NEW YORK (1010 WINS/AP) -- A Russian airstrike devastated a maternity hospital Wednesday in the besieged port city of Mariupol, where residents have been burying their dead in mass graves as they've become increasingly cut off from the outside world after days of shelling. There were renewed efforts to rescue civilians from increasingly dire conditions in Ukrainian cities, with two cease-fires announced to help people get out of Kyiv, Mariupol, Enerhodar, Volnovakha, Izyum and Sumy. The decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear site was also knocked off the power grid and forced to switch onto generators, a worrying new development that raised alarm about the plant's ability to keep its nuclear fuel safely cool.
Wednesday, March 9, 2022
8:36 p.m. - Kamala Harris to meet with Polish officials after disagreement over sending fighter jets to Ukraine
The Biden administration blocked Poland's deal to send MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine due to fears of escalating tensions with Russia.
Harris will meet with the President and Prime Minister of Poland Thursday, as well as some Ukrainian refugees, United States embassy workers and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
6:25 p.m. - The International Monetary Fund approves $1.4 billion loan for Ukraine
The international financial institution said in a statement the loan is intended to "meet urgent financing needs and mitigate the economic impact of the war."
The IMF anticipated the loan will catalyze additional financing from countries and banks worried Ukraine won't be able to pay back loans after the war.
5:15 p.m. - VP Harris lands in Polish capital
Vice President Kamala Harris landed Wednesday in Warsaw, Poland, the U.S. Ambassador to Poland tweeted.
"Vice President Harris is visiting to continue our close cooperation in response to Putin's brutal war in Ukraine," Brzezinski tweeted.
Earlier, Harris tweeted that she was en route to Poland with a plan to visit Bucharest, Romania, later this week.
"This trip comes at an important moment as the United States continues to demonstrate unity with our NATO Allies and provide support to the people of Ukraine in response to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine," she added.
4:20 p.m. - Russia confirms use of vacuum bombs: UK defense ministry
Russia said it used thermobaric rockets, or vacuum bombs, the U.K. Ministry of Defense tweeted.
British officials said the attack has a "devastating" impact.
"The weapon uses a fuel container and two separate explosive charges to ignite a blast of extreme pressure and heat, creating a partial vacuum in an enclosed space," ABC News reports.
4:00 p.m. - Pentagon spokesperson says transfer of Polish MiG fighter will not happen
Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said the department is rejecting the offer from the Polish government to transfer jets to America to give to Ukraine.
"We do not support the transfer of additional fighter aircraft to the Ukrainian air force at this time, and therefore have no desire to see them in our custody," he added.
3:45 p.m. - US officials concerned Russia is prepping biological, chemical weapon use in Ukraine: NBC News
The U.S. is concerned Russia could be preparing to use a biological weapon in Ukraine after the Russian Ministry of Defense said Wednesday that Ukraine may be planning a false flag chemical weapon attack, an administrative official told NBC News.
Igor Konashenkov claimed that Ukrainian nationalists brought in over 80 tons of ammonia in the North-West of Kharkiv, and are instructing those in the area on how to correctly use it.
However, the U.S. has not seen evidence of chemical weapons and believes the claim is setting the stage for a chemical or biological attack.
3:25 p.m. - UAE to urge OPEC to boost oil output amid surging gas prices
The United Arab Emirates said Wednesday it will urge OPEC to consider boosting oil output.
The announcement followed a U.S. ban on imports of Russian oil, the latest in a series of sanctions designed to punish Russia for the war in Ukraine. Oil prices have risen sharply since Russia — the world’s third-largest oil producer — invaded Ukraine late last month.
“We favor production increases and will be encouraging OPEC to consider higher production levels,” UAE’s ambassador to the United States, Yousef Al Otaiba, said in a statement posted on his embassy’s website. He said his country believes that stability in energy markets is critical to the global economy.
2:50 p.m. - McCarthy breaks ranks with Trump, calls Putin 'evil'
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy broke with former President Donald Trump on Wednesday after he was asked during a briefing whether he supports Trump's comments that praised Putin.
“I do not think anything is savvy or genius about Putin," McCarthy said. "I think Putin is evil, he is a dictator and I think he is murdering people right now."
