Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has raised the issue of evacuation of Indian students stranded in Sumy during his telephonic conversation with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday (March 7).

More than 500 Indian students are stranded in the besieged city. Indian government sources said PM Modi "sought continued support" from the Ukrainian government for the evacuation of Indian nationals from the city.&nbsp;

Prime Minister Modi thanked President Zelensky for the help extended by the government of Ukraine in the evacuation of Indian nationals.&nbsp;

India has launched 'Operation Ganga' to evacuate its nationals from the war-torn country who have crossed over to neighbouring countries like Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova.&nbsp;

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/ukraine-under-attack-indian-student-shot-at-in-kyiv-crosses-into-poland-thanks-officials-459758">Ukraine under attack: Indian student shot at in Kyiv crosses into Poland, thanks officials</a>

Under 'Operation Ganga', so far 76 Flights have brought over 15920 Indians back to India. Out of these 76 flights, 13 flights landed in the 24 hours.&nbsp;

In all, over 21000 Indians came out of Ukraine since the issuance of the advisory in January 2022. Out of these, 19920 Indians have already reached India.&nbsp;

The call between the two leaders lasted for 35 minutes during which the "evolving situation in Ukraine" was the top focus.&nbsp;

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It has been over a week since the Russian invasion of Ukraine started which has led to thousands leaving the country for neighbouring countries like Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Hungary. Prime Minister Modi appreciated the continuing direct dialogue between Russia and Ukraine.&nbsp;

Later today, PM will also speak to Russian President Putin. This will be the 3rd talk between the two leaders in the last two weeks.&nbsp;

During his first conversation with President Putin on February 24, PM appealed for cessation of violence and return to the path of diplomatic negotiations.&nbsp;

It was on February 24, Russia began the invasion of Ukraine. While the safety of Indian nationals has been the top focus of the talks, PM Modi has during the talks has emphasized "honest and sincere dialogue" according to the readout by the Indian side. The second conversation happened last week.&nbsp;

Ukraine has been requesting Indian support to defuse the crisis. Over the weekend, Ukraine's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba had urged PM Modi to reach out to Russian President Putin to stop the ongoing invasion of his country.&nbsp;

Pointing to the "special relations" between India and Russia, Ukraine foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba in response to WION question said, "All countries who enjoy special relations with India they can appeal to President Putin, PM Modi we call him to continue reaching out to President Putin and explaining to him that this war is against interest of all".&nbsp;

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has raised the issue of evacuation of Indian students stranded in Sumy during his telephonic conversation with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday (March 7).

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has raised the issue of evacuation of Indian students stranded in Sumy during his telephonic conversation with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday (March 7). More than 500 Indian students are stranded in the besieged city. Indian government sources said PM Modi "sought continued support" from the Ukrainian government for the evacuation of Indian nationals from the city. Prime Minister Modi thanked President Zelensky for the help extended by the government of Ukraine in the evacuation of Indian nationals. India has launched 'Operation Ganga' to evacuate its nationals from the war-torn country who have crossed over to neighbouring countries like Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova. ALSO READ | Ukraine under attack: Indian student shot at in Kyiv crosses into Poland, thanks officials Under 'Operation Ganga', so far 76 Flights have brought over 15920 Indians back to India. Out of these 76 flights, 13 flights landed in the 24 hours. In all, over 21000 Indians came out of Ukraine since the issuance of the advisory in January 2022. Out of these, 19920 Indians have already reached India. The call between the two leaders lasted for 35 minutes during which the "evolving situation in Ukraine" was the top focus. IN PICS | What are Czech hedgehogs?: Homemade obstacles that can destroy Russian tanks It has been over a week since the Russian invasion of Ukraine started which has led to thousands leaving the country for neighbouring countries like Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Hungary. Prime Minister Modi appreciated the continuing direct dialogue between Russia and Ukraine. Later today, PM will also speak to Russian President Putin. This will be the 3rd talk between the two leaders in the last two weeks. During his first conversation with President Putin on February 24, PM appealed for cessation of violence and return to the path of diplomatic negotiations. It was on February 24, Russia began the invasion of Ukraine. While the safety of Indian nationals has been the top focus of the talks, PM Modi has during the talks has emphasized "honest and sincere dialogue" according to the readout by the Indian side. The second conversation happened last week. Ukraine has been requesting Indian support to defuse the crisis. Over the weekend, Ukraine's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba had urged PM Modi to reach out to Russian President Putin to stop the ongoing invasion of his country. Pointing to the "special relations" between India and Russia, Ukraine foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba in response to WION question said, "All countries who enjoy special relations with India they can appeal to President Putin, PM Modi we call him to continue reaching out to President Putin and explaining to him that this war is against interest of all".

Evacuation of Indian students from Sumy raised by PM Modi with Ukraine President

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday (March 6) that Russia destroyed a civilian airport in Ukraine's Vinnytsia. He said that a barrage of Russian missiles has destroyed the airport.

"I have just been informed about a missile strike on Vinnytsia. Eight rockets... The airport was completely destroyed," he said. 
Several cities and airbases in Ukraine have been bombed, shelled or hit with ballistic missiles since Russia launched its 11-day-old invasion.

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&nbsp;

But Vinnytsia is in the western area of central Ukraine, far from the Russia and Belarus borders, in an area that has seen fewer such strikes.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/war-is-madness-please-stop-pope-francis-denounces-rivers-of-blood-and-tears-in-ukraine-459628">'War is madness, please stop': Pope Francis denounces 'rivers of blood and tears' in Ukraine</a>

Zelensky took the opportunity to renew his demand that Western powers enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine to prevent more Russian attacks.

“We repeat every day: close the sky over Ukraine. Close for all Russian missiles, for Russian combat aircraft, for all their terrorists," he said.

"If you don't, if you don't give us at least planes so we can protect ourselves, there's only one thing to conclude; you want us to be killed very slowly."

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On Sunday, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US envoy to UN said that there would be no US troops on land or in the air in Ukraine. She was speaking on a show on US news channel ABC.

She said doing this will "escalate this war and make this an American war against the Russians.". She was speaking during ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos.

"We've also been very clear that we will support Ukraine in every other way possible We have provided them over a billion dollars in support over the course of the past few days,"&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday (March 6) that Russia destroyed a civilian airport in Ukraine's Vinnytsia. He said that a barrage of Russian missiles has destroyed the airport.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday (March 6) that Russia destroyed a civilian airport in Ukraine's Vinnytsia. He said that a barrage of Russian missiles has destroyed the airport. "I have just been informed about a missile strike on Vinnytsia. Eight rockets... The airport was completely destroyed," he said. Several cities and airbases in Ukraine have been bombed, shelled or hit with ballistic missiles since Russia launched its 11-day-old invasion. × But Vinnytsia is in the western area of central Ukraine, far from the Russia and Belarus borders, in an area that has seen fewer such strikes. Also Read | 'War is madness, please stop': Pope Francis denounces 'rivers of blood and tears' in Ukraine Zelensky took the opportunity to renew his demand that Western powers enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine to prevent more Russian attacks. “We repeat every day: close the sky over Ukraine. Close for all Russian missiles, for Russian combat aircraft, for all their terrorists," he said. "If you don't, if you don't give us at least planes so we can protect ourselves, there's only one thing to conclude; you want us to be killed very slowly." Also Read | Blinken speaks of 'very credible reports' of war crimes in Ukraine conflict On Sunday, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US envoy to UN said that there would be no US troops on land or in the air in Ukraine. She was speaking on a show on US news channel ABC. She said doing this will "escalate this war and make this an American war against the Russians.". She was speaking during ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos. "We've also been very clear that we will support Ukraine in every other way possible We have provided them over a billion dollars in support over the course of the past few days," (With inputs from agencies)

Russia has destroyed civilian airport in Ukraine, says Zelensky

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US Ambassador to the United Nations said on Sunday (March 6) that US troops will not be 'on the ground or in the air' in Ukraine. She said doing this will "escalate this war and make this an American war against the Russians.". She was speaking during ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos.

"We've also been very clear that we will support Ukraine in every other way possible We have provided them over a billion dollars in support over the course of the past few days,"&nbsp;

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Thomas-Greenfield's remarks have come in response to Ukraine's requests to the West to toughen sanctions beyond existing efforts. &nbsp;It also requested more weapons, including a plea for Russian-made planes, to help it repel Russian forces.

The West, which calls Putin's reasons for invading baseless, has expanded effort to rearm Ukraine, sending in items from Stinger missiles to anti-tank weapons.

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But Washington and its NATO allies have resisted Ukraine's appeals for a no-fly zone for fear that it would escalate the conflict beyond Ukraine's borders.

"It's not just, some rule you pass that....it's the willingness to shoot down the aircraft of the Russian Federation, which is basically the beginning of World War Three," Senator Marco Rubio (Republican - Florida) said.

(With inputs from agencies)

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US Ambassador to the United Nations said on Sunday (March 6) that US troops will not be 'on the ground or in the air' in Ukraine. She said doing this will "escalate this war and make this an American war against the Russians.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US Ambassador to the United Nations said on Sunday (March 6) that US troops will not be 'on the ground or in the air' in Ukraine. She said doing this will "escalate this war and make this an American war against the Russians.". She was speaking during ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos. "We've also been very clear that we will support Ukraine in every other way possible We have provided them over a billion dollars in support over the course of the past few days," × Thomas-Greenfield's remarks have come in response to Ukraine's requests to the West to toughen sanctions beyond existing efforts. It also requested more weapons, including a plea for Russian-made planes, to help it repel Russian forces. The West, which calls Putin's reasons for invading baseless, has expanded effort to rearm Ukraine, sending in items from Stinger missiles to anti-tank weapons. Also Read | 3,000 Americans volunteer to fight invading Russian forces in Ukraine, says report But Washington and its NATO allies have resisted Ukraine's appeals for a no-fly zone for fear that it would escalate the conflict beyond Ukraine's borders. "It's not just, some rule you pass that....it's the willingness to shoot down the aircraft of the Russian Federation, which is basically the beginning of World War Three," Senator Marco Rubio (Republican - Florida) said. (With inputs from agencies)

No US troops will be 'on the ground or in the air' in Ukraine, says USA envoy to UN 

Russia and Ukraine traded blame for ceasefire breaches for a second day as a fresh attempt to evacuate Ukraine citizens from port city of Mariupol failed second time. More than 1.5 million people have fled Ukraine after Russia invaded the country on February 24.

The United Nations has already called Ukraine crisis "Europe's fastest-growing refugee crisis since World War 2"

Pope Francis on Sunday deplored the "rivers of blood and tears" flowing in Ukraine, as Washington cited "very credible reports" that Russia committed war crimes by deliberately attacking civilians.

Hundreds of civilians have been killed and thousands wounded, with hundreds of thousands of mostly women and children pouring into neighbouring countries such as Poland, Romania or Moldova for refuge.

After the West imposed unprecedented sanctions against businesses, banks and billionaires in a bid to choke off the Russian economy, US-based card payment giants Visa and Mastercard were the latest companies to announce they would suspend operations in Russia.

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World leaders vowed further punitive action if Vladimir Putin failed to change course but the Russian leader has equated global sanctions with a declaration of war and has warned that Kyiv is "putting in question the future of Ukrainian statehood".

With a wary eye on Russia's nuclear stocks, NATO allies have so far rebuffed Ukraine's calls for a no-fly zone. Putin has threatened "colossal and catastrophic consequences not only for Europe but also the whole world" if a no-fly zone is set up.

In the latest sign that sanctions were biting, Moscow said Sunday that retailers in Russia will restrict sales of essential goods including bread, rice and flour to limit black market speculation.

Cracking down on dissent at home, Russia detained around 2,500 people across the country for staging protests against its military assault on Ukraine.

The Ukrainian military said Sunday it was engaged in "fierce battles" with Russian forces for the control of borders at the southern city of Mykolaiv and Chernihiv in the north.

"The main efforts are focused on defending the city of Mariupol," it said in a Facebook post, adding an operation by Ukrainian forces was also underway in the eastern part of the Donetsk region.

'Bodies everywhere'

Efforts Saturday to get people out of Mariupol -- one of the most ferocious scenes of war -- collapsed almost immediately with both sides accusing each other of breaching a ceasefire agreement.

A fresh attempt on Sunday again failed.&nbsp;

The strategic city of Mariupol on the Azov Sea has for days been under siege and without electricity, food and water, with stop-start ceasefires.

In a telephone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, Putin blamed Kyiv for not keeping to "agreements reached on this acute humanitarian issue," the Kremlin said.&nbsp;

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/this-will-be-a-war-crime-ukraine-warns-russia-preparing-to-shell-port-city-odessa-459585">'This will be a war crime': Ukraine warns Russia preparing to shell port city Odessa</a>

But the governor of the eastern region Donetsk, Pavlo Kirilenko, said "the column to evacuate the population could not leave Mariupol... because the Russians regrouped their forces and started to bombard the city."

"It is extremely dangerous to get people out in these conditions," he said, adding that humanitarian aid from Zaporozhzhia also could not reach the people.

Very few refugees from the port city made it out on Saturday, but one family -- who did not give their names -- arrived in the central city of Dnipro and recounted their harrowing experience.

"We stayed in the basement for seven days with no heating, electricity or internet and ran out of food and water. We think we might be the only people to get out," one said.

"On the road, we saw there were bodies everywhere, Russians and Ukrainians. There was so much damage to the city. We saw that people had been buried in their basements."&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

Russia and Ukraine traded blame for ceasefire breaches for a second day as a fresh attempt to evacuate Ukraine citizens from port city of Mariupol failed second time.

