This digest has now been archived. Find the latest Russia-Ukraine updates here.
Anastasia Erashova cries as she hugs her child in a corridor of a hospital in Mariupol, eastern Ukraine on March 11, 2022. Anastasia's other child was killed during the shelling of Mariupol.Evgeniy Maloletka/The Associated Press
Here are the latest updates on the war in Ukraine:
- Russian forces pounding the port city of Mariupol shelled an area near a mosque sheltering more than 80 people, including children.
- Air-raid sirens blared across most Ukrainian cities on Saturday morning, urging people to seek shelters, while Russian forces encircled several of them and fought with Ukrainian defence forces near the capital, Kyiv.
- An adviser to the mayor of Mariupol says the real number of deaths in the coastal city likely far exceeds the official estimate of 1,500, and remaining residents have grown desperate for food and water.
7:58 p.m. ET
Inside Ukraine’s ‘asymmetric economic warfare’ against Russia
Women look at a screen displaying exchange rate at a currency exchange office in St. Petersburg, Russia, Tuesday, March 1, 2022.Dmitri Lovetsky/The Associated Press
They are warriors with suits and briefcases – a small guerilla force of scholars, bankers and consultants who have become field marshals in a parallel war with Russia: The campaign to inflict debilitating economic pain on Moscow.
The West has already imposed a suite of punishing sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin and his oligarchs, severing transportation links and freezing part of the vast war chest the Kremlin had accumulated before its invasion of Ukraine. None of that has turned Mr. Putin away from a war that has killed thousands and turned entire towns into rubble.
But across Ukraine’s political establishment, keyboard soldiers are conceiving new ways for the world to strike back without military force – up to and including deliberate attempts to cause an uprising in Russia by leaving its civilians hungry.
“It’s a little bit like asymmetric economic warfare,” said Tymofiy Mylovanov, who is president of the Kyiv School of Economics and an influential figure in Ukraine’s work to research and recommend financial measures other countries can use against Russia.
“It’s a gloves-off situation,” he added. “The target is on the entire economy.”
It is an effort that has become one of Ukraine’s leading national priorities.
6:10 p.m. ET
EPL bans Roman Abramovich from running Chelsea FC
In an unprecedented ruling against a club owner, the Premier League ordered Roman Abramovich on Saturday to stop running Chelsea and sell up after he was sanctioned by the British government over Russia’s war on Ukraine and his close links to President Vladimir Putin.
The league board’s decision to disqualify Abramovich from being a director accelerates the end of the Russian oligarch’s 19 years in control of the reigning world and European champions but the club that transformed into a perennial trophy winner by his investment is allowed to play on.
League regulations would usually require Abramovich to relinquish control within 28 days but the British government now has a say in the sale process under the terms of the license that allows the team to continue operating despite the owner’s assets being frozen.
The government welcomed the Premier League’s move against Abramovich, characterizing the disqualification as being part of holding “those who have enabled the Putin regime” to account.
“We are open to a sale of the club and would consider an application for a license to allow that to happen,” the government said.
- The Associated Press
5:47 p.m. ET
Ukraine says people who died in Russia attack on convoy were not in agreed evacuation corridor
The seven women and children who Ukraine says died when Russian forces attacked a convoy escaping a village in the Kyiv region on Saturday were not as previously stated in an agreed evacuation corridor, the defence ministry said.
Ukraine’s intelligence service initially said those who died outside Peremoha had been in a “green corridor” agreed with Russia. A defence ministry statement later said people had in fact tried to escape by themselves, “so they began evacuating without the ‘green corridor’ agreed by the parties.”
- Reuters
3:30 p.m. ET
Sweden dismisses Russia’s warning that joining NATO would lead to retaliation from Moscow
Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde speaks to the media on the day of the EU Foreign Ministers meeting addressing the situation in Ukraine, after Russia launched a massive military operation, in Brussels, Belgium, Feb. 25, 2022.JOHANNA GERON/Reuters
Sweden’s foreign minister is dismissing fresh warnings from Russia that the Nordic country’s joining NATO would lead to retaliatory measures from Moscow.
Foreign Minister Ann Linde told Swedish news agency TT on Saturday that “Russia has nothing to do with our independent decisions,” referring to the Stockholm’s possible move to join NATO.
Russia’s Interfax news agency on Saturday quoted a Russian Foreign Ministry official saying the possible accession of Sweden and neighboring Finland to NATO would have serious military and political consequences.
