Live blog: Russia targets Ukraine's Kharkiv with deadly missile strike

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

1617 GMT –– A Russian missile hit an industrial area in Ukraine's northern city of Kharkiv, killing at least five people and injuring seven while causing a major fire in a printing house, local authorities said.

The Kharkiv region, which borders Russia to the north and lies close to the front line, has suffered regular drone and missile attacks during Russia's two-year-old offensive.

The X-59 missile struck the high-storey industrial building in the afternoon.

"The building houses production facilities and offices. This is an act of terrorism because it was conducted at a time when the vast majority of the people are at work," Volodymyr Tymoshko, head of the regional police, was quoted as saying on a police account on Telegram.

Rescuers worked at the site, looking for survivors and fighting flames.

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1746 GMT –– US lawmakers head for holidays, leaving Ukraine in lurch

The US Congress heads out on a two-week break this weekend with no clear plan to provide desperately needed military aid requested by the White House to help pro-Western Ukraine in its fight against Russian offensive.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that his country is in dire need of support to replenish dwindling ammunition stocks, and has voiced hope the United States will approve a $95 billion package stalled on Capitol Hill.

But Mike Johnson, an ally of Donald Trump who leads a razor-thin Republican majority in the House of Representatives, has resisted pressure to allow a vote on the legislation, which would also provide support for Israel and Taiwan.

1710 GMT –– World must make global rule of law 'work again': Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy urged world leaders to make a rules-based international order "work again" by standing up to Russian use of force.

In a video address to a global conference hosted by South Korea, Zelenskyy - whose country was attacked by Russia in 2022 - said many nations and regions of the world would benefit from the restoration of the international rule of law.

"Together we have to make the force that has gone mad come back to the rules, and make the rules work again ," he told the Summit for Democracy, an initiative of US President Joe Biden aimed at discussing ways to stop democratic backsliding and erosion of rights and freedoms.

Zelenskyy said that for peace to prevail, the US Congress - where political wrangling has held up passage of a bill that would provide $60 billion more in aid for Ukraine - must join the world in being the "co-authors of solid reliability."

1541 GMT –– Russia grateful to Turkish president for peace initiative on Ukraine

Russia is grateful to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his peace initiative on Ukraine, Foreign MInistry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.

Speaking at a news conference in Moscow, Zakharova said the call for peace is important in time of "endless aggressive statements of the collective West" pushing for further escalation.

"We are grateful to everyone who speaks out in favour of resolving the situation, in favour of peace, in favour of the negotiation process and offers their mediation efforts. ... This applies equally to the initiative of the Turkish side and personally of the Turkish president, Mr. (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan," she emphasised.

1417 GMT –– Two killed in 'massive' air attack on Russia's Belgorod: governor

Two people were killed in "massive" aerial bombardments of Russia's Belgorod region, on the border with Ukraine, the regional governor said.

"Since early morning, the Graivoron district has come under massive strikes, including with the use of multiple rocket launcher systems ... two civilians were killed," Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a post on Telegram.

1311 GMT –– Foreign POWs say tricked into fighting for Russia

Foreign soldiers captured by Ukraine said they travelled to escape poverty from homes in Asia, the Caribbean and Africa but were tricked into fighting for Russia on the front lines.

Speaking at a recent press event organised by Ukrainian officials, eight prisoners of war from Cuba, Nepal, Sierra Leone and Somalia said they were lured with promises of high wages, non-frontline roles or simply tricked.

Organisers defined the men as "mercenaries" from the "global South" and said they were treating them the same as Russian POWs.

1306 GMT –– EU plan to give Ukraine assets breaks law: Kremlin

The Kremlin said the European Union would be committing an "unprecedented violation" of international law if it used frozen Russian assets to arm Ukraine.

EU countries have been wrangling for months over what to do with the assets, with the bloc's top diplomat Josep Borrell floating a plan to divert most of them to Ukraine on Tuesday.

"The Europeans are well aware of the damage such decisions could do to their economy, their image, their reputations as reliable guarantors," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. "They will become the target of prosecution for many decades," he warned.

The plan, set to be put before member states on Wednesday, would see 90 percent of profits made on the assets go to a fund used to cover the cost of weapons for Ukraine. The other 10 percent would be funnelled into the EU's budget, where it would be used to help increase the capacity of Ukraine's own defence industry.

1301 GMT –– Russia pushes Ukrainian forces back, will create two new armies: minister

Russia said its soldiers were pushing Ukrainian forces back and that Moscow would bolster its military by adding two new armies and 30 new formations by the end of this year.

"Groups of Russian troops continue to squeeze the enemy out of their positions," Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told senior generals. "The United States and its satellites are extremely concerned about the success of the Russian Armed Forces."

"The combined grouping of troops will continue to build on the successes achieved and increase the live fire impact on enemy targets."

Russia, which has recruited hundreds of thousands of contract soldiers, will create two new armies and 30 formations including 14 divisions and 16 brigades, Shoigu said.

1052 GMT — Russia: EU frozen assets plan is theft, will lead to decades of lawsuits

Russia has said a proposal by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell to take 90 percent of revenues from Russian assets frozen in Europe and transfer them to buy weapons for Ukraine was "banditry and theft". Under Borrell's plan, proceeds from the assets such as interest payments would go to the European Peace Facility, an off-budget fund that provides military aid to countries outside the EU and has been used mainly for Ukraine.

