Last minute of the invasion of Ukraine | Russia threatens Finland and Sweden with “serious military and political repercussions” if they join NATO

KEY MOMENTS

In the second day of the Russian offensive, the attacks already reach the heart of Kiev. The president of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelensky, has affirmed in a message to the nation that the Russian army is preparing a final offensive to take Kiev, the capital, during the early hours of Friday to Saturday. The president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, has called the Ukrainian Army to rebellion in a televised message: “Take power in your hands.” In parallel, the weak attempts at understanding are beginning to go awry and the possibility of a meeting between both parties in Minsk (Belarus) is faltering. Russia, in full military escalation, extends to Finland and Sweden the threat of “serious military and political repercussions” if they join NATO. The Alliance has responded with a move. Allied Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has announced the deployment of elements of its Response Force -which has up to 40,000 troops- in the eastern part of the Alliance. The United States has joined the European Union in its decision to directly sanction Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

The Kiev resistance on the third night of war

Ukraine is experiencing its third night of war since Vladimir Putin ordered the start of the invasion of the country early Thursday morning. The Government of Volodímir Zelenski resists in Kiev, cornered by the Russian troops. The Armed Forces have assured this morning that they have avoided a night “attack” by Russian troops against one of their positions on Victory Avenue, one of the main arteries of Kiev. “The attack has been rejected,” the country’s Army said on its Facebook profile, Reuters reports. The Ukrainian president had warned that these would be crucial hours. “Tonight the enemy will use all available means to break our resistance, we cannot lose the capital,” he warned, begging the population to resist

Bombings continue in Kiev

The armed forces of the Kremlin are trying to “attack the CHP-6 plant, near Troieschyna”, the state authority of the city of Kiev warned this morning on its Telegram account. These thermal facilities are located in a northern sector of the Ukrainian capital. Meanwhile, according to the same source, Russian troops are trying to take Vasilkov, in the Kiev province. There, as reported by the command of the Armed Forces through Facebook, “intense fighting is taking place.”

António Guterres asks not to surrender despite Russia’s veto of the resolution against the invasion of Ukraine

António Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations, made an appeal this Friday not to give up despite the fact that the resolution against the invasion of Ukraine discussed in the Security Council failed due to Russia’s right to veto. A large majority of the 15 council members voted in favor of the motion. Only Moscow objected and China abstained along with India and the United Arab Emirates. “The UN was born out of war to end war,” Guterres recalled. “Today, that goal was not achieved. But we must never give up. We must give peace another chance […]. The international community must do everything in its power so that these values ​​prevail in Ukraine and for the whole humanity”.

 

A Panama-flagged ship is hit by a missile in Ukraine

A Panamanian-flagged ship has been hit this Friday by a missile in a port in southeastern Ukraine with no record of injuries, reported the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP), which issued an alert to the thirty vessels under its flag that are in the Black Sea. “Currently in the Port of Odesa there are two Panamanian-registered vessels, and in the area contemplated in the notice to the fleet, there are approximately twenty-eight more vessels,” the authority has indicated. (Eff).

The first Mexican families arrive in Romania

The first families of Mexicans evacuated from Ukraine have arrived this Friday night at the border with Romania to be repatriated. The Secretary of Foreign Relations of the North American country, Marcelo Ebrard, has applauded through Twitter the operation coordinated by Ambassador Olga García Guillén and Ambassador José Guillermo Ordorica. “A chain of solidarity”, he has said, which operates from the basement of the Residence of Mexico in Kiev to the neighboring country.

 

At least four civilians killed in an attack on a hospital, according to HRW

The human rights defense organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) has denounced this Friday an attack with cluster bombs perpetrated by Russian forces against a hospital in the Ukrainian town of Vuhledar, in the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk. The attack left four civilians dead and another 10 wounded, six of them health workers. (Eff).

