Russia-Ukraine war highlights: Ukraine claims shooting down 124th Russian plane

Russia had started destroying Ukrainian fuel and food storage centres. In Ukraine's second city of Kharkiv- under daily Russian bombardment that has damaged or destroyed 1,000 buildings - work has begun to erect sand barricades to protect its statues.

Russian and Ukrainian negotiators will resume face-to-face peace talks on Wednesday as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine enters Day 33. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his video address to the Ukrainian people late on Sunday that in talks due to take place in Istanbul his government would prioritise the "territorial integrity" of Ukraine.

In a call with Russian president Vladimir Putin on Sunday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan agreed to host the talks and called for a ceasefire and better humanitarian conditions.

Even with talks looming, Ukraine's head of military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, said Russian President Vladimir Putin was aiming to seize the eastern part of Ukraine.

Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Vadym Denysenko said Russia had started destroying Ukrainian fuel and food storage centres. In Ukraine's second city of Kharkiv- under daily Russian bombardment that has damaged or destroyed 1,000 buildings - work has begun to erect sand barricades to protect its statues.

A senior Ukrainian official accused Russia on Sunday of ‘irresponsible’ acts around the occupied Chernobyl power station that could send radiation across much of Europe, and urged the United Nations to dispatch a mission to assess the risks.

After more than four weeks of conflict, the United Nations has confirmed 1,119 civilian deaths and 1,790 injuries across Ukraine but says the real toll is likely to be higher. Ukraine said on Sunday 139 children had been killed and more than 205 wounded so far in the conflict.

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• Mar 29, 2022 03:43 AM IST

  Seven EU countries urge their citizens not to join fight in Ukraine

  Seven European Union countries on Monday urged their citizens to refrain from joining the Ukrainian military resistance against Russia's invading troops. The appeal was issued by the justice ministers of France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Luxembourg and Belgium, reported AFP.

• Mar 29, 2022 02:04 AM IST

  'Expressing moral outrage': Biden clarifies ‘Putin cant remain in power’ remark

  President Joe Biden he wasn’t announcing a US policy change when he said Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power,” but was expressing his own anger about the invasion of Ukraine. Read more

• Mar 29, 2022 01:09 AM IST

  Ukrainians claim to retake ground ahead of latest talks

  Ukrainian forces claimed to have retaken a Kyiv suburb and an eastern town from the Russians in what is becoming a back-and-forth stalemate on the ground, while negotiators began assembling for another round of talks Tuesday aimed at stopping the fighting, reports AP.

• Mar 29, 2022 01:08 AM IST

  Ukraine communications service suffers outage

  The Ukraine's national telecommunications provider Ukrtelecom has been knocked almost completely offline, suffering what network monitors called its most severe outage since Russia's Feb. 24 invasion, reports news agency AP.

  Government officials in Kyiv say they are investigating whether a cyberattack is to blame.

• Mar 28, 2022 11:03 PM IST

  Russia's anti-Putin newspaper Novaya Gazeta suspends publication over Ukraine war

  Russia's top independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, whose chief editor last year won the Nobel Peace Prize, on Monday suspended publication until the end of Moscow's military action in Ukraine. "For us and, I know, for you, this is a terrible and difficult decision," said chief editor Dmitry Muratov. "But we need to save us for each other," he said in a statement, indicating that it was necessary to avoid a complete shutdown of the newspaper. Full story

• Mar 28, 2022 10:46 PM IST

  Humanitarian work underway in Mariupol, Russian foreign ministry says in video

  Russian humanitarian convoy delivers food supplies and drinking water to the centre of #Mariupol to alleviate the dire humanitarian situation and help residents. This comes following many days under the Azov battalion's Neo-Nazi yoke, being used as "human shields" - no more. pic.twitter.com/OXWEQ5lo5s

  — MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) March 28, 2022

  Russian foreign ministry tweets picture of a van claiming it is carrying out humanitarian work in Mariupol. 

• Mar 28, 2022 10:33 PM IST

  Ukraine claims shooting down 124th Russian plane in Kharkiv

  Ukrainian military claims to have shot down Russian plane, drone in Kharkiv Oblast, The Kyiv Independent reports.  This is the 124th Russian plane shot down in Ukraine since the beginning of the war.

