Russia Ukraine conflict live updates: Soldier reports ‘hand-to-hand combat’ on Kyiv outskirts, Citizens flee Irpin as mass exodus continues
The West is looking at a ban on Russian oil, but the Kremlin says it will be “catastrophic”. And, it has a punishment plan of its own.
A third round of tentative peace talks between Russia and Ukraine have failed to reach a ceasefire deal that would allow Ukrainian citizens to safely evacuate besieged cities.
Kyiv said there has been “positive results” from Monday’s negotiations, but the Kremlin said its expectation for the talks were “not fulfilled”.
Russia has now put forward four demands in order to end the brutal invasion, including having Ukraine recognise Crimea as Russian and Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states.
The invasion, now into its 12th day, has seen more than 1.5 million people flee Ukraine, with hundreds killed and thousands wounded.
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Read on for the latest updates.
Russia makes major gas threat
Russia says a proposed ban on its oil would have “catastrophic consequences” for the global economy and said it may sever the main gas pipeline to Germany in retaliation.
Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said a “rejection of Russian oil would lead to catastrophic consequences for the global market”, causing prices to more than double to $300 a barrel.
Washington and its allies meanwhile have been exploring a potential oil ban as a way of hitting Russia’s economy for its invasion of Ukraine.
However, it has been met with some opposition within the alliance as Germany and the Netherlands rejected the plan on Monday.
The EU gets about 40 per cent of its gas and 30 per cent of its oil from Russia, and has no easy substitutes if supplies are disrupted.
Shell to stop Russian oil purchases
Energy giant Shell said Tuesday it would withdraw from its involvement in Russian gas and oil, including an immediate stop to purchases of crude from the country.
The UK-based company also issued an apology for buying a cargo of Russian crude oil last week and said it would shut its service stations, aviation fuels and lubricants operations in the country.
Second of Putin’s top generals killed in days
One of Vladimir Putin’s top generals has been killed in fighting outside of Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv, in another major blow for the Russian president — according to Ukrainian intelligence.
Vitaly Gerasimov is the second Russian commander to be assassinated in the past week after Major General Andrei Sukhovetsky was killed by a Ukrainian sniper during the fighting for Hostomel Airfield about 50km outside the capital Kyiv.
It comes as aides close to President Putin have reportedly described his “absurd” levels of “paranoia” as the war appears to turn against him.
Kremlin officials have allegedly made “apocalyptic” predictions about the conflict in Ukraine, describing the invasion on February 24 as a “mistake”.
The mood around Moscow will have been further worsened by news of the death of Major General Vitaly Gerasimov, one of Putin’s top commanders.
Ukraine claims 12,000 Russian soldiers killed
The State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine (SSCIP) has claimed more than 12,000 Russian troops have been killed since the initial invasion 13 days ago.
The SSCIP posted an update on Tuesday evening, claiming Ukraine’s military has destroyed more than 300 tanks, on top of 1,036 armoured fighting vehicles and 120 artillery systems.
Russia is yet to updated its estimate losses since Wednesday last week when it claimed 498 troops had died.
The enemy's losses. Operative information from General Headquarters.
— SSSCIP Ukraine (@dsszzi) March 8, 2022
- military personnel: more than 12 thousand people;
- tanks: 303;
- armored fighting vehicles: 1036;
- artillery systems: 120;
- multiple launch rocket systems: 56;
- units of air defense equipment: 27;
Soldiers report ‘hand-to-hand combat’
Ukrainian forces and fleeing residents have described ferocious fighting on Kyiv’s northwestern edge as conflict between opposing forces devolves.
“There is real street fighting now,” a Ukrainian paratrooper lieutenant who agreed to be identified as Stas told AFP in the flashpoint town of Irpin.
Bursts of automatic gunfire and blasts of exploding shells rang out as he spoke on the 12th day of the Russian invasion.
“In some places, there is hand-to-hand combat,” Stas said.
“There is a huge column — 200 men, 50 light armoured vehicles, several tanks,” he said of the Russian threat.
“We are trying to push them out, but I don‘t know if we’ll be fully able to do it. The situation is very unstable.”
