt of information from some locations where intense hostilities have been going on has been delayed and many reports are still pending corroboration.”

OHCHR said this would be the case for (among others) the city Mariupol, “where there are allegations of numerous civilian casualties,” adding that the figures were being “further corroborated and not included in the above statistics.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksky said there are “compromises” that Ukraine cannot make in negotiations with Putin.

Zelensky was asked by CNN’s Fareed Zakaria about the Russian demands — including that they recognize that Crimea is part of Russia, the two republics in the Donbas are independent republics, and they guarantee that Ukraine will never be a member of NATO. He said, “There are compromises for which we cannot be ready as an independent state.” 

Zelensky continued: “Any compromises related to our territorial integrity and our sovereignty and the Ukrainian people have spoken about it, they have not greeted Russian soldiers with a bunch of flowers, they have greeted them with bravery, they have greeted them with weapons in their hands.” 

Zelensky said that Russia “cannot curry favor with the citizens of another country forcibly.” 

“You cannot just make a president of another country to recognize anything by the use of force,” he added. 

Some more context: In his interview with CNN, Zelensky said he is ready to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but warned that if any negotiation attempts fail, it could mean the fight between the two countries would lead to “a third World War.”

“I’m ready for negotiations with him. I was ready for the last two years. And I think that without negotiations, we cannot end this war,” Zelensky told Zakaria in an exclusive interview Sunday morning.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria that his children are aware of the realities of war in Ukraine, despite him not overtly telling them about it initially.

“My children know for sure what is happening. I do not know whether it’s good or bad. I have not explained anything to my children. They have said to me war is raging in Ukraine,” Zelensky said.

He added, “Fortunately, we do not have to explain anything to our children. Fortunately, they have access to videos and news. I see to it that their access to these videos is open, they have access to it. I think that my children should not be prohibited from seeing any kind of videos of what Russia has made. My son has to be aware of it because while my son is alive that means that some Ukrainian army member is giving up his own life for this.”

Zelensky has two children, a son and a daughter with this wife Olena Zelenska.

“The first two days, we did not talk about it at all. They did not ask questions. They were thinking about it themselves,” Zelensky explained.

He said that his children have hope for victory for Ukraine, “They are proud of Ukraine, very proud. They entertain a sincere hope in our victory.”

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Russia will face more consequences from the US if it uses chemical weapons in it’s invasion of Ukraine, US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Sunday.

“What we see happening is, again, this is a false flag effort by the Russians. They are advancing what they might intend to do. We’ve seen it happen before. They are the ones who have used chemical weapons … And we are concerned that they may use chemical weapons in Ukraine,” Thomas-Greenfield told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.”

She continued, “We’ve been clear if they escalate to this level, we will respond aggressively to what they are doing. You’ve seen the consequences so far of our actions against Russia and against Putin, and they are feeling those consequences. And they will feel more if they take this unfortunate decision to use chemical weapons.”

The US and NATO has advised that Russia may use chemical weapons or create a “false flag” operation where they are used in its attack against Ukraine. Earlier this month, US President Joe Biden also warned Russia “will pay a severe price if they use chemicals.”

The US previously found that the Russian government used chemical weapons in the 2020 poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny and in 2018 against Sergei and Yulia Skripal in England. Both determinations led to sanctions under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act, which requires the President to impose economic and diplomatic sanctions if a country is found to have used chemical weapons.

The US has also said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose regime is supported by Russia, has used chemical weapons on its people dozens of times during the war there.

10 million people have been forced to flee their homes in Ukraine, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said Sunday.

“Among the responsibilities of those who wage war, everywhere in the world, is the suffering inflicted on civilians who are forced to flee their homes. The war in Ukraine is so devastating that 10 million have fled — either displaced inside the country, or as refugees abroad,” Grandi said on Twitter.

According to figures provided by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Friday, 6.48 million people have been internally displaced as of March 16.

See the tweet:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday he is ready to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but warned that if any negotiation attempts fail, it could mean the fight between the two countries would lead to “a third World War.”

“I’m ready for negotiations with him. I was ready for the last two years. And I think that without negotiations, we cannot end this war,” Zelensky told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria in an exclusive interview Sunday morning.