• Mar 28, 2022 10:18 PM IST

  Ukraine claims taking over Kharkiv village, clearing Russian corpses: Report

  The Ukrainian army says it has taken over a village in Kharkiv, saying the troops have finished clearing Russian troops from the warzone, AFP reported. There are Russian corpses all over the place," a Ukrainian soldier said, adding that more than two dozen soldiers dispatched to Ukraine by Moscow had been killed in the fight for the hamlet.

• Mar 28, 2022 10:09 PM IST

  Russian billionaire Abramovich, Ukrainian peace negotiators hit by suspected poisoning: Report

  Sanctioned Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich and Ukrainian peace negotiators suffered symptoms of suspected poisoning earlier this month after a meeting in Kyiv, Reuters quoted The Wall Street Journal.

• Mar 28, 2022 10:01 PM IST

  5,000 buried in Mariupol since invasion began, says Ukraine

  A senior Ukrainian official says at least 5,000 people have been buried in the besieged southern city of Mariupol since the invasion began, but that bodies have gone uncollected for the past 10 days amid continuing Russian shelling, AFP reported. The foreign ministry describes the humanitarian situation in the city as "catastrophic"

• Mar 28, 2022 09:30 PM IST

  UN seeks 'humanitarian ceasefire' in Ukraine: Guterres

  UN is seeking 'humanitarian ceasefire' in Ukraine, says chief Antonio Guterres.

• Mar 28, 2022 09:25 PM IST

  Ukraine alleges journalist missing since March, might have been captured by Russians

  Ukraine has alleged that a local journalist is missing and might have been captured by the Russian forces, The Kyiv Independent reports. According to the Ukrainian authorities, news reporter Dmytro Khyliuk is believed to be in custody of Russian forces in Kyiv Oblast since early March.

• Mar 28, 2022 09:12 PM IST

  Zelenskyy discusses Russian strikes during talks with Azerbaijan prez

  Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to Azerbaijan president, informs him over alleged Russian strikes on civilian population.

• Mar 28, 2022 08:40 PM IST

  Germany says more options for Russia sanctions in

  German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday it was not a coincidence that sanctions against Russia were so harsh and that Germany and its partners had more options they could implement if necessary, Reuters reported

• Mar 28, 2022 08:12 PM IST

  Ukraine claims retaking Irpin as war continues on 33rd day

  Ukraine on Monday claimed to have taken full control of Irpin near the capital Kyiv on the 33rd day of the war, news agency Reuters reported. "We have good news today - Irpin has been liberated," the mayor Oleksandr Markushyn said in a video post on Telegram. "We understand that there will be more attacks on our town and we will defend it courageously, he added.

• Mar 28, 2022 07:52 PM IST

  Putin does not appear ready to compromise on Ukraine: US official

  Russian President Vladimir Putin does not appear ready to make compromises to end the war in Ukraine, a senior US official said on Monday as Ukraine and Russia were preparing for their first face-to-face peace talks in more than two weeks, Reuters reported. 

• Mar 28, 2022 06:51 PM IST

  160,000 remain in Mariupol, mayor says

  Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne has quoted the mayor of Mariupol as saying that around 160,000 people remain in the besieged port city, and that a “humanitarian catastrophe” would ensue if more evacuations are not possible, reported PTI. 

• Mar 28, 2022 06:05 PM IST

  Russian demand for gas payment in rubles 'not acceptable' to G7: Berlin

  The Group of Seven most industrialised nations on Monday dismissed Russian President Vladimir Putin's demand to pay for gas in rubles, with German Economy Minister Robert Habeck saying the bid showed Putin had his "back against the wall", reported AFP.

• Mar 28, 2022 03:44 PM IST

   Russia-Ukraine talks could start in Turkey on Tuesday, says Kremlin 

  The Kremlin said that peace talks between Russia and Ukraine may get underway in Turkey on Tuesday and it was important that they would take place face-to-face, after what it described as a lack of major progress in negotiations so far, reported Reuters.

• Mar 28, 2022 03:02 PM IST

  Zelenskyy: Ukraine seeking peace 'without delay' in talks

  Ukraine could declare neutrality and offer security guarantees to Russia to secure peace "without delay,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said ahead of another expected round of talks between the two sides — though he said only a face-to-face meeting with Russia's leader could end the war, reported AP.

