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Firefighters battle enormous blaze at Lviv oil facility after Russian rocket strike
Vladimir Putin’s regime is trying to “create a North and South Korea in Ukraine” after failing to takeover the whole country, the head of the Ukrainian millitary intelligence said.
Kyrylo Budanov said Russia was preparing to seize the eastern part of Ukraine after Moscow officials hinted they would focus on “liberating” the Donbas region, where separatists have been fighting the Kyiv government for the past eight years.
Volodymyr Zelensky called for compromise over the Donbas as in-person peace talks were set to resume on Monday in Turkey.
The Ukrainian president said he was prepared to discuss adopting a neutral status as part of a peace deal with Russia but it would have to be guaranteed by third parties and put to a referendum.
“Security guarantees and neutrality, non-nuclear status of our state. We are ready to go for it. This is the most important point,” Mr Zelensky said to Russian journalists in a video call.
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Key Points Air raids sound in every region of Ukraine – reports Russia ‘trying to split Ukraine – like North and South Korea' Ukraine ready to discuss neutrality, says Zelensky Reports of air raid alerts in multiple Ukrainian cities Biden’s comments ‘made a difficult situation more difficult’ ‘LPR could hold referendum on joining Russia’ – Pasechnik
Show latest update 1648439679 How Mila Kunis’s family left Ukraine for the US
Actor Mila Kunis was all of seven when she and her family left their native country Ukraine for the US.
“It was right at the fall [of the Soviet Union]. It was very communist, and my parents wanted my brother and me to have a future, and so they just dropped everything. They came with $250,” the actor said.
Born to Mark and Elvira Kunis, a mechanical engineer and a physics teacher respectively, Kunis was born in 1983 in the city of Chernivtsi in southwestern Ukraine.
After moving to the US, she says her father “did odd jobs – painting houses, installing toilets and delivering pizza – while her mother worked in the back room of a Thrifty drugstore”, the LA Times reported.
Mila Kunis left Ukraine for the US as a child. Now she’s helping Ukrainian refugees Kunis was born in 1983 in Chernivtsi, a city in southwestern Ukraine
Arpan Rai 28 March 2022 04:54
1648437109 Russian forces near Chernobyl could pose new radiation threat - official
Russian troops in Ukraine have been accused of “irresponsible and unprofessional” actions around the Chernobyl power station that could trigger the release of radiation affecting much of Europe.
The Ukrainian deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said that Russian forces were “militarising” the exclusion zone around the power plant site.
“In the context of nuclear safety, the irresponsible and unprofessional actions of Russian servicemen present a very serious threat not only to Ukraine but to hundreds of millions of Europeans,” the deputy prime minister said.
“We therefore demand that the UN Security Council adopt immediate measures to demilitarise the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl station as well as dispatching a special mission to eliminate the risks of any repeat of the Chernobyl accident resulting from the actions of Russian occupying forces,” she said.
The deputy prime minister said that Russian troops were transporting large amounts of old and badly maintained artillery, stoking concerns of damaging the containment vessel around the nuclear power plant’s fourth reactor — a sensitive zone.
Arpan Rai 28 March 2022 04:11
1648435300 Silence at the Oscars for 30 seconds over war in Ukraine
Movie stars and celebrities marked their show of support for Ukraine at the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday as they paid tributes and lauded the strength of Ukrainians caught amid the war.
A large video screen shadowing the stage displayed a tribute and a plea as the 30-second moment of silence began.
“We’d like to have a moment of silence to show our support for the people of Ukraine currently facing invasion, conflict and prejudice within their own borders,” read the screen.
“While film is an important avenue for us to express our humanity in times of conflict, the reality is millions of families in Ukraine need food, medical care, clean water and emergency services. Resources are scarce and we — collectively as a global community —can do more.”
The awards also had a tribute from Ukrainian-origin Mila Kunis who displayed her support for the country seconds after she took the stage and said that the “recent globals have left many of us feeling gutted”.
“Yet when you witness the strength and dignity of those facing such devastation, it’s impossible to not be moved by their resilience,” the actor said.
She added: “One cannot help but be in awe of those who find strength to keep fighting through unimaginable darkness.”
Ms Kunis has been actively voicing her support and concern for Ukraine since the war began and has also collected funds to aid AirBnbs in the besieged country.
Arpan Rai 28 March 2022 03:41
1648432200 Moscow trying to split Ukraine ‘like Korea,’ warns Kyiv as separatists calls for vote to join Russia
Russia wants to split Ukraine into two, just like North and South Korea, senior military intelligence officials in Kyiv said on Sunday, and vowed “total” guerrilla warfare to prevent any carve-up of the country (David Harding writes).
The warnings came just as the leader of a separatist region in eastern Ukraine says he wants to hold a referendum on joining Russia.
Leonid Pasechnik, head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic, said it could hold a vote “in the nearest time”, asking voters whether they agree in making the region part of Russia.
