LIVE: Ukranian 'nationalists' derailing evacuations, alleges Putin

10:59 PM

Britain not seeking a humanitarian no-fly zone in Ukraine: Truss

Britain is not seeking to provide a no-fly zone over humanitarian corridors in Ukraine and is instead looking to help it defend itself from Russia's invasion, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said on Wednesday.

 

"The reality is that setting up a no-fly zone would lead to a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia. And that is not what we are looking at," Truss said at a news conference in Washington, when asked if one could be introduced over a humanitarian corridor.

 

"What we are looking at is making sure that the Ukrainians are able to defend their own country with the best possible selection of anti-tank weapons and anti-air defence systems."

 

10:47 PM

Ukraine asks Turkey, Kazakhstan and others to refuse Russian payment system

Ukraine's central bank on Wednesday asked central banks in Armenia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Vietnam, Turkey and Kyrgyzstan to suspend all transactions with cards of Russia's Mir payments system.

 

In a statement, it said it had asked the banks to stop accepting Mir cards in their ATMs and to make it impossible to use these cards in e-commerce and person-to-person transfers.

 

"This appeal comes amid the urgent need to scale up global financial pressure on the aggressor country as it proceeds with its assault on Ukraine," the statement said.

10:43 PM

'Nationalists' derailed evacuations: Putin

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 organise 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. 

10:32 PM

UAE favors oil production increase: Report

The United Arab Emirates favors an oil production increase and will be encouraging OPEC to consider higher output, CNN and the Financial times reported on Wednesday, citing a statement from the UAE's ambassador to Washington.

 

"We favor production increases and will be encouraging OPEC to consider higher production levels," Ambassador Yousuf Al Otaiba said, the FT reported.

10:25 PM

Russia may be using unguided, 'dumb' bombs in Ukraine war: US official

The United States has seen indications that Russia's military is bombing Ukraine using so-called "dumb" bombs that are not precision-guided and would have limited ability to hit targets precisely, a senior US defense official said on Wednesday.

 

"We do have indications that the Russians are in fact dropping some dumb munitions," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity, adding that the United States was observing "increasing damage to civilian infrastructure and civilian casualties."

 

The comments came shortly after Ukraine accused Russia on Wednesday of bombing a children's hospital in the besieged port of Mariupol. Russia denies targeting civilians.

10:24 PM

Russia says almost 180,000 people fled Ukraine to Russia: Interfax

Russia's Defence Ministry said on Wednesday that nearly 180,000 people had been evacuated from Ukraine to Russia since the start of the conflict on Feb. 24, the Russian news agency Interfax reported.

 

The ministry added that the operation to open up humanitarian corridors to remove Ukrainian civilians and foreigners from combat zones "did not bring the desired results, through Kyiv's fault" and the situation faced by civilians in the city of Mariupol had reached a "catastrophic scale".

 

Both sides have accused each other of violating ceasefires that would allow the evacuation of civilians from combat zones.

10:24 PM

UK's Johnson condemns reported Mariupol hospital attack

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday there were few things more depraved than the targeting of vulnerable and defenceless people, after Ukraine accused Russia of bombing a children's hospital in the port city of Mariupol.

 

"There are few things more depraved than targeting the vulnerable and defenceless," Johnson said on Twitter.

 

"The UK is exploring more support for Ukraine to defend against airstrikes and we will hold Putin to account for his terrible crimes."

10:03 PM

Ukraine says 1,170 civilians have been killed in Mariupol since Russian invasion

At least 1,170 civilians have been killed in Ukraine's besieged city of Mariupol since the start of the Russian invasion, a Ukrainian state information agency said on Wednesday, citing figures from Mariupol's deputy mayor.

 

"At least 1,170 people have been killed and 47 were buried in a mass grave today," deputy mayor Serhiy Orlov was quoted as saying. "People are without water, heat, electricity, gas, residents are melting snow to drink."

9:52 PM

Russian annual inflation up 9.15% in February

Annual inflation in Russia accelerated to 9.15% in February from 8.73% in January, its highest in seven years, official statistics showed, with prices soaring further on a weakening rouble amid Western sanctions imposed over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

 

According to the Rosstat data released on Wednesday, prices on nearly everything from bread to gasoline have spiked, with cost of sugar and cereals such as buckwheat - top products that Russians stockpile - showing some of the biggest increases of 20.6% and 18%, respectively.

 

Yet the biggest cost rise was in construction materials such as wallpaper and bathroom tiles, with prices spiking by 22.5%, indicating an increased demand to finish renovation projects amid booming costs for imported goods as the rouble was falling.

9:50 PM

Covid-19: Karnataka reports 181 new cases, 2 deaths in the last 24 hours

9:27 PM

Mayor of Ukraine's Kharkiv says Russians forces are regrouping there

Russian forces appear to be regrouping near the eastern city of Kharkiv, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Wednesday, describing the situation as very tense.

 

Speaking on live television, Terekhov said Russian shelling on the city was ongoing.

9:27 PM

Russia largely failed to respect civilian evacuation plans: Ukrainian official

Ukrainian interior ministry adviser Vadym Denysenko said Russia had largely failed on Wednesday to respect agreements to allow civilians to be evacuated from towns and cities through humanitarian corridors.

 

Evacuations took place from the cities of Sumy and Enerhodar, but not from the regional capital of Kharkiv and only partially in areas in the Kyiv region, he said on television.

9:21 PM

Civilian casualties climb in Ukraine but likely many more: UN

The UN human rights office said on Wednesday that it had verified 1,424 civilian casualties since the Ukraine conflict began two weeks ago - 516 killed and 908 injured - but believed the real figures were "considerably higher".

 

The civilian toll rose from 1,335 casualties that it reported on Tuesday - 474 civilians killed and 861 injured - since Russia's invasion began on Feb. 24.

 

Most civilian casualties were caused by explosive weapons including shelling and missile and air strikes, it said on Wednesday. Updated casualty figures from the towns of Volnovakha, Mariupol and Izium were still being corroborated amid allegations of hundreds of civilian casualties, it added.

 

Russia has denied targeting civilians in its assault on Ukraine.

9:16 PM

Ukraine says Russian air strike hit hospital in Mariupol

Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky accused Russia on Wednesday of carrying out an air strike on a hospital in the southern port city of Mariupol in which he said children were among people "under the wreckage."

 

Mariupol's city council said the hospital had been destroyed. It said it did not know any casualty figures but added: "The destruction is colossal."

 

The reports could not immediately be verified by Reuters.

 

Russia has denied targeting civilians in its assault on Ukraine.

8:57 PM

PM Modi speaks to Hungarian leader Orban on Ukraine situation

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban on the Ukraine crisis, with the two leaders agreeing on the need to ensure an immediate ceasefire and a return to diplomacy and dialogue, the PMO said.

 

Modi also conveyed his warm thanks to Orban and hid government for facilitating the evacuation of more than 6,000 Indian citizens through the Ukraine-Hungary border.