Sergei Belyayev, the head of department for Nordic countries at the Russian Foreign Ministry, said such a situation would require Russia to take “retaliatory measures” but didn’t specify what those measures could include.
He accused some NATO members, particularly the United States, of deliberately trying to drag the the two non-aligned Nordic countries into the military bloc.
Moscow has repeatedly warned both Finland and Sweden that their possible joining NATO would be seen as a hostile act from Moscow. Both countries have brushed off those warnings.
Since the start of Russia’s invasion into Ukraine, polls in both Finland and Sweden have shown a substantially increased support for NATO membership.
– The Associated Press
3:00 p.m. ET
Croatia criticizes NATO for slow reaction after Russian-made military drone crashes in Zagreb
Police inspect site of a Russian drone crash in Zagreb, Croatia, March 11, 2022.Darko Bandic/The Associated Press
Croatian officials criticized NATO Saturday for what they said was its slow reaction to a military drone that apparently flew from the Ukrainian war zone through the airspace of three NATO member states, before crashing in the Croatian capital.
The Russian-made unmanned aircraft crossed Romania and Hungary before entering Croatia and slamming late Thursday into a field near a student dormitory. Some 40 parked cars were damaged but no one was injured after a loud blast.
NATO said the alliance’s integrated air and missile defence had tracked the object’s flight path. But the Croatian prime minister said the country’s authorities were not informed and that NATO reacted only after question were posed by journalists.
“We cannot tolerate this situation, nor should it have ever happened,” Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said while visiting the crash site.
“This was a pure and clear threat and both NATO and the EU should have reacted,” he said. “We will work to raise the readiness not only of us but of others as well.”
Plenkovic said a Soviet-era Tu-141 “Strizh” reconnaissance drone flew for over 40 minutes over Hungary and six to seven minutes over Croatia before crashing. Earlier, Romanian defense authorities said the drone was in Romania’s airspace for only three minutes after crossing from Ukraine, making it hard to intercept.
– The Associated Press
2:30 p.m. ET
Video shows tanks shelling apartment block
1:25 p.m. ET
Zelensky says he’s open to talks with Putin in Israel, but only if there’s a ceasefire in place
A giant screen displays an image of Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky speaking through a video link, addressing people taking part in a peace rally for Ukraine on March 12, 2022 in Florence, Tuscany.CARLO BRESSAN/AFP/Getty Images
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky says he’s open for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Israel, but only if there is a cease-fire in place.
Zelensky said Saturday he told Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett that he would be ready to meet Putin in Jerusalem. Bennett visited Moscow for a meeting with Putin and spoke repeatedly with Zelensky and the leaders of France and Germany as he sought to help mediate an end to the war.
Zelensky said Bennett informed him about his talks with Putin, adding that he can’t share details.
Putin has ignored numerous previous offers of talks from Zelensky.
Speaking at a news conference, Zelensky said the Russians could take the Ukrainian capital “only if they kill us all.”
“If that is their goal, let them come,” he said. “If they carry out carpet bombings and wipe off the historic memory of the entire region, the history of Kyivan Rus, the history of Europe, they could enter Kyiv but they will have to leave on that land alone, certainly without us.
“Even if they bring a million Russians here, they can’t occupy Ukraine,” he added.
Zelensky again deplored NATO’s refusal to declare a no-fly zone over Ukraine despite its repeated pleas. He said that Ukraine has sought for ways to procure air defense assets, but he wouldn’t mention any details.
– The Associated Press
12:54 p.m. ET
Seven civilians dead after Russia fired at evacuation convoy, Ukraine alleges
Ukraine’s intelligence service accused Russia on Saturday of firing at a convoy of civilian evacuees from the village of Peremoha in the Kyiv region, causing seven deaths.
“After the attack, the occupiers forced the remnants of the column to turn back to Peremoha and are not letting them out of the village,” the intelligence service said in a statement.
Russia has denied targeting civilians since it invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.
– Reuters
12:15 p.m. ET
Czech Republic requests 50,000 container bases for refugees
The Czech Republic is asking the European Union to provide it with modular containers to house the refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine.
Interior Minister Vit Rakusan said Saturday his country has requested containers to house up to 50,000 people as all other options have been coming to an end amid a massive wave of refugees.
It’s estimated some 200,000 refugees have arrived in the Czech Republic, an EU country that doesn’t border Ukraine.
Rakusan previously said the Czechs are ready to take care of some 250,000 refugees.