Zelenski: “Tonight will be the hardest. The fate of Ukraine is being decided right now”

Ukraine faces its longest night. Russian troops corner the government on the way to taking Kiev. After sunset in Kiev, the detonations were heard again, says our special envoy Luis de Vega. President Volodímir Zelenski has chosen to alert the population by transmitting a message full of pessimism. “Tonight will be the hardest. We must resist”, he has stated in a video recording. “Many cities in our country are under attack: Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, our boys and girls from Donbas, the cities of the south, Kiev…”, he listed. “Tonight the enemy will use all available means to break our resistance, we cannot lose the capital”, he has insisted, and he has asked the population to resist. “The fate of Ukraine is being decided right now.”

Russia’s veto in the Security Council frustrates the resolution against the invasion of Ukraine

The UN Security Council met this Friday for the third time in five days to rule on a resolution condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The vote on the text, a joint initiative of the US and Albania that has garnered numerous supporters in the last 24 hours, only raised one question: Russia would exercise its veto power, but what about China? With its abstention – a way of safeguarding equidistance and, at the same time, veiledly supporting Moscow – China dragged India and the United Arab Emirates along. The resolution had the favorable vote of 11 of the 15 members. Russia also holds the presidency of the Council this month, in accordance with the calendar approved last fall. (María Antonia Sánchez-Vallejo).

 

Detonations and shots are heard in Kiev

Night has fallen on the Ukrainian capital where detonations are heard, according to Luis de Vega, special envoy of EL PAÍS in Kiev. Local media also report that gunshots can be heard in the city. 

“The situation is now very dangerous. The night and the first hours of the morning are going to be very hard. Russian troops are concentrating near Kiev,” said the mayor of Kiev, Vitali Klitschkó, ​​in an appeal to his fellow citizens. . The entrances to the main official buildings have been blocked and are guarded by special forces. This is the case of the Verkhovna Rada or Parliament.

Ukraine’s president says Russian troops will try to take Kiev tonight 

The President of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski, said this Friday in a message to the nation that the Russian army is preparing a final offensive to take Kiev, the capital, during the early hours of Friday to Saturday. “We cannot lose the capital. I speak to our defenders, men and women on all fronts: tonight, the enemy is going to use all his might to break through our defenses in the vilest, harsh, and inhuman way. Tonight, they are going to try an attack,” Zelensky said in a video posted on the presidential website. (AFP)

 

Ukraine and Russia negotiate the place and time to hold the first talks

Ukraine and Russia are negotiating the place and time to hold the first talks, a spokesman for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed on Friday. “Ukraine was and remains ready to talk about a ceasefire and peace. This is our position,” spokesman Sergii Nykyforov wrote on his Facebook account. “The sooner negotiations start, the better chance there is of restoring normal life.” (Reuters)

US announces sanctions against Putin and Lavrov

The United States has joined the European Union in its decision to directly sanction Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for the invasion of Ukraine. The White House spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, confirmed this at the press conference this Friday, although without specifying the details of the punishment. In the European case, it is the inclusion in its black list, which entails freezing all its possible assets and financial assets in European territory. After learning about the European sanctions, Moscow has said that these are a sign of the “impotence” of Western countries, according to AFP.

Washington’s decision to directly sanction the Russian president is unusual, but there are precedents with Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela and Basharal-Assad in Syria. Psaki has said that the decision to establish these new sanctions was taken after a phone call between US President Joe Biden and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. Amanda Mars reports.

More than 100,000 people come together online to offer their houses, food, money and transportation to Ukrainians fleeing the war

Hours after Russia declared war on Ukraine, social media users living in neighboring countries began networking online to support refugees. By Friday night, more than 100,000 people had signed up to various groups on Facebook and other platforms to offer their houses, money, food and ride-sharing to Ukrainians escaping the Russian invasion. One of the users, Malgorzata Krentowska, offers an unused apartment in southern Poland in the 3,500-member Facebook group Ukraine, I’m helping you ! “If anyone wants to stay there I can give them the keys. There is cold running water and electricity,” she has written.

