UKRAINE WRAP | Russia's Lavrov says on Ukraine: West is behaving dangerously

March 10 2022 -  19:59

Russia blocked evacuation from part of Ukrainian town - regional governor

Russia blocked Ukrainian civilians from evacuating territory under its control in the eastern Ukrainian town of Izyum on Thursday, regional governor Oleh Synegubov said.

Ukrainian authorities were able to help around 1,600 people flee the part of Izyum held by Ukraine, he said in televised comments.

-Reuters

March 10 2022 -  13:53

Russia shifts line on Ukraine hospital bombing

Russia on Thursday shifted its stance over the bombing of a Ukrainian hospital in the city of Mariupol, with a mix of statements that veered between aggressive denials and a call to establish clear facts. 

Ukrainian's president on Wednesday accused Russia of carrying out genocide after officials said Russian aircraft had bombed the hospital, burying patients in rubble despite a ceasefire deal for people to flee the besieged city.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, asked for comment in the immediate aftermath, told Reuters: “Russian forces do not fire on civilian targets.”

On Thursday he said the Kremlin would look into the incident.

March 10 2022 -  12:56

'Russia-Ukraine conflict underlined by complex factors': Gungubele on why SA remains neutral

Minister in the presidency Mondli Gungubele on Thursday said the reason SA has decided to “err on the side of caution” in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine is because “the matter is complex”. 

“Whenever you enter a conflict of this complexity, you have to ask, how will our participation as SA improve this situation?

“This is a conflict underlined by complex factors. Russia would have had their reasons and the West have their views, but at the end of the day it results in people fighting and dying. How you enter that, you must answer the question, how am I improving the situation?”

March 10 2022 -  12:53

Aid convoy to Ukraine's Mariupol turns back due to fighting - deputy PM

A humanitarian convoy trying to reach the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol had to turn back on Thursday because of fighting, Ukraine's deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said, as the city council reported more Russian shelling.

"Bombs are hitting houses," the council said in an online post.

Reuters

March 10 2022 -  12:45

Russia's Lavrov says on Ukraine: West is behaving dangerously

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that the West was behaving dangerously over Ukraine and that Russia's military operation there was going according to plan.

Lavrov told a news conference after talks with his Ukrainian counterpart that the West was creating a danger in the region that would persist for many years and that those who supplied weapons to Ukraine and mercenaries there should understand the danger of what they were doing.

Reuters

March 10 2022 -  12:22

Ukraine invasion sparks political war of words in Western Cape

There are no guns, bombs or bodies, but the latest battleground in the war of words between the governing DA and opposition ANC in the Western Cape is Ukraine.

A statement on Wednesday by premier Alan Winde announcing a ban on meetings between the provincial government and Russian diplomats came under fire from the ANC on Thursday.

In a swift riposte, Winde said the provincial ANC seemed “more outraged by our ... decision to take a principled stand in support of international law and human rights than by an illegal invasion of a sovereign state that is seeing hundreds of civilians die”.

March 10 2022 -  12:06

Italy and China agree on joint efforts to promote peace in Ukraine

 Italy's and China's foreign ministers agreed that coordination of international community is the only way to reach a diplomatic solution to the Ukrainian crisis, the Italian foreign minister said in a statement on Thursday.

"I have strongly condemned Russia's aggression and reiterated our support to the Ukrainian people," Italy's Luigi Di Maio said in a statement following talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. 

Reuters

March 10 2022 -  11:48

Head of Ukraine’s gas transit operator says transit flows at risk

 Sergiy Makogon, the head of Ukraine’s gas transit operator, said on Thursday there was a real danger to gas transit flows to Europe because of the presence of Russian troops on the territory of gas compressor stations in Ukraine.

"There is a real danger to (gas) transit," he told Reuters by phone without giving further details. 

Reuters

March 10 2022 -  09:30

UK says Russian commanders will be held to account for war crimes

 Russian military commanders as well as people at the very top of the Russian government will be held to account for any war crimes in Ukraine, Britain's armed forces minister said on Thursday.

"Russian commanders need to remember that war crimes are not just committed by those at the very top of the Russian government," James Heappey told Sky News.

"They are committed all the way down the chain of command by all who are involved and these atrocities are being watched, they're being catalogued and people will be held to account." 