“If there’s just 1% chance for us to stop this war, I think that we need to take this chance. We need to do that. I can tell you about the result of this negotiations — in any case, we are losing people on a daily basis, innocent people on the ground,” he said.

He continued, “Russian forces have come to exterminate us, to kill us. And we can demonstrate that the dignity of our people and our army that we are able to deal a powerful blow, we are able to strike back. But, unfortunately, our dignity is not going to preserve the lives. So, I think we have to use any format, any chance in order to have a possibility of negotiating, possibility of talking to Putin. But if these attempts fail, that would mean that this is a third World War.”

An advisor to Mariupol’s mayor said in an update on the art school that was bombed by Russian forces in the last hours that city officials are struggling to learn more about how many people were hiding in the school that was acting as a shelter.

Petro Andrushenko wrote on social media: 

“So far, there is no exact operational data on how many people were hiding in the shelter or the number of casualties. I expect we will have it later today. But the situation is difficult and there is nowhere to get the data from.” 

An earlier estimate from the city council put the number sheltering in the school building at 400. 

The information black hole reflects a similar lack of clarity about how many people survived an attack five days ago on a theatre in Mariupol that was also being used as a shelter, possibly for up to 1,300 people. 

The number of people reported having survived – put at 130 - has been unchanged for several days. 

Fighting continued Sunday for control of the port city in southeastern Ukraine that has become a focus of Russia’s assault on the country. 

“The city continues to be shelled both from the sky and the sea,” Andrushenko wrote on his Telegram channel.  

He also said people trying to flee the city in their cars were being shot at by Russian forces.  

“Evacuation is difficult - difficult but moving. The Russians are doing everything to complicate things. Last night, cars trying to drive towards the village of Melekine [10 kilometers west of the city center] were fired upon.” 

Other residents looking to flee were having their cars seized from them at a checkpoint just outside Mariupol, he said. 

Despite the dangers, Ukraine’s government announced the humanitarian corridor linking Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia, outside Russian-occupied territory, had been agreed for Sunday.  

A council official reported that a column of eleven buses carrying almost 800 people had completed the second part of the journey, from Berdiansk to Zaporozhzhia, by midday Sunday. 

Pope Francis called the war in Ukraine “a senseless massacre, where havoc and atrocities are repeated every day,” in his weekly Sunday address and blessing.

“I beg all the actors of the international community to make a real effort to put an end to this repugnant war,” the head of the Catholic Church told the crowd in St Peter’s Square after his Angelus Prayer.

“This week, missiles and bombs hit civilians, the elderly, children and pregnant mothers,” Pope Francis said, adding he visited injured children treated in Rome. “One of them is missing an arm, another one wounded in the head, innocent children,” the Pope said.

“Let us stay close to this battered people, embrace them with affection and with concrete commitment and prayer, and please do not get used to war and violence,” he added.

Pope Francis invited “every faithful and every community” to join him on March 25, the day of the Christian Annunciation, “in carrying out a solemn act of consecration of humanity, especially of Russia and Ukraine.”

“All this is inhumane, indeed it is also sacrilegious because it goes against the sacredness of human life. Especially against defenseless human life, which must be respected and protected, not eliminated, and which comes before any strategy, let’s not forget, it is cruel, inhuman and sacrilegious,” he concluded.

An art school being used as a shelter in the besieged city of Mariupol has been bombed by Russian forces, according to Mariupol city council in a statement on its Telegram channel.

About 400 people were sheltering in the building, which was destroyed in the attack, the council said. Information on casualties is still unclear but people remain trapped under the rubble.

It’s Sunday afternoon in Ukraine. Here are more of today’s latest developments around the conflict:

At least 1.5 million children have been made refugees by Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, UNICEF spokesperson Joe English told CNN Sunday.

A further 3.3 million minors are currently displaced within the country, English told CNN’s Hala Gorani.

At least 150 children have been killed and 160 injured since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, according to the UN agency.

Ukrainian military aircraft are moving slowly and unhindered over Ukraine, supporting the notion that Russia does not have control of the country’s airspace.

A CNN team traveling through Ukrainian-held territory Saturday saw individual fighter jets flying low over the countryside on three separate occasions over the span of several hundred kilometers.