The authorities are currently getting ready school gyms and sport venues to provide shelters for the refugees and the containers would be used after their capacities are exhausted, possibly in two or three weeks, the minister said.
– The Associated Press
11:40 a.m. ET
Chernobyl and Zaporizhzhia nuclear plants being run by Ukrainian staff, Russian officials say
A general view of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station in Ukraine in this June 12, 2008 photo.Stringer ./Reuters
The Ukrainian nuclear power plants at Chernobyl and Zaporizhzhia, both now under the control of Russian forces, are being run and managed by their Ukrainian staff, Russia’s atomic energy agency Rosatom said on Saturday, according to the RIA news agency.
Rosatom’s statement said an external power supply was being restored to the defunct Chernobyl plant, site of the world’s worst nuclear accident in 1986, with the help of Russian specialists.
It also said activities to ensure safety at the plants were being carried out in coordination with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Ukraine had warned of an increased risk of a radiation leak from Chernobyl if its high-voltage power line, damaged in fighting, was not repaired.
– Reuters
11:11 a.m. ET
Biden authorizes additional $200M in aid for Ukraine
U.S. President Joe Biden waves as he boards Air Force One for travel to Philadelphia from Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., March 11, 2022.JONATHAN ERNST/Reuters
U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday authorized an additional $200 million in weapons and other assistance for Ukraine, the White House said, as Ukrainian officials said heavy shelling by Russian forces were endangering attempted evacuations of civilians.
The decision brings total U.S. security aid provided to Ukraine to $1.2 billion since January 2021, and to $3.2 billion since 2014, when Russia annexed the Crimea region of Ukraine, according to senior administration officials.
In a memorandum to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Biden directed that up to $200 million allocated through the Foreign Assistance Act be designated for Ukraine’s defense.
The funds can be used for weapons and other defense articles from the Defense Department’s stock, as well as military education and training to help Ukraine against invading Russian forces.
The Pentagon had no immediate comment on the additional aid and what types of weapons would be included.
– The Associated Press
10:50 a.m. ET
Refugee arrivals dip, but Ukraine’s neighbours scramble to provide shelter
Ukrainian refugee Elena, left, hugs her five-year old granddaughter Christina, as they wait the train to Warsaw, at the Przemysl train station, southeastern Poland, on March 11, 2022.Petros Giannakouris/The Associated Press
Ukraine’s neighbours reported a dip in numbers of refugees on Saturday as governments and volunteers struggled to find shelter for the nearly 2.6 million mostly women and children who have fled since Russia’s invasion two weeks ago.
Arrivals were still building on an influx that is overwhelming volunteers, non-governmental organizations and authorities in eastern Europe’s border communities as well as the big cities to which most of the refugees head.
Poland’s Border Guard said 76,200 people arrived on Friday – a drop of 12 per cent from the day before. Slovak police reported a similar dip in numbers, to 9,581 people, and arrivals to Romania dropped by 22 per cent to 16,348, police said.
Elena Pugachova, 52, a psychologist from Ukraine’s port city of Odessa, fought back tears after she stepped off a ferry that had carried her across the Danube river to Romania.
“I can’t speak without tears, I’m sorry, but I’m really sorry for my country and nobody could expect this…They’re bombing Kharkiv, they’re bombing Mykolayiv, it’s only 120 km from Odessa and it’s painful inside,” she said.
– Reuters
10:30 a.m. ET
Taiwan president sees lesson in Ukraine war amid increased intimidation from China
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen speaks while inspecting reservists training at a military base in Taoyuan on March 12, 2022.SAM YEH/AFP/Getty Images
Taiwan’s president says Russia’s war on Ukraine shows the island would need “the unity of all the citizens” to defend itself if it were attacked.
Training for military veterans in Taiwan was doubled in length to two weeks this year amid increased efforts by China’s ruling Communist Party to intimidate the self-ruled island democracy, which Beijing claims as part of its territory.
President Tsai Ing-wen said Saturday that “the recent situation in Ukraine once again proved that to protect the country, not only the assistance from the international society is necessary, but also the unity of all the citizens.
Tsai said that “educational mobilization is an implementation of the spirit of all-out defence with the principle of local mobilization and local engagement of the enemy.”