– with AFP
Heartbreaking footage as mass exodus continues
Ukrainian officials have revealed Russia has slowed up its assault on Ukraine following the loss of two key military commanders this week.
The slight improvement has opened up more opportunities for civilians to flee war-torn cities.
Heart wrenching footage of an elderly woman on crutches being helped over rubble in the city of Irpin showed a glimpse of the desperation felt by regular people hit by the war, which is now entering its 13th day.
An old woman on crutches crosses the Irpin River. Thousands of civilians, many elderly and handicapped, are fleeing shelling and Russian forces in Irpin, a city on the northern outskirts of the capital Kyiv. pic.twitter.com/qRUJxUOzvb
— Sudarsan Raghavan (@raghavanWaPo) March 8, 2022
Ukraine rejected Russia‘s offer to establish humanitarian corridors for refugees after it emerged that some routes would lead into Russia or the Putin-backed Belarus.
Yesterday, EU officials warned the bloc to prepare for as many as 5 million Ukrainians — an eighth of the besieged nation’s population — entering countries across the Union.
One million have already fled to neighbouring Poland.
The Ukrainian city of Sumy was given a green corridor, the first stage of evacuation began #WARINUKRAINE#Ukraineï¸#UkraineRussianWarpic.twitter.com/4uWXrlLmUf
— SSSCIP Ukraine (@dsszzi) March 8, 2022
UK will back Poland if it sends jets to Ukraine
UK Defence minister Ben Wallace has said Britain will support Poland if its military opts to send fighter jets to Ukraine.
Speaking on Sky News on Tuesday evening, Mr Wallace warned that sending assistance would have immediate consequences for Poland’s relationship with Russia.
“I would support the Poles and whatever choice they make,” Mr Wallace told Sky News.
“We would protect Poland, we‘ll help them with anything that they need,” he said. “Poland will understand that the choices they make will not only directly help Ukraine, which is a good thing, but also may bring them into direct line of fire from countries such as Russia or Belarus.”
The UK will not provide Ukraine with aircraft at this point in time.
Zelensky’s stark warning for the US
Ukraine‘s president Volodymyr Zelensky has warned Russia’s invasion will not stop at Ukraine, claiming Putin’s sudden move on a sovereign state will have implications for democracy across the globe.
Speaking in an interview with ABC in the US, Zelensky warned citizens abroad that the current state of war in Europe meant freedom was at risk elsewhere.
“We are a place in Europe, a place of freedom, a zone of freedom,” he said.
“When the limits of rights and freedoms are being violated and stepped on, then you have to protect us. Because we will come first, you will come second.”
Russia’s losses ‘not sustainable’
US intelligence and defence analysts have warned Russia its invasion is “not sustainable” after fierce resistance from Ukraine ground troops saw nine jets shot down in just 24 hours.
“The Russians have not planned for a long war nor made provisions to sustain it over time,” Prof Lawrence Freedman, professor of war studies at King‘s College London said via the Telegraph.
Verified footage has revealed 11 Russian planes, 11 helicopters and two drones have been shot down over Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion 12 days ago.
A US defence intelligence official said Russia is still yet to achieve air superiority over Ukraine.
“We continue to observe that the airspace over Ukraine is contested. Ukrainian air and missile defences remain effective and in use. The Ukrainian military continues to fly aircraft and to employ air defence assets,” the spokesman said.
Zelensky posts defiant video from Kyiv office
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has posted his first video from his Kyiv office in several days, standing firm against Russia’s invasion and calling for the West to increase deterrence measures against Vladimir Putin.
Mr Zelensky assured viewers that he wasn’t hiding, offering strong words for the Russian invaders that continue to shell the city.
“God will not forgive. Not today, not tomorrow, never, and instead of forgiveness, there will be judgment. The aggressor‘s audacity is a clear signal to the West that sanctions imposed against Russia are not enough,” he said.
“They forgot that we are not afraid of paddy wagons and batons. We are not afraid of tanks and machine guns. When the main thing is on our side, truth.”
“Now I will say one thing: I stay here. I stay in Kyiv. On Bankova Street. I’m not hiding. And I’m not afraid of anyone.”
