Russia Ukraine live updates: Russia invasion convoy masses near Ukraine capital
Satellite images have revealed a huge Russian military convoy near Ukraine’s capital as fears grew the invading forces were set to launch devastating assaults. WARNING: GRAPHIC
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A huge Russian military convoy was massing on the outskirts of Ukraine’s capital Tuesday as fears grew the invading forces were set to launch devastating assaults aimed at taking control of Kyiv and other major cities.
Satellite images showed a long build-up of armoured vehicles and artillery starting 29 kilometres north of the city, as Moscow defied mounting global pressure and a wave of international sanctions that have smashed Russia’s economy.
Initial ceasefire talks between Moscow and Kyiv on Monday failed to secure a breakthrough, with Russia shelling residential areas in Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv and other areas of the country after the negotiations.
The Russian army has been regrouping and massing its forces over the past 24 hours “primarily to encircle and take control of Kyiv and other major cities,” the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces wrote on Facebook.
The column is more than 65 kilometres long and covers the entire road from near Antonov airport outside Kyiv to the town of Prybirsk, US satellite imaging company Maxar said.
“Some vehicles are spaced fairly far apart while in other sections military equipment and units are traveling two or three vehicles abreast on the road,” Maxar said.
The images also showed “additional ground forces deployments and ground attack helicopter units” in southern Belarus near the Ukraine border.
Eastern city Kharkiv’s mayor Igor Terekhov, quoted by Ukrainian media, warned that Moscow’s armoured vehicles and tanks are “everywhere around the city”.
Russian forces killed several civilians including children late Monday, he said.
PM’S NEW WEAPONS AID TO FIGHT RUSSIA; WARNING TO AUSSIES
Australians who travel to Ukraine to fight against Russia would not only face “unclear” legal consequences, but likely find themselves at the “wrong end of some very, very violent acts,” Scott Morrison has warned.
The Prime Minister reiterated the federal government’s advice to all Australians not to travel to Ukraine as reports emerge of volunteers ready and willing to help the country defend against Russian invasion.
“Others have described those sorts of things as suicide missions and that’s not an unreasonable assessment,” he said.
“Our travel advice is do not travel to Ukraine.
“The legal position of those who may seek to do that is very unclear.
“Anyone seeking to do that would find themselves on the wrong end of some very, very violent attacks.”
Mr Morrison said “disorganised civilian militias” would effectively be putting people in the “most extreme of situations”.
“So we will not encourage anybody to go there and would advise against it because largely you would be joining something, the status of which is completely unclear and how it would be supported and how it would set any command structure ... is totally unknown,” he said.
Mr Morrison also called on China to join global efforts to hold Russian President Vladimir Putin accountable for his unprovoked invasion.
He accused China of throwing Russia a “life line” by easing trade restrictions just as Western economic sanctions started to bite.
“The ruble (Russia’s currency) has fallen by 45 per cent, the interest rates have been put up to 20 per cent,” Mr Morrison said.
“There is real economic pain being felt as a result of the sanctions. But the impact of the world’s response to impose a price on President Putin needs to bere- inforced by countries like China.”
Australia also will fund $70 million in aid, mostly weapons, for Ukraine to fight against Russian invasion.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday announced Australia would be answering Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s call for ammunition to fend off the unprovoked attack by sending funds to NATO, which would be mostly used to purchase “lethal aid”.
“We will be committing $US50 million to support both lethal and non lethal defensive support for Ukraine,” he said.
“The overwhelming majority of that, but some $AU70 million, will be in the lethal category.”
Mr Morrison said it would include missiles, ammunition and other support systems, but would not go into details as he did not want to give the Russian government a “heads up about what’s coming their way”.
“But I can assure it’s coming your way,” he said.
Australia will also provide about $35m in humanitarian support for Ukraine, in addition to the funding for lethal weapons.
It comes as an investigation is launched into war crimes by Russia after Kyiv was rocked by huge explosions and the city of Kharkiv was hit by what is believed to be banned ‘vacuum bombs’.
International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan on Monday local time said he was launching an investigation on the “situation in Ukraine” following Russia’s invasion.
“Today I wish to announce that I have decided to proceed with opening an investigation into the situation in Ukraine, as rapidly as possible,” Khan said in a statement.