On the third occasion, Ukrainian troops at a checkpoint did not react to the presence of the jet.

A security analyst traveling with CNN observed the jets were not flying at high speed, indicating they were not engaging in an attack and were therefore likely Ukrainian.

The same team saw a Ukrainian-marked MI-8 helicopter armed with rocket pods flying fast and low over the outskirts of Vinnytsia, central Ukraine on Tuesday.

The sightings support Western intelligence reports that Russia has not achieved air supremacy in Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials say that another Russian commander has died during fighting, which they say would be the fifth Russian general to have been killed since the invasion on February 24.

Gen. Oleg Mityaev, of Russia’s 150th Motorized Rifle Division, and members of his unit were killed by Ukrainian forces near Mariupol last week, according to a Telegram post shared by Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s Interior Minister, on Tuesday.

The Russian Ministry of Defense nor Russian state media have issued any statements on his death.

Mityaev was part of a small group sent to Mariupol, Aleksei Arestovich, an adviser to the head of the president’s office, told Ukraine’s NV News.

He said Mityaev “most likely went to show, by example, how to fight. Because his soldiers refused to fight.

“Usually, the general is killed in close combat only if he personally comes to lead on the spot.” 

CNN cannot independently verify the Ukrainian claims.

The official Facebook page of the Strategic Communications Department of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU StratCom) also confirmed Mityaev’s death via a Facebook post. 

In 2016, Mityaev was appointed commander of Russia’s 201st military base in Tajikistan, according to Russian state media.

The 201st military base is the largest Russian military facility located outside of its borders. Most recently, he was stationed as the deputy commander of the Russian military grouping at Hmeimim Air Base in Syria, according to Russian state media.

The Azov Battalion, an ultra-nationalist militia that has since been integrated into the Ukrainian armed forces, was the first to share a photo of the General’s body on their Telegram account. 

US President Joe Biden and his fellow world leaders hope to finalize and unveil a package of new measures to punish Russia, help Ukraine and demonstrate Western unity at a string of emergency summits in Europe this week.

But aside from a dramatic wartime show of resolve, few observers believe anything the leaders can agree upon will be enough to end the bloodshed in Ukraine or dissuade Russian President Vladimir Putin from continuing his attacks that are increasingly harming civilians.

Read the full story here:

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 16: U.S. President Joe Biden (L) speaks on Ukraine as Secretary of State Antony Blinken looks on during an event in the South Court Auditorium at Eisenhower Executive Office Building near the White House on March 16, 2022 in Washington, DC. President Biden delivered remarks on U.S. assistance to Ukraine. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Related article Biden's European trip will be heavy on displays of Western unity but could be light on actions to stop Putin's Ukraine war

Two Harvard University students have created a website connecting thousands of Ukrainian refugees with hosts around the world offering them a safe haven from the fighting. 

More than three million people have fled Ukraine since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine on February 24 and teenager Avi Schiffmann felt like he needed to help. 

After coming face to face with hundreds of Ukrainian Americans at a pro-Ukraine demonstration in San Diego, the student contacted his classmate Marco Burstein and told him about his idea. 

The pair then spent almost ƒevery waking moment designing, editing and perfecting a website dedicated to assisting refugees.

“They need assistance, immediately and on a really big scale, and I had to find a way to make that happen as soon as possible,” Schiffmann, 19, told CNN.

Ukraine Take Shelter launched on March 3 and, within a week, more than 4,000 people had created listings offering shelter to Ukrainian refugees.

The website design is simple. Refugees enter the nearest city where they hope to flee and go through available listings, each with its personalized description of the accommodation.

Finally, the refugee can click on the phone or email button to get the personal contact information of the listing holder.

“For me, I’m behind a computer across the world, which is what I’m good at, but it’s very disconnected sometimes,” Schiffmann said. 
“To see so many people from countries in every corner of the world doing something to help these refugees, who need and deserve safety, is really inspiring.”

Read the full story here:

Related article These teens created a website matching Ukrainian refugees with host families offering shelter

The Russian military claimed on Sunday that it had launched a series of strikes on military targets in Ukraine employing hypersonic and cruise missiles on Saturday night and Sunday morning. 