– The Associated Press
10:15 a.m. ET
Russian forces shell mosque sheltering Mariupol residents, edge closer to centre of Kyiv
Women and children sit on the floor of a corridor in a hospital in Mariupol, eastern Ukraine, March 11, 2022.Evgeniy Maloletka/The Associated Press
Russian forces pounding the port city of Mariupol shelled a mosque sheltering more than 80 people, including children, the Ukrainian government said Saturday. Fighting also raged on the outskirts of the capital, Kyiv, as Russia’s expanding invasion bombarded cities into rubble.
There was no immediate word of casualties from the shelling of the area surrounding Mariupol’s elegant, city-centre mosque. The Ukrainian government said the Sultan Suleiman Mosque was hit, but an unverified Instagram post by a man claiming to be the mosque association’s president said a bomb fell about 700 metres away, but that the mosque itself hadn’t been hit.
The encircled city of 446,000 people has suffered some of the greatest misery from Russia’s war in Ukraine, with unceasing barrages thwarting repeated attempts to bring in food and water, evacuate trapped civilians and to bury all of the dead.
Ukraine’s military said Saturday that Russian forces captured Mariupol’s eastern outskirts, tightening the armed squeeze on the strategic port. Taking Mariupol and other ports on the Azov Sea could allow Russia to establish a land corridor to Crimea, which it seized from Ukraine in 2014.
An Associated Press journalist witnessed tanks firing on a nine-storey apartment building in the city and was with a group of hospital workers who came under sniper fire on Friday. A worker shot in the hip survived, but conditions in the hospital were deteriorating: electricity was reserved for operating tables, and people with nowhere else to go lined the hallways.
– The Associated Press
10:05 a.m. ET
Russia planning ‘pseudo’ independence referendum in Ukraine’s Kherson port, official says
A vintage cannon along the Dnieper River waterfront in Kherson, Ukraine, Feb. 13, 2022.BRENDAN HOFFMAN/The New York Times News Service
Russian occupying forces are planning to stage a “pseudo” referendum in the southern Ukrainian port city of Kherson to create a breakaway region, the deputy head of the local council said on Saturday.
“The creation of the (republic) will turn our region into a hopeless hole without life or a future,” Sergey Khlan said in a post on social media.
Russian forces captured Kherson following the start of an invasion on Feb. 24, but pro-Ukraine protesters have taken to the streets in the city to protest the invasion force.
– Reuters
9:55 a.m. ET
Around 1,300 Ukrainian troops killed since Russian invasion, Zelensky says
A Ukrainian soldier rests in a basement for shelter in the center of the town of Irpin, some 25 km northwest of Kyiv, March 11, 2022.Efrem Lukatsky/The Associated Press
Around 1,300 Ukrainian troops have been killed since the start of the Russian invasion, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday.
Speaking at a news briefing, Zelensky said Ukrainian and Russian negotiating teams had started discussing concrete topics rather than exchanging ultimatums.
He said the West should be more involved in negotiations to end the war but welcomed efforts by Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to mediate between Ukraine and Russia, and said he had suggested to Bennett holding talks in Jerusalem.
– The Associated Press
9:41 a.m. ET
Zelensky demands the Russians free captured Melitopol mayor
People protest the abduction of Mayor Ivan Fedorov outside the Melitopol regional administration building, after he was reportedly taken away by Russian forces during their ongoing invasion in Melitopol, Ukraine, March 12, 2022.DEPUTY HEAD FOR PRESIDENT'S OFFI/Reuters
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is calling on Russian forces to heed the calls of residents in the occupied city of Melitopol who protested to demand their mayor be freed.
Zelensky, who spoke earlier Saturday with the leaders of Germany and France, said the detention of Mariupol Mayor Ivan Fedorov was an attempt “to bring the city to its knees.”
He said that Ukraine expects “the leaders of the world to show how they can influence the liberation (of) a man who personifies Ukrainians who do not give up.”
Zelensky also encouraged Ukrainians to keep fighting, saying it was “impossible to say how many days we will still need to free our land, but it is possible to say that we will do it.”
– The Associated Press
9:25 a.m. ET
Around 6,500 Russian tourists stuck in Thailand due to sanctions, cancelled flights
Thousands of Russian tourists are stranded in Thailand’s beach resorts because of the war in Ukraine, many unable to pay their bills or return home because of sanctions and cancelled flights.
The crisis in Europe also put a crimp in recovery plans for the Southeast Asian nation’s tourism industry, which has hosted more visitors from Russia than any of its neighbours before the pandemic hit.
