Russia Ukraine updates: Close Putin ally admits invasion not going to plan

One of Putin’s closest confidants has broken ranks with the Kremlin admitting for the first time that the invasion has not gone to plan.

A top Russian general has admitted that the country’s invasion is not going to plan, it’s been reported.

The head of the country’s National Guard has said Moscow expected progress to be far faster than it has been.

The admission comes as Russia has been accused of using a “filthy” chemical bomb on civilians that was referred to by the Nazis as a “flaming onion” and inflicts indescribable suffering.

The phosphorus bomb’s signature is a loud bang and a plume of bright white smoke, but its effects are felt most when long white streams carrying chemicals start falling from the sky.

It comes as Russia bombs a military base in western Ukraine that sits just 11 kilometres from the border with Poland where NATO forces are stationed.

If fighting enters Poland, as is feared, the United States would almost certainly be drawn into the war directly.

Australia introduced new sanctions on Monday against 33 Russian oligarchs including Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich.

But the situation continues to deteriorate. One major Ukrainian city where residents are under relentless Russian bombardment has suffered more than 2000 civilian casualties.

A humanitarian aid convoy meant to arrive in besieged Mariupol is stuck in Russian-controlled territory to the west and has not arrived. Thousands of residents are in a desperate situation with no food, water, heat, electricity or medical care.

Ukrainian general prosecutor’s office revealed that 90 children have been killed and more than 100 wounded since the beginning of the invasion.

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Top Russian general: ‘Not going as fast as we would like’

There have been murmurings from inside Russia for some time that the country’s invasion of Ukraine has not being going to plan.

Now the head of Russia’s National Guard has apparently admitted as much.

Reuters has reported that Viktor Zolotov, a close Putin ally and the President’s former bodyguard, made the observations at a Sunday church service.

“I would like to say that yes, not everything is going as fast as we would like,” Mr Zolotov said in comments that then were posted to the National Guard’s website, reported Reuters.

“But we are going towards our goal step by step and victory will be for us.”

Previously the Kremlin has downplayed suggestions the so-called “special military operation” has gone awry.

Russian Federal National Guard Service chief Viktor Zolotov has said not all is going to plan in Ukraine. (Photo by Yelena Afonina\\TASS via Getty Images)

Chechen leader to Ukraine: ‘You will be finished’

Ramzan Kadyrov, the strongman leader of Chechnya, said Monday that he was in Ukraine alongside Russian forces who are leading an offensive in the country.

Kadyrov, who is accused by international NGOs of serious human rights violations in the tightly controlled Caucasus republic, posted a video on Telegram of himself in military uniform studying plans around a table with soldiers in a room.

He said in a message that the video had been shot at Hostomel, an airfield near Kyiv captured by Russian forces in the first days of their offensive. This information could not be independently verified.

Governor of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov has called on Ukrainian forces to surrender “or you will be finished”.

“The other day we were about 20 km from you Kyiv Nazis and now we are even closer,” Kadyrov wrote.

He called on Ukrainian forces to surrender “or you will be finished”.

“We will show you that Russian practice teaches warfare better than foreign theory and the recommendations of military advisers,” he added.

Kadyrov, who rules Russia‘s Chechnya Republic with an iron fist, is a former rebel turned Kremlin ally with a paramilitary force at his command.

At the start of the Russian offensive, images circulated on social networks showing a square in the Chechen capital, Grozny, filled with soldiers claimed to be on their way to Ukraine.

– with AFP

Kremlin says may take ‘full control’ of big Ukraine cities

The Kremlin said it may still opt to take control of large cities in Ukraine, as Moscow’s military advances steadily towards several major urban hubs in its pro-Western neighbour.

“Putin gave orders to hold back on any immediate assault on large cities because the civilian losses would be large,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

He added however that the defence ministry “does not rule out the possibility of putting large cities, which are already almost fully encircled, under its full control”.

“US and EU leaders it seems are forcing Russia towards an assault of large Ukrainian cities to hold our country responsible for civilian deaths,” he added. Peskov also denied reports Russia has asked China for military aid. “Russia has its own potential to continue the operation,” Peskov told reporters.

Ukraine, Ukrainian Minister addresses ‘WWIII’ concerns

Ukraine’s foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who has repeatedly called for aid from Western powers, has addressed fears over the current conflict spilling over into WWIII.

Posting to Twitter, Mr Kuleba said his nation is “fighting back successfully” but called on more weapons and sanctions from foreign powers to stem the Russian war effort.