In a statement released on Sunday, Russian Ministry of Defense spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said sea-launched Kalibr cruise missiles were fired from the Caspian Sea and air-launched Kinzhal hypersonic missile systems were fired from the airspace over Crimea.

Konashenkov said the missiles targeted what he described as a large storage base for fuels and lubricants of the Ukrainian armed forces near the settlement of Kostyantynivka, in Ukraine’s southern Mykolaiv region. Konashenkov claimed the location was used as a main supply and refueling base for Ukraine armored forces. 

Separately, Konashenkov said sea-launched Kalibr cruise missiles were fired from the Black Sea and targeted a workshop for the repair of Ukrainian armored vehicles. 

Konashenkov said air-launched precision missiles targeted what he described as a training center of the Ukrainian armed forces near the settlement of Ovruch, in Ukraine’s northern Zhytomyr region. The Russian military claimed in that statement that dozens of Ukrainian special-operations forces and “foreign mercenaries” – apparent shorthand for international volunteers heading for Ukraine – had been killed. CNN could not immediately verify any of those claims.

US officials have also confirmed to CNN that Russia launched hypersonic missiles against Ukraine last week, the first known use of such missiles in combat.

The closure of Russian airspace to some international carriers, including many in Europe, has forced airlines to seek alternate routes. For some flights, such as those linking Europe and Southeast Asia, that’s especially problematic since Russia, the world’s largest country, stands directly in between.

The problem is best illustrated by Finnair’s flight from Helsinki to Tokyo. Before the invasion of Ukraine, planes from Finland’s national carrier would take off and quickly veer into the airspace of neighboring Russia, crossing it for over 3,000 miles.

They would then enter China near its northern border with Mongolia, fly in its airspace for about 1,000 miles, before entering Russia again just north of Vladivostok.

Finally, they’d cross the Sea of Japan and turn south towards Narita Airport. The journey would take just under nine hours on average and cover nearly 5,000 miles.

The last such flight departed on February 26. The next day, Russia barred Finland from using its airspace, forcing the temporary cancellation of most of Finnair’s Asian destinations, including South Korea, Singapore and Thailand.

By that point, however, the airline’s route planners had long been at work to find a solution. “We made the first very rough calculation about two weeks before the actual closure of the airspace,” says Riku Kohvakka, manager of flight planning at Finnair.

The solution was to fly over the North Pole.

Read the full story here:

Related article Polar express: How airlines are plotting a new route to Asia

An art school being used as a shelter in the besieged city of Mariupol has been bombed by Russian forces, according to Mariupol city council in a statement on its Telegram channel.

About 400 people were sheltering in the building, which was destroyed in the attack, the council said.

Information on casualties is still unclear but people remain trapped under the rubble.

It is still not clear how many people survived an attack on a theater in the city on Wednesday.

A satellite image released Saturday showed two thirds of the building – also being used as a shelter – had been completely destroyed. The theater was clearly marked with the word “children” in large Russian writing visible from the air. Estimates of how many people were inside at the time of the attack range from 800 to 1,300.

Russia will continue to use heavy firepower to support urban ground assaults, the UK Ministry of Defence said Sunday in its latest intelligence assessment.

In the past week, Russia increased its indiscriminate shelling of urban areas as its army made limited progress in capturing cities in eastern Ukraine, the assessment said.

“It is likely Russia will continue to use its heavy firepower to support assaults on urban areas as it looks to limit its own already considerable losses, at the cost of further civilian casualties,” the ministry said. 

The indiscriminate shelling of residential areas has resulted in “widespread destruction and large numbers of civilian casualties,” the ministry added.  

Australia on Sunday announced it will make a temporary humanitarian visa available to all Ukrainian temporary visa holders currently in Australia and those who arrive in the coming months.

The visa scheme will allow people to work and access government support including Medicare for three years, according to Minister of Immigration Alex Hawke.

The Australian government said it will work with the Ukrainian-Australian community to ensure appropriate permanent visa options are made available to this cohort “at an appropriate time.”

Since Feb. 23, Australia has granted around 5,000 mostly temporary visas to Ukrainians, of which around 750 have arrived in the country. 

The south eastern city of Mariupol has been under siege for several weeks, with residents facing a constant barrage of deadly unprovoked Russian attacks. These have included deadly strikes on a maternity ward and the bombing of a theater, the losses from which are still unknown as the rescue operation continues.

