Russian Convoy Redeployed: Maxar
Satellite photos show that a massive Russian convoy that had been mired outside the Ukrainian capital since last week appeared to have dispersed.Satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies showed the 40-mile (64-kilometer) line of vehicles, tanks, and artillery has broken up and been redeployed, with armored units seen in towns near the Antonov Airport north of the city. Some of the vehicles have moved into forests, Maxar reported.
The convoy had massed outside the city early last week, but its advance appeared to have stalled amid reports of food and fuel shortages. U.S. officials said Ukrainian troops also targeted the convoy with anti-tank missiles.
WHO Says It Advised Ukraine to Destroy Pathogens in Health Labs to Prevent Disease Spread
The World Health Organization advised Ukraine to destroy high-threat pathogens housed in the country’s public health laboratories to prevent “any potential spills” that would spread disease among the population, the agency told Reuters on Thursday.Biosecurity experts say Russia’s movement of troops into Ukraine and bombardment of its cities have raised the risk of an escape of disease-causing pathogens, should any of those facilities be damaged.
Ukraine has public health laboratories researching how to mitigate the threats of dangerous diseases affecting both animals and humans including, most recently, COVID-19. Its labs have received support from the United States, the European Union, and the WHO.
In response to questions from Reuters about its work with Ukraine ahead of and during Russia’s invasion, the WHO said in an email that it has collaborated with Ukrainian public health labs for several years to promote security practices that help prevent “accidental or deliberate release of pathogens.”
“As part of this work, WHO has strongly recommended to the Ministry of Health in Ukraine and other responsible bodies to destroy high-threat pathogens to prevent any potential spills,” the WHO, a United Nations agency, said.
The WHO would not say when it had made the recommendation nor did it provide specifics about the kinds of pathogens or toxins housed in Ukraine’s laboratories. The agency also did not answer questions about whether its recommendations were followed.
Ukrainian officials in Kyiv and at their embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.
Zelensky Says 100,000 Evacuated Amid Blockade
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said 100,000 people have been evacuated during the past two days from seven cities under Russian blockade in the north and center of the country, including the Kyiv suburbs.But he said the Russian refusal to allow evacuations from Mariupol, a port city in the south, was “outright terror.”
“They have a clear order to hold Mariupol hostage, to mock it, to constantly bomb and shell it,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to the nation. He said the Russians began a tank attack right where there was supposed to be a humanitarian corridor.
The city of 430,000 has been without food supplies, running water, and electricity for 10 days. Ukrainian officials say about 1,300 people have died, including three in the bombing of a maternity and children’s hospital on Wednesday.
Russia Asks UN Security Council to Convene Over ‘Biological Activities’ in Ukraine
Russia has called for a United Nations Security Council meeting to discuss “military biological activities” in Ukraine.Reuters reported that diplomats have indicated the U.N. Security Council will convene on Friday over the matter.
The United States and Ukraine maintain that the laboratories seek to prevent bioweapons and pathogens, not develop them. Ukraine has public health laboratories researching how to minimize the threats of dangerous diseases affecting humans and animals.
Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland on March 8 said Ukraine has “biological research facilities” and the United States is working to prevent Russians from taking control of them.
In a statement released on March 9, State Department spokesman Ned Price said Russia “is inventing false pretexts in an attempt to justify its own horrific actions in Ukraine.”
Canada Will Match Donations for Ukraine up to $30 Million, Trudeau Says
Canada will match individual donations made to the Canadian Red Cross in support of Ukraine up to $30 million, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday while visiting Poland.Trudeau said this was being done “because Canadians have been so incredibly generous in being concerned about the people of Ukraine.”
Canada’s original commitment was to match donations up to $10 million.
Putin: US Shouldn’t Blame Russia for Rise in Gas Prices
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said that the United States and Western countries shouldn’t blame Russia and its conflict with Ukraine for high gas prices domestically.“Supplies of Russian oil, say, to the American market do not exceed 3 percent. This is a negligible amount. And their prices are growing. We have absolutely nothing to do with it,” Putin said on Thursday, according to state-run media.
