NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A week after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, more than 1 million people have fled in the swiftest refugee exodus this century, the United Nations said Thursday, as Moscow said it was ready for more talks to end fighting even as its forces pressed their assaults on the country’s major cities and seized the seaport of Kherson. Hundreds of civilians and troops have been killed eight days into the conflict.
Thursday, March 3, 2022
9:50 a.m. - Macron believes ‘worst is yet to come’ after speaking with Putin
French President Emmanuel Macron believes “the worst is yet to come” in Ukraine after talking with Russian President Vladimir Putin for 90 minutes by phone Thursday, a senior aide to Macron said, according to the Washington Post.
Macron now believes Putin aims to seize the “whole” of Ukraine, the AFP News Agency reported, citing a Macron aide.
During the call, which was apparently more strained than previous calls, Macron condemned Putin’s “lies,” according to reports.
Putin told Macron that the conflict would continue “until the end” unless negotiations meet his terms, a French official said. Putin said negotiations must center on the “neutralization and disarmament of Ukraine,” according to the official, who said the two spoke at Putin's request.
Putin reportedly said he would attain that goal by military means, if not by political and diplomatic means.
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at a damaged logistic center after shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 3, 2022.AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky
A statement from the Kremlin following the call said Russia sought Ukraine’s demilitarization and neutrality.
"Vladimir Putin outlined in detail the fundamental approaches and conditions in the context of negotiations with representatives of Kyiv. It was confirmed that, first of all, we are talking about the demilitarisation and neutral status of Ukraine, so that a threat to the Russian Federation will never emanate from its territory," the statement said, according to Reuters.
"It was emphasised that the tasks of the special military operation will be fulfilled in any event, and attempts to gain time by dragging out negotiations will only lead to additional demands on Kiev in our negotiating position."
Russia’s “special operation” in Ukraine is going “according to plan,” the Kremlin said.
9:30 a.m. - Russia’s foreign minister says Ukraine conflict will continue until ‘the end’
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday that Russia will continue its military operation in Ukraine until “the end,” but also said Moscow had no thoughts of nuclear war, according to Reuters.
"The thought of nuclear is constantly spinning in the heads of Western politicians but not in the heads of Russians," he said. "I assure you that we will not allow any kind of provocation to unbalance us."
Lavrov reportedly said he believed a solution to the conflict could be reached but that Moscow would not allow Ukraine to pose what he said was a military threat to Russia.
8:45 a.m. - Russia continues bombardment of Kharkiv, other major cities
Russian forces pounded Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, again overnight and air raid sirens were heard in the capital, Kyiv.
Photos from Ukrainian armed forces show battered buildings in Chernihiv, a city of nearly 300,000 near Belarus.
Щойно окупанти завдали удару по житлових будинках Чернігова pic.twitter.com/SLKoL3pSHN
— ВОЇНИ УКРАЇНИ🇺🇦 (@ArmedForcesUkr) March 3, 2022
Despite heavy Russian shelling, Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol remain in Ukrainian hands, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said.
The Russians have been pressing their offensive on multiple fronts, though a 40-mile column of tanks and other vehicles outside the capital of Kyiv has made little progress in recent days.
In this photo taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Thursday, March 3, 2022, a view from the window of a Russian military helicopter as it flies over an undisclosed location in Ukraine.Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP
Russian forces said they took the strategic Ukrainian seaport of Kherson, a city of 280,000, and set siege to Mariupol as Moscow tries to cut its neighbor off from the Black Sea.
Heavy fighting continued Thursday on the outskirts of Mariupol, plunging it into darkness, isolation and fear. Electricity and phone connections are largely down, and homes and shops are facing food and water shortages.
In this photo taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Thursday, March 3, 2022, a Russian soldier points a gun from a Russian military truck as it drives through an undisclosed location in Ukraine.Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP
8:00 a.m. - Estonia-owned cargo ship sinks off Odessa following explosion
A cargo ship called HELT sank off the Ukrainian port of Odessa following an explosion, Reuters reported.
The manager of the Estonia-owned vessel told Reuters: "Two of the crew are in a raft on the water and four others are missing. I don’t know where they are at the moment."
The manager, Igor Ilves, said the ship may have struck a mine in the Black Sea.
Ukrainian authorities said earlier this week that Russian sailors had captured the ship, which was built in 1985 and is owned by the VISTA Shipping Agency AS, according to Estonian media outlets.