1:30 p.m. - Ukrainian president speaks with Nancy Pelosi
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday.
“Talked to @SpeakerPelosi,” Zelenskyy tweeted. “Thanked for the help in countering aggression, for [American] leadership in international pressure on Russia. Informed about the humanitarian crisis caused by the aggressor. Further steps in support of [Ukraine] were discussed.”
The talk came a day after Pelosi said the House would move forward with a vote on legislation to ban Russian oil imports, impose trade costs on Russia and expand sanctions authority against Russians for attacks on civilians in Ukraine.
The vote was pushed back late Tuesday amid disagreements among lawmakers over details. The House was expected to vote on the bill Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.
1:00 p.m. - At least 17 reported hurt in maternity hospital airstrike
At least 17 people were injured in an airstrike that devastated a maternity hospital in the besieged port city of Mariupol, Ukrainian officials said.
The ground shook more than a mile away when the Mariupol complex was hit by a series of blasts that blew out windows and ripped away much of the front of one building. Police and soldiers rushed to scene to evacuate victims, carrying out a heavily pregnant and bleeding woman on a stretcher.
Another woman wailed as she clutched her child. In the courtyard, mangled cars burned, and 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 wreckage. “It is a war crime without any justification.”
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Twitter that there were “people, children under the wreckage” and called the strike an “atrocity.” Video shared by Zelenskyy showed cheerfully painted hallways strewn with twisted metal.
“There are few things more depraved than targeting the vulnerable and defenseless," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin will be held “to account for his terrible crimes.”
12:00 p.m. - Putin blames ‘nationalists’ for failed evacuations
Russian President Vladimir Putin has blamed Ukrainian “nationalists” for hampering the evacuation of civilians from besieged Ukrainian cities.
The Kremlin said that Putin discussed the situation in Ukraine in Wednesday’s phone call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, with a “special emphasis given to the humanitarian aspects.”
It said that Putin told Scholz about Russian “efforts to organize humanitarian corridors for civilians to exit areas of fighting and attempts by militants from nationalist units to hamper safe evacuation of people.”
Ukrainian officials said that the continuous Russian shelling has derailed efforts to evacuate civilians from areas affected by fighting.
10:45 a.m. - Mariupol children's hospital takes 'direct hit': Zelenskyy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces made a “direct strike” on a children's hospital and maternity facility in the besieged port city of Mariupol.
“People, children are under the wreckage. Atrocity!” Zelenskyy tweeted along with what appeared to be video of the destroyed children’s hospital.
He continued: “How much longer will the world be an accomplice ignoring terror? Close the sky right now! Stop the killings! You have power but you seem to be losing humanity.”
The deputy head of Zelenskyy’s office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, said authorities are trying to establish the number of people who may have been killed or wounded.
“The Russian occupying forces have dropped several bombs on the children's hospital. The destruction is colossal,” Mariupol’s city council said, though the claim could not be immediately verified, and Russia has denied that it targets civilians.
The World Health Organization said it has documented 18 attacks on health facilities, workers and ambulances since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began.
At a press briefing on Wednesday, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the U.N. health agency has delivered 81 metric tons of supplies to Ukraine and is now establishing a pipeline to send further equipment. To date, Tedros said WHO had sent enough surgical supplies to treat 150 trauma patients and other supplies for a range of health conditions to treat 45,000 people.
10:15 a.m. - Dead buried in mass graves in besieged city of Mariupol
City authorities in the besieged southern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol are burying their dead in a mass grave.
With the city under steady bombardment, officials had been waiting for a chance to allow individual burials to resume. But with morgues overflowing, and many corpses uncollected at home, they decided they had to take action.
A deep trench some 25 meters long has been opened in one of the city’s old cemeteries in the heart of the city. Social workers brought 30 bodies wrapped in carpets or bags Wednesday, and 40 were brought Tuesday.
The dead include civilian victims of shelling on the city as well as some soldiers. Workers with the municipal social services have also been collecting bodies from homes, including some civilians who died of disease or natural causes.
No mourners were present, no families said their goodbyes.
9:50 a.m. - No apparent 'critical impact on safety' at Chernobyl: U.N. nuclear watchdog
The International Atomic Energy Agency says it sees “no critical impact on safety” from the power cut at the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine.
