Russia Ukraine crisis LIVE Updates
The Kremlin says Russia is ready to send a delegation to Belarus for talks with Ukrainian officials.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to send the delegation in response to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s offer to discuss a non-aligned status for Ukraine.
That indicates Zelenskyy would be willing to negotiate dropping his country’s bid to join NATO, as Russia has demanded.
Before the invasion, the West had rejected the demand. Putin claimed the refusal to discuss keeping Ukraine out of NATO prompted him to order a military action in Ukraine to “demilitarize” it.
– AP
Russia Ukraine crisis LIVE Updates
The Russian military claims it has taken control of an airport just outside Kyiv, as Kremlin forces bear down on the Ukrainian capital. The claim could not be independently verified.
Taking possession of the airport in Hostomel, which has a long runway allowing the landing of heavy-lift transport planes, would mean Russia can airlift troops directly to Kyiv’s outskirts. Hostomel is just 7 kilometers (4 miles) northwest of the city.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Friday that the Russian airborne forces used 200 helicopters to land in Hostomel and killed over 200 troops belonging to Ukraine’s special forces.
– AP
Russia Ukraine crisis LIVE Updates
Indian Air Force is geared up for any requirements of the evacuation of our citizens from Ukraine: IAF spokesperson Wg Cdr Ashish Moghe pic.twitter.com/obElIfmATX
Russia Ukraine crisis LIVE Updates
Ukraine reports over 1,000 Russian soldiers killed on invasion’s second day.
Ukraine’s Armed Forces allege that it is the largest number of casualties in conflict ever sustained by Russia in one day.
Russia Ukraine crisis LIVE Updates:
Watch | Ukrainians seek shelter inside Zoloti Vorota metro station as forces fight on streets of Kyiv
VIDEO: Ukrainians seek shelter inside #Kyiv‘s Zoloti Vorota metro station on Friday as Ukrainian forces fight off Russian invaders in the streets of the capital pic.twitter.com/CYx6u8WEOF
Russia Ukraine crisis LIVE Updates:
Germany’s president is appealing to Russian President Vladimir Putin to “stop the madness of this war now.”
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in Berlin on Friday said that “we don’t want enmity with the Russian people, quite the contrary, but this wrongdoing cannot go without a clear answer.”
Steinmeier, whose post is largely ceremonial but holds moral authority, said that Germany will do its part in deterring Putin from using force against its NATO allies. The president, who served twice as Germany’s foreign minister, said that Putin “should not underestimate the strength of democracies” and Germans shouldn’t either.
– AP
“Stop the madness of this war, now.”
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to immediately end Russia’s attack against Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/afJWabtXUM
Russia Ukraine crisis LIVE Updates:
The Kremlin on Friday said President Vladimir Putin is ready to send a delegation to Belarus’s capital Minsk for talks with Ukraine, as Russian forces approach Kyiv on the second day of Moscow’s invasion.
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian leader was “ready” to send a high-level delegation “for talks with a Ukrainian delegation” to Minsk, the host city for previous peace talks and agreements.
– AFP
Russia Ukraine crisis LIVE Updates
Former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko takes up Kalashnikov rifle alongside civilian defense forces
“How long do you think you can hold out?”
“Forever.”
Former Ukrainian President @poroshenko takes up a Kalashnikov rifle alongside civilian defense forces as he speaks to @JohnBerman from the streets of Kyiv. pic.twitter.com/jxGl6BKgZR
Russia Ukraine crisis LIVE Updates
There is no direct impact of the Russia-Ukraine crisis on India in terms of bilateral trade but a surge in oil prices poses considerable risk to the economy, an analyst report said on Friday.
International oil prices which have surged past USD 100 per barrel “pose risks to external stability and currency movement,” a Bank of Baroda Economics Research report said.
Russia has launched military operations against Ukraine, stoking fears of significant disruption in the region, including loss of life. The West is ramping up financial sanctions against Russia and support for Ukraine.
– PTI
Russia Ukraine crisis LIVE Updates
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant’s personnel are continuing to service the facilities and monitor the radiation situation at the station as usual, a top Russian official claimed on Friday, a day after Russian forces took over the decommissioned facility after a fierce fight with Ukrainian soldiers guarding it.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday launched a multi-pronged all-out attack on Ukraine, casting aside international condemnation and sanctions and warned other countries that any attempt to interfere would lead to “consequences they had never seen”.
Russian forces took over the decommissioned nuclear power plant (NPP) on Thursday after a fierce battle with the Ukrainian battalion guarding the facility, where nuclear radiation is still leaking from the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986.
– PTI