Russia Ukraine War February 28 Highlights: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has issued a new video statement ahead of the Kyiv-Moscow peace talks at the Belorussian border today. In his address, Zelensky said that the main goal is to arrive at an agreement for the ceasefire. He asked the Russian troops to ‘leave and live’. The statement comes on the Day 5 on the so-called ‘special military operations’ launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kremlin on Monday remained ambiguous about the casualties suffered by the Russian troops. Ukraine has claimed that over 5,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in the period of last five days.
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The hard-hitting sanctions have started to show the impact on the Russian financial market. While ruble plunged to a record low during the opening trades, the Russian stock market remained closed today. Meanwhile, there are reports that Russian troops have announced ‘safe corridors’ for civilians to leave Kyiv. It should be noted that unlike what Moscow was expecting, the takeover of Kyiv hasn’t happened so far. The stiff resistance put up by the Ukrainian soldiers means that the conflict will drag on.
While Kremlin did not specify what exactly Putin’s ‘special regime’ order for the nuclear forces mean, reports suggest that the frustrating pace of the military operations would mean Putin may commit more combat forces across the border in Ukraine. Russia has also said that there will be impact on the Western world and the EU for the airspace ban. Kremlin maintains that the latest round of sanctions are tough but Russia has all the competence to ‘ride out.’ So far, the UK, US and the European Union have cut off Russian banks from the Western financial markets.
Stay with us as we bring you the latest from the biggest European conflict since the World War 2:
PM Narendra Modi said India will help people from neighbouring countries, developing countries stranded in Ukraine: MEA (PTI)
PM Modi also expressed his anguish at the ongoing violence and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, and reiterated the need for a return to dialogue. He also stressed upon the importance of respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations: PMO
Ukraine's leader Zelenskyy applies for Ukraine to join the 27-nation European Union on 5th day of Russian invasion, reports AP
Negotiations between the delegations of Russia and Ukraine have ended: Sputnik (ANI)
President Putin has no assets abroad: Kremlin on personal sanctions by Western nations (PTI)
Russian shelling has killed at least 11 civilians in Ukraine's second city Kharkiv, reports AFP quoting the regional governor
Govt working round the clock for safe evacuation of Indian citizens from Ukraine: Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi (PTI)
Switzerland's president says country will join EU sanctions, including asset freezes, targeting Russia, reports AP
Prime Minister Narendra Modi to shortly chair another high-level meeting on Ukraine crisis: Govt Sources (ANI)
Russia bans flights by airlines from 36 countries, including Britain and Germany, reports AFP quoting aviation authority
Tens of thousands of people have fled Ukraine as explosions and gunfire rocked major cities. Let us take a look at some of the heartbreaking images of residents flee Russian invasion VIEW GALLERY
US cuts off Russian central bank, sanctions state investment fund, in hard-hitting retaliation for Ukraine invasion, reports AP
State Department shutters US embassy in Belarus, authorizes American diplomats in Russia to leave, reports AP
We have a new route through Moldova, it's operational now, our teams will assist you. They will assist in the evacuation of Indians through Romania: MEA
Russia's foreign ministry on Monday said talks between Ukraine and Russia had begun, shortly after the Ukrainian side had said the same, and published photos of the delegations sitting opposite each other at a long table. Ukraine has said its goal for the talks is an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine. Russia has been cagier, with the Kremlin declining to comment on Moscow's aim in negotiations. Reuters
The UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, alongside the Bank of England on Monday announced the UK government's plans to impose further economic sanctions in response to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia by targeting the country's Central Bank of the Russian Federation (CBR). The move, which the UK Treasury department said is in concert with the US and the European Union (EU), is aimed at preventing the CBR from deploying its foreign reserves in ways that undermine the impact of sanctions imposed by the west, and to "undercut" its ability to engage in foreign exchange transactions to support the Russian currency Rouble. PTI
The Ukrainian authorities are trying to assist in the evacuation of stranded Indian nationals, notwithstanding "very difficult and complex" ground situation, the country's envoy said on Monday. Ambassador Igor Polikha said he himself reached out to Ukrainian security forces requesting them to assist the stranded Indians. - PTI