Russia and Ukraine traded blame for ceasefire breaches for a second day as a fresh attempt to evacuate Ukraine citizens from port city of Mariupol failed second time. More than 1.5 million people have fled Ukraine after Russia invaded the country on February 24. The United Nations has already called Ukraine crisis "Europe's fastest-growing refugee crisis since World War 2" Pope Francis on Sunday deplored the "rivers of blood and tears" flowing in Ukraine, as Washington cited "very credible reports" that Russia committed war crimes by deliberately attacking civilians. Hundreds of civilians have been killed and thousands wounded, with hundreds of thousands of mostly women and children pouring into neighbouring countries such as Poland, Romania or Moldova for refuge. After the West imposed unprecedented sanctions against businesses, banks and billionaires in a bid to choke off the Russian economy, US-based card payment giants Visa and Mastercard were the latest companies to announce they would suspend operations in Russia. Also Read | 3,000 Americans volunteer to fight invading Russian forces in Ukraine, says report World leaders vowed further punitive action if Vladimir Putin failed to change course but the Russian leader has equated global sanctions with a declaration of war and has warned that Kyiv is "putting in question the future of Ukrainian statehood". With a wary eye on Russia's nuclear stocks, NATO allies have so far rebuffed Ukraine's calls for a no-fly zone. Putin has threatened "colossal and catastrophic consequences not only for Europe but also the whole world" if a no-fly zone is set up. In the latest sign that sanctions were biting, Moscow said Sunday that retailers in Russia will restrict sales of essential goods including bread, rice and flour to limit black market speculation. Cracking down on dissent at home, Russia detained around 2,500 people across the country for staging protests against its military assault on Ukraine. The Ukrainian military said Sunday it was engaged in "fierce battles" with Russian forces for the control of borders at the southern city of Mykolaiv and Chernihiv in the north. "The main efforts are focused on defending the city of Mariupol," it said in a Facebook post, adding an operation by Ukrainian forces was also underway in the eastern part of the Donetsk region. 'Bodies everywhere' Efforts Saturday to get people out of Mariupol -- one of the most ferocious scenes of war -- collapsed almost immediately with both sides accusing each other of breaching a ceasefire agreement. A fresh attempt on Sunday again failed. The strategic city of Mariupol on the Azov Sea has for days been under siege and without electricity, food and water, with stop-start ceasefires. In a telephone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, Putin blamed Kyiv for not keeping to "agreements reached on this acute humanitarian issue," the Kremlin said. Also Read | 'This will be a war crime': Ukraine warns Russia preparing to shell port city Odessa But the governor of the eastern region Donetsk, Pavlo Kirilenko, said "the column to evacuate the population could not leave Mariupol... because the Russians regrouped their forces and started to bombard the city." "It is extremely dangerous to get people out in these conditions," he said, adding that humanitarian aid from Zaporozhzhia also could not reach the people. Very few refugees from the port city made it out on Saturday, but one family -- who did not give their names -- arrived in the central city of Dnipro and recounted their harrowing experience. "We stayed in the basement for seven days with no heating, electricity or internet and ran out of food and water. We think we might be the only people to get out," one said. "On the road, we saw there were bodies everywhere, Russians and Ukrainians. There was so much damage to the city. We saw that people had been buried in their basements." (With inputs from agencies)

Ukraine conflict: Evacuation efforts from port city Mariupol fail for second time

As Russian missiles rain on Ukraine, there’s another battle brewing — in the cybersphere. Destructive malware has flooded hundreds of Ukrainian websites and computers since Vladimir Putin announced his invasion. It would be a mistake to assume such attacks will remain limited to Ukrainian targets.

Last week President Biden warned Mr. Putin against Russian cyberattacks on United States critical infrastructure. But American businesses aren’t ready for a war in cyberspace. Although Mr. Biden designated the Department of Homeland Security to lead what he vowed would be a forceful response to any such aggression, this isn’t enough. The D.H.S. doesn’t have the legal authority to order the private sector to follow its lead. More broadly, the federal government, even if warned by companies like Microsoft of incoming cyberattacks, doesn’t have the necessary infrastructure in place to protect American businesses from many of these attacks.

That the United States has to resort to threats of retaliation is itself a problem. America should already be cyberattack-proof, but coordinating these efforts across the country has been an uphill battle.

As the former general counsel of the National Security Agency, I witnessed daily the scope and sophistication of such maliciousness from Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. All of them leverage the various sectors of power at their disposal — including commercial and state-owned enterprises as well as spy agencies — to come out against US&nbsp;businesses and citizens in full force.

Yet the United States lacks an organized response. The weekly reports of ransomware attacks and data breaches make it clear that we’re losing this battle. That’s why America’s leaders must rethink the current cyberdefense system and rally around a centralized regulator to defend both citizens and the private sector against current and future attacks.

The decentralized nature of the American government does not lend itself to fighting foreign cyberthreats. Government agencies handle cyberregulation and threats in the sectors they oversee — an inefficient and ineffective way to address an issue that cuts across our entire economy. In just the past few months, the D.H.S.’s Transportation Security Agency announced new cybersecurity requirements for pipelines and railroads; the Federal Communications Commission put out its own proposal for telecommunication companies; the Securities and Exchange Commission voted on rules for investment advisers and funds; and the Federal Trade Commission threatened to legally pursue companies that fail to fix a newly detected software vulnerability found in many business applications. And on Capitol Hill, there are approximately 80 committees and subcommittees that claim jurisdiction over various aspects of cyberregulation.

These scattered efforts are unlikely to reduce, let alone stop, cybercrime.

Echoing a number of expert studies, our first national cyber director says that the United States needs a fresh approach that “meaningfully alters the relationship between public and private sectors.” But social and bureaucratic inertia, industry resistance and partisan divisions have stood in the way of centralizing cyberdefense efforts and regulations. At a recent congressional hearing, several industry representatives and Republican members of Congress objected to stricter requirements for notification of breaches. It’s time to move past partisanship and standard objections to regulation.

From a private-sector perspective, the case for a centralized effort makes sense as well. Almost every industry runs its computers on one of three operating systems: Windows, macOS and Linux. In many cases, they also use the same business software — a defense contractor’s payroll system isn’t much different from a pharmacy’s. That means vulnerabilities are similar across industries, and will therefore require similar solutions. A centralized government response center, then, makes sense. Getting information about hacks and vulnerabilities flowing quickly and effectively between the government and the private sector — as a central agency would — is essential to stopping cyberattacks before they spread too far. And such an agency would help standardize security products and services, which in turn would reduce the overall burden on businesses by lowering costs.

The overarching goal for a central cyberregulator would be to have standards uniformly applied, yet specifically tailored where necessary to the needs of a particular sector. I’m not envisioning a rigid one-size-fits-all policy, but it should be possible to design cross-industry regulation effective enough to safeguard the public without crimping innovation.

A number of other industrialized democracies are already adopting a centralized approach: With its recent Network and Information Security Directive, the European Union is now proposing uniform cybersecurity standards across industries and its 27 member nations. True, Americans tend to be more wary of regulation than Europeans are. But some of America’s closest allies — Britain, Canada and Australia — have also moved to consolidate their cybersecurity functions into one agency that works with the private sector, while retaining specialized functions for intelligence collection and law enforcement.

These moves shouldn’t be dismissed. While it is too early to fully assess the success of these new consolidating measures, the United States is clearly behind the curve: Britain has just adopted its second multiyear national cyberstrategy, while the United States struggles to come up with its first.

Blueprints already exist that could guide the creation of a central cyberregulator. The S.E.C. worked with investment banks and stock exchanges in its early years to fashion an entirely new disclosure framework for public companies in every industry. As a result, a public company’s prompt disclosure of market-moving news (good or bad) is now taken for granted — just as insider trading and covering up corporate developments were routine practices in the days before the securities laws.

Last month, the Environmental Protection Agency and its federal partners urged the nation’s 52,000 private and municipal water supply systems to bolster defenses against a potential Russian cyberattack that could disrupt or contaminate our drinking water. A central regulator would greatly simplify this process. It could ensure that the managers of each water system were fully aware of the critical details of a possible Russian attack. It could immediately disseminate critical information regarding the attack. And it could educate potential victims on how to minimize the spread of the attack.

None of this will be easy or put in place quickly. The Cyberspace Solarium Commission, established in 2019 to develop a bipartisan consensus on a strategic approach to defending the United States in cyberspace, recently reported that even some of its less extensive recommendations might require a “future emergency” to “create the political impetus needed to overcome existing barriers.”

Russia’s war on Ukraine might be that “future emergency.” If we don’t want to have to worry about Russian hackers contaminating our drinking water every time we turn on the faucet, now is the time to rethink our approach.

As Russian missiles rain on Ukraine, there’s another battle brewing — in the cybersphere. Destructive malware has flooded hundreds of Ukrainian websites and computers since Vladimir Putin announced his invasion.

As Russian missiles rain on Ukraine, there’s another battle brewing — in the cybersphere. Destructive malware has flooded hundreds of Ukrainian websites and computers since Vladimir Putin announced his invasion. It would be a mistake to assume such attacks will remain limited to Ukrainian targets. Last week President Biden warned Mr. Putin against Russian cyberattacks on United States critical infrastructure. But American businesses aren’t ready for a war in cyberspace. Although Mr. Biden designated the Department of Homeland Security to lead what he vowed would be a forceful response to any such aggression, this isn’t enough. The D.H.S. doesn’t have the legal authority to order the private sector to follow its lead. More broadly, the federal government, even if warned by companies like Microsoft of incoming cyberattacks, doesn’t have the necessary infrastructure in place to protect American businesses from many of these attacks. That the United States has to resort to threats of retaliation is itself a problem. America should already be cyberattack-proof, but coordinating these efforts across the country has been an uphill battle. As the former general counsel of the National Security Agency, I witnessed daily the scope and sophistication of such maliciousness from Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. All of them leverage the various sectors of power at their disposal — including commercial and state-owned enterprises as well as spy agencies — to come out against US businesses and citizens in full force. Yet the United States lacks an organized response. The weekly reports of ransomware attacks and data breaches make it clear that we’re losing this battle. That’s why America’s leaders must rethink the current cyberdefense system and rally around a centralized regulator to defend both citizens and the private sector against current and future attacks. The decentralized nature of the American government does not lend itself to fighting foreign cyberthreats. Government agencies handle cyberregulation and threats in the sectors they oversee — an inefficient and ineffective way to address an issue that cuts across our entire economy. In just the past few months, the D.H.S.’s Transportation Security Agency announced new cybersecurity requirements for pipelines and railroads; the Federal Communications Commission put out its own proposal for telecommunication companies; the Securities and Exchange Commission voted on rules for investment advisers and funds; and the Federal Trade Commission threatened to legally pursue companies that fail to fix a newly detected software vulnerability found in many business applications. And on Capitol Hill, there are approximately 80 committees and subcommittees that claim jurisdiction over various aspects of cyberregulation. These scattered efforts are unlikely to reduce, let alone stop, cybercrime. Echoing a number of expert studies, our first national cyber director says that the United States needs a fresh approach that “meaningfully alters the relationship between public and private sectors.” But social and bureaucratic inertia, industry resistance and partisan divisions have stood in the way of centralizing cyberdefense efforts and regulations. At a recent congressional hearing, several industry representatives and Republican members of Congress objected to stricter requirements for notification of breaches. It’s time to move past partisanship and standard objections to regulation. From a private-sector perspective, the case for a centralized effort makes sense as well. Almost every industry runs its computers on one of three operating systems: Windows, macOS and Linux. In many cases, they also use the same business software — a defense contractor’s payroll system isn’t much different from a pharmacy’s. That means vulnerabilities are similar across industries, and will therefore require similar solutions. A centralized government response center, then, makes sense. Getting information about hacks and vulnerabilities flowing quickly and effectively between the government and the private sector — as a central agency would — is essential to stopping cyberattacks before they spread too far. And such an agency would help standardize security products and services, which in turn would reduce the overall burden on businesses by lowering costs. The overarching goal for a central cyberregulator would be to have standards uniformly applied, yet specifically tailored where necessary to the needs of a particular sector. I’m not envisioning a rigid one-size-fits-all policy, but it should be possible to design cross-industry regulation effective enough to safeguard the public without crimping innovation. A number of other industrialized democracies are already adopting a centralized approach: With its recent Network and Information Security Directive, the European Union is now proposing uniform cybersecurity standards across industries and its 27 member nations. True, Americans tend to be more wary of regulation than Europeans are. But some of America’s closest allies — Britain, Canada and Australia — have also moved to consolidate their cybersecurity functions into one agency that works with the private sector, while retaining specialized functions for intelligence collection and law enforcement. These moves shouldn’t be dismissed. While it is too early to fully assess the success of these new consolidating measures, the United States is clearly behind the curve: Britain has just adopted its second multiyear national cyberstrategy, while the United States struggles to come up with its first. Blueprints already exist that could guide the creation of a central cyberregulator. The S.E.C. worked with investment banks and stock exchanges in its early years to fashion an entirely new disclosure framework for public companies in every industry. As a result, a public company’s prompt disclosure of market-moving news (good or bad) is now taken for granted — just as insider trading and covering up corporate developments were routine practices in the days before the securities laws. Last month, the Environmental Protection Agency and its federal partners urged the nation’s 52,000 private and municipal water supply systems to bolster defenses against a potential Russian cyberattack that could disrupt or contaminate our drinking water. A central regulator would greatly simplify this process. It could ensure that the managers of each water system were fully aware of the critical details of a possible Russian attack. It could immediately disseminate critical information regarding the attack. And it could educate potential victims on how to minimize the spread of the attack. None of this will be easy or put in place quickly. The Cyberspace Solarium Commission, established in 2019 to develop a bipartisan consensus on a strategic approach to defending the United States in cyberspace, recently reported that even some of its less extensive recommendations might require a “future emergency” to “create the political impetus needed to overcome existing barriers.” Russia’s war on Ukraine might be that “future emergency.” If we don’t want to have to worry about Russian hackers contaminating our drinking water every time we turn on the faucet, now is the time to rethink our approach.

I’ve dealt with foreign cyberattacks. America isn’t ready for what’s coming

French President Emmanuel Macron made a fresh phone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday (March 6) and both leaders spoke for 1 hour 45 minutes, said the Elysee.

A presidential official was quoted by AFP as saying that the call came at Macron's request. This is the fourth time leaders of both countries have spoken with each other since Russia's Ukrain invasion on February 24.

It came after a tense call on March 3 which the Elysee said had left Macron feeling "the worst is to come" in Ukraine with Putin intent on seizing "the whole" of the country.

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Appeals to stop war are coming from worldover. On Sunday, Pope Francis denounced 'rivers of blood and tears' in Ukraine

"War is madness, please stop," the pope said.

He rejected Russia's assertion that Ukraine attack was a special military operation.&nbsp;

"In Ukraine rivers of blood and tears are flowing. This is not only a military operation but a war which sows death, destruction and misery," the pope said in his weekly address to crowds gathered in St. Peter's Square.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/this-will-be-a-war-crime-ukraine-warns-russia-preparing-to-shell-port-city-odessa-459585">'This will be a war crime': Ukraine warns Russia preparing to shell port city Odessa</a>

Pope repeated his demand that humanitarian corridors must be established in the warzone.

"In that martyred country the need for humanitarian assistance is growing by the hour," the pope said, speaking from a window overlooking the square. "Let common sense prevail, let us return to the respect of international law."