Analysts believe the introduction of foreign powers will only spell disaster, with the economic effects of the now 18-day invasion already being felt across the globe.

“Help Ukraine force Putin into failure and you will avert a larger war,” Mr Kuleba said.

To those abroad scared of being ‘dragged into WWIII’. Ukraine fights back successfully. We need you to help us fight. Provide us with all necessary weapons. Apply more sanctions on Russia and isolate it fully. Help Ukraine force Putin into failure and you will avert a larger war.

— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) March 14, 2022

Companies continue to sever ties with Russia as Putin’s forces continue to attack key objectives across the nation. The global backlash has somewhat isolated the nation of 145 million, with several social media companies, including Instagram on Monday, cutting off access.

Disturbing ‘two words’ clip emerges from Moscow

“Two words – and you're in a paddy wagon: how many seconds do you need to be detained on Manezhnaya Square. Spoiler: one and a half.”

A disturbing new video from Moscow appears to show an anti-war protester being bundled away by police over a very innocent-looking sign.

The woman was being interviewed in the city’s famous Red Square by a cameraman from an independent Russian publication, asking if she could “say two words”.

Armed police immediately swooped in after she displayed her sign, asking “am I going to be arrested for this?”

“You are already being detained,” one of the armed men said.

In Russia it is forbidden to write “stop the war” (which is two words in Russian), so it is understood she literally wrote “two words” on the card.

However, “two words” has been used as a type of code for “no war” in Russia, where activists have been arrested in the thousands after the invasion of Ukraine.

The focus shifts to another woman as she is being escorted away to nearby vans.

One of the most extraordinary videos I’ve ever seen. The first woman is holding up a sign that says ‘two words’. pic.twitter.com/6tP89LjYyP

— Jonathan Lis (@jonlis1) March 14, 2022

The next interviewee asks if the cameraman is only filming the opposition, to which he replies: “We are showing all the views”.

More armed guards appeared as she began explaining her position — even though it appears as if she is going express support for the Russian government.

“Let’s go,” they said.

The video has not been independently verified, however, it is not forbidden in Russia to film in a public area like the Red Square where small numbers of people have been demonstrating against the war.

The camera crew is understood to have obtained press credentials and are standing in a dedicated zone, only for press to film.

Activatica.org, which recorded and posted the clip, is a Russian-language online resource dedicated to civic activism.

Ukraine, Ukrainian thwarts Russian river crossing

Incredible satellite images published by Maxar Technologies have shown the aftermath of a skirmish on the Irpin River.

Incredible satellite images published by Maxar Technologies have shown the aftermath of a skirmish on the Irpin River as Russian tanks attempted to cross.

One image shows a bridge near Hostomel on Kyiv’s northwestern edge left completely destroyed, with a number of Russian vehicles laid to waste on the bank.

The body of water has caused significant trouble for Russian troops, with Ukraine’s military previously destroying the main bridge over the Irpin river to thwart the advance on the capital.

Forces have been forced to use makeshift pontoon bridges as the invasion presses on, with details now emerging of Russia’s military having built a separate crossing near Pripyat to advance on the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Russian military forced to use a pontoon bridge to cross a river in Ukraine, after Ukrainian forces destroyed a nearby bridge.

Note the helicopter nearby. pic.twitter.com/fU8wPDKXwd

— Moshe Schwartz (@YWNReporter) March 8, 2022

Pregnant woman dies after hospital bombing

A pregnant woman who was caught in the blast on Mariupol’s maternity hospital last week has died with her unborn baby.

The Gap news agency reported the woman, who was suffering from a detached pelvis and crushed hip, screamed “kill me now” as she realised she was losing the baby.

Doctors delivered the baby via a caesarean section but it tragically showed “no signs of life”, according to one surgeon.

“More than 30 minutes of resuscitation of the mother didn‘t produce results,” doctors said.

Mariupol has faced an onslaught in recent days with hundreds of thousands of civilians held hostage in the city surrounded by troops.

Russian officials have dismissed claims of hospitals being targeted as “fake news”, while several foreign officials have declared the attacks “war crimes”, calling on further action against Vladimir Putin and the military.

Refugees continue to flee Ukraine

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees says 2.7 million refugees have fled Ukraine in the fortnight following Russia’s invasion.

The figure makes it the largest exodus in Europe since WWII over 80 years ago.