“I am satisfied that there is a reasonable basis to believe that both alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed in Ukraine” since 2014, he added.
“Given the expansion of the conflict in recent days, it is my intention that this investigation will also encompass any new alleged crimes falling within the jurisdiction of my office that are committed by any party to the conflict on any part of the territory of Ukraine.”
In a late night address, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia continued to bomb Ukrainian cities on Monday while negotiations for peace were underway on the Belarus border.
He said it was a “violation of all conventions” and “no one in the world will forgive you for killing peaceful Ukrainian people.”
Kyiv was rocked by huge explosions on Monday night with video showing a ball of fire coming from a group of buildings.
Ukraine officials have revealed the attack destroyed a five-storey dormitory and two five-storey residential buildings.
The towns of Vasylkiv, Bila Tserkva and Kalinovka were hit in the strike.
Ukraine’s State of Emergencies Service said two people were rescued from the Bila Tserkva hit and nobody was killed at the dormitory in Vasylkiv.
The new blast took place hours after Russian shelling killed at least 11 civilians in Ukraine’s second most populated city Kharkiv on Monday, the regional governor said, adding that dozens more were wounded.
The shelling comes on the fifth day of a Russian invasion of Ukraine and one day after Ukrainian troops repelled an attack on Kharkiv by Moscow’s army.
“The Russian enemy is bombing residential areas of Kharkiv, where there is no critical infrastructure, where there are no positions of the armed forces,” Oleg Sinegubov, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
“As a result of the bombardments that are ongoing, we cannot call on the emergency services … currently there are 11 dead and dozens wounded,” he added.
The Kremlin said earlier on Monday that the Russian military’s main task was to ensure the safety of civilians.
But Russia has also accused nationalist groups in Ukraine of using civilians as human shields and the Ukrainian military of deploying heavy weapons to residential areas, as potential pretexts justifying civilian deaths.
The Sun reports the massacre occurred around midday on Monday, local time, as thousands of desperate residents queued outside supermarkets for food.
The strike came as Ukraine and Russia met for peace talks on the border with Belarus amid Russian President Vladimir Putin’s stalled invasion. The talks ended with both sides agreeing to continue a second-round of negotiations “soon”.
Russia’s troops have faced serious setbacks with their tanks and trucks left burnt out by the roadside after a surprise push back from brave Ukrainian defenders.
But footage showed multiple blasts raining down on Kharkiv in quick succession – thought to be ‘vacuum bombs’.
Both are considered “area weapons” because they are not accurate enough for precision strikes.
Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States accused Russia of using the banned weapon in its invasion of Ukraine.
“They used the vacuum bomb today, which is actually prohibited by the Geneva Convention,” Ambassador Oksana Markarova said after a meeting with politicians.
“The devastation that Russia is trying to inflict on Ukraine is large.”
She said Ukraine was working actively with US President Joe Biden’s administration and Congress to obtain more weapons and tougher sanctions.
“They should pay, they should pay a heavy price,” she told reporters after leaving the meeting.
Another war crime to add to the already long list for Putin. This gruesome attack was purposeful—he’s targeting civilians while claiming to be in negotiations. It’s barbaric and further reminder of his evil. He must be stopped. https://t.co/g2rzxKfN1R
— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) February 28, 2022
Russian fighter bombers were also seen roaring over the city – which has seen some the bloodiest fighting since the start of the war last Thursday.
Harrowing footage showed crumpled bodies and streets smeared with blood.
It is understood one group of people were queuing to fill up water bottles at a public water pump before the being caught in the attack.
At least one woman appeared to have lost a foot – with blood smears covering the streets, according to The Sun.
The remains of rocket casings could be seen littering the streets amid the horrific scenes.
It came amid chilling warnings that Russian generals have been ordered to take the city at all costs.
The devastating attack hit the north east of the town where a Russian attempt to take the city was forced to retreat on Sunday.
Ukraine says Russian troops have “reduced” the speed of their offensive but continue to pursue their “main objective”: taking the capital Kyiv.
Meanwhile, naval battles rage around the Black Sea port of Odessa, Ukraine says, as well as near Ochakiv and Chornomorsk as Russia is still trying to complete a naval landing at Mariupol on the shores of the southern Sea of Azov.