Russia has supported the separatist rebels in Luhansk and the neighbouring Donetsk regions since an insurgency erupted there in 2014, shortly after Moscow’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.
And just before the invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, Moscow recognised their independence.
Moscow trying to split Ukraine ‘like Korea’, as separatists calls for vote ‘It is an attempt to create North and South Korea in Ukraine,’ warned one official
Liam James 28 March 2022 02:50
1648428600 Biden says he wasn’t calling for regime change in Russia
Joe Biden said on Sunday that he was not calling for regime change in Russia when he said on Saturday that President Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power.”
“No,” Biden said as he left a church service in Washington when asked by a reporter whether he was calling for regime change in the country.
The White House quickly rowed back from the president’s seemingly insurgent tone after his speech in Warsaw on Saturday.
This did not protect the president from criticism on Capitol Hill for his unscripted remark. Senator James Risch of Idaho, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, dryly noted on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, “Please, Mr President, stay on script.” Senator Rob Portman, Republican, Ohio, told NBC’s Meet the Press that Mr Biden‘s final comment “plays into the hands of the Russian propagandists and plays into the hands of Vladimir Putin.”
Liam James 28 March 2022 01:50
1648425000 Turkey’s Erdogan urges ceasefire in call with Putin
Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan told Vladimir Putin in a telephone call on Sunday that a ceasefire and better humanitarian conditions were needed following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, his office said in a statement.
“Erdogan noted the importance of a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, the implementation of peace and the improvement of humanitarian conditions in the region,” his office said.
It added they agreed the next round of peace committee talks between Ukraine and Russia would be held in Istanbul.
Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkey’s foreign minister who held a call with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday, said Turkey was aware of the trust and responsibility when it comes to the planned Ukraine-Russia meetings in Turkey.
“We hope that the meetings will result in a permanent ceasefire and lead to peace,” Mr Cavusoglu said on Twitter.
Earlier on Sunday, Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia said the next round of face to face talks between Ukraine and Russia will take place in Turkey from Monday to Wednesday.
Liam James 28 March 2022 00:50
1648421629 Zelensky: Boris Johnson helping Ukraine more due to public pressure
Volodymyr Zelensky said Boris Johnson is “helping more” than other leaders in the resistance against Russia thanks to pressure from the British people.
In an interview in Kyiv where he is resisting Vladimir Putin’s invasion, Mr Zelensky said France was being more hesitant in sending weapons “because they are afraid of Russia”.
He told The Economist that Germany was “making a mistake today” as it tries to take a balanced approach due to their deeper economic ties with Moscow – Chancellor Scholz said on Sunday Germany was doing all it could for Ukraine.
The president said “Britain is definitely on our side” and is “not performing a balancing act” but he declined to say whether the UK wants to end the war quickly at any cost.
Told the prime minister has been keener than France’s President Emmanuel Macron in sending weapons, Mr Zelensky responded: “Yes. To be honest, Johnson is a leader who is helping more.
“The leaders of countries react according to how their constituents act. In this case, Johnson is an example.”
Liam James 27 March 2022 23:53
1648418695 Russian navy continues to strike targets across Ukraine – MoD
The Russian navy is continuing “sporadic missile strikes against targets throughout Ukraine”, the latest intelligence assessment from the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.
A “distant blockade” of Ukraine’s Black Sea coast was said to be “effectively isolating” the nation from international maritime trade.
However, the recent destruction of the Saratov landing ship will “likely damage the confidence of the Russian Navy to conduct operations in close proximity to the coast of Ukraine in the future”.
The MoD assessment was likely made before tonight’s reports of air raids.
Liam James 27 March 2022 23:04
1648417226 Missile strikes rain across Ukraine – Zelensky’s office
Cities across Ukraine have been hit with missiles, an adviser to Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
Mykhailo Podolyak said Lutsk, Kharkiv, Zhytomyr and Rivne were hit.
Air raid sirens sounded in every region of the country, according to Euromaidan Press, a Ukrainian news site.
The governor of Volyn, a region home to Lutsk just north of Lviv in western Ukraine, said an oil depot had been hit.
Russia had hit two fuel depots in recent days, near Lviv and Kyiv, and Ukrainian interior ministry adviser Vadym Denysenko said today that Moscow was targeting fuel and food storage sites.
Liam James 27 March 2022 22:40
1648415855 Update – Air raids in more Ukraine cities, says local media
The BBC earlier said air raid alerts had been heard in Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Uman, with reports of bombing also coming from Lutsk.
We’ve now heard from Ukrainian Pravda, a local newssite, that air raids were heard in Kyiv, Rivne and Zhytomyr too.
This is days after Russia appeared to suggest it would focus on the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. If these attacks are confirmed, hopes that Russia might “scale back” its assault may be dashed.
Liam James 27 March 2022 22:17
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