Officials Ukraine and Russia will meet again today for a third round of peace talks via video communication.

“And our goal is that in this struggle, in this difficult negotiating work, Ukraine will get the necessary result … for peace and for security,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday morning.

Mr Zelensky said the aim was “to do everything to ensure a meeting of presidents. A meeting that I am sure people are waiting for”.

Russia threatens companies over sanctions

Russian authorities have threatened foreign companies hoping to withdraw from the country with arrests and asset seizures, as the nation faces a potential economic calamity with sanctions continuing to roll in.

Russian prosecutors have issued warnings to several foreign entities — via calls, letters and in-person visits — including to Coca-Cola, McDonald‘s, Proctor & Gamble, IBM and Yum Brands, the parent company of KFC and Pizza Hut, according to the Business Daily, citing sources familiar with the matter.

They have threatened to arrest officials who have criticised the government or to seize assets, including intellectual property.

– with AFP

China denies knowledge of Russian call for help

Russia is being accused of asking China for military and economic aid for its war in Ukraine, but China says it has “never heard of that”.

US media outlets reported on Sunday that Russia requested military equipment from its ally to help with its invasion in Ukraine.

The New York Times reports that Moscow asked Beijing for economic assistance against the crippling sanctions imposed against it by most of the Western world.

The White House responded with a warning to Beijing that it would face “severe consequences” if it helps Moscow.

But when asked about the alleged requests, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington told multiple outlets “I’ve never heard of that”.

Worth watching later today are any talking points from high-level talks between a US delegation and a top Chinese official in Rome.

Australia slaps new sanctions on Russian oligarchs

The Australian Government has announced fresh sanctions that will impact Russian oligarchs including Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich.

In news that made headlines with The New York Times, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the sanctions were specifically targeted at 33 wealthy Russians.

“The sanctions announced today reinforce Australia’s commitment to sanction those people who have amassed vast personal wealth and are of economic and strategic significance to Russia, including as a result of their connections to Russian President Vladimir Putin,” she said in a statement.

“They include Roman Abramovich, Chelsea Football Club owner, Alexey Miller the CEO of Gazprom, Dmitri Lebedev Chairman of Rossiya, Sergey Chemezov Chair of Rostec, Nikolay Tokarev CEO of Transneft, Igor Shuvalov Chairman Vnesheconombank (VEB. RF) and Kirill Dmitriev CEO of Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).

“We strongly support recent announcements by Canada, the European Union, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States of further restrictive measures against key Russian individuals.”

‘Shocking footage’ Russia can’t hide from

There is new footage circulating widely on social media that shows Russian troops firing directly at residential buildings in a city home to 400,000 Ukrainians.

The pictures, broadcast by CNN which described them as “shocking footage”, show tanks firing indiscriminately at an apartment complex in Mariupol.

The Associated Press reports that one of its journalists witnessed tanks “emblazoned with a giant Z”, firing on a nine-story apartment block.

While the footage is new, it is believed the attacks took place on Friday or Saturday.

“Russian tanks intentionally shot at apartment buildings,” wrote Kyiv Independent journalist Oleksiy Sorokin on Twitter.

The footage, shared on Monday, shows the same apartment building in flames as Ukrainian soldiers try desperately to hold off advancing Putin forces.

Russian tanks intentionally shot at apartment buildings.

Mariupol. March 2022. pic.twitter.com/YdGH876OCe

— Oleksiy Sorokin (@mrsorokaa) March 12, 2022

As we reported earlier, the humanitarian crisis in Mariupol is dire. Residents who have run out of food and water are waiting for aid to arrive but none has come.

One resident says escaping now is “impossible”.

“It’s like a meat grinder here,” they told CNN. “This is horror.”

Russia accused of using terrifying, ‘filthy weapon’

A senior Ukrainian police officer has accused Russian forces of launching phosphorous bomb attacks in the eastern region of Luhansk.

International law prohibits the use of white phosphorous shells in heavily populated civilian areas, but allows them in open spaces to be used as cover for troops.

Oleksi Biloshytsky, head of police in Popasna, around 100 kilometres west of Luhansk city, said Russian forces had used the chemical weapon in his area.

“It’s what the Nazis called a ‘flaming onion’ and that’s what the Russcists (amalgamation of ‘Russians’ and ‘fascists’) are dropping on our towns. Indescribable suffering and fires,” he wrote on Facebook.