There were many more people than normal gathered infront of St. Peter's Basilica for the pope's Sunday appearance, with some holding aloft multi-coloured peace flags as well as the blue and yellow flag of Ukraine.

(With inputs from agencies)

French President Emmanuel Macron made a fresh phone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday (March 6) and both leaders spoke for 1 hour 45 minutes, said the Elysee.

French President Emmanuel Macron made a fresh phone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday (March 6) and both leaders spoke for 1 hour 45 minutes, said the Elysee. A presidential official was quoted by AFP as saying that the call came at Macron's request. This is the fourth time leaders of both countries have spoken with each other since Russia's Ukrain invasion on February 24. It came after a tense call on March 3 which the Elysee said had left Macron feeling "the worst is to come" in Ukraine with Putin intent on seizing "the whole" of the country. Also Read | Bennett says Israel will try to mediate on Ukraine even if prospect slim Appeals to stop war are coming from worldover. On Sunday, Pope Francis denounced 'rivers of blood and tears' in Ukraine "War is madness, please stop," the pope said. He rejected Russia's assertion that Ukraine attack was a special military operation. "In Ukraine rivers of blood and tears are flowing. This is not only a military operation but a war which sows death, destruction and misery," the pope said in his weekly address to crowds gathered in St. Peter's Square. Also Read | 'This will be a war crime': Ukraine warns Russia preparing to shell port city Odessa Pope repeated his demand that humanitarian corridors must be established in the warzone. "In that martyred country the need for humanitarian assistance is growing by the hour," the pope said, speaking from a window overlooking the square. "Let common sense prevail, let us return to the respect of international law." There were many more people than normal gathered infront of St. Peter's Basilica for the pope's Sunday appearance, with some holding aloft multi-coloured peace flags as well as the blue and yellow flag of Ukraine. (With inputs from agencies)

Ukraine conflict: Macron calls Putin again, speaks for 1 hour 45 minutes

Pope Francis on Sunday deplored 'rivers of blood and tears' in Ukraine and rejected Russia's assertion that it was just "a special military operation"

"In Ukraine rivers of blood and tears are flowing. This is not only a military operation but a war which sows death, destruction and misery," the pope said in his weekly address to crowds gathered in St. Peter's Square.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/3000-americans-volunteer-to-fight-invading-russian-forces-in-ukraine-says-report-459533">3,000 Americans volunteer to fight invading Russian forces in Ukraine, says report</a>

However, as has been the case throughout the 11-day conflict, Francis did not publicly condemn Russia by name for its invasion.

Instead, he repeated his appeal for peace, the creation of humanitarian corridors and a return to negotiations.

"In that martyred country the need for humanitarian assistance is growing by the hour," the pope said, speaking from a window overlooking the square. "Let common sense prevail, let us return to the respect of international law."

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/this-will-be-a-war-crime-ukraine-warns-russia-preparing-to-shell-port-city-odessa-459585">'This will be a war crime': Ukraine warns Russia preparing to shell port city Odessa</a>

There were many more people than normal gathered infront of St. Peter's Basilica for the pope's Sunday appearance, with some holding aloft multi-coloured peace flags as well as the blue and yellow flag of Ukraine.

"The Holy See is willing to do all everything to put itself at the service of peace," the pope said, adding that two Roman Catholic cardinals had gone to Ukraine to help those in need.

"War is madness, please stop," the pope said.

(With inputs from agencies)

Pope Francis on Sunday deplored 'rivers of blood and tears' in Ukraine and rejected Russia's assertion that it was just "a special military operation" "In Ukraine rivers of blood and tears are flowing.

Pope Francis on Sunday deplored 'rivers of blood and tears' in Ukraine and rejected Russia's assertion that it was just "a special military operation" "In Ukraine rivers of blood and tears are flowing. This is not only a military operation but a war which sows death, destruction and misery," the pope said in his weekly address to crowds gathered in St. Peter's Square. Also Read | 3,000 Americans volunteer to fight invading Russian forces in Ukraine, says report However, as has been the case throughout the 11-day conflict, Francis did not publicly condemn Russia by name for its invasion. Instead, he repeated his appeal for peace, the creation of humanitarian corridors and a return to negotiations. "In that martyred country the need for humanitarian assistance is growing by the hour," the pope said, speaking from a window overlooking the square. "Let common sense prevail, let us return to the respect of international law." Also Read | 'This will be a war crime': Ukraine warns Russia preparing to shell port city Odessa There were many more people than normal gathered infront of St. Peter's Basilica for the pope's Sunday appearance, with some holding aloft multi-coloured peace flags as well as the blue and yellow flag of Ukraine. "The Holy See is willing to do all everything to put itself at the service of peace," the pope said, adding that two Roman Catholic cardinals had gone to Ukraine to help those in need. "War is madness, please stop," the pope said. (With inputs from agencies)

'War is madness, please stop': Pope Francis denounces 'rivers of blood and tears' in Ukraine

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the U.S.-funded media outlet founded in the Cold War to deliver news into communist-controlled countries, announced that it would cease its operations in Russia as the country cracks down on information following its invasion of Ukraine.

Jamie Fly, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty president and CEO, said in a statement Sunday that the move was a result of “the Putin regime’s assault on the truth.”

Since its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has moved swiftly to limit free speech and dissent, forcing Western companies to reassess. Bloomberg News, the BBC, CNN International and ABC News have also suspended their news reporting operations inside Russia. The Kremlin has blocked access to Facebook inside the country.

The suspension strikes at the heart of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Radio Free Europe was founded by U.S. officials in 1950 and had broadcast into Eastern bloc countries including Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland. Three years later, Radio Liberty, which was also founded by U.S. officials and was a separate organization, began broadcasting into the Soviet Union.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, the now united Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty created new bureaus in countries just beginning to build their democracies. They trained journalists and tried to help develop local media.

Back then, President Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic thanked the organization for its role during the Cold War. He even offered the former parliament building as a headquarters for Radio Free Europe.

“We need your professionalism and your ability to see events from a broad perspective,” Havel said.

In recent weeks, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty said it had faced increasing pressure in Russia.

Friday, local tax officials initiated bankruptcy proceedings against one of its Russian entities, the group said. That is the same day that President Vladimir Putin of Russia signed a new law to punish anyone spreading “false information” about its Ukraine invasion with up to 15 years in prison.

The organization also said that it refused requests by the Russian government to delete information about the Ukraine invasion. After the refusal, Russian authorities blocked access within the country to its websites, the organization said.

In the statement, Fly said the Russian government is “now branding honest journalists as traitors to the Russian state,” adding that its journalists will “continue to tell the truth about Russia’s catastrophic invasion of its neighbour” from outside of the country.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the U.S.-funded media outlet founded in the Cold War to deliver news into communist-controlled countries, announced that it would cease its operations in Russia as the country cracks down on information following its invasion of Ukraine.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the U.S.-funded media outlet founded in the Cold War to deliver news into communist-controlled countries, announced that it would cease its operations in Russia as the country cracks down on information following its invasion of Ukraine. Jamie Fly, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty president and CEO, said in a statement Sunday that the move was a result of “the Putin regime’s assault on the truth.” Since its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has moved swiftly to limit free speech and dissent, forcing Western companies to reassess. Bloomberg News, the BBC, CNN International and ABC News have also suspended their news reporting operations inside Russia. The Kremlin has blocked access to Facebook inside the country. The suspension strikes at the heart of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Radio Free Europe was founded by U.S. officials in 1950 and had broadcast into Eastern bloc countries including Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland. Three years later, Radio Liberty, which was also founded by U.S. officials and was a separate organization, began broadcasting into the Soviet Union. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the now united Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty created new bureaus in countries just beginning to build their democracies. They trained journalists and tried to help develop local media. Back then, President Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic thanked the organization for its role during the Cold War. He even offered the former parliament building as a headquarters for Radio Free Europe. “We need your professionalism and your ability to see events from a broad perspective,” Havel said. In recent weeks, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty said it had faced increasing pressure in Russia. Friday, local tax officials initiated bankruptcy proceedings against one of its Russian entities, the group said. That is the same day that President Vladimir Putin of Russia signed a new law to punish anyone spreading “false information” about its Ukraine invasion with up to 15 years in prison. The organization also said that it refused requests by the Russian government to delete information about the Ukraine invasion. After the refusal, Russian authorities blocked access within the country to its websites, the organization said. In the statement, Fly said the Russian government is “now branding honest journalists as traitors to the Russian state,” adding that its journalists will “continue to tell the truth about Russia’s catastrophic invasion of its neighbour” from outside of the country.

Radio Free Europe, with roots in the Cold War, suspends operations in Russia

The Mariupol port city of Ukraine, which is surrounded by Russian troops, will begin efforts to evacuate its civilian population on Sunday afternoon, after earlier attempts were thwarted by ceasefire violations.

Around 400,000 residents are currently trapped in the city. The evacuation would start at 12 pm local time (10 am GMT) on Sunday under a temporary ceasefire that will last till 9 pm ( 7 pm GMT)

"From 1200 (1000 GMT) the evacuation of the civilian population begins," city officials said in a statement, which said a ceasefire was agreed with Russian-led forces surrounding the city.

An earlier attempt to evacuate civilians by buses and cars along the road northwest towards Zaporizhzhia was halted on Saturday after both sides accused each other of shelling.

Ukrainian authorities accused the Russians of shelling even when civilians were gathering to form an escape convoy, but Moscow's defence ministry accused the city's defenders of exploiting a "human shield".

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/3000-americans-volunteer-to-fight-invading-russian-forces-in-ukraine-says-report-459533">3,000 Americans volunteer to fight invading Russian forces in Ukraine: Report</a>

Meanwhile, British intelligence has claimed that Russian forces were targeting populated areas in Ukraine but that the strength of resistance was slowing the Russian advance, reported Reuters.

"The scale and strength of Ukrainian resistance continue to surprise Russia," British military intelligence said in an update.

Russia "has responded by targeting populated areas in multiple locations, including Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol."

Russia has repeatedly denied that it is targeting civilian areas.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/indian-african-students-allege-racism-at-ukrainian-border-459437" hreflang="en">Indian, African students allege racism at Ukrainian border</a>

If Russian forces succeed in capturing Mariupol which held out against rebel forces in the previous 2014 conflict, they will control Ukraine's entire Azov Sea coast.

This would give them a landbridge from Russia to Russian-annexed Crimea and an important supply route and port if they decide to push north in a bid to take all of eastern Ukraine.

(With inputs from agencies)

The Mariupol port city of Ukraine, which is surrounded by Russian troops, will begin efforts to evacuate its civilian population on Sunday afternoon, after earlier attempts were thwarted by ceasefire violations.

The Mariupol port city of Ukraine, which is surrounded by Russian troops, will begin efforts to evacuate its civilian population on Sunday afternoon, after earlier attempts were thwarted by ceasefire violations. Around 400,000 residents are currently trapped in the city. The evacuation would start at 12 pm local time (10 am GMT) on Sunday under a temporary ceasefire that will last till 9 pm ( 7 pm GMT) "From 1200 (1000 GMT) the evacuation of the civilian population begins," city officials said in a statement, which said a ceasefire was agreed with Russian-led forces surrounding the city. An earlier attempt to evacuate civilians by buses and cars along the road northwest towards Zaporizhzhia was halted on Saturday after both sides accused each other of shelling. Ukrainian authorities accused the Russians of shelling even when civilians were gathering to form an escape convoy, but Moscow's defence ministry accused the city's defenders of exploiting a "human shield". Also read | 3,000 Americans volunteer to fight invading Russian forces in Ukraine: Report Meanwhile, British intelligence has claimed that Russian forces were targeting populated areas in Ukraine but that the strength of resistance was slowing the Russian advance, reported Reuters. "The scale and strength of Ukrainian resistance continue to surprise Russia," British military intelligence said in an update. Russia "has responded by targeting populated areas in multiple locations, including Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol." Russia has repeatedly denied that it is targeting civilian areas. Also read | Indian, African students allege racism at Ukrainian border If Russian forces succeed in capturing Mariupol which held out against rebel forces in the previous 2014 conflict, they will control Ukraine's entire Azov Sea coast. This would give them a landbridge from Russia to Russian-annexed Crimea and an important supply route and port if they decide to push north in a bid to take all of eastern Ukraine. (With inputs from agencies)

Ukraine’s Mariupol port city to resume evacuation today after ceasefire breach

Amid heightened tensions in eastern Europe, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday (March 4) reacted sharply to the decision of NATO to reject the no-fly zone over Ukraine.&nbsp;

Zelensky said that the alliance had given Russia the green light to continue relentless attacks and bombing on the Ukrainian cities, that has killed hundreds of civilians, including children and led to massive migration of people.&nbsp;

During a televised address on Friday, Zelensky said, "Today there was a NATO summit, a weak summit, a confused summit, a summit where it was clear that not everyone considers the battle for Europe's freedom to be the number one goal."&nbsp;

"Today, the leadership of the alliance gave the green light for further bombing of Ukrainian cities and villages, having refused to set up a no-fly zone," he added.&nbsp;

ALSO READ | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/russia-ukraine-conflict-at-least-three-plots-to-assassinate-ukrainian-president-zelensky-foiled-say-reports-459114">At least three plots to assassinate Ukrainian President Zelensky foiled, say reports</a>

Russia invaded Ukraine by land, sea and air after President Vladimir Putin ordered "military operations" on February 24. Zelensky had appealed to NATO to set up a no-fly zone over Ukraine.&nbsp;

However, on Friday, NATO rejected Ukraine's call to help it protect its skies from Russian missiles and warplanes.&nbsp;

Russia has shelled residential areas and civilian infrastructure, as well as captured two nuclear sites.

While the West condemned Putin, members of the 30-strong NATO are bound to defend each other in case of attack and are wary of sinking into a war with nuclear-armed Russia. The EU threatened more sanctions but it was not clear what it could do.&nbsp;

IN PICS |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/this-is-ukraines-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-power-plant-the-largest-nuke-power-plant-in-europe-targetted-by-russia-458806">Significance of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia NPP, the largest nuke power plant in Europe targetted by Russia</a>

WATCH |&nbsp;Gravitas: WION Ground Report from Lviv

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(With inputs from agencies)

Amid heightened tensions in eastern Europe, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday (March 4) reacted sharply to the decision of NATO to reject the no-fly zone over Ukraine.

