Ukraine war: Large Russian convoy redeploys near Kyiv – satellite images

Satellite images taken by a US firm of a large Russian military convoy near Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, show it has “largely dispersed and redeployed”.

The convoy was last seen near Antonov Airport, north-west of Kyiv, and its movement could signal a renewed push towards the city.

The firm that took the photos, Maxar Technologies, said parts of the convoy were in positions in surrounding towns.

Other parts are further north, with artillery now in firing positions.

Blasts in cities on opposite sides of the country were reported on Friday morning:

• An airfield and jet engine factory were targeted in Lutsk, in the north-west
• In Dnipro, a major stronghold in central eastern Ukraine, one person was reported dead in air strikes
• Explosions also hit airfields at Ivano-Frankivsk, in the south-west, according to Russian defence officials

“Ukrainian big cities are again subjected to devastating blows,” said Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhailov Podolia.

He added that the shelling in Lutsk had shut down two central heating compounds.

“Russia’s destructive war against civilians and major cities continues,” he said.

Russian state media reported that the Ukrainian city of Volnovakha had been captured by Russian-backed separatist forces.

There is no independent confirmation of the capture of the city, which is a northern gateway to the besieged port city of Mariupol.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected Russian claims that chemical weapons or weapons of mass destruction were developed in Ukraine. In a video address, he also warned that Russia would get “the most severe sanctions response” if it were to use such weapons against Ukraine.

The US said earlier that Russia’s claims of Ukraine hosting US-backed chemical weapons facilities was a “false flag”, intended to justify Russia’s possible use of such weapons.

Russia has requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the alleged manufacture of biological weapons in Ukraine.

Russian forces moved three miles (5km) closer to Kyiv in the past 24 hours, a senior US defence official said on Thursday.

That meant Russian troops advancing from the north-west were now just nine miles from the city centre, the official – who spoke on condition of anonymity – told reporters.

Russian forces were also trying to close in on the city from the north-east, and were now about 25 miles (40km) away, the official added.

The official also said that the northern city of Chernihiv was now “isolated”.

 

The convoy was earlier seen stalled not far from the capital, where US officials said it was targeted by Ukrainian troops with anti-tank missiles. It is not clear how many of the vehicles currently seen on the move may have been an initial part of that first group.

Troops and equipment wind their way through a junction in Ozera, near Antonov Airport

Fierce battles have been raging in recent days in Irpin and Buchan, satellite towns just a few kilometers north-west of Kyiv. Thousands of civilians have been forced to flee their homes.

On Thursday, footage emerged apparently showing a Russian military column being hit by Ukrainian forces near the city of Bovary, just outside the capital.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko says that half the population of the city of about three million has already fled, adding that Kyiv “has been transformed into a fortress”.

“Every street, every building, every checkpoint has been fortified,” the mayor said.

Tens of thousands of civilians have formed Territorial Defence units to help the Ukrainian armed forces defend the capital.

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Russian strikes hit western Ukraine far from main offensive

Russian strikes hit near airports Friday in the western Ukrainian cities of Ivano-Frankiivsk and Lutsk, far from Russia’s main offensive, possibly indicating a new direction in the war.

The mayor of Ivano-Frankiivsk, Ruslan Martsinkiv, ordered residents in neighboring areas to head to shelters after an air raid alert. The mayor of Lutsk also announced an airstrike near the airport. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

New satellite photos, meanwhile, appeared to show a massive convoy outside the Ukrainian capital had fanned out into towns and forests near Kyiv with artillery pieces raised for firing in another potentially ominous movement.

The photos emerged amid more international efforts to isolate and sanction Russia, particularly after a deadly airstrike on a maternity hospital in the port city of Mariupol that Western and Ukrainian officials decried as a war crime. The U.S. and other nations were poised Friday to announce the revocation of Russia’s “most favored nation” trade status, which would allow higher tariffs to be imposed on some Russian imports.

Unbowed by the sanctions, Russia kept up its bombardment of the besieged southern seaport of Mariupol while Kyiv braced for an onslaught, its mayor boasting that the capital had become practically a fortress protected by armed civilians.

Three Russian airstrikes hit the eastern industrial city of Dnipro on Friday, killing at least one person, according to Interior Ministry adviser Anton Heraschenko. Meanwhile, Russian forces were pushing toward Kyiv from the northwest and east but were repulsed from Chernihiv as Ukrainian fighters regained control of Baklanova Muraviika, the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said in a statement.

The convoy seen in satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies showed the 40-mile (64-kilometer) line of vehicles, tanks and artillery had been redeployed, the company said. Armored units were seen in towns near the Antonov Airport north of the city. Some vehicles moved into forests, Maxar reported, with towed howitzers nearby in position to open fire.

