LIVE: Ukraine's prez says he will not accept Russian ultimatums to end war

11:28 PM

Ukrainian governor says shells hit evacuation buses, 4 children wounded

The governor of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region said buses evacuating civilians from front line areas were hit by shelling on Monday and four children were wounded in separate incidents.

 

Reuters could not confirm the report independently. Russia denies targeting civilians.

 

"Four children were taken to hospital," Oleksandr Starukh said in an online post. He blamed Russian forces.

10:24 PM

Russia says it hit Kyiv shopping centre because it was storing rockets

Russia said on Monday it had struck a Kyiv shopping centre with high-precision long-range weapons because it was being used as a rocket store and reloading station by Ukrainian forces.

 

The Kyiv shopping centre was attacked late on Sunday, killing at least eight people, wrecking nearby buildings and leaving smoking piles of rubble and the twisted wreckage of burned-out cars spread over several hundred metres.

 

"The areas near the shopping centre were used as a large base for storing rocket munitions and for reloading multiple rocket launchers," Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told reporters.

10:22 PM

Ukraine's president says he will not accept Russian ultimatums to end war

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday Ukraine would never bow to ultimatums from Russia and cities such as Kyiv, Mariupol or Kharkiv would not accept Russian occupation.

 

"We have an ultimatum with points in it. 'Follow it and then we will end the war'," Zelensky said in an interview published by Ukrainian public broadcasting company Suspilne. "Ukraine cannot fulfill the ultimatum."

9:48 PM

Kyiv mayor says stricter curfew imposed due to shelling threat

The mayor of Kyiv said on Monday a new, longer curfew was being introduced in the Ukrainian capital because the authorities expect further shelling by Russian forces.

 

Mayor Vitali Klitschko had earlier on Monday announced a "reinforced curfew" in the Ukrainian capital from 8.00 p.m. (1800 GMT) until 7 a.m. on Wednesday. Parts of the city have come under fire repeatedly from Russian forces.

 

"The reason for the curfew is linked to the likelihood of new shelling," he said later on Monday on national television.

8:08 PM

Ukraine's defence minister says Russia's actions are state terrorism

Russia is conducting state terrorism in Ukraine and will go on to attack other countries, Ukraine's defence minister Oleksii Reznikov said on Monday.

 

Speaking alongside British defence minister Ben Wallace during a visit to London, Reznikov said 150 Ukrainian children had been killed since Russia invaded, with more than 400 schools and kindergartens and more than 110 hospitals destroyed.

 

"This is a state terrorism. That is why (the) Kremlin must be stopped, because it will go further. It will attack other countries," Reznikov said. He did not cite any evidence to support his assertion. Russia denies targeting civilians.

8:08 PM

US cannot confirm Russian claim on hypersonic missile: US defense official

The United States cannot independently confirm or refute a Russian claim over the weekend that it fired hypersonic missiles at a Ukrainian target, but the use of such a weapon makes little sense from a military perspective, a senior U.S. defense official said on Monday.

 

"It could be that they're trying to send a message to the West," the official said on condition of anonymity. From a military perspective, the official added, "there's just not a lot of practicality about it."

7:39 PM

Russian court rejects Meta attempt to dismiss 'extremism' case: Reports

A Moscow court on Monday rejected an attempt by Facebook owner Meta Platforms to have extremism charges against it dismissed, Russian news agencies reported, in a case that could force the U.S. tech giant out of the Russian market.

 

The TASS news agency earlier reported that Meta had asked for more time to prepare its legal position and had questioned the court's authority to ban its activities at the request of state prosecutors.

 

Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

The company's lawyer, Victoria Shagina, said in court that Meta was not carrying out extremist activities and stood against Russophobia, Interfax reported.

7:20 PM

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6:58 PM

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6:34 PM

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6:15 PM

White House briefs energy, food, financial companies on Ukraine: Official

The White House will hold a briefing on the Russia-Ukraine crisis on Monday with executives from an array of industries and businesses including oil, food, manufacturing, clean energy and banking, a White House official said.