Amid heightened tensions in eastern Europe, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday (March 4) reacted sharply to the decision of NATO to reject the no-fly zone over Ukraine. Zelensky said that the alliance had given Russia the green light to continue relentless attacks and bombing on the Ukrainian cities, that has killed hundreds of civilians, including children and led to massive migration of people. During a televised address on Friday, Zelensky said, "Today there was a NATO summit, a weak summit, a confused summit, a summit where it was clear that not everyone considers the battle for Europe's freedom to be the number one goal." "Today, the leadership of the alliance gave the green light for further bombing of Ukrainian cities and villages, having refused to set up a no-fly zone," he added. ALSO READ | At least three plots to assassinate Ukrainian President Zelensky foiled, say reports Russia invaded Ukraine by land, sea and air after President Vladimir Putin ordered "military operations" on February 24. Zelensky had appealed to NATO to set up a no-fly zone over Ukraine. However, on Friday, NATO rejected Ukraine's call to help it protect its skies from Russian missiles and warplanes. Russia has shelled residential areas and civilian infrastructure, as well as captured two nuclear sites. While the West condemned Putin, members of the 30-strong NATO are bound to defend each other in case of attack and are wary of sinking into a war with nuclear-armed Russia. The EU threatened more sanctions but it was not clear what it could do. IN PICS | Significance of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia NPP, the largest nuke power plant in Europe targetted by Russia WATCH | Gravitas: WION Ground Report from Lviv × (With inputs from agencies)

'Green light for bombing': Zelensky lashes out at NATO for ruling out Ukraine no-fly zone

Amid the escalating tensions, Russia's defence ministry said that Moscow has declared a partial ceasefire on Saturday (March 5) to allow humanitarian corridors out of the Ukrainian cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha,&nbsp;Russia's RIA news agency reported.&nbsp;

As Russia's invasion of Ukraine entered into its 10th day, a channel for humanitarian corridors for the safe evacuation of civilians was agreed upon by Russian and Ukrainian officials during their second round of talks on Saturday (March 5).&nbsp;

Russia's defence ministry announced a ceasefire Saturday to allow residents of two besieged cities, including the strategic port town of Mariupol, to evacuate.&nbsp;

WATCH |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/watch-missile-interrupted-kharkiv-bloggers-live-recording-during-russia-ukraine-conflict-459197">Missile interrupted Kharkiv blogger's live recording during Russia-Ukraine conflict</a>

"Today, March 5, from 10 am Moscow time, the Russian side declares a regime of silence and opens humanitarian corridors for the exit of civilians from Mariupol and Volnovakha," the ministry said.&nbsp;

The Ukrainian government said the plan was to evacuate around 200,000 people from Mariupol and 15,000 from Volnovakha, and the Red Cross is the&nbsp;ceasefire's guarantor.&nbsp;

However, there was no immediate confirmation that firing had stopped and it was not clear if the ceasefire would be extended to other areas.&nbsp;

WATCH |&nbsp;How many civilians, troops have died till now?&nbsp;

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&nbsp;

Amid the escalating tensions, Russia's defence ministry said that Moscow has declared a partial ceasefire on Saturday (March 5) to allow humanitarian corridors out of the Ukrainian cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha, Russia's RIA news agency reported.

Amid the escalating tensions, Russia's defence ministry said that Moscow has declared a partial ceasefire on Saturday (March 5) to allow humanitarian corridors out of the Ukrainian cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha, Russia's RIA news agency reported. As Russia's invasion of Ukraine entered into its 10th day, a channel for humanitarian corridors for the safe evacuation of civilians was agreed upon by Russian and Ukrainian officials during their second round of talks on Saturday (March 5). Russia's defence ministry announced a ceasefire Saturday to allow residents of two besieged cities, including the strategic port town of Mariupol, to evacuate. WATCH | Missile interrupted Kharkiv blogger's live recording during Russia-Ukraine conflict "Today, March 5, from 10 am Moscow time, the Russian side declares a regime of silence and opens humanitarian corridors for the exit of civilians from Mariupol and Volnovakha," the ministry said. The Ukrainian government said the plan was to evacuate around 200,000 people from Mariupol and 15,000 from Volnovakha, and the Red Cross is the ceasefire's guarantor. However, there was no immediate confirmation that firing had stopped and it was not clear if the ceasefire would be extended to other areas. WATCH | How many civilians, troops have died till now? ×

Ukraine crisis: Russia declares ceasefire in two Ukrainian cities for evacuations

Ukraine under attack: Here's how Ukrainian sports stars joining fight against Russia

China has reacted to the accusations that it asked Russia to delay its invasion of Ukraine until after the recently concluded Beijing Winter Olympics.&nbsp;

On Wednesday (March 2), a &nbsp;US-based paper The New York Times reported that Chinese officials had asked senior Russian officials not to invade Ukraine before the end of the Winter Olympics.&nbsp;

To validate the accusation, the paper cited senior officials in the administration of United States President Joe Biden as well as a European official.&nbsp;

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/russia-ukraine-conflict-is-this-vladimir-putins-next-massive-plan-458569?UTM_SRC=breakingnews">Russia-Ukraine conflict: Is this Vladimir Putin's next massive plan?</a>

As per the report, China might have had some level of direct knowledge about Russia's war plans or intentions before the invasion started on February 24 after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered "military operations" in Ukraine.&nbsp;

The invasion started last week just four days after the Beijing Winter Olympics' closing ceremony as eyebrows are raised whether or not the reports are true.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, on being asked about the same at a press briefing on Thursday (March 3), Beijing dismissed the report. "The New York Times report is complete fake news. These kinds of diversionary, blame-shifting remarks are thoroughly despicable," said foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin.&nbsp;

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/constructive-conversation-quad-leaders-discuss-ukraine-situation-458750">'Constructive conversation': Quad leaders discuss Ukraine situation</a>

On the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, Beijing has taken a neutral stance and President Xi Jinping held a meeting last month with his Russian counterpart where the pair agreed to a "no limits" partnership.&nbsp;

Since then, Beijing has not condemned the invasion of Ukraine but has stopped short of outright support.&nbsp;

China was among 35 countries that abstained, while just five - Eritrea, North Korea, Syria, Belarus and Russia - voted against it.

The conflict has caused more than one million people to flee Ukraine, according to the United Nations.&nbsp;

WATCH | Russia, Belarus out of Winter Paralympics amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine

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China has reacted to the accusations that it asked Russia to delay its invasion of Ukraine until after the recently concluded Beijing Winter Olympics. On Wednesday (March 2), a US-based paper The New York Times reported that Chinese officials had asked senior Russian officials not to invade Ukraine before the end of the Winter Olympics.

China has reacted to the accusations that it asked Russia to delay its invasion of Ukraine until after the recently concluded Beijing Winter Olympics. On Wednesday (March 2), a US-based paper The New York Times reported that Chinese officials had asked senior Russian officials not to invade Ukraine before the end of the Winter Olympics. To validate the accusation, the paper cited senior officials in the administration of United States President Joe Biden as well as a European official. ALSO READ | Russia-Ukraine conflict: Is this Vladimir Putin's next massive plan? As per the report, China might have had some level of direct knowledge about Russia's war plans or intentions before the invasion started on February 24 after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered "military operations" in Ukraine. The invasion started last week just four days after the Beijing Winter Olympics' closing ceremony as eyebrows are raised whether or not the reports are true. Meanwhile, on being asked about the same at a press briefing on Thursday (March 3), Beijing dismissed the report. "The New York Times report is complete fake news. These kinds of diversionary, blame-shifting remarks are thoroughly despicable," said foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin. ALSO READ | 'Constructive conversation': Quad leaders discuss Ukraine situation On the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, Beijing has taken a neutral stance and President Xi Jinping held a meeting last month with his Russian counterpart where the pair agreed to a "no limits" partnership. Since then, Beijing has not condemned the invasion of Ukraine but has stopped short of outright support. China was among 35 countries that abstained, while just five - Eritrea, North Korea, Syria, Belarus and Russia - voted against it. The conflict has caused more than one million people to flee Ukraine, according to the United Nations. WATCH | Russia, Belarus out of Winter Paralympics amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine ×

China reacts to accusations that it asked Russia to stall Ukraine attack till after Winter Olympics

Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

Amid the ongoing Russia and Ukraine conflict, an Indian student has been hospitalised after he was shot in the capital city of Ukraine.&nbsp;

The student has been identified as&nbsp;Harjot Singh, who said as quoted by ANI: "No support from the Indian embassy yet. I have been trying to get in touch with them, every day they say we will do something but no help yet."&nbsp;

While responding to his video, India's ministry of external affairs noted that the government of India "will be bearing expenses for Harjot Singh's medical treatment" (in Kyiv, Ukraine).

"We are trying to ascertain his medical status... Our embassy is trying to get an update on his health status...trying to reach out but facing trouble as it's a conflict zone," the ministry added.&nbsp;

A few days ago, an Indian student lost his life as the&nbsp;situation continues to escalate after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered "military operations" in Ukraine.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, the Indian government has been evacuating its citizen from war-torn Ukraine.&nbsp;

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/pm-modi-discusses-ukraine-situation-with-quad-leaders-458707">PM Modi discusses Ukraine situation with Quad leaders</a>

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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WATCH?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WATCH</a> "No support from the Indian embassy yet. I have been trying to get in touch with them, every day they say we will do something but no help yet," says Harjot Singh, an Indian who sustained multiple bullet injuries in war-torn Ukraine, receiving treatment at a Kyiv hospital <a href="https://t.co/8oc9urO74s">pic.twitter.com/8oc9urO74s</a>
— ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1499705696925122561?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 4, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Minister of State (MoS) for Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) General VK Singh revealed the information to ANI at Poland's Rzeszow airport on Thursday (March 3).&nbsp;

"A student from Kyiv was reported to have been shot and was immediately admitted to the hospital in Kyiv," General (retd) Singh said.&nbsp;

"The Indian embassy had earlier cleared on the priority that everyone should leave Kyiv. In the event of war, the gun bullet does not look at anyone's religion and nationality," he added.&nbsp;

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/polish-varsities-to-help-indian-students-from-ukraine-complete-their-studies-minister-vk-singh-458678">Polish varsities to help Indian students from Ukraine complete their studies: Minister VK Singh</a>

The students are currently fleeing Ukraine and trying to reach the border of Poland for their safe return to India.&nbsp;

Four Union Ministers, Hardeep Singh Puri, Jyotiraditya M Scindia, Kiren Rijiju and Gen (Retd) VK Singh - are overseeing the evacuation efforts in the countries adjoining Ukraine.&nbsp;

WATCH |&nbsp;Russia-Ukraine Conflict: Zelensky asks Putin for direct talks as invasion enters day 9

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Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos. Amid the ongoing Russia and Ukraine conflict, an Indian student has been hospitalised after he was shot in the capital city of Ukraine. The student has been identified as Harjot Singh, who said as quoted by ANI: "No support from the Indian embassy yet. I have been trying to get in touch with them, every day they say we will do something but no help yet." While responding to his video, India's ministry of external affairs noted that the government of India "will be bearing expenses for Harjot Singh's medical treatment" (in Kyiv, Ukraine). "We are trying to ascertain his medical status... Our embassy is trying to get an update on his health status...trying to reach out but facing trouble as it's a conflict zone," the ministry added. A few days ago, an Indian student lost his life as the situation continues to escalate after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered "military operations" in Ukraine. Meanwhile, the Indian government has been evacuating its citizen from war-torn Ukraine. ALSO READ | PM Modi discusses Ukraine situation with Quad leaders #WATCH "No support from the Indian embassy yet. I have been trying to get in touch with them, every day they say we will do something but no help yet," says Harjot Singh, an Indian who sustained multiple bullet injuries in war-torn Ukraine, receiving treatment at a Kyiv hospital pic.twitter.com/8oc9urO74s — ANI (@ANI) March 4, 2022 × Minister of State (MoS) for Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) General VK Singh revealed the information to ANI at Poland's Rzeszow airport on Thursday (March 3). "A student from Kyiv was reported to have been shot and was immediately admitted to the hospital in Kyiv," General (retd) Singh said. "The Indian embassy had earlier cleared on the priority that everyone should leave Kyiv. In the event of war, the gun bullet does not look at anyone's religion and nationality," he added. ALSO READ | Polish varsities to help Indian students from Ukraine complete their studies: Minister VK Singh The students are currently fleeing Ukraine and trying to reach the border of Poland for their safe return to India. Four Union Ministers, Hardeep Singh Puri, Jyotiraditya M Scindia, Kiren Rijiju and Gen (Retd) VK Singh - are overseeing the evacuation efforts in the countries adjoining Ukraine. WATCH | Russia-Ukraine Conflict: Zelensky asks Putin for direct talks as invasion enters day 9 ×

Russia-Ukraine conflict: Indian student shot in Kyiv, hospitalised - Video

Russian lawmakers moved Friday to impose harsh&nbsp;jail&nbsp;terms for publishing "fake&nbsp;news" about the&nbsp;army, which a senior lawmaker said will apply to foreigners too, as Moscow moves to muffle dissent over its&nbsp;invasion of Ukraine.

The new legislation sets out&nbsp;jail&nbsp;terms of varying lengths and fines against people who publish "knowingly false information" about the military.

"If the fakes led to serious consequences, (the legislation) threatens imprisonment of up to 15 years," the lower house of parliament said in a statement.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/russia-to-stage-public-executions-in-ukraine-crackdowns-and-detaining-opponents-also-a-part-of-plan-458907">Russia to stage public executions in Ukraine; crackdowns and detaining opponents also a part of plan</a>

Speaking at the session, the head of the head of the parliament's information committee Alexander Khinshtein said the law "concerns all citizens, not only Russian ones, because we are talking about actions against&nbsp;Russia."

Amendments were also passed to fine or&nbsp;jail&nbsp;&nbsp;people calling for sanctions against&nbsp;Russia&nbsp;with&nbsp;jail&nbsp;terms.

The past year has seen an unprecedented crackdown on independent and critical voices in&nbsp;Russia&nbsp;that has intensified since the invasion.

The chairman of parliament Vyacheslav Volodin railed against foreign social&nbsp;media&nbsp;after Facebook was briefly inaccessible in&nbsp;Russia&nbsp;on Friday.