If, as a Ukrainian human rights group claims, the Russians used phosphorus weapons in the town of Popasna last night, that would be another war crime. The human body burns internally for up to 7 hours if phosphorus is breathed in. A filthy weapon.

— John Simpson (@JohnSimpsonNews) March 13, 2022

It was not immediately possible to verify the comments but they were backed up by Ukraine’s human rights monitor Liudmila Denisova who shared a photograph on social media of the alleged attack.

“The bombing of a civilian city by the Russian attackers with these weapons is a war crime and a crime against humanity, according to the Rome convention,” she said

Phosphorous bombs were called Willie Pete during WWI and WWII but the innocent name conceals a far more sinister reality.

Russia was accused of using the controversial weapon in 2015 in Aleppo, Syria.

It is a weapon favoured by those aiming to inflict the most misery on their targets.

Its signature is a loud bang and a plume of bright white smoke, but its effects are felt most when long white streams carrying chemicals start falling from the sky.

White phosphorus — also used in rat poison — is so revered because it can lay dormant in the ground, on clothing and even on skin. When the chemical is exposed to air, it immediately ignites.

Fear war could extend: ‘That would be an attack on the United States’

For weeks, the world has watched the invasion in Ukraine from afar. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday warned the war could soon move elsewhere.

In a televised address to the world, Zelensky said that unless a no-fly zone is introduced over his country, bombs “rockets will fall” in other nations — specifically those with membership to NATO.

“If you don’t close our sky, it is only a matter of time before Russian rockets fall on your territory, on NATO territory,” Zelensky said in a video address released shortly after midnight.

He spoke a day after thirty-five people were killed and more than 130 injured when Russian troops launched air strikes on a military training ground outside Ukraine’s western city of Lviv, which is dangerously close to the frontier with EU and NATO member Poland.

If a NATO country were to be attacked, the rules are clear. US Congressman Brendan Boyle outlined exactly what that would mean when speaking with CNN on Monday.

“That is a clear red line, he said.

“Any attack upon a NATO country invokes Article 5 (of NATO’s founding treaty).”

Article 5, means that an attack against one ally is considered as an attack against all allies.

“That would be an attack on the United States,” Congressman Boyle said.

Ukraine, Ukrainian army public affairs officer Valentin Yermolenko walks in front of a destroyed shoe factory in Dnipro on March 11. Picture: Emre Caylak / AFP

‘This is horror’: Desperation in major city

The situation in Mariupol is growing increasingly dire. According to the city council, 2187 residents have been killed so far, and the city has suffered 22 bombing attacks in the last 24 hours.

A humanitarian aid convoy meant to help Mariupol is stuck in Russian-controlled territory to the west and has not arrived.

“The humanitarian situation in the city of Mariupol is becoming increasingly dire and desperate,” the International Committee of the Red Cross said last week.

“Hundreds of thousands of people have no food, water, heat, electricity, or medical care. People urgently need respite from the violence and humanitarian aid.”

Mariupol is a city of about 430,000 people. One of its residents has described the horror they’re facing in grim detail.

Just driving with refugees from Mariupol. They are in such deep trauma they can barely speak.

— Charles McPhedran (@charliekreuz) March 13, 2022

“There’s no humanitarian aid and will not be. The evacuation of peaceful people is impossible,” the resident said, as translated by CNN.

“People are in a devastating situation. Water, food are coming to an end. People are forced to break into shops in search of necessities.

“Russian military vehicles are not ashamed of air strikes. The town is suffering air strikes, and shelling from mortars. There are thousands of victims among peaceful civilians.

“It’s like a meat grinder here. We feel bitterness, desperation. Russians came here under a reasonable, in their view, proposition, but they sowed despair, fear, bitterness.

“They have taken away our peace. They are killing us. That’s what is happening. The town has had no electricity for 13 days, no heating, water. And the world doesn’t know what is happening here.

“This is horror.”

A children’s hospital in Mariupol. This is reportedly the aftermath of a Russian air strike. Picture: National Police of Ukraine/AFP

A satellite image shows the Primorskyi district in western Mariupol. Picture: AFP

Tech company responds to Ukraine’s demand

The tech company Oracle has stressed that its operations in Russia have ended after a public demand from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“There can be no ‘half’ decisions or ‘half’ tones. There is only black and white, good and evil. You are either for peace or support the bloody Russian aggressor to kill Ukrainian children and women,” Mr Zelensky said today.

“Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, stop supporting your products in Russia, stop the war!”

