War Ukraine Russia: Last minute, direct: Vladimir Putin’s attack on kyiv, Zelensky and NATO

More than 2.9 million people have left Ukraine since Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24 the start of a military offensive, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which considers this exodus the fastest since the Second World War. In Poland alone, about 1.8 million people have landed, although it is not clear how many would have stayed in this country since part of the refugees choose to continue to other European countries. More than 422,000 refugees have also arrived in Romania, while Moldova has registered 337,000, Hungary about 264,000 and Slovakia 213,000.

At least 19 people have died and nine others have been injured as a result of the attack perpetrated on Monday against a television tower near the Ukrainian city of Rivne, in the northwest of the country, according to the regional governor, Vitali Koval, who has raised the number of victims. In addition to the tower, in the attack, attributed to Russian forces, an official building was also hit in the nearby town of Antopil. Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly accused Russia of firing at civilian targets as part of the offensive that began on February 24. Despite the evidence, Moscow denies it, assuring that it only attacks intelligence and information services infrastructures.

The European Union has formally adopted this Tuesday a new round of trade sanctions that seek to further isolate Russia on the international stage and tighten the siege on the Russian oligarchs who finance the Vladimir Putin regime, in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine. “As President Putin’s war against the Ukrainian people continues, so does our determination to support Ukraine and cut funding for the Kremlin’s war machine,” said High Representative for Foreign Policy Josep Borrell. measures that come after the informal summit of leaders of the Twenty-seven in Versailles, France, where the EU prepared to face the conflict in the long run.

The authorities of the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk have demanded Russia’s help on Tuesday to avoid attacks such as the one carried out on Monday by the Ukrainian Army against the city of Donetsk, which left about 20 dead, according to the official balance. “Our forces are not enough because we don’t have the kind of weapons with which we can carry out high-altitude demolitions or reach the places where these (Ukrainian military) installations are,” Donetsk militia spokesman Eduard Basurin said. “We have asked the Russian Ministry of Defense for help. I believe that with mutual efforts this type of incident will not be repeated,” he explained, according to the Russian news agency TASS.

According to Chinese experts, the meeting in Rome between Chinese and American foreign and security officials ended without Washington succeeding in getting Beijing to alter its vaunted neutrality on the war in Ukraine or to abide by Western sanctions on Russia. The Roman meeting, which for more than eight hours seated the American national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, in front of the director of the Office of the Chinese Foreign Affairs Commission, Yang Jiechi, ended with insubstantial statements with few details about what It was really discussed at the meeting.

A deathly silence fills the city that did not sleep and whose center is shielded to preserve the so-called pearl of the Black Sea. The port of Odessa is experiencing its most tense moments while waiting for the worst: the arrival of Russian troops in this city located in the southwest of Ukraine. Barricades surround the streets of the city center where only a few dozen people are seen strolling between the closed shops and only a few spaces are open. But what abounds are the military. Andriy, of Ukrainian and Lebanese nationality, was a television presenter and is now a soldier waiting on one of the city’s avenues, the third largest in Ukraine. “We are prepared and I am sure that if the Russians enter through here we have enough weapons and brains to fight against those stupid Russians,” he explained to Efe.

The World Bank has agreed to provide Ukraine with additional financing amounting to some 200 million dollars (183 million euros) to strengthen the social services provided in the country to vulnerable people. Thus, the total amount mobilized by the World Bank in favor of Ukraine amounts to more than 925 million dollars (845 million euros), including the 723 million dollars (660 million euros) mobilized in favor of the country and its population last week. This financing is part of the package of 3,000 million dollars (2,740 million euros) that the World Bank plans to prepare for Ukraine in the coming months.

The United States said on Monday that it has “multiple routes” to deliver its military assistance to Ukraine, following last weekend’s Russian bombardment of a military base in western Ukraine, just 20 kilometers from the Polish border. The Pentagon does not see that this attack, which caused 35 deaths and 134 wounded, is “a turning point” in the conflict, started on February 24 by Russia.

The Prime Ministers of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, of the Czech Republic, Pietr Fiala, and of Slovenia, Janez Jansa, will travel to kyiv on Tuesday to meet with the Ukrainian President, Volodomir Zelenski, as reported by the Polish Government in a statement. Also on the official program is a meeting with the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal. According to the spokesman for the Polish government, Michal Dworczyk, it is “a representation of the European Council and its objective is to express strong support for Ukraine’s struggle for independence.”

At least seven people have died during the Russian bombing of the last hours on the Ukrainian region of Kharkov, in the east, one of the most affected by the attacks since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Three people were rescued alive when the rubble of the buildings that were affected by the shelling was removed, reports the Ukrinform agency. “Rescue operations continued in the Kyivski, Shevchenkivski and Novobavarski residential districts of the city of Kharkov, as well as in the Izium district of the same region,” reports the Main Directorate of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in its Facebook page.

The Russian Army has again attacked some residential neighborhoods of the capital of kyiv this morning. The mayor, Vitali Klichkó, ​​has assured that “the shells hit several residential buildings: 2 high-rise buildings in the Sviatoshynski district, 1 in Podilski. And also in a private house.” “There are victims in residential buildings, the information is being clarified. Rescue teams and doctors are working on the ground,” he said.

The Russian Government has affirmed this Tuesday that its Army already controls the entire Ukrainian region of Kherson, in the south of the country, within the framework of the military offensive that began on February 24 by order of Russian President Vladimir Putin. “The Russian Armed Forces have taken full control of the entire territory of the Kherson region,” said Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov, as reported by the TASS news agency. Moscow announced the seizure of the city of Kherson – capital of the province, where about 280,000 people live – during the day of March 2. Since then it has maintained its offensive to try to control the totality of the province.

The Ukrainian Army has assured this Tuesday that more than 13,500 Russian soldiers have died in combat since the start of the war on February 24 by order of the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, who days before had recognized the independence of the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Army has indicated in a message on its account on the social network Facebook that the number of deaths in the Russian ranks is “more than 13,500”, while stating that so far they have destroyed 404 battle tanks , 36 anti-aircraft systems, 81 aircraft, 95 helicopters and 640 vehicles.