Russia is still claiming air superiority in Ukraine and launched six missile strikes involving up to 30 missiles on Sunday and four air strikes, mostly from Belarusian territory.
Ukraine says Russia has fired 180 Iskander-type mobile ballistic missiles since the start of the offensive.
This is what they are doing now to Kharkiv - a city that they totally believed was part of the "Russian world". What will they do to the OTHERS?? pic.twitter.com/PXKVVG5snq
— Christo Grozev (@christogrozev) February 28, 2022
Ukraine says it still holds the city of Kharkiv, 500 kilometres east of Kyiv and the army has repelled “several” attacks on the capital.
Russia says it is besieging the cities of Kherson and Berdyansk close to Crimea and Ukraine has confirmed Berdyansk is occupied by Russian soldiers.
Ukraine says 4,300 Russian soldiers have been killed and the nation’s leader, Volodymyr Zelensky is urging Russian troops to lay down their arms.
Ukraine has reported 352 civilian deaths since the start of the invasion, including 14 children.
SANCTIONS BITE: RUSSIA LIFTS INTEREST RATES TO 20PC
The Russian ruble crashed to a record low as sanctions imposed by the West over the weekend had an immediate impact in Moscow, forcing the central bank to more than double its key interest rate to 20 per cent.
Mr Putin also announced emergency measures intended to prop up the ruble, including banning residents from transferring money abroad.
Many Russians raced to withdraw cash.
Retired soldier Edward Sysoyev, 51, fidgeted impatiently while in line at a bank in Moscow.
“Ninety per cent of Russians are going to rush to withdraw their rubles and change them into dollars, property or even gold … it’ll be ordinary people who pay for this military bunfight,” he said.
The Moscow Stock Market was closed Monday to prevent an expected mass sell-off.
RUSSIANS BANNED FROM EUROVISION
No Russian entertainers will be permitted to take part in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest following the invasion of Ukraine, the European Broadcasting Union said.
The glitzy annual musical pageant, which has millions of viewers in Europe and as far afield as Australia, will go ahead without any acts from Russia, The EBU’s executive board decided.
“In light of the unprecedented crisis in Ukraine, the inclusion of a Russian entry in this year’s Contest would bring the competition into disrepute,” the EBU said in a statement.
The call to exclude Russia from this year’s event in Italy was “based on the rules of the event and the values of the EBU”.
In addition, Russia residents will also be blocked from voting in the competition.
“They are completely excluded from the whole event,” an EBU spokesman told AFP.
RUSSIA KICKED OUT OF WORLD CUP
Russia has been expelled from the World Cup after being suspended from all international competitions “until further notice”, FIFA and UEFA announced in a joint statement on Monday, while European football’s governing body also ended its partnership with Russian energy giant Gazprom.
The men’s team had been due to play in qualifying play-offs in March for the World Cup in Qatar later this year, while its women’s side had qualified for the European Championship in England, to be held in July.
“FIFA and UEFA have today decided together that all Russian teams, whether national representative teams or club teams, shall be suspended from participation in both FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice,” read the joint statement from the governing bodies of world and European football.
More details here.
ZELENSKY SEEKS BAN ON RUSSIA IN ALL GLOBAL AIRPORTS, PORTS
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wants a global ban on Russian planes and ships as punishment for attacking his country.
“We must close entry for this state in all ports, all canals and all the world’s airports,” he said on Facebook and urged the international community to “consider a total closure of the skies to Russian missiles, planes and helicopters,
But the US and its allies have ruled out the possibility of a no-fly zone, saying it increased the risk of direct combat with Russia.
“A no-fly zone would require implementation,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters.
“It would require deploying US military to enforce, which would be a direct conflict — a potentially direct conflict and potentially war with Russia, which is something we are not planning to be a part of.”
EU DAMPENS UKRAINE PLEA FOR ‘IMMEDIATE’ MEMBERSHIP
The European Union on Monday poured cold water on a plea from President Zelensky for “immediate” membership to the bloc despite strong support from eastern EU states.
EU officials stressed that the adherence procedure takes years, dampening Ukraine’s hopes that suddenly becoming part of the European club could help it better weather the Russian invasion and speed up military, financial and political support.
The presidents of eight eastern European countries also signed a letter saying that “Ukraine deserves the perspective of EU accession”.