Reuters

March 10 2022 -  09:24

Russia will no longer participate in Council of Europe - TASS

Russia will no longer participate in the Council of Europe, the TASS news agency quoted the Russian foreign ministry as saying on Thursday.

The ministry said in a statement that NATO and European Union countries were undermining the European body designed to uphold human rights, rule of law and democracy.

Reuters

March 10 2022 -  09:20

Ukrainian foreign minister in Turkey for talks with Russia's Lavrov

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has arrived in Turkey for talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday, his ministry said.

Kuleba "has started his visit to Turkey where (he) will take part in the talks on Russia ceasing its hostilities and ending its war against Ukraine," the Foreign Ministry said on Twitter.

Reuters

March 10 2022 -  09:20

US and UK rule out no-fly zone over Ukraine, again

The United States and the United Kingdom have reiterated their opposition to establishing a no-fly zone over Ukraine, saying they want to avoid a direct military confrontation with Russia.

During a joint news conference in Washington alongside his British counterpart on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Biden administration’s aim is to end the conflict, not expand it.

March 10 2022 -  08:10

Russia says claim that it bombed a children's hospital is 'fake news'

Russia said on Thursday a Ukrainian claim that it bombed a children's hospital in Mariupol was “fake news” because the building was a former maternity hospital that had long been taken over by troops. 

“That’s how fake news is born,” Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia's first deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, said on Twitter.

Polyanskiy said Russia had warned on March 7 that the hospital had been turned into a military object from which Ukrainians were firing.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia of carrying out genocide after Ukrainian officials said Russian aircraft bombed the children's hospital on Wednesday.

March 10 2022 -  07:42

Top Russian, Ukrainian diplomats meet for first time since invasion

Foreign ministers from Russia and Ukraine will meet in Turkey on Thursday in the first high-level talks between the two countries since Moscow invaded its neighbour, with Ankara hoping they could mark a turning point in the raging conflict.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has tempered expectations for a ceasefire agreement or other results from the meeting with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, on the sidelines of a diplomacy forum in Turkey's southern province of Antalya.

Russia's invasion has uprooted more than 2 million people in what the United Nations calls the fastest humanitarian crisis in Europe since World War Two.

March 10 2022 -  07:34

John Steenhuisen says DA on the 'right side of history' as parliament agrees to debate Russia-Ukraine conflict

The DA has welcomed a decision by parliament to accept its request for an urgent debate on SA’s stance on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. 

Party leader John Steenhuisen shared a letter from National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula in which she confirmed the scheduling of the debate.

Steenhuisen applauded his party for speaking out on the conflict.

“I’m proud that [Western Cape] premier Alan Winde and other DA governments are on the right side of history in condemning Russia’s reprehensible acts,” said Steenhuisen. 

March 10 2022 - 07:09

Energy crunch spurs ‘insane’ rush for industrial rooftop solar

European companies are rushing to get solar panels installed on the roofs and open spaces around their businesses to offset their exposure to the latest surge in natural gas and power prices since Russia invaded Ukraine. 

Building some solar power generation is a relatively quick fix for soaring power bills, with installations taking less than a year. That means new panels could help reduce Europe’s most energy-intensive businesses from natural gas prices that have roughly tripled in the last three weeks. 

March 10 2022 - 05:45

Young girl performs ‘Let it Go’ in Ukraine shelter

A young girl entertained people in a bomb shelter in Ukraine by singing the hit song ‘Let it Go’ from the Disney film ‘Frozen’.

March 10 2022 - 05:30

Kyiv governor calls fight for city 'Judgement Day'

Many expected Kyiv to quickly fall in the early days of the war. But more than two weeks into the Russian invasion, Moscow's military missteps and tenacious Ukrainian resistance has kept the capitol from changing hands.

March 10 2022 - 05:15

11 years into Syria's war, Ukraine evokes painful memories

As the conflict in Syria marks its 11th anniversary next week, Syrians who lost family, friends and their homes in Russian-backed offensives say news from Ukraine evokes memories of a conflict that destroyed much of their country in the last decade.

March 10 2022 - 05:00

‘A new low’: Reporter on Russia’s airstrike near a maternity hospital in Ukraine

Ukrainian President Zelensky spoke out against Russia’s attack on civilian institutions saying, “a strike on a maternity hospital is a final proof, a proof of genocide of Ukrainians is taking place.” CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and correspondents from across Ukraine report.