"The damage will be inevitable. The persons who will be involved in making such decisions, the states that will decide this, of course, they will become the objects of prosecution for many decades," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

1050 GMT — Russian shelling kills two outside Kherson: Ukraine official

Russian shelling killed two people outside Ukraine's southern city of Kherson, the local governor said, as night-time attacks also wounded others in central regions.

"Russian forces attacked various civilian cars in the Kherson territorial community," said the head of the southern Kherson region Oleksandr Prokudin.

"Preliminarily, two men were killed as a result of the shelling," he said.

Another person was killed in the northeastern Sumy region, which borders Russia and has seen increased attacks in recent weeks.

0955 GMT — Pope repeats call to negotiate in Ukraine, Gaza

Pope Francis has repeated his call for negotiations to end wars in Ukraine and Gaza after remarks about "raising the white flag" sparked outrage in Kiev.

At his weekly audience at the Vatican, the 87-year-old turned his thoughts to the populations of "martyred Ukraine and of the Holy Land, Palestine, Israel, who suffer so much from the horror of war".

"Let us never forget, war is always a defeat. We cannot go forward during a war. We must make every effort to talk, to negotiate."

Francis sparked outrage with an interview broadcast earlier this month where talking about Ukraine, he praised those who "have the courage to raise the white flag and negotiate".

Kiev — which has been fighting with Russia for two years — reacted with outrage, recalling the Vatican's envoy and saying it would "never" surrender.

0855 GMT — Russia's Putin and India's Modi discussed Ukraine in phone call

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed Ukraine in a phone call, the Kremlin has said.

0741 GMT — Ukraine PM welcomes interim EU deal on farm imports

Ukraine's prime minister Denys Shmyhal has welcomed the interim EU deal on farm imports, saying it will allow his country to support Ukrainian producers and maintain exports.

Shmyhal expects the arrangements to be agreed by the European Parliament next month, he added in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.

0650 GMT — France denies Russian claims of sending troops to Ukraine

The French Defence Ministry has denied Russia's claims that France is preparing to send 2,000 troops to Ukraine.

Comments by the head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) are "indicative of Russia's systematic use of mass disinformation tactics,” the ministry told Anadolu in a written statement.

Also, the statement emphasised utmost caution to avoid falling prey to such manipulations.

The head of SVR, Sergey Naryshkin, claimed that France is preparing to send a contingent of 2,000 troops to Ukraine.

0458 GMT — Ukraine's Kuleba to visit India to advance Kiev's peace plan: report

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will visit India this month as Kiev seeks allies for its peace initiative, Bloomberg News has reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Kuleba will be meeting Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, India's foreign minister, during his visit scheduled for the end of this month, the report said.

0454 GMT — EU strikes deal to cap Ukraine imports of poultry, corn, grain

EU member states and lawmakers have reached a deal to cap duty-free imports of Ukrainian grain, which were allowed in the wake of Russia's war but have drawn fierce protests from farmers in the bloc.

The agreement renews for one year the tariff exemption granted in 2022, but adds grain - as well as eggs, poultry and sugar — to the list of products with import "safeguards" to stop cheap imports from flooding the market.

0025 GMT — EU reaches provisional deal to grant Ukraine tariff-free access to its markets

The European Union has reached a provisional agreement on granting Ukrainian food producers tariff-free access to its markets until June 2025, the Belgian EU presidency said on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

"This renewal underscores our unwavering support to #Ukraine while including safeguard mechanisms to protect EU market," the Belgian EU presidency said on X.

0000 GMT — Türkiye backs peaceful solution to Russia-Ukraine war: official

Türkiye has been in favour of a "peaceful and equitable" solution to the Russia-Ukraine war from the very beginning, Turkish parliament speaker Numan Kurtulmus said.

"We know that ending the war between Russia and Ukraine, both of which are our neighbours and with which we have relations, is not only in the interest of both countries but also in the interest of the region, Europe and the whole world," Kurtulmus told a Muslim fast-breaking or iftar event with ambassadors in the capital Ankara.

Kurtulmus said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been in close contact with the leaders of both countries and almost brought the issue to a solution point.

"Unfortunately, due to the attitudes of some countries, we have moved away from the solution point," he added.

The war between Russia and Ukraine has the potential to become a war between Russia and the entire Western world, Kurtulmus stressed.

"God forbid, if the Russia-Ukraine war is not ended peacefully, it is even possible that we will hear the footsteps of the Third World War," he added.

2141 GMT — Russia, Ukraine report air attacks in border areas

Russia and Ukraine have said they repelled air attacks in border areas, and Kiev accused Moscow of pounding one northeastern region with 200 bombs in the past month.

Moscow said anti-aircraft units had downed missiles in two areas amid allegations of Ukrainian incursions in recent weeks in three Russian border regions — Belgorod, Kursk and Voronezh.

Intense Russian bombing of Ukraine's northeastern border region of Sumy meanwhile has prompted Kiev to order mass evacuations.

Russia's Defence Ministry, posting on Telegram, said air defence units had intercepted 10 projectiles fired by Ukrainian multiple rocket launchers and one Tochka-U missile over the Belgorod region at about 10 pm [1900 GMT].

Within half an hour, the ministry said it had intercepted two more missiles, including a US-made Patriot, over the neighbouring Kursk region.

No casualties were reported in either incident. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in his nightly video address, decried "constant terrorist attacks and strikes" in the Sumy region.

"Since the beginning of the month, Russian aviation has already dropped almost 200 guided bombs on the communities of Sumy region," he said.

For our live updates from Tuesday, March 19, click here.