They urged EU members to “enable EU institutions to take steps towards an immediate granting of the status of an EU candidate country to Ukraine, and to start the process of accession talks”.
US EXPELS 12 RUSSIAN UN STAFF FOR ‘ESPIONAGE ACTIVITIES’
The United States said it is expelling 12 members of Russia’s UN mission from America for being “intelligence operatives,” prompting a furious response from Moscow, which denounced what it called a “hostile move.”
A spokeswoman for the US mission to the UN on Monday local time said those ordered to leave had “abused their privileges of residency in the United States by engaging in espionage activities that are adverse to our national security.”
“We are taking this action in accordance with the UN Headquarters Agreement. This action has been in development for several months,” said the spokeswoman, Olivia Dalton.
Richard Mills, the US’s deputy ambassador to the UN, told a Security Council meeting on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine that the dozen had engaged in non-diplomatic activities.
“Those diplomats that have been asked to leave the United States were engaged in activities that were not in accordance with their responsibilities and obligations as diplomats,” he said, without elaborating further.
“This is a hostile move against our country,” Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s ambassador to Washington, said on Facebook, adding that Moscow was “deeply disappointed” and “totally rejected” the US claims.
RUSSIAN TANKS ADVANCE ON KYIV, ASSASSINATION PLOT REVEALED
It comes as a 5km convoy of Russian tanks and troops has begun an advance on Kyiv as Belarus considers joining Vladimir Putin’s forces.
Satellite imagery released by Maxar Technologies depicted a convoy of Russian military vehicles lined up on roads leading to Kyiv, thought to be less than 65 kilometres away from the city of three million people.
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said his city is blocked off and people cannot leave.
It comes as more than 400 Russian mercenaries are believed to be operating in Kyiv with orders from the Kremlin to assassinate Ukranian President Volodomyr Zelensky and his government and prepare the ground for Moscow to take control.
The Times reports that the Wagner Group, a private militia run by one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies, flew in mercenaries from Africa five weeks ago on a mission to decapitate Mr Zelensky’s government in return for a handsome financial bonus.
ZELENSKY SCEPTICAL ABOUT PEACE TALKS
Russia and Ukraine were preparing Monday for their first talks since Moscow’s invasion, as fighting raged and Western-led sanctions started to bite with the rouble collapsing.
Ukraine said Sunday it had agreed to send a delegation to meet Russian representatives on the border with Belarus, which would be the foes’ first public contact since war erupted.
Belarus announced Monday that the venue for the talks had been prepared and they would start as soon as the delegations arrived.
However, with his government reporting hundreds of civilian deaths and Russian troops besieging key cities, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was sceptical about the talks.
“As always: I do not really believe in the outcome of this meeting, but let them try,” he said. Information about the mission reached the Ukrainian government on the weekend and led to Kyiv declaring a 36-hour “hard” curfew to sweep the city for Russian saboteurs, warning civilians that they would be seen as Kremlin agents and risked being “liquidated” if they were outside.
Putin has taken the world a step closer to a nuclear disaster, ordering his military nuclear deterrent forces to be on high alert with increased readiness to launch a strike.
EU DEPLOYS FIGHTER JETS
Those reports prompted the European Union to agree to deploy fighter jets and tens of thousands of antitank and machine guns to Ukraine for its military to use to counter the continued Russian push to overthrow the country.
The EU also raised the prospects of “international brigades” of Euro fighters forming to enter the battle field for Ukraine, with NATO nations reluctant to officially commit their troops to support a non-NATO member to the escalating crisis.
Officials in Ukraine’s capital conceded Kyiv was now completely surrounded but like locals in Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv — who successfully held off a Russian assault on Sunday — vowed to fight on.
Locals have acquitted themselves well, keeping Russian troops out of the capital despite being heavily out armed, but Denmark opened the door for a foreign army supporting them after it authorised its citizens to join international fighters, declaring there was no legal impediment.
The Ukraine Interior Ministry confirmed 352 civilians had already been killed in the conflict including 14 children with another 1684 wounded including 116 children.
The death toll for Ukrainian troops is thought to be high but is not being reported.
BELARUS TROOPS TO JOIN RUSSIANS
Belarus is expected to send troops into Ukraine to fight alongside Russian troops.