Oracle replied to him a short time later, saying it was “among the first to entirely cut off business in Russia” over the war.

“Oracle has ended all operations in the Russian Federation. Access to support has been cut off and software updates and patches are no longer available for download,” it said.

“Oracle has suspended all Russian partners and their subsidiaries. Oracle products and services are currently not authorised for export, transfer to or use in Russia.”

US journalist killed in Russian attack

An award-winning American journalist was among those killed by Russian forces near Kyiv in the latest round of fighting.

Brent Renaud, a 51-year-old video journalist who had reported for NBC, Vice News and HBO, was fatally shot in the neck when Russian forces opened fire on a car in the Ukrainian town Irpin, police said.

“The occupiers … kill even journalists of the international media who try to show the truth about the actions of Russian troops in Ukraine,” said Kyiv Chief of Police Andrey Nebitov.

“Of course, the profession of a journalist is a risk, but US citizen Brent Renaud paid his life for trying to highlight the aggressor’s cruelty and ruthlessness.”

Two other journalists were wounded in the attack. One of them, photographer Juan Arredondo, said the group had been reporting on refugees.

“We crossed a checkpoint, and they started shooting at us,” he said.

‘No longer exists’: Russia destroys city

One of Ukraine’s regional governors says Russian forces have destroyed an entire city in the east of the country.

Volnovakha, a small city of about 20,000 people, suffered days of heavy bombardment before Russian-backed separatists claimed to have captured it on Friday.

On Sunday Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the Donetsk region, said Volnovakha “no longer exists” and Russia was waging a “war of annihilation”. Thankfully, most civilians escaped the city before its destruction.

Images on social media show extensive damage to the city. The tweets below are from Reuters correspondent Phil Stewart and Illia Ponomarenko, a defence reporter with The Kyiv Independent. He says the city has essentially “ceased to exist”.

A woman stands outside a local hospital, which was destroyed during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the separatist-controlled town of Volnovakha in the Donetsk region, Ukraine March 12, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko pic.twitter.com/xJDHnMFnXp

— Phil Stewart (@phildstewart) March 13, 2022

My hometown Volnovakha has ceased to exist as a human settlement.
Russia has completely destroyed a rapidly developing, 100% Russian-speaking city of Donbas.
1881-2022.
Rest In Peace, my sweet old hometown. pic.twitter.com/8H7jjg2xvQ

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) March 12, 2022

My hometown, Volnovakha.
It used to be among the fastest-evolving cities of Donbas.
Russia has brought nothing but absolute death. pic.twitter.com/UIEMzn98TQ

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) March 11, 2022

A Russian convoy outside Volnovakha on Saturday. Picture: Reuters/Alexander Ermochenko

Russia turns to China for help

Russia has reportedly turned to China for help as its invasion of Ukraine falters, requesting military aid and equipment.

Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping held a summit before the invasion, in early February, where they declared a “no limits” partnership between their two countries and suggested they would collaborate more closely against the West.

Now both The Washington Post and Financial Times report Russia has asked China for aid, citing information from multiple US officials.

Those officials did not say whether they knew how China had responded. They told the Times there were “some indications that China may be preparing to help Russia”.

President Joe Biden’s national security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, was interviewed by CNN’s State of the Union program overnight.

He said the US believed China knew Russia was planning military action in Ukraine before it happened, though it may not have anticipated a full-blown invasion.

And he warned China it would face “consequences” if it assisted Russia, though he was specifically speaking about any effort to help it evade economic sanctions.

“We are communicating directly, privately to Beijing that there will absolutely be consequences for large scale sanctions evasion efforts or support to Russia to backfill them,” Mr Sullivan said.

“We will not allow that to go forward and allow there to be a lifeline to Russia from these economic sanctions from any country, anywhere in the world.”

Coincidentally, Mr Sullivan is set to meet a top Chinese official, Yang Jiechi, in Rome on Monday. That should be an interesting conversation.

China has refused to call Russia’s aggression in Ukraine an invasion, and its state media has been parroting Russian propaganda on the war.

Chinese ruler Xi Jinping. Picture: Yifan Ding/Getty Images

Broadening target sets

For the first two weeks of the war, Russia’s forces had focused on eastern and southern areas of Ukraine, but in recent days they have moved to the centre, striking the city of Dnipro.

The Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk military airfields in western Ukraine were hit on Friday, while overnight Saturday-Sunday, missiles struck a military training ground in Yavoriv near Lviv, about 20 kilometres from Poland.

