(NEW YORK) — Russian forces are continuing their attempted push through Ukraine from multiple directions, while Ukrainians, led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are putting up “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The attack began Feb. 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation.”
Russian forces moving from neighboring Belarus toward Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, don’t appear to have advanced closer to the city since coming within about 20 miles, although smaller advanced groups have been fighting gun battles with Ukrainian forces inside the capital since at least Friday.
Russia has been met by sanctions from the United States, Canada and countries throughout Europe, targeting the Russian economy as well as Putin himself.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Mar 09, 1:17 pm
Over 1,200 killed in Mariupol since start of invasion, deputy mayor says
The southeast Ukrainian city of Mariupol is without power or water after more than a week of heavy shelling and aerial attacks from Russian forces, Serhiy Orlov, deputy mayor of Mariupol, said in a press briefing Wednesday.
More than 1,200 Mariupol residents have been killed in the bombardments, Orlov said, adding that half of those killed are ethnic Russians whom Russia claims it is saving.
A huge steel mill that employs 30,000 people and a maternity hospital with 600 beds are among the obliterated structures in the city, Orlov said.
Orlov accused Russia of indiscriminately bombarding the city because its forces were unable to break through its defenses, saying that Mariupol would not surrender and calling on the outside world to help save it by imposing a “no-fly” zone.
“We understand that Mariupol was a showroom of free Ukraine — a dynamic bustling city compared to ghost towns of the so-called DNR,” Orlov said. “We must not fall. We must win and then rebuild. We can only live and develop in a free and independent Ukraine.”
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Mar 09, 1:01 pm
Russian Defense Ministry claims 180,000 people evacuated from Ukraine to Russia
Roughly 180,000 people have been evacuated to Russia from Ukraine, including the Russian-controlled areas of Luhansk and Donetsk in the Donbas region, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
“As many as 5,460 people, including 1,125 children, have been evacuated from dangerous zones in various regions of Ukraine, as well as the Luhansk and Donetsk people’s republics, without participation of the Ukrainian side over the past 24 hours, Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the Russian National Defense Control Center, said Wednesday. “Over 179,000 people, including 45,436 children, in total have already been [evacuated] since the beginning of the special military operation.”
Mizintsev said a total of 20,961 vehicles crossed the state border of the Russian Federation, including 867 over the past day.
Mizintsev said of the citizens who evacuated to Russia, 166 were from Turkey, 41 Ukraine, 11 Egypt, eight Italy, seven Azerbaijan, six Pakistan, five India, as well as Swedish, Moroccan, and Brazilian citizens.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said earlier Wednesday it has tallied 2.15 million people that have been evacuated from Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on Feb. 24, with more than half going to Poland.
Mar 09, 12:21 pm
Russian army claims to introduce temporary ceasefire in 13 humanitarian corridors
Russia is retaining a temporary ceasefire in humanitarian corridors in Ukraine, head of the Russian National Defense Control Center Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev alleged on Wednesday.
Ten of the corridors were proposed by Moscow, while three were proposed by Kyiv, Mizintsev told reporters at a press briefing.
“Today, at exactly 10 a.m. local time, in accordance with agreements reached on 10 humanitarian corridors initiated by the Russian Federation and three more at the request of the Ukrainian side, the Russian Armed Forces introduced a temporary ceasefire, which is being strictly observed until now,” Mizintsev said
No practical measures for the preparation of humanitarian convoys have been carried out so far, and no one has ever arrived at the humanitarian corridors that have been opened, Mizintsev said. The formation of organized humanitarian convoys has also not been recorded, he claimed.
Mar 09, 11:48 am
Russian airstrike destroyed children’s hospital: Ukrainian officials
A devastating Russian airstrike has destroyed a maternity and children’s hospital in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol, according to Ukrainian officials.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and local officials have posted videos on social media of what appears to be the devastated hospital, partly caved in and with walls blown out, the grounds littered with burnt-out vehicles.
ABC News is attempting to independently verify the attack.
Ukrainian authorities have said there are casualties and Zelenskyy wrote that there are children under the rubble.
Ukrainian officials have accused Russia of deliberately targeting the hospital.
Pavlo Kirilenko, the head of the Donetsk regional military administration, wrote on Facebook that a Russian aircraft targeted the hospital. Other officials have suggested there were multiple strikes.