Putin further said that the White House is trying to pass off its own economic failures on Russia, adding that they “just hide behind these decisions in order to deceive once again their own population.”
Trudeau: Canada Will Take as Many Ukraine Refugees as It Can
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday during a visit to Poland that his country will take as many refugees fleeing war in Ukraine “as we can.”“Canada will help, Canada is there to help,” Trudeau said in Poland, a fellow NATO member which neighbors Ukraine and has opened its border to the refugees.
In talks with Polish President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, Trudeau expressed support for Poland’s openness to the refugees and discussed ways of supporting Ukraine and continuing tough sanctions on Russia.
“We will allow them to study, work, when they come here,” Trudeau said at a joint news conference with Duda.
“Many of them will hope to be able to return to Ukraine after this conflict, many will also choose to continue their lives in Canada and we look forward to welcoming as many as we can,” Trudeau said.
Duda thanked him for having been the first world leader to call and offer help to Poland in the days of building tension before Russia’s invasion.
Russia Says It Will Open Evacuation Corridors From 5 Ukrainian Cities: Agencies
The Russian defense ministry will declare a ceasefire on Friday and open humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of Ukrainians from five cities, the RIA and Interfax news agencies reported on Thursday.The agencies quoted Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the Russian National Defense Control Center, as saying people could either travel to Russia or other cities in Ukraine.
“From 10:00 am Moscow time (0700 GMT) on March 11, 2022, the Russian Federation will declares [sic] a ’regime of silence' and is ready to provide humanitarian corridors,” Interfax said, citing a statement from Mizintsev.
The five cities are Kyiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Mariupol, and Chernihiv.
Talks between Ukraine and Russia’s foreign ministers on Thursday failed to bring any respite in the two-week-old conflict as hundreds of thousands of civilians remained trapped in Ukrainian cities sheltering from Russian air raids and shelling.
Biden Blames Inflation on ‘Putin’s Price Hike’
President Joe Biden released a statement on Thursday, blaming Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine for catalyzing price inflation, which the most recent Consumer Price Index (CPI) report indicates is at its highest annual level in over forty years.“Today’s inflation report is a reminder that Americans‘ budgets are being stretched by price increases and families are starting to feel the impacts of Putin’s price hike,” said Biden in the statement. “A large contributor to inflation this month was an increase in gas and energy prices as markets reacted to Putin’s aggressive actions. As I have said from the start, there will be costs at home as we impose crippling sanctions in response to Putin’s unprovoked war, but Americans can know this: the costs we are imposing on Putin and his cronies are far more devastating than the costs we are facing.”
The statement is a response to Thursday’s findings from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which reported 7.9 percent price inflation since February 2021 in the all items index of its monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) report (pdf)—the highest annual rate of inflation since the period ending January 1982.
Putin Says Russia Will Emerge Stronger, Sanctions Will Rebound on West
President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that sanctions imposed against Russia would rebound against the West, including in the form of higher food and energy prices, and Moscow would solve its problems and emerge stronger.Putin said there had been no alternative to what Russia calls its special military operation in Ukraine and that Russia was not a country that could accept compromising its sovereignty for some sort of short-term economic gain.
“These sanctions would have been imposed in any case,” Putin told a meeting of the Russian government. “There are some questions, problems, and difficulties but in the past we have overcome them and we will overcome them now.
“In the end, this will all lead to an increase in our independence, self-sufficiency, and our sovereignty,” he told a televised government meeting two weeks after Russian forces invaded neighboring Ukraine.
US State Department Denies Russian Allegations of Biological Weapons in Ukraine
The U.S. State Department denied allegations pushed by Russian officials this week that the U.S. military is involved in creating chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine.On Wednesday evening, the U.S. State Department said that Kremlin allegations that the United States and Ukraine have conducted “chemical and biological weapons activities” are false, noting that Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials have echoed Moscow’s claims.
“This Russian disinformation is total nonsense and not the first time Russia has invented such false claims against another country,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.