"All these IT companies beginning with Instagram, and ending with the others, are based in the United States of America. It is clear they are used as weapons. They carry hatred and lies. We need to oppose this," he said.&nbsp;

Russia's&nbsp;media&nbsp;watchdog said Friday it had&nbsp;restricted access to the BBC and other independent&nbsp;media&nbsp;websites, further tightening controls over the internet.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/ukraine-to-sell-nfts-to-fund-attack-against-russia-says-deputy-pm-mykhailo-fedorov-458903">Ukraine to sell NFTs to fund attack against Russia, says Deputy PM Mykhailo Fedorov</a>

Foreign&nbsp;media&nbsp;restricted

The independent&nbsp;news&nbsp;website Meduza, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, and the Russian-language website of the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Svoboda, were "limited," said Roskomnadzor, following a request from prosecutors.

Roskomnadzor said in each case, the request was filed on February 24, the day Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his attack on Ukraine.

Valery Fadeyev, the head of the Kremlin's human rights council accused Western&nbsp;media&nbsp;of being behind "a huge flow of false information that comes from Ukraine" and said&nbsp;the council had set up a project to stop it.

In another attack on critical voices, Russian police on Friday were carrying out searches at the office of the country's most prominent rights group, Memorial, which was ordered to close late last year, sparking international outcry.

Russia's invasion has already claimed hundreds of lives, displaced more than a million people and spurred allegations of war crimes.

Western-led sanctions levelled against&nbsp;Russia&nbsp;in retaliation have sent the ruble into free-fall forcing the central bank to impose a 30-percent tax on sales of hard currency after a run on lenders.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/russia-ukraine-crisishungary-pm-orban-calls-sanctions-double-edged-weapon-458898">Russia-Ukraine Crisis:Hungary PM Orban calls sanctions 'double-edged weapon'</a>

State-media&nbsp;narratives

Moscow has few economic tools with which to respond but the Duma, or lower house, on Friday adopted a bill that would freeze any assets inside&nbsp;Russia&nbsp;of foreigners "violating rights of Russians".

Russian&nbsp;media&nbsp;have been instructed to publish only information provided by official sources, which describe the invasion as a military operation.&nbsp;

State-controlled broadcasters have meanwhile reinforced government narratives about nationalism in Ukraine and Moscow's claim that Ukrainian soldiers are using civilians as human shields.

For the moment, it appears the invasion has marked the beginning of the end for what remains of&nbsp;Russia's independent&nbsp;media.

Ekho Mosvky -- a liberal-leaning radio station majority-owned by&nbsp;Russia's energy giant Gazprom -- said Thursday it would shut down after being taken off air over its Ukraine war coverage.

Authorities had on Monday blocked the Ekho website and took the station off air as punishment for spreading "deliberately false information" about the conflict.

Watch |&nbsp;Gravitas: Why Asia is not interested in Russia-Ukraine war

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Another independent outlet, Znak, said Friday it was ceasing work "due to the large number of restrictions that have recently appeared for the work of the&nbsp;media&nbsp;in&nbsp;Russia".

The BBC said this week that the audience of its Russian language&nbsp;news&nbsp;website had "more than tripled...with a record reach of 10.7 million people in the last week".

In a Friday response to the blocking, a BBC spokesperson said the company will "continue our efforts to make BBC&nbsp;News&nbsp;available in&nbsp;Russia, and across the rest of the world" despite the restrictions.&nbsp;

Russian lawmakers moved Friday to impose harsh jail terms for publishing "fake news" about the army, which a senior lawmaker said will apply to foreigners too, as Moscow moves to muffle dissent over its invasion of Ukraine.

Russian lawmakers moved Friday to impose harsh jail terms for publishing "fake news" about the army, which a senior lawmaker said will apply to foreigners too, as Moscow moves to muffle dissent over its invasion of Ukraine. The new legislation sets out jail terms of varying lengths and fines against people who publish "knowingly false information" about the military. "If the fakes led to serious consequences, (the legislation) threatens imprisonment of up to 15 years," the lower house of parliament said in a statement. Also read | Russia to stage public executions in Ukraine; crackdowns and detaining opponents also a part of plan Speaking at the session, the head of the head of the parliament's information committee Alexander Khinshtein said the law "concerns all citizens, not only Russian ones, because we are talking about actions against Russia." Amendments were also passed to fine or jail people calling for sanctions against Russia with jail terms. The past year has seen an unprecedented crackdown on independent and critical voices in Russia that has intensified since the invasion. The chairman of parliament Vyacheslav Volodin railed against foreign social media after Facebook was briefly inaccessible in Russia on Friday. "All these IT companies beginning with Instagram, and ending with the others, are based in the United States of America. It is clear they are used as weapons. They carry hatred and lies. We need to oppose this," he said. Russia's media watchdog said Friday it had restricted access to the BBC and other independent media websites, further tightening controls over the internet. Also read | Ukraine to sell NFTs to fund attack against Russia, says Deputy PM Mykhailo Fedorov Foreign media restricted The independent news website Meduza, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, and the Russian-language website of the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Svoboda, were "limited," said Roskomnadzor, following a request from prosecutors. Roskomnadzor said in each case, the request was filed on February 24, the day Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his attack on Ukraine. Valery Fadeyev, the head of the Kremlin's human rights council accused Western media of being behind "a huge flow of false information that comes from Ukraine" and said the council had set up a project to stop it. In another attack on critical voices, Russian police on Friday were carrying out searches at the office of the country's most prominent rights group, Memorial, which was ordered to close late last year, sparking international outcry. Russia's invasion has already claimed hundreds of lives, displaced more than a million people and spurred allegations of war crimes. Western-led sanctions levelled against Russia in retaliation have sent the ruble into free-fall forcing the central bank to impose a 30-percent tax on sales of hard currency after a run on lenders. Also read | Russia-Ukraine Crisis:Hungary PM Orban calls sanctions 'double-edged weapon' State-media narratives Moscow has few economic tools with which to respond but the Duma, or lower house, on Friday adopted a bill that would freeze any assets inside Russia of foreigners "violating rights of Russians". Russian media have been instructed to publish only information provided by official sources, which describe the invasion as a military operation. State-controlled broadcasters have meanwhile reinforced government narratives about nationalism in Ukraine and Moscow's claim that Ukrainian soldiers are using civilians as human shields. For the moment, it appears the invasion has marked the beginning of the end for what remains of Russia's independent media. Ekho Mosvky -- a liberal-leaning radio station majority-owned by Russia's energy giant Gazprom -- said Thursday it would shut down after being taken off air over its Ukraine war coverage. Authorities had on Monday blocked the Ekho website and took the station off air as punishment for spreading "deliberately false information" about the conflict. Watch | Gravitas: Why Asia is not interested in Russia-Ukraine war Another independent outlet, Znak, said Friday it was ceasing work "due to the large number of restrictions that have recently appeared for the work of the media in Russia". The BBC said this week that the audience of its Russian language news website had "more than tripled...with a record reach of 10.7 million people in the last week". In a Friday response to the blocking, a BBC spokesperson said the company will "continue our efforts to make BBC News available in Russia, and across the rest of the world" despite the restrictions.

Russia Ukraine Crisis: Russia backs jail time for 'fake' army news, restricts media

After being ordered to shut down due to coverage of Ukraine's invasion, Russian television channel TV Rain (Dozhd) has suspended operations. The channel has been accused of showing "banned" content where they also referred to the conflict in Ukraine as a "war."

A video which has gone viral shows the staff resigning on air, after declaring ‘no to war’ in its last telecast. Journalists from the same channel decided to take a stand for peace.&nbsp;

“No to war," said Natalia Sindeyeva, one of the channel’s founders. After this, the employees staged a walk-out from the studio.

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Meanwhile TVRain, the last independent media outlet operating in Russia, has shut down — here's the last few minutes of its broadcast, poorly Google Translated. It then cut to Swan Lake, which has particular relevance: <a href="https://t.co/XXtUHroZkt">https://t.co/XXtUHroZkt</a> <a href="https://t.co/Iq7HSal7FW">pic.twitter.com/Iq7HSal7FW</a>
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) <a href="https://twitter.com/bubbaprog/status/1499417275081842694?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 3, 2022</a></blockquote>
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TV Rain goes out with a bang, broadcasting the Swan Lake performance that aired on Soviet TVs in 1991 during the attempted coup against Gorbachev. At a time when many wonder if those around Putin could stop this war in Ukraine and Russia’s plunge into isolation. <a href="https://t.co/ADFGVwxy8o">https://t.co/ADFGVwxy8o</a>
— Andrew Roth (@Andrew__Roth) <a href="https://twitter.com/Andrew__Roth/status/1499445366411993093?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 3, 2022</a></blockquote>
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The channel also played Tchaikovsky’s ‘Swan Lake,' referring to the moment from August 1991 when Soviet TV stations showed the ballet instead of the live civil unrest.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/russian-forces-seize-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-plant-as-ukrainians-put-out-fire-458825">Also read |&nbsp;Russian forces seize Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant as Ukrainians put out fire</a>

Meanwhile, the Russian forces have seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine's southeast.

It is the Europe's largest nuclear power plant.

"Operational personnel are monitoring the condition of power units," it said on social media, while quoting the Ukrainian nuclear inspectorate.

This comes as intense fighting is going on between Russian and Ukrainian forces. &nbsp;

On Friday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), while citing the country's regulatory authorities, said that essential equipment at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was unaffected in the incident and there was no change in radiation levels. &nbsp;

Ukraine had said that the plant in its southeast was shelled overnight, the IAEA added.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

After being ordered to shut down due to coverage of Ukraine's invasion, Russian television channel TV Rain (Dozhd) has suspended operations. The channel has been accused of showing "banned" content where they also referred to the conflict in Ukraine as a "war.

After being ordered to shut down due to coverage of Ukraine's invasion, Russian television channel TV Rain (Dozhd) has suspended operations. The channel has been accused of showing "banned" content where they also referred to the conflict in Ukraine as a "war." A video which has gone viral shows the staff resigning on air, after declaring ‘no to war’ in its last telecast. Journalists from the same channel decided to take a stand for peace. “No to war," said Natalia Sindeyeva, one of the channel’s founders. After this, the employees staged a walk-out from the studio. Meanwhile TVRain, the last independent media outlet operating in Russia, has shut down — here's the last few minutes of its broadcast, poorly Google Translated. It then cut to Swan Lake, which has particular relevance: https://t.co/XXtUHroZkt pic.twitter.com/Iq7HSal7FW — Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) March 3, 2022 × TV Rain goes out with a bang, broadcasting the Swan Lake performance that aired on Soviet TVs in 1991 during the attempted coup against Gorbachev. At a time when many wonder if those around Putin could stop this war in Ukraine and Russia’s plunge into isolation. https://t.co/ADFGVwxy8o — Andrew Roth (@Andrew__Roth) March 3, 2022 × The channel also played Tchaikovsky’s ‘Swan Lake,' referring to the moment from August 1991 when Soviet TV stations showed the ballet instead of the live civil unrest. Also read | Russian forces seize Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant as Ukrainians put out fire Meanwhile, the Russian forces have seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine's southeast. It is the Europe's largest nuclear power plant. "Operational personnel are monitoring the condition of power units," it said on social media, while quoting the Ukrainian nuclear inspectorate. This comes as intense fighting is going on between Russian and Ukrainian forces. On Friday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), while citing the country's regulatory authorities, said that essential equipment at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was unaffected in the incident and there was no change in radiation levels. Ukraine had said that the plant in its southeast was shelled overnight, the IAEA added. (With inputs from agencies)

Watch: ‘No to war,’ say staff of Russian news channel as they resign on air

Russian football federation on Thursday said that it will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the decisions by FIFA and UEFA to bar Russian national teams from international competitions over the country's invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian football federation said in a statement it would file one lawsuit against the two governing bodies to demand that Russian men's and women's national teams be allowed to compete, including in qualifying for this year's World Cup in Qatar.

It was earlier stated by FIFA that Russia would be able to continue to play under the 'Football Union or Russia'&nbsp;name, and without their flag or anthem being present at matches.

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/ngolo-kante-urges-team-to-focus-on-performances-after-roman-abramovichs-decision-to-sell-chelsea-458875">N'Golo Kante urges team to focus on performances after Roman Abramovich's decision to sell Chelsea</a>

But world football's governing body then released a joint statement with UEFA on Monday announcing Russia's national teams and its clubs were banned from all competitions.

Russia were due to play Poland in a World Cup qualifier later this month, with the winner of the tie playing either Sweden or the Czech Republic for a place at the finals in Qatar, but all three nations refused to face them.

Following rising tension between Russia and Ukraine, the sports fraternity has become proactive and many events in Russia have been cancelled, including the Russian Grand Prix.

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/belarus-clubs-and-national-team-banned-from-playing-at-home-in-uefa-competitions-amid-ukraine-crisis-458664">Belarus clubs and national team banned from playing at home in UEFA competitions amid Ukraine crisis</a>

The Champions League final has also been moved out of Russia and it will now take place in Paris.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday had announced a military operation in Ukraine and warned other countries that any attempt to interfere with the Russian action would lead to "consequences they have never seen."

Russian football federation on Thursday said that it will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the decisions by FIFA and UEFA to bar Russian national teams from international competitions over the country's invasion of Ukraine.

Russian football federation on Thursday said that it will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the decisions by FIFA and UEFA to bar Russian national teams from international competitions over the country's invasion of Ukraine. The Russian football federation said in a statement it would file one lawsuit against the two governing bodies to demand that Russian men's and women's national teams be allowed to compete, including in qualifying for this year's World Cup in Qatar. It was earlier stated by FIFA that Russia would be able to continue to play under the 'Football Union or Russia' name, and without their flag or anthem being present at matches. ALSO READ: N'Golo Kante urges team to focus on performances after Roman Abramovich's decision to sell Chelsea But world football's governing body then released a joint statement with UEFA on Monday announcing Russia's national teams and its clubs were banned from all competitions. Russia were due to play Poland in a World Cup qualifier later this month, with the winner of the tie playing either Sweden or the Czech Republic for a place at the finals in Qatar, but all three nations refused to face them. Following rising tension between Russia and Ukraine, the sports fraternity has become proactive and many events in Russia have been cancelled, including the Russian Grand Prix. ALSO READ: Belarus clubs and national team banned from playing at home in UEFA competitions amid Ukraine crisis The Champions League final has also been moved out of Russia and it will now take place in Paris. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday had announced a military operation in Ukraine and warned other countries that any attempt to interfere with the Russian action would lead to "consequences they have never seen."