7:00 a.m. - Adviser to Ukrainian president posts photo ahead of talks with Russia
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, posted a photo of himself in a helicopter ahead of a second round of talks with Russia later Thursday.
“For negotiations with the Russian Federation. Already in helicopters. We'll start in a couple of hours...” Podolyak tweeted.
Ukrainian and Russian delegations are expected to meet in Belarus, even as Russia’s invasion entered its seventh day with increasing attacks on major cities. The two sides appeared to have little common ground going into the talks.
“We are ready to conduct talks, but we will continue the operation because we won’t allow Ukraine to preserve a military infrastructure that threatens Russia,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, repeating an accusation Moscow has repeatedly used to justify its invasion.
Lavrov said that the West has continuously armed Ukraine, trained its troops and built up bases there to turn Ukraine into a bulwark against Russia. The U.S. and its allies have insisted that NATO is a defensive alliance that doesn’t pose a threat to Russia.
In this image taken from video provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to the nation in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 3, 2022.Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP
6:45 a.m. - Zelenskyy says Ukrainians will ‘drive out’ Russian troops
In a video address to the nation early Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave an upbeat assessment of the war and called on Ukrainians to keep up the resistance.
“We are a people who in a week have destroyed the plans of the enemy,” he said. “They will have no peace here. They will have no food. They will have here not one quiet moment.”
Zelenskyy didn’t comment on whether the Russians have seized several cities, including Kherson.
“If they went somewhere, then only temporarily. We’ll drive them out,” he said.
He said the fighting is taking a toll on the morale of Russian soldiers, who “go into grocery stores and try to find something to eat.”
“These are not warriors of a superpower," he said. "These are confused children who have been used.”
He said the Russian death toll has reached about 9,000.
“Ukraine doesn’t want to be covered in bodies of soldiers," he said. "Go home.”
Displaced people gather around a bonfire outside Lviv railway station, in Lviv, western Ukraine, Thursday, March 3, 2022.AP Photo/Bernat Armangue
6:30 a.m. - Military expert: Ukrainians ‘have more leverage’ if they hold out
British military expert says the longer Ukrainian cities can hold out against Russian attacks, the fewer troops Moscow will have at its disposal to encircle Kyiv, its main objective.
Ворог не лишається безкарним. Артилеристи 30-ї ОМБр наносять потужне вогневе ураження, знищуючи колони та скупчення російських окупаційних військ.
— ВОЇНИ УКРАЇНИ🇺🇦 (@ArmedForcesUkr) March 3, 2022
Бригадна артилерія працює як завжди чітко, точно і максимально ефективно. pic.twitter.com/tsjR5pFD4I
Jack Watling, an expert in land warfare at the Royal United Services Institute, said Thursday that if cities are able to resist they can draw out the conflict.
“If the conflict protracts, the Ukrainians have more leverage to be able to negotiate,” Watling said.
6:15 a.m. - UN says civilian death toll is 227, but likely far higher
The U.N. human rights office says 227 civilians have been killed and another 525 injured in its latest count of the toll in Ukraine in the wake of Russia’s military invasion that began a week ago.
The office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights says the tally eclipses the entire civilian casualty count from the war in eastern Ukraine between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces in 2014 — which left 136 dead and 577 injured.
The rights office admits that the figures so far are a vast undercount. It uses a strict methodology and counts only confirmed casualties. Ukrainian officials have presented far higher numbers.
Displaced people queue to get on a train to Poland, inside Lviv railway station, in Lviv, western Ukraine, Thursday, March 3, 2022.AP Photo/Bernat Armangue
6:00 a.m. - 40-mile Russian convoy stalled outside Kyiv
Britain’s Ministry of Defense says that a Russian military column heading for Kyiv has made “little discernible progress” over the past three days and remains over 19 miles from the center of the city.
The column has been delayed by Ukrainian resistance, mechanical breakdowns and congestion, the ministry said in its daily intelligence briefing Thursday.
Despite heavy Russian shelling, the cities of Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol remain in Ukrainian hands, the department said. Some Russian forces have entered the city of Kherson, but the military situation remains unclear, it added.
The ministry also noted that Russia has been forced to admit that 498 of its soldiers have been killed in Ukraine and another 1,597 have been wounded. The actual number of those killed and wounded will almost certainly be considerably higher and will continue to rise, it said.