Regional governor Maxim Kozitsky said 35 people were killed and 134 injured in the attack on the base, which had been a training centre for Ukrainian forces with foreign instructors, although the US said the Americans had left.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told ABC News Russia was “clearly, at least from an air strike perspective … broadening their target sets”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks has broadened his targets, a top US official has claimed, after a military base about 20km from the Poland border was bombed. Picture: AFP / Kirill Kudryavtsev

Civilian targets came under Russian shelling in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro on March 11, killing one, emergency services said, in what appeared to be the first direct attack on the city. Picture: Emre Caylak / AFP

Meanwhile in Kyiv, only the roads to the south remain open and the city is preparing to mount a “relentless defence”, according to the Ukrainian presidency.

City authorities have set up checkpoints and stockpiling of food and medicine. The northwestern suburb of Bucha is entirely held by Russian forces along with parts of Irpin, Ukrainian soldiers at the scene told AFP.

The American journalist was shot dead and another wounded Sunday in Irpin, medics and witnesses said.

Ukrainian officials were quick to blame Russian forces for the attack, which also injured a Ukrainian who was in the same car, but the exact circumstances were unclear.

Britain’s defence ministry said Saturday that Russian forces were about 25 kilometres from Kyiv and that a column north of the city had dispersed, reinforcing the indication of an attempt to encircle it.

However, the Russians are encountering resistance from the Ukrainian army to both the east and west of the capital, according to AFP journalists on the spot.

Ukrainian soldiers said they believe the Russians have over-estimated their resources, in terms of troops and equipment, and underestimated those of their opponents.

“They have to camp in villages in temperatures of nearly minus 10 Celsius at night. They lack provisions and have to raid houses,” said one soldier, Ilya Berezenko, 27.

‘Violence and terror’

Zelensky has insisted the Russians will not win, saying in a video address late Saturday that “they do not have such spirit. They are holding only on violence. Only on terror”.

But the conflict is taking its toll.

The UN estimates that almost 2.7 million people have fled Ukraine since the invasion, most of them to Poland, in Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II.

Pope Francis said Mariupol had become a “martyr city”, as he condemned the “unacceptable armed aggression”, particularly against children.

“In the name of God I ask you, stop this massacre!” he said at the Vatican. Attempts to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people have repeatedly failed. “Mariupol is still surrounded … Since they cannot bring down the Ukrainian army, they target the population,” a French military source said.

Turkey has asked for Russia’s help in evacuating Turkish citizens from the city, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Sunday.

Ukraine, Ukrainian said on Saturday that the city’s mosque — where around 80 civilians including several Turkish citizens were sheltering — had been fired at by Russian forces.

But Cavusoglu said that the mosque’s imam “didn’t confirm” the reports, telling reporters: “He said rockets and missiles had been fired on the area.”

This video grab taken from a handout footage released by the Russian Defence Ministry on March 6, 2022 shows Russian Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bomber takes off a missile strike amid Russia's ongoing military operation in Ukraine. Picture: AFP / Russian Defence Ministry

‘Significant progress’

Civilian casualties are high but the military toll has also been heavy. Zelensky says the Russians have suffered “heavy losses”, about 12,000 troops — although Moscow put the number at 498, in its only toll released March 2.

About 1300 Ukrainian troops have been killed, according to Kyiv. Nine people were killed in a strike on the Black Sea city of Mykolaiv, a strategic hub on the road to Odessa that has been under attack for days, authorities said Sunday.

Meanwhile in the eastern Donbas region, a senior Ukrainian police officer accused Russia of using phosphorus chemical bombs around Popasna, around 100 kilometres (60 miles) west of Luhansk city.

Further south, bombs struck the Sviatoguirsk monastery, where nearly 1000 civilians were sheltering at the weekend, wounding 30 people, a Ukrainian official said.

In the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, local media said thousands gathered in protest at Russian control, prompting Russian troops to fire warning shots.

Zelensky continues to call for more help from Western allies. Washington and its EU allies have sent funds and military aid to Ukraine and imposed unprecedented economic sanctions on Russia.

Washington on Friday added more layers of sanctions, this time ending normal trade relations and announcing a ban on Russian vodka, seafood and diamonds.

And on Saturday, US President Joe Biden authorised up to $200 million in new weapons and other aid to Ukraine.

However, he has ruled out direct action against nuclear-armed Russia, warning that it would lead to “World War III”.