On day four of the invasion of Ukraine, President Putin raised the stakes putting his nuclear forces on high alert in response to what he said were “aggressive statements” by NATO forces.
Those statements included crippling sanctions placed on Russia’s banking system and use of the SWIFT money transfers process. That in turn prompted the Russian people to make a run on banks, with large queues forming at ATMs as locals tried to remove their money.
“Western countries aren’t only taking unfriendly actions against our country in the economic sphere, but top officials from leading NATO members made aggressive statements regarding our country,” Mr Putin said.
The move has created a nuclear situation not seen since the Cold war and according to a US defence official was “potentially putting in play forces that, if there’s a miscalculation, could make things much, much more dangerous.”
Also for the first time ever, the European Union will finance the buying and delivery of weapons to help a country under attack. The moves negates the pressure on NATO which said it could not come to the defence of a country that was not in the military bloc.
It is Ukraine’s potential to join the bloc that prompted Mr Putin to demand NATO ban the move and when it didn’t, he launched the strike against Ukraine.
The United States said it was inconceivable Russia could even consider a nuclear war and said it was part of Russia’s intimidation threat.
Germany’s defence minister Christine Lambrecht described Mr Putin as a megalomaniac and his threats “crossed another line”.
Both France and the US told their respective citizens to leave Russia in the face of the growing crisis.
Russia’s national air carrier Aeroflot meanwhile has been grounded indefinitely after the whole EU closed its airspace to any Russian aircraft. The EU’s 27 nations individually banned Russia using their airspace, with Russia also reciprocating.
TRAGEDY OF BABIES CAUGHT IN CROSSFIRE
It should have been one of the happiest moments of their lives but instead Michelle and John McFadden found themselves running for their lives as Russian missiles rained down on Kyiv.
The two Irish nurses from Donegal travelled to the Ukrainian capital last Sunday expecting to pick up their surrogate son but were forced to flee as the Russia military intensified its push into the city.
News Corp Australia came across the pair as they trudged the final steps across the Ukraine border into Poland after a horror 40km walk to get away from the war.
Their surrogate son was due to be born any day but they had to make the difficult “fight or flight decision” to leave, with another son back in Ireland.
More details here
UKRAINIANS MET WITH OPEN ARMS
Sitting on the shoulders of her husband Matheus, Olga Grzejszczyc holds a sign in a language she herself cannot read but understands well what it says.
“It says many things, but it is an offer of freedom,” she said, as below her, heads crane up to read in bewilderment at the smiling Polish woman with a sign in Ukrainian.
The sign offers anyone a free ride to anywhere in Poland that they may want to go.
A week ago the huge empty lot where the pair now stand was a carpark for a sporting goods factory outlet on the outskirts of the Polish city of Przemysl. But today it is a bustling impromptu free market place and bus station where hundreds of coaches have been disgorging thousands of passengers fleeing the horror and bloodshed of conflict in their home.
More details here
FACEBOOK BANS FAKE PROFILES TARGETING UKRAINE
A network of fake profiles and fraudulent news outlets targeting Ukrainians on social media has been removed from Facebook and Instagram.
Meta, which owns the platforms, said on Monday it discovered evidence of a disinformation campaign working across its platforms as well as Twitter, YouTube Telegram and Russian sites.
The network, running about 40 fake accounts, had already amassed almost 4000 followers to its Facebook Pages, and almost 500 accounts for one of its Instagram accounts.
While its investigation was “ongoing,” the US tech giant said people behind the accounts had gone to great lengths to disguise their personas and evade detection — using artificially generated profile photos — and had created fake news stories designed to denigrate Ukraine.
“They claimed to be based in Kyiv and posed as news editors, a former aviation engineer, and an author of a scientific publication on hydrography — the science of mapping water,” Meta security policy head Nathaniel Gleicher and threat disruption director David Agranovich said in a statement.
“This operation ran a handful of websites masquerading as independent news outlets, publishing claims about the West betraying Ukraine and Ukraine being a failed state.”
Facebook said the company had deleted the fake profiles and “blocked their domains from being used on our platform”.
The company warned it had also seen evidence of Ukraine users being targeted by known security threats on its site and recommended Facebook users in Ukraine and Russia strengthen their online security.
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