Here’s what we know about the situation in the besieged city:

Taken against their will: Residents of Mariupol are being taken to Russia against their will by Russian forces, the Mariupol City Council said Saturday. Captured Mariupol residents were forcibly taken to camps where Russian forces checked their phones and documents, then redirected some of the residents to remote cities in Russia, the council said.

Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko compared Russia’s actions to “horrific events of World War II, when the Nazis forcibly captured people.”

Constant bombardment: A Ukrainian army commander told CNN people in Mariupol risk their lives each time they emerge from underground bunkers, and claimed the strategic port is facing the most intense fighting anywhere in the country. Major Denis Prokopenko, from the National Guard Azov Regiment, said air and land attacks on the city were now almost relentless.

Bodies in the street: Prokopenko said people in the city were reluctant to leave their underground shelters even to get hold of essentials, meaning they were trying to drink less water and eat less food, only emerging to prepare hot meals. Basic services like gas, electricity and water, are all out in the city. Bodies are being left in the street because there is either no one left to collect them, or it is simply too dangerous to try.

Theater attack: A new satellite image shows the Mariupol theater, which was bombed several days ago, almost completely destroyed, with just the western façade still standing. Still clearly visible in the photo is the Russian word for “children” painted by sheltering residents in large letters on the ground in front of the entrance. Hundreds of Ukrainians, including many children, were taking shelter inside the theater when it was attacked. Communications in the besieged city have been difficult for days and rescue work has been hampered by the danger of near-continuous shelling, according to reports from inside the city.

Zelensky: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the sustained Russian attack on Mariupol is an “act of terror” that will be “remembered for centuries.” In a video message posted to Facebook early Sunday, the Ukrainian President said Mariupol will go down in history as an example of war crimes.

Steel plant: There are conflicting reports over the status of one of Ukraine’s key industrial facilities – the Azov Steel plant in Mariupol. Late Friday, a government advisor reported the plant was in Russian hands after ongoing battles with Ukrainian troops. But in an update Saturday, the Azov battalion, which has a large presence in Mariupol, said the plant remained in their hands.  

Read more here.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday said “time will prove that China’s position is on the right side of history” over the Ukraine war.

“China will continue to make independent judgments based on the merits of the matter and in an objective and fair attitude. We will never accept any external coercion and pressure, and we also oppose any groundless accusations and suspicions against China,” Wang Yi told reporters, according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

Wang said “the long-term solution is to abandon the Cold War mentality, refrain from engaging in group confrontation, and truly form a balanced, effective and sustainable regional security architecture. Only in this way can long-term stability on the European continent be achieved.”

Some context: His comments come after US President Joe Biden spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday in an attempt to dissuade China from assisting Russia in its war on Ukraine.

“China has to make a decision for themselves on where they want to stand and how they want the history books to look at them and view their actions,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at the time. “That is a decision for President Xi to make.”

While China has not condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine outright, it has also not offered explicit support.

Experts believe Beijing is navigating a complex position as the crisis in Ukraine intensifies, attempting to balance its strategic partnership with Moscow while maintaining economic ties with the West.

The US has watched warily as Xi cultivates a close partnership with Russian President Vladimir Putin, believing the alliance of authoritarian leaders is positioning itself to oppose the United States militarily and economically. During high-profile talks in Beijing last month, Xi and Putin sealed their affiliation, declaring in a lengthy statement the relationship was limitless.

China’s Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng on Saturday claimed Western countries were “weaponizing” globalization.

He said sanctions imposed against Russia are getting “more and more outrageous” and claimed the “abuse” of sanctions will have “disastrous consequences” for the world. 

“Sanctions will only harm ordinary people, impact the post-war economic and financial system, and make the world economy worse,” Le said at the International Forum on Strategy and Security held by Tsinghua University. 
He added that “historical experience has proven time and again that sanctions cannot solve problems.” 

Le said the “root” of Ukraine’s conflict is “Cold War mentality and power politics” and blamed NATO for “going back” on a purported “promise” to not expand eastward.

NATO should have disbanded and been “consigned to history” with the Warsaw Pact, he said.