Zelenskyy has called it an “atrocity” and called on the international community again to impose a “no-fly” zone.
“Direct strike of Russian troops at the maternity hospital. People, children are under the wreckage. Atrocity! How much longer will the world be an accomplice ignoring terror? Close the sky right now! Stop the killings! You have power but you seem to be losing humanity,” Zelenskyy tweeted.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Mar 09, 11:17 am
Russia claims its Aerospace Forces destroyed 89 combat planes, 57 helicopters in Ukraine
A Russian Defense Ministry spokesman claimed Wednesday that Russia’s Aerospace Forces have destroyed more than half of the Ukrainian Armed Forces aircraft.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Russian forces have 89 Ukrainian combat planes and 57 helicopters out of an estimated total of 250 combat aircraft once in possession of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and “in good working order” prior to Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine.
“Ninety percent of Ukrainian military airfields, which accommodate the core combat aviation force, have been rendered inoperable,” Konashenkov said.
He said that as of Wednesday, Russia has observed “only isolated attempts” of the Ukrainian Air Force’s combat aircraft to take off.
Neither U.S. Defense officials nor Ukrainian officials has confirmed Konashenkov’s report.
Mar 09, 9:08 am
US to send two Patriot anti-missile batteries to Poland
The United States said it’s sending two Patriot anti-missile batteries stationed in Europe to Poland as a “defensive deployment” at the request of the Polish government.
While testifying before Congress Tuesday on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said there were discussions underway with the Polish government about a possible deployment of Patriot batteries. The U.S. military’s European Command (EUCOM) later confirmed that two batteries already in Europe would be deployed to Poland.
“At the direction of the Secretary of Defense and at the invitation of our Polish allies, General Wolters, Commander of U.S. European Command, has directed U.S. Army Europe and Africa to reposition two Patriot Batteries to Poland,” EUCOM spokesman Capt. Adam Miller said in a statement Tuesday. “This defensive deployment is being conducted proactively to counter any potential threat to U.S. and Allied forces and NATO territory. This is a prudent force protection measure that underpins our commitment to Article Five and will in no way support any offensive operations. Every step we take is intended to deter aggression and reassure our Allies.”
The move came hours after the U.S. dismissed Poland’s offer to transfer all of its MiG-26 fighter jets to a U.S. air base in Germany to boost Ukraine’s fight against Russia, with Pentagon press secretary John Kirby saying in a statement Tuesday that “we do not believe Poland’s proposal is a tenable one.”
Poland is expecting delivery later this year of two Patriot batteries it had bought in 2018. The air defense systems are intended to shoot down incoming missiles, so their deployment to Poland means there are concerns about dealing with any incoming missile fire into the country, which shares a 330-mile border with Ukraine. It was unclear exactly where in Poland the Patriot batteries would be placed.
Mar 09, 8:40 am
Ukraine warns of radiation risk after power cut at Russia-occupied Chernobyl plant
Ukraine warned Wednesday that electricity has been entirely cut to its Chernobyl nuclear power plant and radioactive substance could be released because its storage facility cannot cool spent nuclear fuel.
The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, a 1,000-square-mile restricted area of deserted land surrounding the shuttered plant, was seized by Russian forces just hours after they launched their invasion on Feb. 24. The plant, situated between the Belarus-Ukraine border and the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, is the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986.
Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection announced via Twitter on Wednesday that the “Kyiv high-voltage line is currently disconnected due to the damage caused by the occupiers.”
“As a result, the Chernobyl station and all nuclear facilities in the Exclusion Zone are without electricity,” the agency tweeted.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also confirmed the news on Twitter, saying the only electrical grid supplying Chernobyl and all its nuclear facilities occupied by Russian forces “is damaged,” causing a loss of power supply.
“I call on the international community to urgently demand Russia to cease fire and allow repair units to restore power supply,” Kuleba tweeted.
However, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it “sees no critical impact on safety.” The nuclear watchdog of the United Nations tweeted that the “heat load of spent fuel storage pool and volume of cooling water” at Chernobyl is “sufficient for effective heat removal without need for electrical supply.”
Some 20,000 spent nuclear fuel assemblies are stored in Chernobyl’s storage facility and “need constant cooling,” which is only possible if there is electricity, according to Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection.