Another Facebook group, called Aid to Ukraine, has gained nearly 104,000 members since it was created by Polish businesswoman Marta Lisowska on Thursday. Host a Sister, a network that makes it easy for its members to find accommodation for free, has added around 10,000 new users in the past week, according to the group’s Facebook page, after women from neighboring countries began offering their houses. Some of these platforms also offer help to citizens fleeing with their pets. A 700-member group called the Kejterski Patrol offers help to people on the run with their dogs by temporarily housing and walking the animals. (Reuters)

More than 50,000 Ukrainians have left the country since the invasion began

More than 50,000 Ukrainians have fled their country since the Russian invasion began, that is, in less than 48 hours, according to the head of the UN refugee agency, Filippo Grandi. The displaced have mainly gone to Poland and Moldova. Warsaw has set up eight reception centers for refugees along the more than 500-kilometer border it shares with Ukraine. One and a half million Ukrainians already reside in this EU country, many of them arriving in 2014, after the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia. The Polish government stated in early February that, if necessary, it could take in up to a million refugees. At the moment, the UN agency estimates that some 30,000 have arrived in the country.

Around 16,000 people have crossed into Moldova, with a border of more than 1,200 kilometers with Ukraine. The former Soviet republic of 2.6 million people is also building shelters. This Friday, the Government has activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to request logistical support from the countries of the Union.

In neighboring Romania, an EU member like Poland, people fleeing the conflict are also arriving. The Romanian Interior Minister assured this Friday that 10,624 Ukrainians have crossed the border since the beginning of the invasion, but that only 11 of them have requested asylum in the country. Most want to continue their journey to Poland and the Czech Republic. Romania has six asylum centers, with some 1,100 places available and according to the minister, Lucian Bode, the occupation is currently 50%.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Friday that the European Union will accept “all people fleeing the violence caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.” “We need to do everything possible to accept without delay the people who are now fleeing from the bombs and from the tanks,” she told reporters upon arrival at a meeting with her EU counterparts in Brussels. On Thursday the German government offered to help countries bordering Ukraine, especially Poland, to host the displaced. Reports Elena G. Sevillano.

What happened in the last hours of the second day of the Russian offensive on Ukraine

• Fight in the capital. The second day since the entry of Russian troops into Ukraine, fighting has intensified in the heart of the capital, Kiev, where there have been shootings since dawn. The special envoy of EL PAÍS Luis de Vega has witnessed this afternoon how the soldiers of the Ukrainian Army defended themselves on the Havana bridge, just three kilometers from the Parliament and the Maidán square. Artillery shells could be heard in Kiev tonight and fighting has broken out in the west of the city.
•  The war in other cities. The Russian offensive has also been deployed in other important cities in Ukraine, such as Kherson, Odessa (on the Black Sea coast), Melitopol (in the southeast of the country) and Kharkov (in the northeast). The UN has warned that there are already hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian citizens as refugees.
• Zelensky reappears. President Volodímir Zelenski has released a video in the middle of the afternoon today in which he assures that he is still in the capital and that they will defend his independence.
• Threatens Sweden and Finland. Russia has expanded its radius of threats this Friday. He has warned Finland and Sweden of “serious military and political repercussions” if these two European Union member countries join NATO. 
• NATO deployment. The Alliance has responded with a move. Allied Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has announced the deployment of elements of his Response Force – which has up to 40,000 troops – in the eastern part of the Alliance.
• Putin’s accounts. The Twenty-seven have decided to personally sanction President Putin and his Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, whose accounts have been frozen as punishment for the invasion.
• Culture and sports turn their backs on Russia. The world of culture and sports are also turning their backs on Moscow for the attack: Russia will not be able to participate in Eurovision, nor will it have the venues for the Champions League or Formula 1. Carnegie Hall in New York has canceled Valery’s concerts Gergiev for his support of Putin.