“NATO continues to strengthen and expand. One can imagine the result of this, the Ukraine crisis is a warning,” Le added.

China’s statements about the war in Ukraine have stopped short of denouncing the invasion but also not offered explicit support. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has offered nominal backing for mediation efforts between Russia and Ukraine, but China has also fanned Russian disinformation about the conflict and echoed Russian talking points criticizing NATO and the US.

Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Sunday announced additional military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine, while also imposing an immediate ban on exports of alumina and aluminium ore to Russia.

“It is clear that Ukraine’s need for military assistance remains urgent and ongoing,” Morrison’s Office announced in a statement.

Military aid: The package includes A$21 million (US $15.3 million) in defensive military assistance for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, bringing Australia’s total military assistance so far to A$91 million (US $66.3 million), the statement said.

Morrison said the assistance will include ammunition and body armor.

Humanitarian aid: The government said it will also provide US $21.8 million worth of emergency humanitarian assistance which will focus on “protecting women, children, the elderly and the disabled.”

Export ban: Australia also announced immediate ban on Australian exports of alumina and aluminium ores (including bauxite) to Russia, which “will limit its capacity to produce aluminium – a critical export for Russia.”

Some context: According to the Australian government, Russia relies on Australia for nearly 20% of its alumina needs.

“This significant step demonstrates the Morrison Government’s absolute commitment to holding the Putin regime to account for the egregious way in which it is flouting international law and the law of armed conflict by invading its neighbor without justification, and targeting innocent civilians,” the statement said.

Coal donations: Australia will donate “at least 70,000 tonnes of thermal coal” to Ukraine following a request from Kyiv, the government said.

“The assistance will help keep the country’s coal-fired power generators operating and supplying electricity to country’s power grid, supporting the Ukrainian people by keeping lights on, homes heated, and factories running at this very difficult time,” the statement added.

Sanctions: Australia has so far imposed 476 sanctions on 443 individuals, including on Russian oligarchs with close connections to President Vladimir Putin, and on 33 entities, including Russia’s Finance Ministry.

Seventy-one children from an orphanage in northeastern Ukraine have been evacuated to safety after spending two weeks in a basement sheltering from Russian shelling.

The orphans, many of whom are disabled and all under the age of four, were rescued from their care home in Sumy and taken out of the combat zone through an evacuation corridor, according to Sumy regional governor Dmytro Zhyvytsky.

“For nearly two weeks we’ve been hiding these babies in bomb shelters,” Zhyvytsky said in a Facebook post early Sunday. “These are children that have no parents (for various reasons) and most of them require constant medical care,” he said.

He said they quickly found people in other countries to take the children in.

According to Zhyvytsky, some of the children remain in the care of specialists of a hospital in Kyiv. 

 “My heartfelt gratitude goes to them for hosting our babies!” he said.

In a video accompanying the post, Borys Todurov, Director of the Heart Institute of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, said the children were brought to the Kyiv hospital from Sumy a day prior, and that some are going to be sent to Lviv, while some will stay in Kyiv longer.

A new satellite image shows the bombed theater in Mariupol completely destroyed, as the City Council said trapped residents are being taken to Russia against their will. Meanwhile dozens of Ukrainian troops have reportedly died in a strike on a military barracks in Mykolaiv.

Here are the latest developments:

Russia hasn’t gained air superiority: Britain’s military said Russian forces have still not managed to gain control over Ukraine’s airspace. An intelligence assessment provided by the UK’s Ministry of Defense said Russia has failed to gain air superiority over Ukraine and is largely depending on stand-off weapons, “launched from the relative safety of Russian airspace to strike targets within Ukraine.”

Mariupol residents forced to go to Russia: Residents of besieged Mariupol are being taken to Russian territory against their will by Russian forces, according to the Mariupol City Council. Captured residents were taken to camps where Russian forces checked their phones and documents, the city council said. They were then redirected to remote Russian cities. The besieged city of Mariupol is under almost constant bombardment, according to a major in Ukraine’s army, and residents are rationing food and water as bodies are left in the streets. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said what Russian forces have done to Mariupol is an “act of terror that will be remembered for centuries.”