‘Uncomfortable Truth,’ European Union Cannot Cut Off Russian Energy Supplies: Dutch Prime Minister
Mark Rutte, the Dutch Prime Minister, has dismissed the possibility of the European Union (EU) banning energy supplies from Russia in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.“We have to discuss our vulnerabilities in terms of our dependency on Russian oil and Russian gas. I would not plead for cutting off our supply of oil and gas from Russia today, it’s not possible because we need the supply and that is the uncomfortable truth,” Rutte said during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron. He added that the EU must do more for the “green agenda” and decarbonize the economies of member states.
UK Eases Visa Route for Ukrainian Refugees Stuck in Calais
Ukrainians arriving in France’s English Channel port city of Calais with hopes of joining family in Britain can request visas at the local prefecture from Friday. The structure was quickly set up by British authorities following complaints over treatment of stranded refugees.A British consular post was being set up at the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais region in nearby Arras, the prefecture said in a statement Thursday.
Ukrainians who fled the war with Russia in their homeland, arriving in Calais after long journeys, had previously been told to make their visa requests in Paris or Brussels, a policy French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said last Sunday was “a bit inhumane.” He urged Britain to “stop the technocratic nit-picking.”
Several hundred Ukrainians have been turned back at British entry points in Calais in a situation the prefecture had described this week as “unrealistic.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was forced to defend his approach, saying that the UK could not accept people entering “without any checks or any controls at all.”
Ukraine Government May Move Sensitive Data Abroad
The Ukrainian government is considering potentially transferring its sensitive data and servers outside the country if Russia’s military further advances in the country, an official said Wednesday.Zhora, without giving names, said that some countries have offered to host Ukraine’s government data. For reasons of proximity, “a European location will be preferred,” he told the outlet.
“We are preparing the ground,” Zhora said of the plan, adding that their first course of action is to protect the IT infrastructure within Ukraine.
Lavrov Says He Doesn’t ‘Want to Believe’ in Nuclear War Over Ukraine
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday he does not “want to believe” the conflict in Ukraine will spiral into a nuclear war, while claiming that the West had an unhealthy fixation with the issue.Lavrov made the remarks at a press conference following Russia–Ukraine peace talks on the sidelines of a diplomatic summit in Antalya, Turkey.
The foreign policy chief was asked by a reporter whether he thought the conflict would become nuclear.
“I don’t want to believe it, and I do not believe it,” he replied.
Putin Spokesman Says Russian Economy in ‘Shock’
Russian government officials on Thursday said its economy is in “shock” after heavy sanctions and after a number of Western corporations pulled out of the country in recent days after the Ukraine conflict.Peskov, who himself is facing sanctions from the European Union and the United States, again said that while the situation is turbulent, Moscow can take measures to stabilize the country’s economy. He didn’t elaborate.
“This is absolutely unprecedented. The economic war that has started against our country has never taken place before. So it is very hard to forecast anything,” he remarked.
Russia Says Belarus Restores Power Supply to Chernobyl Nuclear Plant
Russia’s energy ministry said on Thursday that Belarusian specialists had restored electricity supply to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine.Chernobyl lost power amid fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Goldman Sachs Shuts Down Its Russia Business
Goldman Sachs says it is closing its operations in Russia entirely, making it the first major Wall Street bank to do so since Russia invaded Ukraine.Goldman’s announcement comes after Citigroup said it would start winding down its Russia operations. But that process will likely take longer because Citi operates a consumer banking and business banking division in the country.
Like other Wall Street banks, Goldman operated a small investment banking business in the country for the past few years. The bank said in a statement Thursday it has roughly $650 million in exposure to Russian debt.
Banking is the latest industry to come under pressure to cut its Russian ties due to the war. But unlike companies who make goods that ship to Russia, banks have loans, deposits, and existing customer relationships that take time to wind down or sell off.
No Breakthrough in Ukraine-Russia Talks
Ukraine’s foreign minister says talks between the top diplomats of Moscow and Kyiv produced no breakthrough on ending the war in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion.Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he attended the meeting Thursday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Turkey to discuss humanitarian corridors and a cease-fire.