There are about 6,500 Russian tourists stuck in Phuket, Surat Thani, Krabi and Pattaya, four provinces that are popular seaside resort destinations, in addition to 1,000 Ukrainians, Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, told The Associated Press on Friday.
Some 17,599 Russians accounted for the largest bloc of arrivals in February, representing 8.6 per cent of a total of 203,970, according to the Public Health Ministry. After the Feb. 24 Russian invasion of Ukraine, their numbers drastically declined.
Yuthasak said the Russians face two main problems: cancellations of their flights home by airlines that have stopped flying to Russia, and suspension of financial services, particularly by credit card companies that have joined sanctions against Moscow. There are also some who prefer to delay their return.
“There are some airlines that still fly to Russia, but travellers have to transit in another country. We are trying to co-ordinate and search the flights for them,” Yuthasak said.
While almost all direct flights from Russia have been suspended, connections are still available through major carriers based in the Middle East.
He said efforts are also being made to find alternative methods of payments for Russian tourists.
– The Associated Press
9:15 a.m. ET
German and French leaders call Russia’s Putin, urging ceasefire in Ukraine
Smoke billows from burning containers after shelling in Vasylkiv, south west of Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, March 12, 2022. Russian forces appeared to make progress from northeast Ukraine in their slow fight to reach the capital, Kyiv, while tanks and artillery pounded places already under siege. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)Felipe Dana/The Associated Press
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron have spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin urging him to agree an “immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.”
Scholz’s office said the 75-minute call Saturday was part of “ongoing international efforts to end the war in Ukraine.”
It said the leaders of Germany and France called on Putin to begin the process of finding a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
Further details of the call were not released.
Separately, Scholz spoke earlier Saturday with President Volodymyr Zelensky to get his assessment of the current situation.
– The Associated Press
9:10 a.m. ET
Moscow could target Western shipments of military equipment to Ukraine, Russian diplomat warns
A senior Russian diplomat is warning that Moscow could target Western shipments of military equipment to Ukraine.
Speaking Saturday, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Moscow has warned the U.S. it would see the deliveries of Western weapons to Ukraine as targets.
Ryabkov said Russia “warned the U.S. that pumping weapons from a number of countries it orchestrates isn’t just a dangerous move, it’s an action that makes those convoys legitimate targets.”
He also denounced the U.S. sanctions against Moscow as an “unprecedented attempt to deal a serious blow to various sectors of the Russian economy,” but noted that Moscow will act in a measured way to avoid hurting itself.
Ryabkov said that Russia has no intention to expel Western media and businesses amid the soaring tensions with the West, adding that “we aren’t going to escalate the situation.”
– The Associated Press
8:55 a.m. ET
Italy seizes Russian billionaire Igorevich Melnichenko’s superyacht
The superyacht from Russian billionaire Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko which has been sequestered by Italian Finance police is seen at the northern port of Trieste, Italy, March 12, 2022.STRINGER/Reuters
Italian police have seized a superyacht owned by Russian billionaire Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko, the prime minister’s office said on Saturday, a few days after the businessman was placed on an EU sanctions list following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The 143-metre Sailing Yacht A, which has a price tag of 530 million euros ($578 million), has been sequestered at the northern port of Trieste, the government said.
Designed by Philippe Starck and built by Nobiskrug in Germany, the vessel is the world’s biggest sailing yacht, the government said.
Melnichenko owned major fertilizer producer EuroChem Group and coal company SUEK. The companies said in statements on Thursday that he had resigned as a member of the board in both companies and withdrawn as their beneficiary, effective Wednesday.
A spokesperson for Melnichenko, Alex Andreev, said the businessman had “no relation to the tragic events in Ukraine. He has no political affiliations.”
“There is no justification whatsoever for placing him on the EU sanctions list,” Andreev said. “We will be disputing these baseless and unjustified sanctions, and believe that the rule of law and common sense will prevail.
– Reuters
8:40 a.m. ET
Germany aims to end Russian coal and oil imports by fall
The sun rises behind the buildings of the banking district in Frankfurt, Germany, March 12, 2022.Michael Probst/The Associated Press
Germany’s economy minister says his country wants to virtually end the import of Russian coal and oil by the end of the year.
Robert Habeck told weekly Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung that Germany aims to end its use of Russian coal in the fall.
In the interview, extracts of which were published Saturday, he said that Germany could also become “almost independent of oil from Russia by the end of the year.”
Germany currently gets about half of its coal and oil from Russia.
Habeck said weaning his country off Russian natural gas would be more difficult but the government is working “under heavy pressure” to do so.