The Russian column massed outside the city early last week, but its advance appeared to stall as reports of food and fuel shortages circulated. U.S. officials said Ukrainian troops also targeted the convoy with anti-tank missiles.

Still, the immediacy of the threat to Kyiv was unclear. A U.S. defense official speaking on condition of anonymity said Russian forces moving toward Kyiv had advanced about 5 kilometers (about 3 miles) in the past 24 hours, with some elements as close as 15 kilometers (about 9 miles) from the city.

The official did not indicate if the convoy had dispersed or otherwise repositioned in a significant way, saying some vehicles were seen moving off the road into the tree line in recent days.

In Mariupol, a city of 430,000, the situation was increasingly dire as civilians trapped inside the city scrounged for food and fuel. More than 1,300 people have died in the 10-day siege of the frigid city, said Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.

Residents have no heat or phone service, and many have no electricity. Nighttime temperatures are regularly below freezing, and daytime ones normally hover just above it. Bodies are being buried in mass graves. The streets are littered with burned-out cars, broken glass and splintered trees.

“They have a clear order to hold Mariupol hostage, to mock it, to constantly bomb and shell it,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr 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.

On Thursday, firefighters tried to free a boy trapped in the rubble. One grasped the boy’s hand. His eyes blinked, but he was otherwise still. It was not clear if he survived. Nearby, at a mangled truck, a woman wrapped in a blue blanket shuddered at the sound of an explosion.

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Putin says Mideast volunteers can fight for Russia in Ukraine

President Vladimir Putin has given the go-ahead for Volunteers from the Middle East to fight for Russia in eastern Ukraine.

“If you see that there are these people who want of their own accord, not for money, to come to help the people living in Donbas, then we need to give them what they want and help them get to the conflict zone,” he told Russia’s Security Council.

Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told him there were 16,000 volunteers in the Middle East who were ready to come to Donbas.

There has been speculation that battle-hardened Syrian government troops could be paid by Russia to fight in Ukraine. Russia’s air force and some specialized units have played a key role backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Earlier the Ukrainian government said it was forming a force of foreign volunteers willing to help it fight the Russian army.

President Putin told the Council that “Western sponsors” were recruiting mercenaries for the Ukraine conflict “openly, violating all the norms of international law”.

He also agreed with Shoigu’s suggestion that captured Western arms – notably Javelin anti-tank missiles and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles – could be handed over to the pro-Russian fighters in Donbas.

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Russia ramps up ties with Sudan as Ukraine war rages

As much of the West seeks to isolate Russia after it invaded Ukraine, experts say Moscow is boosting relations with its longtime African ally Sudan, eyeing its gold wealth and strategic location.

Khartoum has lost crucial Western support since army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan led a military coup last October, a move that triggered broad condemnation and punitive measures, including a suspension of $700 million in US aid.

On February 23, the day before Russia invaded its neighbour, a Sudanese delegation headed by powerful paramilitary commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo arrived in Moscow for an eight-day visit.

The two sides discussed “diplomatic, political and economic topics”, as well as “Russian-Sudanese national security… joint cooperation and counterterrorism”, said Daglo, commonly known as Hemeti, at a news conference upon his return.

Sudan relied militarily on Russia under strongman Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted in 2019 following three decades in power marked by international isolation and crippling US sanctions.

Russian private companies have reportedly benefited from Sudan’s gold mines by ramping up ties with the military and Daglo’s powerful Rapid Support Forces, which emerged from the Janjaweed militias accused of atrocities during the Darfur conflict that erupted in 2003.

“Moscow has been following a clear and coherent policy… to serve its interests” in Sudan and in Africa more broadly, analyst Khaled al-Tijani said.

“Russian investments in Sudan, especially in gold, and ties with security forces have remained shrouded in ambiguity,” he added.

Researcher Ahmed Hussein said that Daglo likely discussed in Moscow arrangements between his forces and “Russian (security) apparatuses with links in Sudan and Africa, especially Wagner Group”.

Wagner, a Russian private military contractor with links to the Kremlin, has faced accusations of involvement in turmoil in Sudan’s neighbours the Central African Republic and Libya, while French President Emmanuel Macron last month warned of the shadowy group’s “predatory intentions” in Mali.

The European Council on Foreign Relations has said Wagner personnel were deployed in Sudan “to mining exploration sites” following a 2017 meeting between Bashir and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who agreed gold mining deals and negotiated the construction of a Russian naval base on Sudan’s Red Sea coast.

Wagner personnel subsequently provided “a range of political and military assistance” to Bashir’s regime, according to the ECFR.