Kuleba said there are “other decision-makers” in Russia who need to be consulted, adding that he agreed with Lavrov to continue to seek a solution to humanitarian issues caused by the war.
He said Moscow is not ready to offer a cease-fire. He said: “They seek Ukraine’s surrender. This is not going to happen.”
Macron and Scholz Call for Immediate Cease-Fire in Ukraine in Phone Call with Putin
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have called for an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.A statement from the French presidency Thursday said that any solution to the crisis must be negotiated between Russia and Ukraine.
The three leaders agreed to stay in close contact in the coming days, the statement said.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is the main issue at a summit of European Union heads of states and government at the Versailles Palace, in France on Thursday and Friday.
Russia, Ukraine Foreign Ministers Meet in Turkey
Talks between the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine are underway on the sidelines of a diplomatic summit in Turkey.An official photograph showed Russia’s Sergey Lavrov flanked by two advisers sitting across from his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba and his officials on Thursday.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu sat at the head of a U-shaped table in a wood-paneled hotel conference room near the Mediterranean city of Antalya.
The talks are the first high-level talks between the two countries since Russia invaded Ukraine two weeks ago. Cavusoglu has said the aim of the meeting is to pave the way for a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents that would be facilitated by Turkey’s president.
NATO member Turkey, which has cultivated close ties with both Russia and Ukraine, is trying to balance relations with both nations. It has positioned itself as a neutral party, seeking to facilitate negotiations between the warring sides.
Sending MiG-29 Planes Would Be ‘High-Risk and Low-Gain’ Venture: Top US Military Commander
The top U.S. military commander in Europe is thanking Poland for its offer of fighter jets for Ukraine but says that sending the MiG-29 planes would be a “high-risk and low-gain” venture.Poland had said it was prepared to supply MiG-29 planes—which Ukraine’s pilots are trained to fly—to NATO if all 30 allies agreed to send them on to the war-ravaged country.
Gen. Tod D. Wolters, the commander of U.S. European Command, said, “The most effective way to support the Ukrainian military in their fight against Russia is to provide increased amounts of anti-tank weapons and air defense systems.”
Wolters is also NATO’s top military commander and responsible for beefing up the organization’s defenses to deter Russia from attacking any member country. NATO is wary of getting embroiled in Moscow’s war on Ukraine.
Wolters said Ukraine already has enough warplanes and that sending MiG-29s “will not appreciably increase the effectiveness of the Ukrainian Air Force.”
Wolters said intelligence estimates suggest that sending the planes “may be mistaken as escalatory and could result in Russian escalation with NATO ... producing a high-risk scenario.”
He told Poland that U.S. European Command will “evaluate ways to best support and assist our Ukraine friends.”
IAEA Head Attends Talks in Turkey to Ensure Safety of Ukraine’s Nuclear Facilities
The head of the U.N. nuclear agency said he’s en route to Turkey for talks on ensuring the safety of Ukraine’s nuclear facilities.Rafael Grossi, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, was invited to Antalya, Turkey by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. Also in Antalya on Thursday, the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers are scheduled to hold talks on the sidelines of a diplomacy forum.
Grossi didn’t give details of his own planned meetings in a Twitter post that showed him sitting on a plane.
The IAEA chief has been pressing for an agreement with Ukraine and Russia on the safety of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants.
A growing list of concerns includes a power cut at the decommissioned Chernobyl plant as well as limited communications between Ukraine’s nuclear regulator and both Chernobyl and the Zaporizhzhia power plant, which Russian forces seized last week.
In addition, the IAEA says it has lost direct transmission of data from systems installed to monitor nuclear material at both Chernobyl and Zaporizhzhia. It says the reasons for the disruption aren’t immediately clear.
Ukraine has 15 nuclear reactors, eight of which were operating as of Wednesday.