The Vienna-based U.N. nuclear watchdog said Wednesday that Ukraine had informed it of the loss of electricity and that the development violates a “key safety pillar on ensuring uninterrupted power supply.” But it tweeted that “in this case IAEA sees no critical impact on safety.”
The IAEA said that there could be “effective heat removal without need for electrical supply” from spent nuclear fuel at the site.
8:30 a.m. - Chernobyl site knocked off power grid, officials warn of radiation leak risk
Ukrainian authorities say the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear plant, the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster, has been knocked off the power grid. Emergency generators are now supplying backup power.
The state communications agency says the outage could put systems for cooling nuclear material at risk. While the Chernobyl is no longer in use, it still stores spent nuclear fuel, which must be kept cool.
The cause of the damage to the power line serving Chernobyl was not immediately clear, but it comes amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The site has been under control of Russian troops since last week.
Ukrainian grid operator Ukrenerho said that according to the national nuclear regulator, all Chernobyl facilities are without power and the diesel generators have fuel for 48 hours. Without power the “parameters of nuclear and radiation safety” cannot be controlled, it said.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the grid supplying electricity is damaged and called for a cease-fire to allow for repairs.
It was at least the third time that the Russian offensive raised the specter of a nuclear disaster.
8:00 a.m. - Civilians evacuate areas north of Kyiv amid lighter shelling
Civilians from besieged towns northwest of Kyiv worked their way toward the capital Wednesday, crossing over a small river via a damaged bridge.
The bridge area has come under sporadic mortar fire in recent days, with civilians killed. But there was little shelling reported in the area Wednesday morning, so civilians took their chance to leave their homes in the hope of finding safety.
Firefighters pulled an elderly man in a handcart, and police helped others across. A soldier held a child’s hand. A woman carried her cat.
One resident of the town of Irpin described four days without heat, electricity, water or cell phone connections. Others came from neighboring Bucha.
The route from Irpin and Bucha to Kyiv is part of a humanitarian corridor announced by Ukrainian authorities Wednesday.
Thousands have been entering Kyiv via this route in recent days, with many then taken to the railway station for onward evacuation by train to Ukraine’s west.
“We have a short window of time at the moment (for evacuations). Even if there is a cease-fire right now, there is a high risk of shells falling at any moment,” said Yevhen Nyshchuk, actor and former culture minister, now a member of Ukraine’s territorial defense forces.
7:00 a.m. - Zelenskyy says efforts underway to evacuate 18,000 in and around Kyiv
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says efforts are under way to evacuate some 18,000 people from the capital Kyiv and embattled towns near it.
He said Wednesday the efforts are part of broader evacuation attempts by multiple humanitarian corridors within Ukraine and warned Russian forces against violating cease-fire promises.
He appealed again for foreign air support, saying “send us planes.” Western powers have sent military equipment and beefed up forces on Ukraine’s eastern flank, but have been wary of providing air support and getting drawn into a direct war with Russia.
He also issued an appeal, unusually in Russian, to urge Russian soldiers to leave.
“Our resistance for almost two weeks has shown you that we will not surrender, because this is our home. It is our families and children. We will fight until we can win back our land," he said. "You can still save yourselves if you just go home.”
6:30 a.m. - Ukrainian authorities announce another cease-fire
Ukrainian authorities have announced a 9 a.m.-9 p.m. cease-fire along several evacuation routes for civilians in besieged or occupied cities, though it is unclear whether Russian forces will respect it.
Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Russian authorities on Wednesday confirmed the cease-fire along the evacuation corridors to Ukrainian counterparts and the Red Cross.
She said the routes lead out of Sumy in the northeast, Mariupol on the Azov Sea coast, Enerhodar in the south, Volnovakha in the southeast, Izyum in the east, and several towns in the Kyiv region.
All the corridors lead to sites elsewhere in Ukraine that are currently held by the Ukrainian government.
The route out of Sumy, on the Russian border, is the only one that has been used successfully so far, allowing for the evacuation of 5,000 people on Tuesday southwest to the city of Poltava.
Ukrainian officials released videos Wednesday showing trucks and buses with red cross symbols heading to besieged cities.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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