6:15 PM

UK PM Johnson won't retract Brexit comment on Ukraine, spokesman says

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson did not directly compare the war in Ukraine with Brexit and will not retract comments made during a speech on Saturday that drew criticism, his spokesman said on Monday.

 

Johnson on Saturday said it was the instinct of British people, like Ukrainians, to choose freedom every time, citing the vote to leave the European Union as an example of that.

 

"There was not a direct comparison made between fighting in Ukraine (and Brexit) ... they're not directly analogous. He was making observations about people's desire for freedom," the spokesman said.

 

The spokesman said Johnson did not regret his phrasing and wouldn't retract the comment.

6:06 PM

Ukraine and Russia hold more peace talks

Russian and Ukrainian peace negotiators held a 90-minute video call on Monday and working groups will continue to meet throughout the day, a member of the Ukrainian delegation said.

 

"Today we are working the whole day," Ukrainian delegate and lawmaker David Arakhamia was quoted as saying by Ukrainian media.

5:59 PM

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5:52 PM

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5:34 PM

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5:19 PM

Ukraine defies Russian demand to lay down arms in Mariupol

Ukraine defied a Russian demand that its forces lay down arms before dawn on Monday in Mariupol, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have been trapped in a city under siege and already laid to waste by Russian bombardment.

 

Russia's military had ordered Ukrainians inside the city in the country's southeast to surrender by 5 a.m., saying that those who do so would be permitted to leave through safe corridors.

4:51 PM

Saudi Arabia says it will not bear responsibility for oil shortages in light of recent Houthi attacks

Saudi Arabia said it would not bear responsibility for any shortages in oil supplies to global markets in light of the recent attacks by the Houthi militia on Saudi oil facilities, Saudi state news agency (SPA) reported on Monday.

4:32 PM

More than 225,000 refugees from Ukraine recorded in Germany so far

Some 225,357 refugees from Ukraine have been recorded as arriving in Germany so far, a spokesperson for the German Interior Ministry said on Monday.

 

"That will of course continue to increase," added the spokesperson.

4:02 PM

Kremlin says Russian oil embargo would hurt Europe, not US

The Kremlin said on Monday Europe would be hit hard in the event of an embargo on Russian oil, striking the continent's energy balance, but would not affect the United States.

 

Some European Union foreign ministers are pushing for an oil embargo as part of a possible fifth round of sanctions against Russi, in an effort to punish Moscow over events in Ukraine.

 

"Such an embargo would very seriously impact the global oil market, very badly impact energy balance on the European continent," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a daily conference call.

3:55 PM

Ukraine says Russia shelled chemical plant

Ukraine's prosecutor general said a Russian shell struck a chemical plant outside the city of Sumy a little after 3 a.m. Monday, causing a leak in a 50-tonne tank of ammonia that took hours to contain.

 

Russian military spokesman Igor Konashenkov claimed the leak was a “planned provocation” by Ukrainian forces to falsely accuse Russia of a chemical attack.

 

Konashenkov also said an overnight cruise missile strike hit a Ukrainian military training centre in the Rivne region. He said 80 foreign and Ukrainian troops were killed.

 

Vitaliy Koval, the head of the Rivne regional military administration, confirmed a twin Russian missile strike on a training centre there early Monday but offered no details about injuries or deaths. 

3:54 PM

Russia needs over a week to take Mariupol, IFX quotes separatist leader

A Russian-backed separatist leader in eastern Ukraine said on Monday it would take more than a week to take control of the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, the Russian news agency Interfax reported.

 

"I am not so optimistic that two or three days or even a week will close the issue. Unfortunately, no, the city is big," Denis Pushilin, head of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic, said, according to the report.