The EU supports Finland and Sweden after Russia’s threat if they joined NATO

The High Representative for Foreign Policy of the European Union, Josep Borrell, recalled today that all countries are free to decide their foreign policy and alliances after Russia has threatened Sweden and Finland, two community partners, with “serious political-military consequences” if they join NATO. 

“As we always say, we consider that all member states are free to choose their foreign policy and their alliance policy,” Borrell said at a press conference after the extraordinary meeting of EU foreign ministers in which the second package of sanctions on Russia for the military invasion of Ukraine.

Asked by journalists, the head of European diplomacy refused, however, to comment more specifically on the words of the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zajárova, who issued the warning today. (Eph)

Zelenski discusses with Biden the implementation of new sanctions

The President of Ukraine, Volodímir Zelenski, and the President of the United States, Joe Biden, held a new telephone conversation this Friday in which, among other issues, they discussed how to strengthen defense assistance to the European country, the target of a military offensive by Russia. On his Twitter social network account, Zelensky has detailed that he has also discussed with the US president how to strengthen the sanctions imposed against Moscow and the anti-war coalition. Likewise, he thanked the United States for “its great support.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky: We defend our independence. Glory to Ukraine!”

The President of Ukraine, Volodímir Zelenski, has released a video on his Instagram account mid-afternoon today to emphasize that he is still in the capital and in which he appears, among others, with the Prime Minister, Denys Shmyhal. “The party leader is here, the head of the president’s office is here, Prime Minister Shmyhal is here, Podolyak (adviser to the president) is here, the president is here… We are all here,” Zelensky said. “We defend our independence, our state. And so it will continue. Glory to our defenders! Glory to our defenders! Glory to Ukraine,” continued Zelensky, who has also accused Moscow of attacking civilians. “They said they were not a target, but it is another of their lies,” he lamented in a previous video. According to the latest balance, offered this Friday at dawn,

 

Ukraine asks the United States to influence European countries to exclude Russia from the SWIFT system

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dimitro Kuleba has asked US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to exercise “influence” over European countries hesitating whether to exclude Russia from the SWIFT system for international transactions. He has thus transferred it through a message published on his Twitter social network account, where he has also detailed that he has discussed with Blinken a greater supply of defensive weapons for Ukraine. In addition, Kuleba has had a telephone conversation with his Italian counterpart, Luigi Di Maio, who has assured him that Italy will support excluding Russia from the SWIFT system. Likewise, as indicated by the Ukrainian minister on the aforementioned social network, Di Maio has conveyed his “total solidarity” with Ukraine.

Kiev has repeatedly and openly called for Russia to be excluded from the SWIFT system, but some countries are reluctant. This is the case, for example, of Germany, which has alleged this Friday that removing the Eurasian country would have “massive” collateral effects. Others, like the UK and Spain, are more willing. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Juan Manuel Albares, has confirmed that Spain is in favor of including the SWIFT transfer system in the sanctions against Russia, which for now has been left out of the second approved package. (Eph)

President Castillo will have Army planes to rescue Peruvians who are in Ukraine

The President of Peru, Pedro Castillo, announced this Friday that his Government will charter, through the Ministry of Defense, planes to rescue Peruvian citizens who are trapped in Ukraine. “We support as a Government, we support as a State, not only those of us who are here, but also those who are outside the country (…) Due to the conflictive problems that exist lately in Ukraine (…) through the Ministry of Defense, some planes will be available to rescue our brothers,” Castillo announced.

“I urge the world community, the peoples of the world, that we stop confronting each other. Sometimes they do not understand that it is the people who suffer. I call for conflicts not to be resolved with bullets, but through diplomatic channels, that they be resolved peacefully”, Castillo claimed. “The countries that are in these situations are our brothers, they have families like us and they are strategic allies for the development of this country and we want conflicts to be resolved peacefully”, he insisted in an act held in the district of Puente Piedra, in the province of Lima (EUROPA PRESS)