Russia earlier called on Ukrainian forces in Mariupol to lay down their arms, saying a “terrible humanitarian catastrophe” was unfolding.
WorldNDTV News Desk (with inputs from Agencies)Updated: March 21, 2022 8:02 am IST
Here are the 10 latest developments of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine:
1. Ukraine has rejected an ultimatum to surrender the besieged port city of Mariupol to Russian forces, its deputy prime minister told Ukrainian media today. “There can be no talk of surrendering weapons. We have already informed the Russian side of this,” Iryna Vereshchuk told Ukrainska Pravda newspaper.
2. Mariupol, a strategic, mostly Russian-speaking port in the southeast, has been one of the main targets of Moscow’s attacks. Capturing Mariupol would help Russian forces secure a land corridor to the Crimea peninsula that Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
3. Mariupol has suffered some of the heaviest bombardments since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Many of its 400,000 residents remain trapped with little if any food, water and power.
4. A senior naval commander in Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has been killed in Mariupol, the governor of Sevastopol said on Sunday. Post-Captain Andrei Paliy, deputy commander of the fleet, died during fighting in Mariupol, Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said on the messaging app Telegram.
5. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for urgent talks with Moscow saying that peace talks are the “only chance for Russia to minimise the damage done with their own mistakes”.
6. Russia says for a second day in a row it has fired its newest hypersonic missiles in Ukraine, destroying a fuel storage site in the country’s south.
7. Zelensky urged Israel to abandon its effort to maintain neutrality following Russia’s invasion, saying the time had come for the Jewish state to firmly back his country.
8. Ten million people — more than a quarter of the population — have now fled their homes in Ukraine due to Russia’s “devastating” war, the United Nations refugees chief says Sunday. More than 3.3 million of them have escaped the country.
9. Oil prices jumped $2 on Monday as Ukrainian forces dug in against heavy Russian attacks, while major oil producers reported they are struggling to produce their allotted quotas under a supply agreement.
10.Three US volunteer fighters who have risked their lives alongside Ukrainian soldiers said they had joined the struggle against Russian forces to stop civilians suffering and in the name of freedom.