Also in 2017, Russian mining firm M Invest gained preferential access to Sudan’s gold reserves, according to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Three years later, the US imposed sanctions on Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, who has links to M Invest and is believed to own Wagner, for “exploiting Sudan’s natural resources for personal gain and spreading malign influence around the globe”.

The ECFR said Wagner had formed “a triangle of Russian influence linking Sudan, the Central African Republic and Libya”, reflecting “Moscow’s strategic interest in expanding its Africa footprint”.

Daglo’s RSF has itself been involved in the conflicts in Libya and Yemen.

 

As for the planned naval base in the strategic city of Port Sudan, “the Russians need to get to warm-water ports, and the Red Sea is an integral part of that ambition,” Hussein said.

In December 2020, Russia announced a 25-year deal with Sudan to build and operate the base, which would host nuclear-powered vessels and up to 300 military and civilian personnel.

The same month, Washington removed Khartoum’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, a listing that had long crippled its economy.

In 2021, Sudanese military officials said the naval base deal was under “review” after certain clauses were found to be “somewhat harmful”.

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Exeter City Council suspends Russian town twinning

Exeter City Council has voted to suspend its civic relationship with a Russian city.

Since 1990 the Devon capital has been twinned with Yaroslavl, but the relationship has come under scrutiny after the recent invasion into Ukraine.

More than two million Ukrainians have fled their country, according the United Nations’ refugee agency.

Exeter has extended its support to Ukraine by openly welcoming and offering aide to Ukrainian refugees.

 

Yaroslavl, 160 miles (260km) north-east of Moscow, is home to more than 600,000 residents.

Exeter City Council leader Phil Byliak, who has Ukrainian heritage, said: “We cannot condone the actions of the Putin government or any civil authority outside of Moscow which is in effect an arm of the Putin regime.

“To be brutally honest, I am disappointed we have had to break this link but not disappointed so far with the actions we are taking, we need to send them a big message that this is just not acceptable.”

While Exeter’s relationship has been suspended, Plymouth City Council has spoken against breaking off their own ties with Russian port city Novorossiysk.

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Katalin Novak elected first female president of Hungary

The 199-member national assembly of Hungary today elected Katalin Novak as president over her closest rival Peter Rona, making Novak the country’s first female president.

Novak received 137 of the 199 votes with Rona receiving 51 votes. The election comes as neighboring Russia and Ukraine are locked in a catastrophic war with millions fleeing to safety.

Novak, who took her oath of office immediately following the vote, will succeed Janos Ader, a co-founder of Orban’s governing right-wing Fidesz party who has held the job since 2012. She will take office after Ader’s term expires May 10.

With allegations of racism at the Polish border, most African students formerly studying in Ukraine have made the dash to safety to Hungary where reports indicate that the host country has been hospitable.

Novak, who most recently served as a minister for family policy, portrayed her election on Thursday as a victory for women.

“We women rear children, care for the ill, cook, are in two places at the same time if needs be, earn money, teach, win Nobel prizes, clean windows,” Novak said in a speech before the vote.

“We know the power of words but can keep quiet and listen if we have to, and defend our families with a courage beyond that of men’s if danger threatens,” said the 44-year-old, Hungary’s youngest-ever head of state.

“It is because I am a woman, and not despite of it, that I want to be a good president of Hungary,” she said.

Earlier, she posted a photo of herself, her husband and her three children on social media, saying it “means a lot to me that my family is here with me”.

Novak has been the face of government policies including generous tax breaks and handouts designed to encourage young families to have more children.

 

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War in Ukraine: Russia soon unable to pay its debts, warns agency

Russia will soon be unable to pay its debts, according to a leading credit ratings agency.

Fitch Ratings downgraded its view of the country’s government debt, warning a default is “imminent”.

The move comes amid increasing international sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

A credit rating is intended to help investors understand the level of risk they face in buying a country’s debt – or bonds.

A low rating means the chances of not getting repaid is considered to be high – and so an investor will charge more to lend to that country.

This week, Moscow itself said its bond payments may be affected by sanctions.

The ratings cut – to C from B – is the second time this month Fitch has downgraded its view of Russia’s ability to pay its debts.

“This rating action follows our downgrade… on 2 March, and developments since then have, in our view, further undermined Russia’s willingness to service government debt,” the agency said.

“The further ratcheting up of sanctions, and proposals that could limit trade in energy, increase the probability of a policy response by Russia that includes at least selective non-payment of its sovereign debt obligations,” it added.

The announcement from Fitch came after the US and UK said they will ban Russian oil, as they step up the economic response to the invasion of Ukraine.

US President Joe Biden said the move targeted “the main artery of Russia’s economy”.

Meanwhile, the European Union said it will end its reliance on Russian gas.

