Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now
A Ukrainian serviceman walks past a burnt-out car, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in the village of Krasylivka outside Kyiv, Ukraine March 26, 2022. REUTERS
Ukraine is willing to discuss becoming neutral as part of a peace deal, President Volodymyr Zelensky said as another top Ukrainian official accused Russia of aiming to carve the country in two.
Fighting
* Russia is trying to split Ukraine in two to create a Moscow-controlled region after failing to take over the whole country, the head of Ukrainian military intelligence said.
* The Russian-backed eastern Ukrainian rebel region of Luhansk said it may hold a referendum on joining Russia, drawing a warning from Kyiv that any such vote would have no legal basis and trigger a stronger international response.
* Russia continued its “full-scale armed aggression”, while Ukrainian forces had repulsed seven attacks in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said.
* Ukraine’s deputy prime minister said Russian forces were “militarizing” the exclusion zone around the occupied Chernobyl power station.
Talks and diplomacy
* The next round of face to face talks between Ukraine and Russia will take place in Turkey on March 28-30, a Ukrainian negotiator said on social media.
* Top American officials said the United States does not have a policy of regime change in Russia, ramping up efforts to clarify President Biden’s statement that President Putin “cannot remain in power.”
* French President Macron called for restraint in both words and actions in dealing with the Ukraine conflict, following Biden’s remarks.
* Turkish President Erdogan told Putin that a ceasefire and better humanitarian conditions.
* Germany’s decision to become more energy independent means it will have to accept higher energy costs, Chancellor Scholz said.
Civilians
* The United Nations human rights office said 1,119 civilians had so far been killed and 1,790 wounded since Russia began its attack on Ukraine.
* Ukraine has asked the International Committee of the Red Cross not to open a planned office in Russia’s Rostov-on-Don, saying it would legitimize Moscow’s “humanitarian corridors” and the abduction and forced deportation of Ukranians.
* Mourners crammed into the ornate Ukrainian Greek Catholic church in Lviv to bury Ukrainian soldiers.
Quotes
* “The U.S. does not have a policy of regime change in Russia. Full stop.” Julianne Smith, U.S. ambassador to Nato.
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