LIVE: India brings back 219 citizens from Ukraine; 250 more on their way

First Air India flight carrying 219 Indian evacuees from Ukraine lands at Mumbai airport from Bucharest at 7.50 pm

1:55 PM

Ukraine President says Western 'partners' sending weapons

Weapons and equipment from our partners are on the way to Ukraine. The anti-war coalition is working, says Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, reported AFP.

1:51 PM

Ukrainians flee to the northeastern Romanian border checkpoint

1:49 PM

Russians claim Melitopol

Russia’s Defense Ministry said it struck various sites overnight, including using what it called long-range cruise missiles, hitting 14 military airfields, 19 communications stations and 24 anti-aircraft complexes, Interfax reported. It added Russian forces had taken control of the city of Melitopol in the southeast. The ministry said Russia had downed 7 military planes, 7 helicopters and 9 drones, Interfax reported.

 

Ukraine’s military said on Facebook that a missile had shot down a Russian helicopter and a Su-25 military jet, and that transport aircraft had been destroyed. It said there was continued fighting in Kyiv. The mayor of southern city of Kherson said Ukrainian troops had retaken control.

 

None of the reports could be independently verified.

1:40 PM

State govt will provide air tickets to students returning to Kerala via Delhi: CM

1:37 PM

Delhi Airport's updated travel advisory in view of Ukraine crisis

1:33 PM

Missile hit apartment in Kyiv, mayor says

The mayor of the Ukrainian capital says a missile hit an apartment building but no casualties were immediately reported.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the missile slammed into a high-rise building on the southwestern outskirts of Kyiv near Zhuliany airport on Saturday. He said rescue workers were heading there.

He posted an image on a messaging app, showing a gaping hole on one side of the building that ravaged apartment units and several stores.

1:32 PM

Ukraine crisis: UN Resident Coordinator in India calls for ceasefire, negotiations

United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator in India, Shombi Sharp on Saturday called for a ceasefire and a return to the negotiation table in the ongoing Ukraine conflict.

Sharp was speaking on the sidelines of the 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav' cycle rally in New Delhi. The UN official was participating in the event to commemorate 75 years of India's independence.

"The need is to support the peace negotiation efforts and support the calls for a ceasefire immediately, that is the very first thing, from there everything else stems," Sharp said.

1:29 PM

First batch of Ukraine evacuees reaching Mumbai today

An Air India flight carrying evacuees from the war-hit Ukraine is expected to land here later in the day, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), officials said.

Union Minister for Textiles Piyush Goyal is likely to receive them at the airport, along with other officials.

The CSMIA has geared itself to handle the evacuees reaching here by AI-1944 with a special corridor and all necessary facilities.

As per Centre's guidelines, all the students shall undergo a mandatory temperature check and will be required to produce a Covid-19 vaccination certification or a negative RT-PCR report on landing.

1:19 PM

ISS may fall on India, China: Russian space chief warns on US sanctions after Ukraine military offensive

Russia's space agency chief has warned the US that the slew of sanctions imposed on Moscow can "destroy our cooperation" on the International Space Station (ISS) and asked Washington if it wants to threaten India and China with the "possibility of a 500-tonne structure falling" on them.

Russia and the US are the major partners in the ISS programme, which also includes Canada, Japan and several European nations like France, Italy and Spain.

The US and its allies have decided to block assets of four large Russian banks, impose export controls and sanction oligarchs close to Russian President Vladimir Putin after he ordered a "special military operation" against Ukraine on Thursday.

1:19 PM

ECGC withdraws coverage for shipments to Russia; huge setback for exporters

The Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC) has decided to withdraw coverage for shipments to Russia with effect from February 25, which is a huge setback for exporters, industry body FIEO said on Saturday.

Amid the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, ECGC in a communication said "based on the near-term commercial outlook, it has been decided to modify the country risk classification of Russia under the short-term and medium-and-long term with effect from February 25."

Revising its underwriting policy on Russia, ECGC, a government-owned entity, has now put that country in the Restricted Cover Category (RCC-I) from the earlier 'open cover' category.

1:16 PM

Ukrainian Vice PM calls upon Tim Cook to block Russian users

Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine, Mykhailo Fedorov, on Saturday urged Apple CEO Tim Cook to stop supplying products and services to Russian users as a response to its invasion of Ukraine.

 

In an open letter posted on Twitter, Fedorov said he has contacted Cook to block the App Store for people in Russia.

 

"I've contacted @tim_cook, Apple's CEO, to block the Apple Store for citizens of the Russian Federation, and to support the package of US government sanctions!," he said.

 

1:01 PM

Russia continues to hit Ukraine targets

Moscow continued to exert hefty pressure on Kiev by striking more military targets in Ukraine, while the two sides have expressed intention to start direct dialogue.

The Russian armed forces have disabled 211 military infrastructure facilities in Ukraine since the operation began on early Thursday, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Friday night, up from 118 facilities reported in his morning briefing.

During the fighting, a large number of weapons supplied by Western countries to Ukraine over the past few months have been seized, including the Javelin anti-tank missile systems from the US, Konashenkov said, Xinhua news agency reported.

12:59 PM

Any UNSC action should be to defuse Ukraine crisis: Chinese envoy

China's permanent representative to the UN Zhang Jun said that any action by the UN Security Council should be truly conducive to defusing Ukraine crisis.

"Any action should be truly conducive to defusing the crisis, rather than adding fuel to fire," Zhang made the remarks after the council failed to adopt a draft resolution on Ukraine proposed by the US and some other countries.

"If not properly handled, or blindly exerting pressure and imposing sanctions, it may only lead to more casualties, more property loss, more complicated and chaotic situations, and more difficulties in bridging differences," the ambassador said.

12:40 PM

Fierce fighting in Kyiv, elsewhere in Ukraine

An adviser to Ukraine's president says that fighting is raging in the capital and in the country's south, and that the Ukrainian military is successfully fending off Russian assaults.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Saturday that small groups of Russian forces tried to infiltrate Kyiv and engaged in fighting with Ukrainian troops. He said that Russia wants to seize control of the Ukrainian capital and destroy the country's leadership, but said the Russian military has failed to make any gains and that the Ukrainian forces control the situation in Kyiv.

He said Russian forces were also focusing on the country's south, where intense fighting is underway in Kherson just north of Crimea, and in the Black Sea ports of Mykolaiv, Odesa and around Mariupol.

12:40 PM

Russian Armed Forces establish full control over Ukraine's Melitopol: Defense Ministry

The Russian armed forces have established full control over the Ukrainian city of Melitopol in the south of the country, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said on Saturday.

"Units of the Russian Armed Forces have established full control over the city of Melitopol," Konashenkov told reporters.