Russia to appeal to CAS against sanctions imposed by FIFA, UEFA

In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Federation Internationale Feline (FIFe), which is an international cat fancier society, has imposed restrictions on cats bred in Russia.&nbsp;

These restrictions imposed by FIFe are valid until May 31 and will be reviewed as and when necessary. In a statement, the NGO noted that it is "shocked and horrified" that the Russian army invaded Ukraine and "started a war". &nbsp;

It added, "Many innocent people died, many more are wounded and hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians are forced to flee their homes to save their lives. We can all witness the destruction and chaos caused by this unprecedented act of aggression."&nbsp;

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/iafs-evacuation-flights-with-798-indians-land-at-hindon-airbase-pm-modi-monitoring-developments-458411">IAF's evacuation flights with 798 Indians land at Hindon airbase, PM Modi monitoring developments</a>

As per the organisation, no cat bred in Russia may be imported and registered in any FIFe pedigree book outside Russia, regardless of, which organization issued its pedigree.&nbsp;

The statement added, "No cat belonging to exhibitors living in Russia may be entered at any FIFe show outside Russia, regardless of, which organization these exhibitors hold their membership in."&nbsp;

FIFe also stated that it will dedicate a part of its budget to support cat breeders and fanciers in Ukraine who are suffering because of the current situation, the statement added.&nbsp;

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/russia-ukraine-conflict-ukraine-attempts-to-embarrass-moscow-invites-russian-mums-to-collect-captured-sons-458383">Ukraine attempts to embarrass Moscow, invites Russian mums to collect captured sons</a>

Meanwhile, the war-like situation continues to escalate as the latest development suggested that Russian troops were in the centre of the Ukrainian port of Kherson on Thursday (March 3). &nbsp;

When Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the "military operations" on February 24, several countries including the UK, the US, Canada, along with the European Union have imposed sanctions on Moscow.&nbsp;

WATCH |&nbsp;US interest rate hike likely in March: Powell testified before US Congress

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In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Federation Internationale Feline (FIFe), which is an international cat fancier society, has imposed restrictions on cats bred in Russia.

In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Federation Internationale Feline (FIFe), which is an international cat fancier society, has imposed restrictions on cats bred in Russia. These restrictions imposed by FIFe are valid until May 31 and will be reviewed as and when necessary. In a statement, the NGO noted that it is "shocked and horrified" that the Russian army invaded Ukraine and "started a war". It added, "Many innocent people died, many more are wounded and hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians are forced to flee their homes to save their lives. We can all witness the destruction and chaos caused by this unprecedented act of aggression." ALSO READ | IAF's evacuation flights with 798 Indians land at Hindon airbase, PM Modi monitoring developments As per the organisation, no cat bred in Russia may be imported and registered in any FIFe pedigree book outside Russia, regardless of, which organization issued its pedigree. The statement added, "No cat belonging to exhibitors living in Russia may be entered at any FIFe show outside Russia, regardless of, which organization these exhibitors hold their membership in." FIFe also stated that it will dedicate a part of its budget to support cat breeders and fanciers in Ukraine who are suffering because of the current situation, the statement added. ALSO READ | Ukraine attempts to embarrass Moscow, invites Russian mums to collect captured sons Meanwhile, the war-like situation continues to escalate as the latest development suggested that Russian troops were in the centre of the Ukrainian port of Kherson on Thursday (March 3). When Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the "military operations" on February 24, several countries including the UK, the US, Canada, along with the European Union have imposed sanctions on Moscow. WATCH | US interest rate hike likely in March: Powell testified before US Congress ×

Ukraine crisis: Here's how Russian cats are caught in the crossfire

On a space rocket, a video showing Russia covering the flags of the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom while leaving the Indian flag intact has gone viral.

Russia has been sanctioned by the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan for its invasion of Ukraine.

"The launchers at Baikonur decided that without the flags of some countries, our rocket would look more beautiful," Russian space agency ROSCOSMOS' chief Dmitry Rogozin tweeted.

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Стартовики на Байконуре решили, что без флагов некоторых стран наша ракета будет краше выглядеть. <a href="https://t.co/jG1ohimNuX">pic.twitter.com/jG1ohimNuX</a>
— РОГОЗИН (@Rogozin) <a href="https://twitter.com/Rogozin/status/1499043075586469900?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 2, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Also new sanctions have been imposed on Russia as a result of its invasion of Ukraine by countries all around the world.

On Saturday, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Canada prohibited some Russian banks from using SWIFT, a high-security network that connects 11,000 financial institutions in 200 countries.

Following Moscow's moves, Germany suspended certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline earlier this week.&nbsp; 
 
Over the weekend, the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Switzerland, Australia, and Taiwan all issued new injunctions against Moscow, condemning the military incursion that occurred in the previous 24 hours. 
 
(With inputs from agencies)

On a space rocket, a video showing Russia covering the flags of the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom while leaving the Indian flag intact has gone viral.

On a space rocket, a video showing Russia covering the flags of the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom while leaving the Indian flag intact has gone viral. Russia has been sanctioned by the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan for its invasion of Ukraine. "The launchers at Baikonur decided that without the flags of some countries, our rocket would look more beautiful," Russian space agency ROSCOSMOS' chief Dmitry Rogozin tweeted. Стартовики на Байконуре решили, что без флагов некоторых стран наша ракета будет краше выглядеть. pic.twitter.com/jG1ohimNuX — РОГОЗИН (@Rogozin) March 2, 2022 × Also new sanctions have been imposed on Russia as a result of its invasion of Ukraine by countries all around the world. On Saturday, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Canada prohibited some Russian banks from using SWIFT, a high-security network that connects 11,000 financial institutions in 200 countries. Following Moscow's moves, Germany suspended certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline earlier this week. Over the weekend, the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Switzerland, Australia, and Taiwan all issued new injunctions against Moscow, condemning the military incursion that occurred in the previous 24 hours. (With inputs from agencies)

Watch | Russia removes US, UK, Japan flags from rocket, but keeps India's Tricolour

I grew up in a land of lies and bones, with the dead being erased or subsumed by the Kremlin, which refused to see Ukraine as a nation, imposing a Soviet identity over us all.

Today, we’re witnessing the same nihilistic violence unfold in real time, in a campaign of bullets and bombs dropped over Ukraine. “I’m OK,” terrified friends in Kharkiv and Kyiv keep telling me. What else is there to tell? We know this war isn’t new; in some ways we have always expected it to resume.

I remember the pockmarks. My father and I were coming home after a walk in a small park filled with lilacs near our apartment in Kharkiv (then called Kharkov) when Ukraine was still a Soviet republic. “Why are there holes there?” I asked my father, pointing to a cluster of ugly craters, chipped into a corner of our apartment block.

“It’s from the war,” he told me. It was the mid-1980s, nearly half a century after World War II had ended. The artillery scars are still in my mind. It’s one of my earliest childhood memories.

It was impossible to grow up in Ukraine without witnessing the violence the land had seen. We clambered around old tanks proudly displayed in parks and squares, lumbering monuments to World War II. We learned of this history at dinner tables and in elementary schools, in stories passed down of famine and invasions, from the Mongol destruction of Kyivan Rus in the 13th century to the Nazi attack in 1941 to the Soviet purges.

By the 1980s the country was in many ways a giant mass grave, a grave the size of Texas. And yet we were not encouraged to see it as a Ukrainian story, but as a Soviet one, a collective amnesia pushed out from the Kremlin across the Soviet states.

The story of modern Ukraine begins a little over 100 years ago, at the end of World War I, when new states were crawling out of the ruins of defeated empires across Europe. Ukraine, however, was fractured. The region ended up in two pieces: the eastern and central parcels were annexed by the Soviet Union; the western region, known as Eastern Galicia, which had once belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was tacked on to Poland. Both were about to enter decades of suffering.

Warsaw, which had just regained its sovereignty for the first time in 123 years, wasn’t keen on permitting a distinct Ukrainian identity to develop in Eastern Galicia; the 1920s saw an increasing crackdown on Ukrainian culture, churches and schools. When Ukrainian nationalists began waging a campaign of terrorism and assassination against what they viewed as a Polish occupation of Ukrainian soil, Warsaw responded with the 1930 “pacification of Eastern Galicia,” a euphemism for brutal suppression of Ukrainians.

But the situation in Poland paled in comparison to the genocide Stalin perpetuated on the Soviet part of Ukraine. From 1932 through 1933, Soviet commissars began seizing grain and food from Ukrainian peasants in the name of Communist collectivization, part of a vicious backlash against the independent farmers whom Moscow deemed to be too successful and therefore too greedy.

The seizure of food turned Ukraine into an apocalyptic wasteland plagued by famine. People dropped dead on the streets. Ukrainians ate dirt, grass, food waste. Reports of cannibalism were widespread, and parents were said to have eaten their children. About 3.9 million Ukrainians perished in what became known as Holodomor — “death by hunger” in Ukrainian. But killing them wasn’t enough. As a final insult, Stalin, who was infamous for erasing enemies from photographs, forbade talk of the famine and ensured statistics were altered to hide the deaths, as if his victims had never existed.

Less than a decade later, the Nazis seized Ukraine. Some 1.5 million Ukrainian Jews were killed, most by mobile Nazi death squads known as Einsatzgruppen, aided by local collaborators in what later became known as the Holocaust of bullets. Babyn Yar, just outside of Kyiv, became the final resting place for 33,000 Jews mowed down in just days. Destruction was not limited to the Jews. Cities, including Kharkiv, were reduced to swaths of rubble. Over two million Ukrainians were pressed into slave labor in Germany. Hunger descended again. In all, because of war and famine and destruction, five million to seven million Ukrainians lost their lives. Nearly 200,000 Crimean Tatars, Muslims who lived in Ukraine for centuries, were deported to Central Asia; tens of thousands died as a result.

The end of German occupation didn’t end the suffering, it only brought renewed Soviet repression. The U.S.S.R. couldn’t abide any identity that challenged Soviet dominance, whether in individuals or nations. For 40 years after the war, Russia methodically swept aside the Ukrainian language and culture, leaving behind a landscape of soulless Soviet kitsch, red stars and slogans and tomes of speeches by Lenin. Ukrainian identity was vestigial and subservient; I still remember my school showing us drawings of peasants in vyshyvanki — traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirts — insipidly smiling while waving Soviet flags.

The Kremlin also suppressed Holocaust remembrance, which it saw as potentially dangerous because it facilitated Jewish communal identity. For decades, the bodies of hundreds of thousands of Jews remained strewn in Nazi killing pits throughout Ukraine without so much as a grave marker. When the regime did permit memorials, the dead were invariably referred to as “peaceful Soviet citizens,” their Jewish identity purposefully omitted.

When I was still a child, in 1986, an explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear plant spewed a radioactive cloud through Ukraine and Belarus. Heroic local volunteers and firefighters put out the radioactive inferno, preventing a second explosion that could have decimated half of Europe; many died horrific deaths in the process and in the aftermath. A large area of land was rendered uninhabitable and remains so today. Moscow stifled discussion of Chernobyl as it happened, cloaking the accident in secrecy and propaganda.

Three years later my parents, my grandmother, my sister and I — along with thousands of other Soviet Jews — fled for Vienna. It was from America that we watched, in 1991, as the Soviet Union crumbled and the Iron Curtain was drawn back. Ukraine gained its independence, but promises of democracy were soon mired in endemic corruption.

In 2004, the Orange Revolution saw hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians reverse the outcome of a fraudulent presidential election. In the winter of 2013-14, millions joined the Euromaidan uprising, demanding that Ukraine enter into a partnership agreement with the European Union. Shortly after, Russia illegally annexed the Crimean peninsula while Russian-backed separatists launched an anti-Euromaidan uprising in the east of the country.

I wonder if our old pockmarked apartment building in Kharkiv has new scars, if it’ll even be standing tomorrow. My American friends were emailing and texting, expressing sympathy, asking what they could do. I didn’t respond to some of them; I couldn’t. America wants solutions and happy endings, and I couldn’t tell my friends the reality — there’s nothing they or I can do.

But that isn’t entirely true. President Vladimir Putin of Russia, who denies that Ukraine is a sovereign nation, is waging far more than a physical war: He, like his predecessors in the Kremlin, is working to erase the very concept of Ukraine from existence. With each new report of a Russian bombing, I find myself becoming more Ukrainian, seizing the identity that first the Soviet Union — and now Russia — has long fought to suppress.

I hope others can help keep Ukraine alive. Learn the history. Light a candle on Holodomor Remembrance Day in November. Mourn the dead. Remember Ukraine.

I grew up in a land of lies and bones, with the dead being erased or subsumed by the Kremlin, which refused to see Ukraine as a nation, imposing a Soviet identity over us all.