• Mar 28, 2022 02:10 PM IST

  Ukrainian, Russian negotiators to begin peace talks soon: Turkish official

  Ukrainian and Russian negotiators will begin peace talks in Istanbul later on Monday, a senior Turkish official said, without elaborating.

  Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed in a telephone call on Sunday for Istanbul to host the talks, which Ankara hopes will lead to a ceasefire, Reuters reported.

• Mar 28, 2022 01:49 PM IST

  In pics: What Ukraine's Mykolaiv looks like after Russian shelling

  Mykolaiv residents dare to hope after Russian threat eases. #AFP
  📸 @Kilicbi
  📸 Oleksandr Gimanov pic.twitter.com/MvnTuuPJ4e

  — AFP Photo (@AFPphoto) March 28, 2022

• Mar 28, 2022 01:10 PM IST

  Russia shifts focus to try to grind Ukraine's army in east

  With its aspirations for a quick victory dashed by a stiff Ukrainian resistance, Russia has increasingly focused on grinding down Ukraine's military in the east in the hope of forcing Kyiv into surrendering part of the country's territory to possibly end the war, news agency AP reported.

  The bulk of the Ukrainian army is concentrated in eastern Ukraine, where it has been locked up in fighting with Moscow-backed separatists in a nearly eight-year conflict. If Russia succeeds in encircling and destroying the Ukrainian forces in the country's industrial heartland called Donbas, it could try to dictate its terms to Kyiv and, possibly, attempt to split the country in two.

• Mar 28, 2022 12:20 PM IST

  Russia blocking civilian evacuation: Zelenskyy

  "All entries and exits from the city of Mariupol are blocked," Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said. "The port is mined. A humanitarian catastrophe inside the city is unequivocal, because it is impossible to go there with food, medicine and water," he said.

  "I don't even know who the Russian army has ever treated like this," he said, adding that, compared to Russian wars in Chechnya, the volume of destruction "cannot be compared".

  Russia has denied targeting civilians in Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine have traded blame for a failure to open humanitarian corridors.

• Mar 28, 2022 10:56 AM IST

  Hacktivists say they retrieved over 870GB of info from Russia's state-owned media

  The hacking group linked to the group Anonymous, said on March 27 that it has retrieved over 870 gigabytes of information from Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting companies and will eventually release it. Hacking group Network Battalion 65' shared the news in a series of tweets.

• Mar 28, 2022 10:39 AM IST

  Russia may try to split country like North and South Korea: Ukraine

  Ukraine's military intelligence chief says that Russia could try to break Ukraine in two, AP reported.

  Kyrylo Budanov said in remarks released by the Defense Ministry on Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has realised “he can't swallow the entire country” and would likely try to split the country under “the Korean scenario.”

  That's a reference to the decades-old division between North and South Korea.

• Mar 28, 2022 10:33 AM IST

  French President Macron ‘advises’ Biden to ‘watch his words’

  French President Emmanuel Macron warned against an escalation of “words or actions,” a day after Biden said the Russian president “cannot remain in power,” and previously labeled Putin “a butcher.” The comments “narrow the window of opportunity for normalizing dialogue, so much needed now, with the current U.S. administration,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in response.

• Mar 28, 2022 09:05 AM IST

  Support for Ukraine shown at Oscars

  At the Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday night, attendees expressed support for Ukraine by going silent for 30 seconds.

  A tribute that started with words from the Ukrainian-born Mila Kunis ended with the Academy Awards fading to black about midway through the show, with a plea for anyone watching to do whatever possible to send help to those in the war-torn nation.

• Mar 28, 2022 08:14 AM IST

  1.7 Lakh civilians trapped in Mariupol without food, water, medicine

  About 170,000 civilians remain trapped in Mariupol without adequate food, water or medicine, as the southern port city is being turned "into dust" by Russian shelling, according to Ukraine's foreign ministry.

• Mar 28, 2022 07:41 AM IST

  Zelenskyy insists on territorial integrity as talks loom

  With peace talks between Russia and Ukraine set to take place in Turkey this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy insisted on the territorial integrity of his country after earlier suggesting he was ready for a compromise.

  Zelenskyy said in his video address to the Ukrainian people late on Sunday that in talks due to take place in Istanbul his government would prioritise the "territorial integrity" of Ukraine.