- Russia said Ukrainian forces have until 5 a.m. Moscow time (02:00 GMT) on Monday to surrender in the eastern port city of Russia. Mariupol.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told CNN that negotiations are the only way to “end this war”.
- About half of the staff who have worked at Chernobyl since Russian forces seized the site last month have been transferred by other Ukrainian personnel.
- Ukraine’s deputy prime minister said a total of 7,295 people were evacuated from Ukrainian cities on Sunday, with four of seven humanitarian corridors operating.
Here are the latest updates:
The inside story: Can negotiations end the war in Ukraine?
Representatives of Ukraine and Russia have met several times since the invasion of Moscow.
There are three main points of contention: a ceasefire, an end to all hostilities, and a humanitarian corridor. But still no progress so far.
So, do these talks serve any purpose?
UK says Russian forces are still trying to get through Mykolaiv
The UK’s Ministry of Defense said that Russian forces advancing from Crimea were still trying to get past Mykolaiv as they attempted to drive west towards Odesa, adding that the forces had achieved a great deal. little progress in the past week.
“The blockade of the Ukrainian coast has the potential to aggravate the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, preventing essential supplies from reaching the Ukrainian people,” the ministry said in a Twitter post.
Latest Defense Intelligence Update on the situation in Ukraine – March 20, 2022
Learn more about the UK government’s response: https://t.co/4Kgqgh6q8K
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/VU1vamog4n
– Ministry of Defense 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) March 20, 2022
Shells hit residential houses and a shopping mall in Kyiv, mayor says
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said residential homes and a shopping district in Kyiv’s Podil district were shelled late Sunday.
“Several explosions in the Podil district of the capital,” Klitschko said on his Telegram channel.
“According to the information we have at this time, several houses and one of the shopping malls [were hit]. Rescue teams, medics and police were on the scene. ”
IAEA calls for rotation of more Chernobyl staff soon
About half of the staff working at the radioactive waste facilities in Chernobyl since Russian forces seized it last month have been cleared by other Ukrainian personnel, the UN nuclear watchdog said. .
“They have been there for too long. I sincerely hope that the remaining staff from this change can also be rotated soon,” said International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director Rafael Grossi in a statement. Ukraine’s nuclear regulator informed the IAEA that the rotation had begun Sunday morning, the agency said.
Russia gives 5 am deadline for Ukraine to surrender to Mariupol
Russia said Ukraine has until 5 a.m. Moscow time (02:00 GMT) on Monday to respond to an offer of a humanitarian corridor and lay down arms in Syria. the eastern port city of Mariupol.
“Lose your arm,” Colonel Mikhail Mizintsev, director of the Russian National Center for Defense Management, said at a press conference broadcast by the Defense Ministry.
“A terrible humanitarian disaster has developed,” said Mizintsev. “All those who drop their weapons are assured of safety from Mariupol.”
Mariupol has come under some of the heaviest shelling since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Many of its 400,000 residents are still trapped in the city with little food or water. and electricity.
Mizintsev said humanitarian corridors for civilians will be opened east and west out of Mariupol at 10 a.m. Moscow time (07:00 GMT) on Monday.
Ukraine said 7,295 people were evacuated from cities on Sunday
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said a total of 7,295 people were evacuated from Ukrainian cities through humanitarian corridors on Sunday, with four of the seven routes scheduled to be operational.
In total, 3,985 people were evacuated from the besieged city of Mariupol to the city of Zaporizhzhia. The Ukrainian government planned to send nearly 50 buses to Mariupol on Monday for further evacuations, Vereshchuk said.
Tired employees at the Chernobyl plant get relief
The management of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the site of the world’s worst nuclear accident in 1986, says that 50 employees who have worked at the job since the plant was seized by Russia on February 24 have rotated and replaced.
Officials have repeatedly warned that employees are suffering burnout after weeks of forced work, which must not continue and this jeopardizes the safety of the decommissioned plant.
The factory regulator did not give specific details on how an agreement was reached to let workers quit and others to replace them.
Ukrainian evacuees arrive at Brovary, east of Kyiv
A convoy carrying people evacuated from the Ukrainian village of Bobryk has arrived in Brovary, a city east of Kyiv.
Officials said the convoy consisted of 20 buses and 250 cars, carrying about 1,600 people, including 843 children.
One Bobryk resident, Ihor Lytvyn, told the Associated Press he was shot in the arm and his grandmother was shot in the leg as a Russian convoy drove through the village. Another resident, Serhiy Gyziy, spent a week in the shelter without water and electricity.
About 10 million people have been displaced from their homes – more than 6 million of whom have been internally displaced and more than 3.3 million have left Ukraine, UNHCR said on Sunday.
Japan presses UAE to pump more oil as Ukraine war increases prices
Japan has urged the United Arab Emirates to pump more oil to appease markets rocked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the latest major consumer to lobby Gulf producers.
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi’s plea came during meetings with Emirati officials, coinciding with a visit by the German Economy Minister, three weeks after the Russian attack.
Hayashi suggested that “the UAE contributes to the stability of the international oil market by providing a larger amount of oil, ensuring spare production capacity as a leading member of OPEC +”, the developer said. Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in an online meeting.
Negotiation is the only way to end war, says Zelenskyy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has continued to offer talks with his Russian counterpart, on US television, saying that negotiations are the only way to “end this war”.
He stressed that he and President Vladimir Putin were the only principles that could come up with an agreement to stop the fighting, now in its fourth week.
But he signaled that he would draw a red line against ceding Ukrainian territory, including two pro-Moscow breakaway regions.
“I’m ready to negotiate with him,” Zelenskyy told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS program through an interpreter. “I think without negotiations, we cannot end this war.”
Click this to read all updates from March 20th.