Mr Zelensky’s brazen video address on Tuesday comes amid reports Russian troops have allegedly sent specialised hit squads to assassinate him in their attempt to overthrow the government.
Analysts expressed concern the video would put the President at risk, while others, including former British General Sir Nick Carter, praised the leader for rallying his nation.
“He’s been absolutely phenomenal in raising national morale. There’s admiration for what he’s done and is achieving,” he said via the Economist.
Day 12 of Russia’s full-on invasion of Ukraine. Where’s President Zelensky?
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) March 7, 2022
“I’m staying in Kyiv. In my office. I’m not hiding. And I’m not afraid of anyone.â€
The comic turned president has truly become a wartime leader. pic.twitter.com/dKbzYWwpbo
Russia hits new nuclear site over ‘dirty bomb’ rumour
The International Atomic Energy Agenc has received reports of artillery shells damaging a nuclear research facility in Ukraine’s besieged second city Kharkiv, but there was no “radiological consequence”.
The Vienna-based UN body said Ukrainian authorities reported an attack took place on Sunday, adding that no increase in radiation levels had been reported at the site.
Because the site’s “inventory of radioactive material is very low” and kept at a “subcritical” state, the IAEA said “the damage reported to it would not have had any radiological consequence.”
The facility is part of the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology, a research institute that produces radioactive material for medical and industrial applications.
Kharkiv has come under intense Russian shelling and missile attacks in recent days, as Moscow tries to step up pressure on Ukraine to surrender.
The nuclear institute itself has been at the centre of online conspiracy theories and unsubstantiated claims in Russian media that Ukraine is attempting to develop a “dirty bomb” – a crude nuclear weapon capable of causing mass casualties.
The IAEA said this was just the latest instance of a nuclear facility becoming caught up in Russia’s war on Ukraine.
“We have already had several episodes compromising safety at Ukraine’s nuclear sites,” said IAEA director general Rafael Mariano Grossi.
Putin’s message to ‘mothers, wives, brides’
Russian President Vladimir Putin has directly addressed the women linked to the soldiers that have been sent to invade Ukraine, telling them they should be proud of the troops.
In a video message released in the early hours of Tuesday morning, Mr Putin singled out the “mothers, wives, sisters, brides and girlfriends of our soldiers and officers”.
“I know how worried you are for your loved ones. You can be proud of them, just as the whole country is proud and feels for them,” he said.
Mr Putin also stated that conscripts “will not be involved” in combat operations in Ukraine and that reserves would not be mobilised.
“The set goals will be achieved only by professional soldiers. I am confident that they will reliably ensure security and peace for the Russian people,” he said.
Russia says ceasefire will happen within hours
Russian ambassador Vassily Nebenzia has claimed Russia will stick by a planned ceasefire, despite claims troops have been killing civilians attempting to flee.
Mr Nebenzia said the ceasefire will take place at 10am Moscow time (6pm AEDT), with humanitarian corridors allowing citizens to safely evacuate from Kyiv, Chernigov, Sumy and Mariupol.
“This proposal doesn’t have any demands about the citizens being sent necessarily to Russia, into Russian territory,” he told a UN Security Council meeting.
“There’s also evacuation offered towards Ukrainian cities to the west of Kyiv, and ultimately it will be the choice of the people themselves where they want to be evacuated to.”
However, Russia has been repeatedly accused of making it impossible for citizens to evacuate safely.
The UK Ministry of Defence has accused Russian forces of targeting evacuation corridors and killing “several citizens” trying to flee the town of Irpin.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow’s troops of scuppering evacuation efforts by mining roads and destroying buses meant to carry people to safety.
Kyiv had rejected a previous proposal for evacuation corridors as many of the routes led straight into Russia or its ally Belarus.
‘Fight to the death’: Russia steps up attack
Ukrainian officials have claimed Russia is ramping up its attack of several major cities, including Kyiv.
Russian forces have reportedly launched hundreds of missiles and artillery attacks on residential areas of Chernihiv, north of Kyiv.