 

Mariupol, a port on the Azov Sea, was home to 400,000 people before the war. It has been under siege and bombardment, with no food, medicine, power or fresh water, since the early days of Russia's invasion on Feb. 24.

3:28 PM

EU foreign ministers consider new sanctions on Russia, some push for oil embargo

The European Union should step up sanctions on Russia to target its lucrative energy sector, the foreign ministers of Lithuania and Ireland said in Brussels on Monday.

 

Trying to force a Russian military withdrawal from Ukraine, the European Union and its Western allies have already imposed a panoply of sanctions including freezing the Russian central bank's assets.

 

The humanitarian crisis in the port city of Mariupol, where residents are besieged with little food, water and power, is increasing pressure on European leaders to toughen sanctions on Moscow.

 

"Looking at the extent of the destruction in Ukraine right now it's very hard to make the case that we shouldn't be moving in on the energy sector, particularly oil and coal," Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said as he arrived at a meeting of EU foreign and defence ministers.

 

Diplomats told Reuters that Baltic countries including Lithuania are pushing for an embargo as the next logical step, while Germany is warning against acting too quickly because of already high energy prices in Europe.

3:23 PM

Kremlin says peace talks with Ukraine yet to yield breakthrough

The Kremlin said on Monday that peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv had yet to yield any major breakthroughs and called on countries that can exert influence over Ukraine to use their clout to make Kyiv more constructive at the negotiations.
 

Speaking to reporters on a conference call, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said significant progress in the talks still had to be made for there to be a basis for a possible meeting between President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

 

Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb.24 in what it called a special operation to degrade its southern neighbour's military capabilities and root out people it called dangerous nationalists.

 

Ukrainian forces have mounted stiff resistance and the West has imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia in an effort to force it to withdraw its forces

3:00 PM

Harbhajan Singh, Raghav Chadha among 5 candidates nominated by AAP to Rajya Sabha

The Aam Aadmi Party has nominated former cricketer Harbhajan Singh, Lovely Professional University founder Ashok Mittal, AAP MLA Raghav Chadha, IIT Delhi faculty Sandeep Pathak and industrialist Sanjeev Arora for the March 31 Rajya Sabha polls.

 

All the five party nominees filed their nomination papers at the Punjab Vidhan Sabha complex.

 

The term of five Rajya Sabha members from Punjab -- Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa (Shiromani Akali Dal), Partap Singh Bajwa (Congress), Shwait Malik (BJP), Naresh Gujral (SAD) and Shamsher Singh Dullo (Congress) -- will expire on April 9. Read on...

1:53 PM

China Eastern Airlines passenger jet has 'accident' in Guangxi, state media says

A China Eastern Airlines aircraft on Monday carrying 133 passengers from Kunming to Guangzhou had an "accident" in the region of Guangxi and caused a fire on the mountains, Chinese state television reported.
 

The jet involved in the accident was a Boeing 737 aircraft and the number of casualties was not immediately known, CCTV said. Rescue was on its way, it said.

1:16 PM

Ukraine crisis: Tragic loss of lives underlines importance of holding Russia to account, says Australian PM

Ukraine crisis: Tragic loss of lives underlines importance of holding Russia to account, says Australian PM at virtual summit with PM Modi.

1:16 PM

Significant progress in diverse sectors witnessed in our ties in last few years: PM Modi

Significant progress in diverse sectors witnessed in our ties in last few years: PM Modi in virtual summit with Australian PM Scott Morrison

 

12:22 PM

Russian forces advancing on Kyiv, bulk of its forces remain more than 25 kms from the centre of the city: UK

Russian forces advancing on Kyiv from the north-east have stalled and the bulk of its forces remain more than 25 kilometres from the centre of the city, British military intelligence said on Monday.
 

"Heavy fighting continues north of Kyiv," the Ministry of Defence said. "Forces advancing from the direction of Hostomel to the north-west have been repulsed by fierce Ukrainian resistance."