I grew up in a land of lies and bones, with the dead being erased or subsumed by the Kremlin, which refused to see Ukraine as a nation, imposing a Soviet identity over us all. Today, we’re witnessing the same nihilistic violence unfold in real time, in a campaign of bullets and bombs dropped over Ukraine. “I’m OK,” terrified friends in Kharkiv and Kyiv keep telling me. What else is there to tell? We know this war isn’t new; in some ways we have always expected it to resume. I remember the pockmarks. My father and I were coming home after a walk in a small park filled with lilacs near our apartment in Kharkiv (then called Kharkov) when Ukraine was still a Soviet republic. “Why are there holes there?” I asked my father, pointing to a cluster of ugly craters, chipped into a corner of our apartment block. “It’s from the war,” he told me. It was the mid-1980s, nearly half a century after World War II had ended. The artillery scars are still in my mind. It’s one of my earliest childhood memories. It was impossible to grow up in Ukraine without witnessing the violence the land had seen. We clambered around old tanks proudly displayed in parks and squares, lumbering monuments to World War II. We learned of this history at dinner tables and in elementary schools, in stories passed down of famine and invasions, from the Mongol destruction of Kyivan Rus in the 13th century to the Nazi attack in 1941 to the Soviet purges. By the 1980s the country was in many ways a giant mass grave, a grave the size of Texas. And yet we were not encouraged to see it as a Ukrainian story, but as a Soviet one, a collective amnesia pushed out from the Kremlin across the Soviet states. The story of modern Ukraine begins a little over 100 years ago, at the end of World War I, when new states were crawling out of the ruins of defeated empires across Europe. Ukraine, however, was fractured. The region ended up in two pieces: the eastern and central parcels were annexed by the Soviet Union; the western region, known as Eastern Galicia, which had once belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was tacked on to Poland. Both were about to enter decades of suffering. Warsaw, which had just regained its sovereignty for the first time in 123 years, wasn’t keen on permitting a distinct Ukrainian identity to develop in Eastern Galicia; the 1920s saw an increasing crackdown on Ukrainian culture, churches and schools. When Ukrainian nationalists began waging a campaign of terrorism and assassination against what they viewed as a Polish occupation of Ukrainian soil, Warsaw responded with the 1930 “pacification of Eastern Galicia,” a euphemism for brutal suppression of Ukrainians. But the situation in Poland paled in comparison to the genocide Stalin perpetuated on the Soviet part of Ukraine. From 1932 through 1933, Soviet commissars began seizing grain and food from Ukrainian peasants in the name of Communist collectivization, part of a vicious backlash against the independent farmers whom Moscow deemed to be too successful and therefore too greedy. The seizure of food turned Ukraine into an apocalyptic wasteland plagued by famine. People dropped dead on the streets. Ukrainians ate dirt, grass, food waste. Reports of cannibalism were widespread, and parents were said to have eaten their children. About 3.9 million Ukrainians perished in what became known as Holodomor — “death by hunger” in Ukrainian. But killing them wasn’t enough. As a final insult, Stalin, who was infamous for erasing enemies from photographs, forbade talk of the famine and ensured statistics were altered to hide the deaths, as if his victims had never existed. Less than a decade later, the Nazis seized Ukraine. Some 1.5 million Ukrainian Jews were killed, most by mobile Nazi death squads known as Einsatzgruppen, aided by local collaborators in what later became known as the Holocaust of bullets. Babyn Yar, just outside of Kyiv, became the final resting place for 33,000 Jews mowed down in just days. Destruction was not limited to the Jews. Cities, including Kharkiv, were reduced to swaths of rubble. Over two million Ukrainians were pressed into slave labor in Germany. Hunger descended again. In all, because of war and famine and destruction, five million to seven million Ukrainians lost their lives. Nearly 200,000 Crimean Tatars, Muslims who lived in Ukraine for centuries, were deported to Central Asia; tens of thousands died as a result. The end of German occupation didn’t end the suffering, it only brought renewed Soviet repression. The U.S.S.R. couldn’t abide any identity that challenged Soviet dominance, whether in individuals or nations. For 40 years after the war, Russia methodically swept aside the Ukrainian language and culture, leaving behind a landscape of soulless Soviet kitsch, red stars and slogans and tomes of speeches by Lenin. Ukrainian identity was vestigial and subservient; I still remember my school showing us drawings of peasants in vyshyvanki — traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirts — insipidly smiling while waving Soviet flags. The Kremlin also suppressed Holocaust remembrance, which it saw as potentially dangerous because it facilitated Jewish communal identity. For decades, the bodies of hundreds of thousands of Jews remained strewn in Nazi killing pits throughout Ukraine without so much as a grave marker. When the regime did permit memorials, the dead were invariably referred to as “peaceful Soviet citizens,” their Jewish identity purposefully omitted. When I was still a child, in 1986, an explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear plant spewed a radioactive cloud through Ukraine and Belarus. Heroic local volunteers and firefighters put out the radioactive inferno, preventing a second explosion that could have decimated half of Europe; many died horrific deaths in the process and in the aftermath. A large area of land was rendered uninhabitable and remains so today. Moscow stifled discussion of Chernobyl as it happened, cloaking the accident in secrecy and propaganda. Three years later my parents, my grandmother, my sister and I — along with thousands of other Soviet Jews — fled for Vienna. It was from America that we watched, in 1991, as the Soviet Union crumbled and the Iron Curtain was drawn back. Ukraine gained its independence, but promises of democracy were soon mired in endemic corruption. In 2004, the Orange Revolution saw hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians reverse the outcome of a fraudulent presidential election. In the winter of 2013-14, millions joined the Euromaidan uprising, demanding that Ukraine enter into a partnership agreement with the European Union. Shortly after, Russia illegally annexed the Crimean peninsula while Russian-backed separatists launched an anti-Euromaidan uprising in the east of the country. I wonder if our old pockmarked apartment building in Kharkiv has new scars, if it’ll even be standing tomorrow. My American friends were emailing and texting, expressing sympathy, asking what they could do. I didn’t respond to some of them; I couldn’t. America wants solutions and happy endings, and I couldn’t tell my friends the reality — there’s nothing they or I can do. But that isn’t entirely true. President Vladimir Putin of Russia, who denies that Ukraine is a sovereign nation, is waging far more than a physical war: He, like his predecessors in the Kremlin, is working to erase the very concept of Ukraine from existence. With each new report of a Russian bombing, I find myself becoming more Ukrainian, seizing the identity that first the Soviet Union — and now Russia — has long fought to suppress. I hope others can help keep Ukraine alive. Learn the history. Light a candle on Holodomor Remembrance Day in November. Mourn the dead. Remember Ukraine.

The Ukraine of my childhood is being erased

India's ministry of external affairs said that the embassy in Ukraine is in "continuous touch" with Indian nationals in Ukraine and also noted that the authorities cooperated while evacuating students from war-torn Ukraine.&nbsp;

On Thursday (March 3), PTI reported quoting sources said the Indian Air Force's four evacuation flights with 798 Indians from the Romanian capital Bucharest, Hungary's Budapest and Polish city Rzeszow landed at the Hindon airbase in India.&nbsp;

Sources also noted that the Union Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt welcomed the students after the IAF's first flight carrying 200 people from Bucharest landed at 1.30am (local time).&nbsp;

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/russia-ukraine-conflict-ukraine-attempts-to-embarrass-moscow-invites-russian-mums-to-collect-captured-sons-458383">Ukraine attempts to embarrass Moscow, invites Russian mums to collect captured sons</a>

As quoted by India-based news agency ANI, Bhatt said, "We are taking care of every student returning from Ukraine. Our four Union ministers are taking care of every aspect of evacuation operations in different neighbouring countries of Ukraine. Operation Ganga is progressing successfully".&nbsp;

Bhatt interacted with the evacuees and said that the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself is monitoring all developments.&nbsp;

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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WATCH?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WATCH</a> Fourth IAF aircraft carrying Indians rescued from Ukraine arrives at Hindan airbase near Delhi; MoS Defence Ajay Bhatt interacts with the evacuees 
 
I welcome you all on your safe return to our motherland... PM Modi himself is monitoring all developments, he says. <a href="https://t.co/nxQ2X4z9m0">pic.twitter.com/nxQ2X4z9m0</a>
— ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1499222736987889664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 3, 2022</a></blockquote>
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ALSO READ |<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/a-casus-belli-amid-ukraine-crisis-russia-space-agency-head-says-satellite-hacking-would-justify-war-458357">&nbsp;'A casus belli': Amid Ukraine crisis, Russia space agency head says satellite hacking would justify war</a>

Important to note that India has been evacuating its citizens through special flights from Ukraine's western neighbours such as Romania, Hungary and Poland as the Ukrainian airspace has been shut since February 24.&nbsp;

To facilitate the evacuation of Indian nationals, four Indian ministers have gone to Ukraine's western neighbours. Hardeep Singh Puri is in Hungary, Jyotiraditya Scindia is in Romania, Kiren Rijiju is in Slovakia and V K Singh is in Poland.&nbsp;

WATCH |&nbsp;Indian PM Modi speaks to President Putin, Russians volunteer to evacuate Indians from Ukraine

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&nbsp;

India's ministry of external affairs said that the embassy in Ukraine is in "continuous touch" with Indian nationals in Ukraine and also noted that the authorities cooperated while evacuating students from war-torn Ukraine.

India's ministry of external affairs said that the embassy in Ukraine is in "continuous touch" with Indian nationals in Ukraine and also noted that the authorities cooperated while evacuating students from war-torn Ukraine. On Thursday (March 3), PTI reported quoting sources said the Indian Air Force's four evacuation flights with 798 Indians from the Romanian capital Bucharest, Hungary's Budapest and Polish city Rzeszow landed at the Hindon airbase in India. Sources also noted that the Union Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt welcomed the students after the IAF's first flight carrying 200 people from Bucharest landed at 1.30am (local time). ALSO READ | Ukraine attempts to embarrass Moscow, invites Russian mums to collect captured sons As quoted by India-based news agency ANI, Bhatt said, "We are taking care of every student returning from Ukraine. Our four Union ministers are taking care of every aspect of evacuation operations in different neighbouring countries of Ukraine. Operation Ganga is progressing successfully". Bhatt interacted with the evacuees and said that the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself is monitoring all developments. #WATCH Fourth IAF aircraft carrying Indians rescued from Ukraine arrives at Hindan airbase near Delhi; MoS Defence Ajay Bhatt interacts with the evacuees I welcome you all on your safe return to our motherland... PM Modi himself is monitoring all developments, he says. pic.twitter.com/nxQ2X4z9m0 — ANI (@ANI) March 3, 2022 × ALSO READ | 'A casus belli': Amid Ukraine crisis, Russia space agency head says satellite hacking would justify war Important to note that India has been evacuating its citizens through special flights from Ukraine's western neighbours such as Romania, Hungary and Poland as the Ukrainian airspace has been shut since February 24. To facilitate the evacuation of Indian nationals, four Indian ministers have gone to Ukraine's western neighbours. Hardeep Singh Puri is in Hungary, Jyotiraditya Scindia is in Romania, Kiren Rijiju is in Slovakia and V K Singh is in Poland. WATCH | Indian PM Modi speaks to President Putin, Russians volunteer to evacuate Indians from Ukraine ×

IAF's evacuation flights with 798 Indians land at Hindon airbase, PM Modi monitoring developments

On Thursday, India rejected reports that Indian students trapped in war-torn Ukraine were kidnapped and used as human shields by Ukrainian forces.

In response to media inquiries about Indian students being held hostage in Ukraine, Arindam Bagchi, the official spokesperson, said: "Our Embassy in Ukraine is in continuous touch with Indian nationals in Ukraine. We note that with the cooperation of the Ukrainian authorities, many students left Kharkiv yesterday. We have not received any reports of any hostage situation involving any student. We have requested the support of the Ukrainian authorities in arranging special trains to take out students from Kharkiv and neighbouring areas to the western part of the country." 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/watch-indian-flag-helped-pakistani-turkish-students-cross-ukraine-border-says-indian-student-458070">Watch | Indian flag helped Pakistani, Turkish students cross Ukraine border, says Indian student</a> 
 
"We have been coordinating effectively with the countries in the region including Russia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova. A large number of Indian nationals have been evacuated from Ukraine in the last few days. We appreciate the help extended by the Ukrainian authorities to make this possible. We thank Ukraine’s western neighbours in receiving Indian nationals and for accommodating them while they waited for flights to take them back home," he added.

Russia on Wednesday claimed that Ukraine had taken Indian students hostage. Russia's Ministry of Defense in a briefing said while Russia was trying to evacuate Indian students from Kharkiv the Ukrainian forces had taken Indians hostage. 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/opinions-blogs/stop-criticising-indian-students-stuck-in-ukraine-they-need-to-be-appreciated-457069">Also read | Stop criticising Indian students stuck in Ukraine; they need to be appreciated</a>

In a statement by the ministry's official representative, Major General Igor Konashenkov said: "According to our data, in Kharkiv, the Ukrainian authorities are forcibly detaining a large group of Indian students who want to leave the Ukrainian territory and go to Belgorod." 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/why-is-ukraine-such-a-popular-choice-for-indian-medical-students-456990">Also read | Why is Ukraine such a popular choice for Indian medical students?</a>

Further, he said, "The Armed Forces are ready to take all necessary measures for the safe evacuation of Indian citizens. And send them home from the territory of Russia with their military transport planes or Indian planes, as the Indian side proposed to do."&nbsp; 
 
Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/as-people-refuse-to-leave-furry-companions-behind-india-relaxes-norms-for-bringing-back-pets-from-ukraine-458120">As people refuse to leave furry companions behind, India relaxes norms for bringing back pets from Ukraine</a>

(With inputs from agencies)

On Thursday, India rejected reports that Indian students trapped in war-torn Ukraine were kidnapped and used as human shields by Ukrainian forces. In response to media inquiries about Indian students being held hostage in Ukraine, Arindam Bagchi, the official spokesperson, said: "Our Embassy in Ukraine is in continuous touch with Indian nationals in Ukraine.

On Thursday, India rejected reports that Indian students trapped in war-torn Ukraine were kidnapped and used as human shields by Ukrainian forces. In response to media inquiries about Indian students being held hostage in Ukraine, Arindam Bagchi, the official spokesperson, said: "Our Embassy in Ukraine is in continuous touch with Indian nationals in Ukraine. We note that with the cooperation of the Ukrainian authorities, many students left Kharkiv yesterday. We have not received any reports of any hostage situation involving any student. We have requested the support of the Ukrainian authorities in arranging special trains to take out students from Kharkiv and neighbouring areas to the western part of the country." Watch | Indian flag helped Pakistani, Turkish students cross Ukraine border, says Indian student "We have been coordinating effectively with the countries in the region including Russia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova. A large number of Indian nationals have been evacuated from Ukraine in the last few days. We appreciate the help extended by the Ukrainian authorities to make this possible. We thank Ukraine’s western neighbours in receiving Indian nationals and for accommodating them while they waited for flights to take them back home," he added. Russia on Wednesday claimed that Ukraine had taken Indian students hostage. Russia's Ministry of Defense in a briefing said while Russia was trying to evacuate Indian students from Kharkiv the Ukrainian forces had taken Indians hostage. Also read | Stop criticising Indian students stuck in Ukraine; they need to be appreciated In a statement by the ministry's official representative, Major General Igor Konashenkov said: "According to our data, in Kharkiv, the Ukrainian authorities are forcibly detaining a large group of Indian students who want to leave the Ukrainian territory and go to Belgorod." Also read | Why is Ukraine such a popular choice for Indian medical students? Further, he said, "The Armed Forces are ready to take all necessary measures for the safe evacuation of Indian citizens. And send them home from the territory of Russia with their military transport planes or Indian planes, as the Indian side proposed to do." Also Read | As people refuse to leave furry companions behind, India relaxes norms for bringing back pets from Ukraine (With inputs from agencies)

'No Indian student taken hostage by Ukraine forces': Indian govt

In a potential move to tighten economic screws against Russia, the London Stock Exchange has suspended trading in 27 companies that have strong links with Russia. These companies include Gazprom and Sberbank. Gazprom is Russian energy company.

Action has also been taken against Severstal which is Russia's largest steel and mining company. Severstal is owned by Alexei Mordashov, the richest man in Russia.

Aluminium comapany EN+, co-owned by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, has also been barred. Other companies which have found themselves to have been targetted are Rosneft and VK. The latter is parent company of social media platform VKontakte. It is bigger than Facebook in Russia.

Some other companies in the list are PhosAgro (fertiliser company), Lukoil (energy firm), Polyus (Gold producer), Novolipetsk Steel.