SpiceJet will operate a special flight to Hungarian capital Budapest on Friday to evacuate Indians who have been stranded in Ukraine due to the Russian military offensive. India on Saturday began evacuation of its citizens from Romania and Hungary - countries sharing land borders with Ukraine - as the Ukrainian airspace has been closed since February 24 when the military offensive began. Tata Group-owned Air India has evacuated a total of 1,156 Indian nationals in five evacuation flights till now. Its sixth flight with 240 Indian nationals will land in Delhi on Monday evening. - PTI
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion can come to the UK if they already have members of their immediate family settled in the country. As part of a new GBP 40 million humanitarian package for the supply of basic necessities and medical supplies such as medicines, syringes, dressings and wound care pack, Johnson confirmed that any person settled in the UK will be able to bring their Ukrainian immediate family members to join them here. - PTI
They file into neighbouring countries by the hundreds of thousands - refugees from Ukraine clutching children in one arm, belongings in the other. And they're being heartily welcomed, by leaders of countries like Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Moldova and Romania. But while the hospitality has been applauded, it has also highlighted stark differences in treatment given to migrants and refugees from the Middle East and Africa, particularly Syrians who came in 2015. Some of the language from these leaders has been disturbing to them, and deeply hurtful. 'These are not the refugees we are used to...these people are Europeans,' Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov told journalists earlier this week, of the Ukrainians. 'These people are intelligent, they are educated people...This is not the refugee wave we have been used to, people we were not sure about their identity, people with unclear pasts, who could have been even terrorists." 'In other words,' he added, "there is not a single European country now which is afraid of the current wave of refugees.' Syrian journalist Okba Mohammad says that statement "mixes racism and Islamophobia". AP
In any military campaign, surprise and deception are always very crucial factors. Due to the continuous satellite coverage and Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) resources, knowledge of Russia’s concepts of operation, the familiarity of terrain features etc. has made defence analysts like Seth Jones of CSIS envisage accurately Russia’s like courses of actions. READ FULL REPORT
Lithuania's government announced on Monday it will ask prosecutors at the International Criminal Court to investigate "war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine". "There is new material coming in every day, but we have enough of it by now to file the request," Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said in a televised cabinet meeting. Reuters
Shares in BP fell nearly 7% on Monday after the British energy major revealed plans to sell its nearly 20% stake in Russian oil giant Rosneft over the weekend following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. State-owned Rosneft accounts for around half of BP's oil and gas reserves and a third of its production. A sale of the 19.75% stake ends three decades of partnership between the two companies and will result in charges of up to $25 billion, BP said on Sunday. BP shares pared some early losses and were down 4.5% at 361.5 pence on the London Stock Exchange by 0825 GMT, but were still among the top losers on Britain's blue-chip FTSE 100 index. Reuters
A U.N. human rights monitoring team has confirmed 376 civilian casualties in Ukraine, including 94 deaths, after three days of clashes, a U.N. report showed on Monday. It said the fighting had triggered "severe humanitarian consequences" and that casualties could be considerably higher. Reuters
Russian state gas company Gazprom said on Monday that it was shipping gas to Europe via Ukraine in line with customers' requests. Another Russian pipeline, the Yamal-Europe route via Belarus and Poland, switched back into reverse mode on Sunday morning and continued delivering gas eastward to Poland from Germany at elevated levels on Monday morning, data from German network operator Gascade showed. Reuters
A Ukrainian delegation has arrived at the border with Belarus for talks on Monday with Russian representatives that will focus on achieving an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian forces, the Ukrainian presidency said in a statement. The delegation includes Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov and presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak among others, it said. Reuters
Russian invasion forces seized two small cities in southeastern Ukraine and the area around a nuclear power plant, the Interfax news agency reported on Monday, but ran into stiff resistance elsewhere as Moscow's diplomatic and economic isolation deepened. Having launched the biggest assault on a European state since World War Two, President Vladimir Putin put Russia's nuclear deterrent on high alert on Sunday in the face of a barrage of Western-led reprisals for his war on Ukraine.
Blasts were heard before dawn on Monday in the capital of Kyiv and in the major city of Kharkiv, Ukrainian authorities said. But, Russian ground forces' attempts to capture major urban centres had been repelled, they added. Reuters