As a major exporter of energy, the measures are aimed to hit Moscow’s finances, although experts warn this is also likely to send the price of oil and natural gas higher on global markets.

On Sunday, Moscow told investors that it would continue to service its sovereign debt.

However, it warned that international sanctions imposed on its energy industry could limit its ability and willingness to meet its obligations.

“The actual possibility of making such payments to non-residents will depend on the limiting measures introduced by foreign states in relation to the Russian Federation,” the finance ministry said in a statement.

In recent days, rival ratings agencies Moody’s Investors Service and S&P Global Ratings have also slashed their assessments of Russian sovereign debt.

It means the country’s sovereign debt is now considered to be below investment grade, or in “junk” territory, by three of the world’s major ratings companies.

S&P said its move followed measures it believed would “substantially increase the risk of default”.

Shane Oliver of investment management company AMP Capital believes a default on Russian debt was “effectively already occurring”.

“It will only service it in much depreciated rouble anyway and foreign investors are offloading it at fire sale prices. Fortunately the global exposure to it is relatively low,” he told the BBC.

The Russian rouble has also hit record lows as countries around the world imposed increasingly tough sanctions on the country.

Last month, Russia’s central bank more than doubled its interest rate to 20%  in an attempt to stop the value of its currency from sliding further.

Dozens of global brands – including McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and Starbucks – have halted business in Russian due to the invasion of Ukraine.

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Attack on Ukraine hospital kills 3, wounds 17, officials say

An airstrike on a hospital in the port city of Mariupol killed three people, including a child, the city council said Thursday, as Russian forces intensified their siege of Ukrainian cities, as the top Russian and Ukrainian diplomats met for the first time since the war began.

The attack a day earlier in the besieged southern port city wounded 17 people, including women waiting to give birth, doctors and children buried in the rubble. Bombs also fell on two hospitals in another city west of the capital.

The World Health Organization said it has confirmed 18 attacks on medical facilities since the Russian invasion began two weeks ago.

Two weeks since the invasion began, the sides held their highest-level talks so far. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he hoped the meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in a Turkish Mediterranean resort “will open the door to a permanent cease-fire.” But Kuleba said he did not have “high expectations.” Ahead of those talks, artillery fire was heard on the western edge of Kyiv, Deputy Interior Minister Vadym Denysenko said. He told Ukrainian TV channel Rada that residents had a “rather difficult” night on the outskirts of the capital in which Russian forces started by targeting military sites but then hit residential areas.

Some Ukrainian officials have called the medial facility attacked Wednesday a children’s hospital, others a maternity one. It was not clear if perhaps it hosted both services.

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.

Another woman wailed as she clutched her child. In the courtyard, a blast crater extended at least two stories deep.

“Today Russia committed a huge crime,” said Volodymir Nikulin, a top regional police official, standing in the ruins. “It is a war crime without any justification.”

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Mariupol strike trapped children and others under debris.

“A children’s hospital. A maternity hospital,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address, switching to Russian to express horror at the strike. “What kind of country is this, the Russian Federation, which is afraid of hospitals, afraid of maternity hospitals, and destroys them?”

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Russia and Ukraine to hold high-profile talks as war rages on

Members of delegations from Ukraine and Russia, including Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky (2L), Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak (2R), Volodymyr Zelensky's "Servant of the People" lawmaker Davyd Arakhamia (3R), hold talks in Belarus' Gomel region on February 28, 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Sergei KHOLODILIN / BELTA / AFP) / Belarus OUT

The foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine are to hold talks in Turkey, as Moscow’s all-out invasion of its neighbour enters its third week.

Ukraine’s Dmytro Kuleba said ahead of the face-to-face meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov that his expectations were “limited”.

It comes after Ukraine accused Russia of bombing a children’s hospital – an attack Kyiv says is a “war crime”.

Ukraine says 17 people were hurt in the attack in Mariupol on Wednesday.

Footage has since emerged showing a building – which also housed a maternity ward – reduced to a shell, with a huge crater nearby.

The bombing has been widely condemned, with the UN Secretary General António Guterres describing the attack as “horrific”, and the US accusing Russia of a “barbaric use of military force to go after innocent civilians”.

But Russia’s deputy ambassador to the UN, Dmitry Polyanskiy, said the bombed hospital had been “turned into a military object by [Ukrainian] radicals”.

Mariupol – where about 400,000 people live – has been surrounded by Russian forces for several days, and repeated attempts at a ceasefire to allow civilians to leave have broken down.

“The whole city remains without electricity, water, food, whatever and people are dying because of dehydration,” Olena Stokoz of Ukraine’s Red Cross told the BBC on Wednesday.

Russian warplanes also hit residential areas in overnight raids in Ukraine’s north-eastern Sumy region, local officials said.

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