Ukrainian troops killed in missile strike: Rescue efforts are ongoing in the southern city of Mykolaiv at the scene of a missile strike on barracks housing soldiers, regional official Vitalli Kim said. Dozens of troops are reported to have been killed in the attack by Russian forces, according to journalists from CNN Swedish affiliate Expressen who were at the scene.

Russia uses hypersonic missile: US officials confirmed Russia launched hypersonic missiles against Ukraine last week, the first known use of such missiles in combat. Russia claimed it deployed powerful hypersonic missiles on Friday to destroy an ammunition warehouse in western Ukraine.

Russian bombardment of civilians continues: Two children and a women were killed in the eastern town of Rubizhne after being pulled from the rubble of a residential building pummeled by Russian artillery fire, the emergency services said. In Kyiv, a mother covered her one-month-old baby with her body while their home was being shelled, according to the National Children’s Specialized Hospital Ohmatdit. The child was unharmed, but the mother sustained multiple injuries, the hospital said. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Russia continues to make “incremental gains” in Ukraine’s south and has used “brutal, savage techniques” in the way it has targeted civilians.

More than 6,600 people evacuated via evacuation corridors: At least 6,623 people were rescued via evacuation corridors from besieged Ukrainian cities Saturday, according to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, a senior official in President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office. Tymoshenko said 4,128 people, including 1,172 children, were evacuated from Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia. Zelensky said eight evacuation corridors were operating Saturday but due to Russian shelling, authorities were unable to evacuate people from Borodyanka in the Kyiv region. Authorities were also unable to deliver humanitarian aid to the cities in the southern Kherson region.

Zelensky singles out Nestle: Zelensky addressed the Swiss people via video link, calling for Switzerland to take further action against Russia. He singled out Swiss company Nestle, which unlike many other major brands, has not left the Russian market. “Your company that refuses to leave Russia. Even now — when there are threats from Russia to other European countries. Not only to us. When there is even nuclear blackmail from Russia,” he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the sustained Russian attack on the besieged city of Mariupol is an “act of terror” that will be “remembered for centuries.”

In a video message posted to Facebook early Sunday, the Ukrainian President said Mariupol will go down in history as an example of war crimes.

Earlier Saturday, Zelensky addressed the Swiss people via video link, saying Switzerland supported EU sanctions against Moscow and called for Switzerland to take further action against Russia.

“This means a lot for the Russian state apparatus, for the people who are used to thinking that power is money,” he said in the Facebook message.

He said he urged Switzerland to take additional steps such as ensuring Swiss companies that have not yet left the Russian market would do so immediately.

“So that they don’t give a single dollar, Franc or Euro to the Russian war machine for killing our people. So that all those who are guilty of war against our country will not be able to enjoy life in Switzerland, the Swiss real estate and the Swiss banks.”

In the Saturday address, Zelensky singled out Swiss company Nestle, which has not left Russia.

“‘Good food. Good life.’ This is the slogan of Nestlé. Your company that refuses to leave Russia. Even now — when there are threats from Russia to other European countries. Not only to us. When there is even nuclear blackmail from Russia,” he said.

A mother covered her one-month-old baby with her body while their home was being shelled in Kyiv, according to a Facebook post from National Children’s Specialized Hospital Ohmatdit on Friday.

The child was unharmed, but the mother sustained multiple injuries, the post said.

The child’s mother and father were at home feeding their baby in the early morning hours when their building was shelled. They heard the sounds of shelling throughout the night getting closer and closer, the hospital said.

“When I went down to the yard, I saw that a shell had hit the kindergarten next to our house. There is no more ceiling, windows and doors in all the houses nearby. The debris of glass flew right on us,” her husband said, according to the hospital.

The father was treated for scraping wounds to his leg and the mother underwent surgery for her injuries. 

A picture of the family in the hospital shows the mother feeding her baby with a large bandage around her head while the father looks on

US officials confirmed to CNN that Russia launched hypersonic missiles against Ukraine last week, the first known use of such missiles in combat.

Here’s what we know about the weapon:

“On March 18, the Kinzhal aviation missile system with hypersonic aeroballistic missiles destroyed a large underground warehouse of missiles and aviation ammunition of Ukrainian troops in the village of Delyatin, Ivano-Frankivsk region,” the ministry said. 