Mykolaiv is also being shelled, with Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovich saying Ukrainian forces were also defending the port city of Odesa from invading ships.
Russian forces are still pushing their way forward to Kyiv, with soldiers and citizens alike setting up hundreds of checkpoints in a bid to protect the city.
“Every house, every street, every checkpoint, we will fight to the death if necessary,” Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
US warns against Putin’s next move
Russia is recruiting Syrians and other foreign fighters as it ramps up its assault on Ukraine, the Pentagon said Monday.
Moscow entered the Syrian civil war in 2015 on the side of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, and the country has been mired in a conflict marked by urban combat for more than a decade.
Now, US Department of Defence officials said, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin was “on a recruiting mission” seeking to bring some of those fighters into the fray in Ukraine.
According to the Wall Street Journal, US officials said that Russia has in recent days recruited fighters from Syria hoping they can help take Kyiv.
One official claimed some fighters are already in Russia readying to join the fight in Ukraine, though it was not immediately clear how many combatants have been recruited.
Details were slight and officials would not speculate on how many mercenaries have joined the fight, or on the quality of the fighters. But the Pentagon said there was no reason to doubt the accuracy of the reports.
“We do believe that the accounts of them – the Russians – seeking Syrian fighters to augment their forces in Ukraine, we believe there’s truth to that,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told journalists when asked about the reports.
Chernobyl workers trapped inside nuclear plant
More than 100 workers at Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant have been trapped there for more than 12 days after Russian forces stormed the site.
Russian troops took Chernobyl – the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986 – on February 24.
A further 200 Ukrainian guards who were in charge of security at the time of the attack are also trapped.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said communicating with workers was only possible through emails at the moment, after Russian forces switched off some mobile networks.
Staff are reportedly unable to rotate, with IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi I stressing “the importance of operating staff being able to rest to carry out their important jobs safely and securely”.
There are ongoing concerns for the welfare of the workers, with the BBC reporting staff have been limiting themselves to one meal per day as they don’t know how long they will be trapped.
The site is also not set up for sleeping, with temporary dormitories created, including makeshift beds on tables and the floor.
“Some of the workers require medication which is limited at the plant, and that adds extra worries for the relatives,” Yuri Fomichev, Mayor of Slavutych, told the BBC.
“We have to tell them that there is currently no safe way of getting the workers out of there.”
Mr Fomichev said the situation is “complicated and tense”.
Putin’s plan to 'destroy and terrorise Ukraine’
US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield has offered a grim warning about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plan for the Ukraine invasion.
“It’s clear Mr. Putin has a plan to destroy and terrorise Ukraine,” she said at a UN Security Council meeting.
Ms Thomas-Greenfield added that the US was “concerned” and the “world needs to be prepared for a very long and very difficult road ahead”.
“If the last two weeks have shown us anything, it’s that the Ukrainian people are not going to give up. And many Russian people themselves, including many Russian soldiers, do not want this war,” she said.
“Putin is clearly willing to sacrifice the lives of thousands of Russian soldiers to achieve his personal ambitions.”
Russian soldiers killed as city recaptured
Ukrainian forces have taken back the city of Chuhuiv, with defence officials saying Russia suffered “heavy losses in the battle”, including the deaths of two high ranking officials.
“The Defence Forces continues to conduct a defence operation in the South, East and North. In the course of hostilities, the city of Chuhuiv was liberated. The occupiers suffered heavy losses in personnel and equipment,” Lieutenant General Serhiy Shaptala said.
“Lieutenant Colonel Dmitry Safronov, Commander of the 61st Separate Marine Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces, and Lieutenant Colonel Denis Glebov, Deputy Commander of the 11th Separate Airborne Assault Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces, were killed.
“Let’s win together! Let’s keep the system! Glory to Ukraine!”
Chuhuiv is a small city 30,000 people, located about 35km southeast of Kharkiv.
It was one of the first cities to be taken by Russia when troops invaded Ukraine on February 24.
A week ago, a young boy was killed in the city after heavy shelling struck an apartment block.
Putin adds Australia to Russia’s hit list
Russian President Vladimir Putin has put Australia on a hit-list of countries taking “unfriendly actions against Russia”, allowing creditors to repay any debts “in roubles.”