“If it is not there, the pumps will not cool. As a result, the temperature in the holding pools will increase,” the agency tweeted. “After that evaporation will occur, that will lead to nuclear discharge.”
Kuleba noted that reserve diesel generators have a 48-hour capacity to power Chernobyl.
“After that, cooling systems of the storage facility for spent nuclear fuel will stop, making radiation leaks imminent,” he tweeted. “Putin’s barbaric war puts entire Europe in danger. He must stop it immediately!”
Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection warned that “the wind can transfer the radioactive cloud” to other areas of Ukraine as well as Belarus, Russia and elsewhere in Europe. There is also no ventilation inside the Chernobyl storage facility.
“All personnel there will receive a dangerous dose of radiation,” the agency tweeted.
Meanwhile, the facility’s fire extinguishing system is not functioning and the agency warned of “a huge risk of fire caused by shelling.”
“The fight still goes on making it impossible to carry out repairs and restore power,” the agency tweeted.
Mar 09, 8:08 am
Russia responds to Poland offering fighter jets to help Ukraine
Russia warned Wednesday of “an extremely undesirable and potentially dangerous scenario” if other countries use their airfields to support Ukraine.
When asked by reporters during a daily press briefing to comment on Poland’s announcement Tuesday that it’s “ready” to “immediately” hand over all its MIG-29 fighter jets “free of charge” to a U.S. air base in Germany to boost Ukraine’s fight against Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “The [Russian] Defense Ministry has already commented on the possibility of using any other airfields for takeoffs of military planes.”
“This is an extremely undesirable and potentially dangerous scenario,” he added.
Mar 09, 6:12 am
Over 2.15 million refugees have fled Ukraine: UNHCR
More than 2.15 million people have been forced to flee Ukraine since Russian forces invaded on Feb. 24, according to the latest figures from the United Nations refugee agency.
The tally from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) amounts to nearly 5% of Ukraine’s population — which the World Bank counted at 44 million at the end of 2020 — on the move across borders in just two weeks.
More than half of the refugees are in neighboring Poland, UNHCR figures show.
Mar 09, 5:19 am
Ukraine says humanitarian corridors confirmed with Russia, Red Cross for Wednesday
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said six humanitarian corridors have been agreed with Russian officials and confirmed with the International Committee of the Red Cross to operate during a temporary cease-fire Wednesday.
According to Vereshchuk, the evacuation routes for civilians are open from towns north of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, where there has been heavy fighting, as well as from the besieged southeastern port city of Mariupol, where an evacuation failed yesterday. Another route goes from the town of Izium near hard-hit Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, and another from the eastern city of Volnovakha, where civilians have been trying to evacuate for several days. Another route leads from northeastern city of Energodar, where shelling caused a fire at Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant last week.
Vereshchuk said Russian officials had sent a letter to the Red Cross confirming the routes and a cease-fire for Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time. She called on Russia to keep to its commitment and not to violate the cease-fire, as she said it did in Mariupol and Volnovakha on Tuesday.
“We ask Russian forces to commit to their obligations and keep the ceasefire till 9 p.m. as agreed,” Vereshchuk said in a statement Wednesday morning.
Vereshchuk noted that an orphanage with 55 children and 26 staff also needs to be evacuated from Vorzel, a town just north of Kyiv.
“The evacuation of them will be done as a separate special operation,” she said.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement Wednesday that it has discussed the interaction on the Ukraine track with the Red Cross.
Mar 08, 9:59 pm
Biden calls family of US Marine detained by Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden called the parents of Trevor Reed, a former U.S. Marine who has been detained in Russia for nearly three years and whose case has gotten renewed attention amid the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
The president spoke to Joey and Paula Reed after an event in Fort Worth, Texas, on Tuesday, according to the White House.
On the call, the president reiterated his commitment to doing everything he can to bring their son home, to staying in close touch with them through his national security team and to finding a time to meet in person, the White House said.
A Reed family spokesperson also confirmed to ABC News that Biden called them to apologize for not being able to stop and meet them in person.
The family says they have been asking to meet with the president for several months to help free Reed, a Texan who they say has been denied treatment for suspected tuberculosis, and specifically asked to meet the president in Texas on Tuesday but were denied.
Reed and another former Marine, Paul Whelan, have spent years in Russian custody on charges that their families and American officials say were fabricated by Russia in order to seize them as bargaining chips.
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