Why were they used?

What are hypersonic missiles?

A Ukrainian attack on an airfield in the south of the country last week killed a Russian general, according to the Ukrainian military’s General Staff.

Amid heavy fighting between the cities of Mykolaiv and Kherson, Ukrainian forces carried out an attack on the airport at Chornobayivka, just north of Kherson, on Wednesday.

The airport was occupied by Russian forces and served as a forward command post of Russia’s 8th Guards Combined Arms Army, according to Ukrainian officials.

Images and video geolocated by CNN showed three helicopters and multiple vehicles on fire at the airport.

Soon after the attack, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said, “Burning enemy helicopters in Chornobayivka in the Kherson region is a demonstration of what is now happening to the occupying forces.”

Ukraine’s General Staff later said, “according to preliminary data” Russian Lieutenant-General Andrei Mordvichev, commander of the 8th Guards, had been killed.

CNN cannot independently verify the Ukrainian claim. Ukraine says that five Russian generals have been killed since the invasion began on Feb. 24.

While Ukraine’s army reported little in the way of offensive operations by Russian forces around Kyiv and in parts of the south on Saturday, further east fighting continued to rage.

Two children were killed in the town of Rubizhne after being pulled from the rubble of a residential building pummeled by Russian artillery fire, the emergency services said. 

A woman also died in the same building collapse; her daughter survived and was in a stable condition.

Some context: Rubizhne is part of a cluster of small towns and villages that remain in Ukrainian hands but lie close to two breakaway pro-Russian statelets inside eastern Ukraine.

The Ukrainian army’s most recent assessment of the war makes clear they are seen as a current focus of Russia’s campaign in the east — to link the two strongholds around Luhansk and Donetsk with territorial gains made to the northwest in the region around Kharkiv.

Saturday’s daily update from the army’s central command — released in the early afternoon — reported a series of Russian offensives with “the main efforts focused on attempts to capture Severodonetsk, Rubizhne and Popasna.”

Further deaths and destruction: On Friday, four people were killed and ten others injured as Russian artillery opened up across a series of communities in the region, local Ukrainian authorities said. 

Regional head Serhii Haidai said a total of 54 buildings had been hit, including 19 apartment blocks and two health care centers.

Some 23 towns and villages were without gas supplies and 26 were without electricity by the day’s end.

Many of those wounded in recent days were among 700 people evacuated through a humanitarian corridor on Saturday, Haidai reported. 

Residents of Mariupol, Ukraine, are being taken to Russian territory against their will by Russian forces, according to a statement Saturday from the Mariupol City Council.

Captured Mariupol residents were taken to camps where Russian forces checked their phones and documents, the city council said, and then were redirected to remote Russian cities.

The besieged city is under almost constant bombardment, according to a major in Ukraine’s army, and residents are rationing food and water as bodies are left in the streets.

There are also conflicting reports over the status of one of Ukraine’s key industrial facilities, the Azov steel plant, in Mariupol. New satellite imagery shows the destruction of the city’s bombed theater, with the word “children” clearly visible on the outside of the building.

The statement quoted Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko, who said, “What the occupiers are doing today is familiar to the older generation, who saw the horrific events of World War II, when the Nazis forcibly captured people.”

t is hard to imagine that in the 21st century people can be forcibly taken to another country,” he added.

A new satellite image shows the state of the destruction of a theater in Mariupol when it was bombed three days ago.

An image taken Saturday by the Maxar Technologies satellite imagery provider shows about two-thirds of the building completely destroyed, with just the western façade still standing.

Still clearly visible in the photo is the Russian word for “children” painted in large letters on the ground in front of the entrance.

The theater was being used as a shelter as well as the city’s main humanitarian assembly, according to authorities. Estimates of the number of people inside at the time of the attack range from 800 to 1,300.

Early reports the morning after the strike suggested the building’s bomb shelter had survived, but reports of efforts to rescue survivors have been difficult to ascertain.

Communications in the besieged city have been sporadic for days, and rescue work has been hampered by the danger of near-continuous shelling, according to reports from inside the city.

Initial reports suggested many survivors had to dig themselves out of the rubble.

Various Ukrainian officials have put the number of survivors at 130, with one person described as having serious injuries.