Britain Imposes Travel Ban and Asset Freezes on 7 More Wealthy Russians Including Abramovich
Britain has imposed a travel ban and asset freezes on seven more wealthy Russians, including Roman Abramovich, the billionaire owner of Premier League soccer club Chelsea.The government said Thursday that Abramovich’s assets are frozen, he is banned from visiting the UK, and he is barred from transactions with UK individuals and businesses.
Abramovich said last week he was trying to sell Chelsea as the threat of sanctions loomed.
The sanctions are being imposed in response to Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
Russia Says Claim That It Bombed Children’s Hospital Is ‘Fake News’
Russia said on Thursday a Ukrainian claim that it bombed a children’s hospital in Mariupol was “fake news” because the building was a former maternity hospital that had long been taken over by troops.“That’s how fake news is born,” Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia’s first deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, said on Twitter.
Polyanskiy said Russia had warned on March 7 that the hospital had been turned into a military object from which Ukrainians were firing.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of carrying out genocide after Ukrainian officials said Russian aircraft bombed the children’s hospital on Wednesday.
Top Russian, Ukrainian Diplomats Meet for 1st Time Since Invasion
Foreign ministers from Russia and Ukraine will meet in Turkey on Thursday in the first high-level talks between the two countries since Moscow invaded its neighbor, with Ankara hoping they could mark a turning point in the raging conflict.Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has tempered expectations for a ceasefire agreement or other results from the meeting with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, on the sidelines of a diplomacy forum in Turkey’s southern province of Antalya.
Russia’s invasion has uprooted more than 2 million people in what the United Nations calls the fastest humanitarian crisis in Europe since World War II.
NATO member Turkey had repeatedly offered to mediate between the sides and will host their top two diplomats after weeks of mediation attempts by world powers.
WHO: Maternity Hospital Among 18 Ukraine Medical Centers Hit
An airstrike on a maternity hospital in the port city of Mariupol wounded women waiting to give birth and buried children in the rubble as Russian forces intensified their siege of Ukrainian cities. Bombs also fell on two hospitals in another city west of Kyiv.The World Health Organization said Wednesday that it has confirmed 18 attacks on medical facilities since the Russian invasion began two weeks ago.
Ukrainian officials said the attack at a medical complex in Mariupol wounded at least 17 people.
The ground shook more than a mile away when the series of blasts hit. Explosions blew out windows and ripped away much of the front of one building. Police and soldiers rushed to the scene to evacuate victims, carrying a bleeding woman with a swollen belly on a stretcher past burning and mangled cars.
US House Approves Russia Oil Import Ban Bill
The U.S. House overwhelmingly approved legislation that would ban Russian oil imports to the United States, an effort to put into law the restrictions announced by President Joe Biden in response to the escalating war in Ukraine.Going further than Biden’s import ban on Russian oil, the bill making its way through Congress would also encourage a review of Russia’s status in the World Trade Organization and signal U.S. support for sanctions on Russian officials over human rights violations, as the U.S. works to economically isolate the regime.
Lawmakers in both parties have been eager to act, willing to risk higher gas prices at home in order to support Ukraine with a show of U.S. bipartisanship. The legislation was approved Wednesday 414–17, and now goes to the Senate.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), who helped draft the bill, acknowledged it may cost more to fill up tanks at home to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin’s tanks abroad.
“It is one way to demonstrate our solidarity,” Doggett said during the debate.
House Passes $1.5 Trillion Spending Bill With $13.6 Billion for Ukraine
The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to pass a $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill that includes $13.6 billion in aid for Ukraine and European allies, and would fund the federal government through to Sept. 30.Hours earlier, Democratic lawmakers scrapped the bill’s initial $15.6 billion COVID-19 aid provision, marking a major setback for the Biden administration which had pushed for weeks to have the additional funds approved.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called the decision to abandon the provision “heartbreaking.” Republicans had demanded cuts to state aid to fund the new initiative.
“We’ve got a war going on in Ukraine,” Pelosi told reporters, explaining the urgency Democrats felt in making concessions in bargaining with Republicans. “We have important work that we’re doing here.” She said with her party in the 50–50 Senate needing at least 10 GOP votes to pass legislation, Democrats “are going to have to know there has to be compromise.”
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