The German government last month halted the pipeline Nord Stream 2 project intended to bring additional natural gas from Russia to Germany.
– The Associated Press
8:20 a.m. ET
UN negotiating with both sides to establish aid corridors in Ukraine
Residents of Irpin and Bucha flee fighting via a destroyed bridge on March 10, 2022 in Irpin, Ukraine.Chris McGrath/Getty Images
The UN’s crisis co-ordinator for Ukraine says the global body is seeking agreement with both sides in the conflict to establish corridors for delivering much-needed aid.
Amin Awad told The Associated Press on Saturday that progress is being made on the corridors and accompanying ceasefires but expressed frustration over resistance to quickly implement them.
He says the most pressing humanitarian needs are in Mariupol, a besieged city on the eastern edge of Ukraine near the Russian border that would be one of the most difficult for aid convoys to reach. Several attempts to establish evacuation routes from Mariupol have failed.
Awad says overall as many as many as 12 million Ukrainians may need aid.
– The Associated Press
6:49 a.m. ET
Russian forces encircling cities in Ukraine as fighting intensifies in outskirts of Kyiv, U.K. says
Fighting raged northwest of Kyiv on Saturday, with the bulk of Russian ground forces 25 kilometres from the centre of the Ukrainian capital, while several other cities were encircled and under heavy shelling, the U.K. defence ministry said.
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said she hoped that several humanitarian corridors would open on Saturday for thousands of residents in the bombarded cities, including from the besieged port city of Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia.
Air-raid sirens blared across most Ukrainian cities on Saturday morning urging people to seek shelters, local media reported, after President Volodymyr Zelensky said the war had reached a “strategic turning point.”
Russian forces appeared to be regrouping, possibly for a fresh offensive which could target the capital Kyiv in a few days, Britain’s defence ministry said on Friday. In a Saturday update, it said fighting northwest of the capital continued and the cities of Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy and Mariupol remained encircled under heavy Russian shelling.
– Reuters
Russia-Ukraine war live updates from Friday, March 11
6:27 a.m. ET
Mosque sheltering 80 people shelled by Russia
Russian forces pounding the port city of Mariupol shelled a mosque sheltering more than 80 people, including children, the Ukrainian government said Saturday as fighting also raged on the outskirts of the capital, Kyiv.
There was no immediate word of casualties from the shelling of the mosque. Mariupol has seen some of the greatest misery from Russia’s war in Ukraine as unceasing barrages have thwarted repeated attempts to bring in food and water and to evacuate trapped civilians.
The Ukrainian Embassy in Turkey said that a group of 86 Turkish nationals, including 34 children, were among the people who had sought safety in the mosque of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife Roksolana.
Elsewhere, air raid sirens rang out across the capital region and artillery barrages sent residents scurrying for shelter. Fighting erupted in multiple areas around Kyiv.
Russia’s slow, grinding apparent attempt to encircle the city and the bombardment of other population centres with artillery and air strikes mirror tactics that Russian forces have previously used in other campaigns, notably in Syria and Chechnya, to crush armed resistance.
– The Associated Press
6:26 a.m. ET
Sanctions threaten International Space Station, Russia’s space agency says
Russia’s space agency has sent NASA and other international partners a letter demanding an end to sanctions, saying they could threaten the International Space Station.
In a tweet Saturday, the head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, said the letter appealed to the space agencies of the United States, Canada and Europe to keep the space station operational.
He illustrated the appeal with a map showing the flight path of the ISS – and a potential fall zone that straddles much of the world but barely touches upon Russia.
Four NASA astronauts, two Russian cosmonauts and one European astronaut are currently on the space station.
– The Associated Press
11:56 p.m. ET, March 11, 2022 For
Official says Mariupol ‘on the edge of total desperation’
A man walks with a bicycle in a street damaged by shelling in Mariupol, Ukraine, on March 10, 2022.Evgeniy Maloletka/The Associated Press
More than 1,500 people have been reported dead by municipal authorities in Mariupol, the Sea of Azov city that Russian forces have held under siege for nearly two weeks – but an adviser to the city’s mayor says the real number is likely far greater.
“We now estimate that number of people killed has reached 10,000. And if the Russians keep shelling, we may see more than 20,000 people killed because of the Russian attacks,” Petr Andryushchenko said in an interview.
Cut off from water and electricity, desperation has grown so acute, he said, that some have taken to drinking water from heating radiators.