Hitting back over punitive economic sanctions announced by western nations in protest against Russia’s bloody invasion of Ukraine, officials have drawn up their own list of countries they plan to sanction.
According to a decree published on the government’s website overnight, the list includes Australia, Albania, Andorra, Great Britain, including Jersey, Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Gibraltar, EU member states, Iceland, Canada, Liechtenstein, Micronesia, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, San Marino, North Macedonia, Singapore, US, Taiwan, Ukraine, Montenegro, Switzerland, and Japan.
All of the countries on the list have applied tough financial sanctions on Russia that sent the Russian stock market and the rouble plunging in value.
The rules mean Russian citizens and companies, and even the state itself, that have foreign exchange obligations to foreign creditors that are on the list will be able to pay them in roubles.
– Samantha Maiden
‘Catastrophic consequences’: Warning amid oil ban talks
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak warned Monday that a ban on Russian oil imports would have “catastrophic” consequences, as Western allies consider further sanctions on Moscow over Ukraine.
“A ban on Russian oil will lead to catastrophic consequences for the global market. The surge in prices will be unpredictable more than $300 per barrel, if not more,” Novak said in remarks carried by Russian news agencies.
Novak added that it would be “impossible” to quickly replace Russian oil on the European market.
“It will take more than one year and it will be much more expensive for European consumers,” he said.
“European politicians should then honestly warn their citizens, consumers what awaits them and that prices at gas stations, for electricity, for heating will skyrocket,” he said.
Novak said talks of an embargo on Russian oil creates “instability and leads to significant harm for consumers”.
All of the countries on the list have applied tough financial sanctions on Russia that sent the Russian stock market and the rouble plunging in value.
Russia’s four demands to stop invasion
The Kremlin has demanded that Ukraine recognise Crimea as Russian and Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states if the invasion is to end.
Ahead of peace talks, a spokesman for the Russian government outlined what Vladimir Putin wants from the invasion.
A Kremlin spokesman called for Ukraine to cease military action, change its constitution to become a neutral country, acknowledge Crimea as Russian territory and recognise the separatist republics of Luhansk and Donetsk.
Dmitry Peskov told Reuters that Russia had told Ukraine it was ready to halt its military action “in a moment” if Kyiv met its conditions.
And he insisted Russia wasn’t seeking any further territorial claims in Ukraine.
“We really are finishing the demilitarisation of Ukraine,” he said. “We will finish it. But the main thing is that Ukraine ceases its military action.
“They should stop their military action and then no one will shoot. They should make amendments to their constitution according to which Ukraine would reject any aims to enter any bloc.
“We have also spoken about how they should recognise that Crimea is Russian territory and that they need to recognise that Donetsk and Luhansk are independent states. And that’s it. It will stop in a moment.”
‘Hand-to-hand combat’: Street battles rage on Kyiv’s edge
Ukrainian servicemen and fleeing residents described ferocious fighting on Kyiv’s northwestern edge Monday that could soon spread to the besieged capital.
“There is real street fighting now,” a Ukrainian paratrooper lieutenant who agreed to be identified as Stas told AFP in the flashpoint town of Irpin.
Bursts of automatic gunfire and blasts of exploding shells rang out as he spoke on the 12th day of the Russian invasion.
“In some places, there is hand-to-hand combat,” said Stas.
“There is a huge column, 200 men, 50 light armoured vehicles, several tanks,” he said of the Russian threat.
“We are trying to push them out, but I don’t know if we’ll be fully able to do it. The situation is very unstable.”
The industrial town of Irpin represents the outgunned Ukrainian forces’ last point of resistance against the Russian assault on Kyiv.
The Russian offensive began with missile strikes and a paratrooper deployment in Kyiv’s more distant suburb of Gostomel on February 24.
Ukrainian soldiers beat back the initial push and destroyed some of the first Russian armoured vehicles.
But the Russians sent in reinforcements from Belarus that reached the outer reaches of suburban Kyiv at the start of last week, with the offensive has been gaining momentum ever since.
– with AFP
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