The London Stock Exchange said that such a step was taken “in light of market conditions, and in order to maintain orderly markets”

Russia is currently invading Ukraine and the intense global pressure in terms of economic sanctions have begun to take toll on Russian businesses.

In related but distinct development, In the rebalance, Evraz and Polymetal International will exit the FTSE 100 and enter the FTSE 250 index, FTSE Russell, a subsidiary of the LSE, said in a statement.&nbsp;

The changes -- part of the quarterly reshuffle of the FTSE 100 -- will take effect from the start of trading on March 21, it added.

Both companies' share prices have tanked in the past week, making their relegation inevitable, market watchers said.&nbsp;

Polymetal International is a gold miner, while Evraz specialises in steel.

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

In a potential move to tighten economic screws against Russia, the London Stock Exchange has suspended trading in 27 companies that have strong links with Russia.

In a potential move to tighten economic screws against Russia, the London Stock Exchange has suspended trading in 27 companies that have strong links with Russia. These companies include Gazprom and Sberbank. Gazprom is Russian energy company. Action has also been taken against Severstal which is Russia's largest steel and mining company. Severstal is owned by Alexei Mordashov, the richest man in Russia. Aluminium comapany EN+, co-owned by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, has also been barred. Other companies which have found themselves to have been targetted are Rosneft and VK. The latter is parent company of social media platform VKontakte. It is bigger than Facebook in Russia. Some other companies in the list are PhosAgro (fertiliser company), Lukoil (energy firm), Polyus (Gold producer), Novolipetsk Steel. The London Stock Exchange said that such a step was taken “in light of market conditions, and in order to maintain orderly markets” Russia is currently invading Ukraine and the intense global pressure in terms of economic sanctions have begun to take toll on Russian businesses. In related but distinct development, In the rebalance, Evraz and Polymetal International will exit the FTSE 100 and enter the FTSE 250 index, FTSE Russell, a subsidiary of the LSE, said in a statement. The changes -- part of the quarterly reshuffle of the FTSE 100 -- will take effect from the start of trading on March 21, it added. Both companies' share prices have tanked in the past week, making their relegation inevitable, market watchers said. Polymetal International is a gold miner, while Evraz specialises in steel. (With inputs from agencies)

Trading in 27 companies that have links to Russia suspended by London Stock Exchange

Dmitry Rogozin, the head of the Russian space agency, was quoted as saying on Wednesday (March 2) that Russia will treat any hacking of its satellites as a justification for war.&nbsp;

Amid a war-like situation after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a hacking group Anonymous claimed that they have shut down Russia's space agency.&nbsp;

Affiliated with Anonymous, the Network Battalion 65 or 'NB65' is believed to have hacked the space agency of Russia as they claimed to show the server information for Roscosmos on Twitter.&nbsp;

IN PICS |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/ukraine-unleashes-turkeys-bayraktar-tb2-drones-on-russia-is-it-a-gamechanger-458271">Ukraine unleashes Turkey's Bayraktar TB2 drones on Russia: Is it a gamechanger?</a>

Such hacking would mean that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be able to control spy satellites amid the ongoing invasion in Ukraine, which has killed more than 100 people, including children.&nbsp;

In a tweet, Anonymous TV wrote: "Hacking group 'NB65', affiliated with #Anonymous has shut down the Control Center of the Russian Space Agency 'Roscosmos'. #Russia has no more control over their own Spy-Satelites."&nbsp;

Meanwhile, denying the reports and warning against such actions, the head of the Russian space agency called Anonymous 'scammers and petty swindlers'.&nbsp;

IN PICS |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/which-assets-of-russian-president-vladimir-putin-can-be-seized-due-to-ukraine-invasion-458127">Which assets of Russian President Vladimir Putin can be seized due to Ukraine invasion?&nbsp;</a>

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The information of these scammers and petty swindlers is not true. All our space activity control centers are operating normally. <a href="https://t.co/MY0qzlLqCI">https://t.co/MY0qzlLqCI</a>
— РОГОЗИН (@Rogozin) <a href="https://twitter.com/Rogozin/status/1498903566135832577?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 2, 2022</a></blockquote>
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"Offlining the satellites of any country is actually a casus belli, a cause for war," Interfax quoted him as saying.

Rogozin also said his agency wanted British-based tech firm OneWeb to provide guarantees that its satellites are not going to be used against Russia, Interfax added.&nbsp;

Without these, Rogozin said Russia will cancel the planned March 4 launch of 36 OneWeb satellites from the Baikonur cosmodrome, which Russia rents from Kazakhstan, without compensating OneWeb, the Russian news agency reported.&nbsp;

WATCH |&nbsp;International Criminal Court prosecutor opens probe into Russia's invasion of Ukraine

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&nbsp;

Dmitry Rogozin, the head of the Russian space agency, was quoted as saying on Wednesday (March 2) that Russia will treat any hacking of its satellites as a justification for war.

Dmitry Rogozin, the head of the Russian space agency, was quoted as saying on Wednesday (March 2) that Russia will treat any hacking of its satellites as a justification for war. Amid a war-like situation after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a hacking group Anonymous claimed that they have shut down Russia's space agency. Affiliated with Anonymous, the Network Battalion 65 or 'NB65' is believed to have hacked the space agency of Russia as they claimed to show the server information for Roscosmos on Twitter. IN PICS | Ukraine unleashes Turkey's Bayraktar TB2 drones on Russia: Is it a gamechanger? Such hacking would mean that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be able to control spy satellites amid the ongoing invasion in Ukraine, which has killed more than 100 people, including children. In a tweet, Anonymous TV wrote: "Hacking group 'NB65', affiliated with #Anonymous has shut down the Control Center of the Russian Space Agency 'Roscosmos'. #Russia has no more control over their own Spy-Satelites." Meanwhile, denying the reports and warning against such actions, the head of the Russian space agency called Anonymous 'scammers and petty swindlers'. IN PICS | Which assets of Russian President Vladimir Putin can be seized due to Ukraine invasion? The information of these scammers and petty swindlers is not true. All our space activity control centers are operating normally. https://t.co/MY0qzlLqCI — РОГОЗИН (@Rogozin) March 2, 2022 × "Offlining the satellites of any country is actually a casus belli, a cause for war," Interfax quoted him as saying. Rogozin also said his agency wanted British-based tech firm OneWeb to provide guarantees that its satellites are not going to be used against Russia, Interfax added. Without these, Rogozin said Russia will cancel the planned March 4 launch of 36 OneWeb satellites from the Baikonur cosmodrome, which Russia rents from Kazakhstan, without compensating OneWeb, the Russian news agency reported. WATCH | International Criminal Court prosecutor opens probe into Russia's invasion of Ukraine ×

'A casus belli': Amid Ukraine crisis, Russia space agency head says satellite hacking would justify war

India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday that 18 more flights were scheduled in next 24 hours which will bring back Indians stranded in Ukraine.

"We are scheduling more flights and a large number of Indians will be back home in the next 2-3 days. I would like to appreciate the Ukrainian government and the neighboring countries for hosting our people and providing support in evacuating them," said Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson of MEA.

He said that a total of 18,000 Indian national had left Ukraine since first advisory issued by India.

India has launched 'Operation Ganga' to bring back citizens from Ukraine which is currently under Russian attack. Bagchi said that 30 flights have brought 6400 Indians back to homeland.

"This increased number of flights reflects the large number of Indians who have crossed over from Ukraine and are now in the neighboring countries. We will further step up efforts to bring all these Indian nationals back to India at the earliest," said Bagchi.

Meanwhile, India's Minister of Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju visited Solvakia on Thursday. He observed facilities made available to Indians who had crossed the border into Slovakia from Ukraine.

"Today morning, I visited Bidovce in Slovakia to check basic facilities for our citizens coming from Ukraine. Initially they had faced difficulties which will be taken care of now," he tweeted.

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Today morning, I visited Bidovce in Slovakia to check basic facilities for our citizens coming from Ukraine. Initially they had faced difficulties which will be taken care of now.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OperationGanga?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OperationGanga</a> 🇮🇳 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ukraine?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Ukraine</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UkraineRussiaWar?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UkraineRussiaWar</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UkraineWar?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UkraineWar</a> <a href="https://t.co/ZyUsj2Q4gS">pic.twitter.com/ZyUsj2Q4gS</a>
— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) <a href="https://twitter.com/KirenRijiju/status/1499346045368774665?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 3, 2022</a></blockquote>
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"These group of students have left for India from Košice in Slovakia. Our new generation of young Indians are very confident. I've conveyed to them the message of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji and wished them safe journey back home," he said in another tweet

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These group of students have left for India from Košice in Slovakia. 
Our new generation of young Indians are very confident. I've conveyed to them the message of Prime Minister <a href="https://twitter.com/narendramodi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@narendramodi</a> Ji and wished them safe journey back home.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OperationGanga?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OperationGanga</a> 🇮🇳 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UkraineWar?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UkraineWar</a> <a href="https://t.co/t7NQ5vBjjk">pic.twitter.com/t7NQ5vBjjk</a>
— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) <a href="https://twitter.com/KirenRijiju/status/1499262915769155586?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 3, 2022</a></blockquote>
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India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday that 18 more flights were scheduled in next 24 hours which will bring back Indians stranded in Ukraine.

India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday that 18 more flights were scheduled in next 24 hours which will bring back Indians stranded in Ukraine. "We are scheduling more flights and a large number of Indians will be back home in the next 2-3 days. I would like to appreciate the Ukrainian government and the neighboring countries for hosting our people and providing support in evacuating them," said Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson of MEA. He said that a total of 18,000 Indian national had left Ukraine since first advisory issued by India. India has launched 'Operation Ganga' to bring back citizens from Ukraine which is currently under Russian attack. Bagchi said that 30 flights have brought 6400 Indians back to homeland. "This increased number of flights reflects the large number of Indians who have crossed over from Ukraine and are now in the neighboring countries. We will further step up efforts to bring all these Indian nationals back to India at the earliest," said Bagchi. Meanwhile, India's Minister of Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju visited Solvakia on Thursday. He observed facilities made available to Indians who had crossed the border into Slovakia from Ukraine. "Today morning, I visited Bidovce in Slovakia to check basic facilities for our citizens coming from Ukraine. Initially they had faced difficulties which will be taken care of now," he tweeted. Today morning, I visited Bidovce in Slovakia to check basic facilities for our citizens coming from Ukraine. Initially they had faced difficulties which will be taken care of now.#OperationGanga 🇮🇳 #Ukraine #UkraineRussiaWar #UkraineWar pic.twitter.com/ZyUsj2Q4gS — Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) March 3, 2022 × "These group of students have left for India from Košice in Slovakia. Our new generation of young Indians are very confident. I've conveyed to them the message of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji and wished them safe journey back home," he said in another tweet These group of students have left for India from Košice in Slovakia. Our new generation of young Indians are very confident. I've conveyed to them the message of Prime Minister @narendramodi Ji and wished them safe journey back home.#OperationGanga 🇮🇳 #UkraineWar pic.twitter.com/t7NQ5vBjjk — Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) March 3, 2022 ×

Ukraine conflict: 18 more flights scheduled in next 24 hours to bring Indians back, says MEA

Despite unexpectedly ferocious resistance, the first major Ukrainian city fell to Russian forces as they take the Black Sea port of Kherson in southern Ukraine. It was confirmed on Thursday (March 3).&nbsp;

Igor Kolykhayev, who is the mayor of the Ukrainian city of Kherson, on Wednesday (March 2), said Russian troops were in the streets and had forced their way into the city council building.&nbsp;

Kolykhayev urged Russian soldiers not to shoot at civilians and publicly called on civilians to walk through the streets only in daylight and in ones and twos. "We do not have the Armed Forces in the city, only civilians and people who want to LIVE here!" he said in a statement.&nbsp;

IN PICS |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/ukraine-under-attack-satellite-images-show-whats-happening-on-the-ground-zero-458503">Ukraine under attack: Satellite&nbsp;images show what's happening on the ground zero</a>

But what's next?&nbsp;

On February 25, Reuters reported citing military analysts and former officials that Russia's invasion of Ukraine looks designed to take Kyiv and create a land corridor south to the Black Sea, splitting the country into two.&nbsp;

In the latest analysis by The Telegraph, Russian President Vladimir Putin's move suggested that he is set to 'cut Ukraine in two' as Russian troops gain vital bridgehead to attack Kyiv.&nbsp;

The advancement means that Russian armed forces can cross the River Dnieper, which cuts Ukraine in two and head westwards and northwards to attack Kyiv from a second direction.&nbsp;

IN PICS |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/how-russias-sarmat-intercontinental-ballistic-missile-can-change-battlefield-dynamic-458549">How Russia's Sarmat Intercontinental ballistic missile can change battlefield dynamic</a>

The southern port city of Mariupol, which is an industrial port on the Sea of Azov, becomes vital now because Russia will need to control if it is to open a land route from the city of Odesa with the occupied territory of the Crimean peninsula.&nbsp;

Mariupol is in the way of the Russian leader controlling the coastline from Crimea to the Donbas. City's mayor, Vadym Boichenko, said: "Their [Russia] mission is to destroy us. We cannot even take the wounded from the streets, from houses and apartments today, since the shelling does not stop."&nbsp;

The reports have&nbsp;mentioned that the Russian forces pound and encircle the strategic port city of Mariupol, which is without water or electricity.&nbsp;

The Russian forces relentlessly launched rocket artillery fire on Mariupol. The authorities said as quoted by the media outlet that they were trying to make the city unlivable by targeting civilian infrastructure and homes. Officials said it amounted to "real genocide".&nbsp;

The media outlet has also uncovered evidence of what appeared to be fresh war crimes committed by Russia.&nbsp;

WATCH |&nbsp;Ukraine conflict: New sanctions on Belarus, Russian defence sector

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Despite unexpectedly ferocious resistance, the first major Ukrainian city fell to Russian forces as they take the Black Sea port of Kherson in southern Ukraine. It was confirmed on Thursday (March 3).

Despite unexpectedly ferocious resistance, the first major Ukrainian city fell to Russian forces as they take the Black Sea port of Kherson in southern Ukraine. It was confirmed on Thursday (March 3). Igor Kolykhayev, who is the mayor of the Ukrainian city of Kherson, on Wednesday (March 2), said Russian troops were in the streets and had forced their way into the city council building. Kolykhayev urged Russian soldiers not to shoot at civilians and publicly called on civilians to walk through the streets only in daylight and in ones and twos. "We do not have the Armed Forces in the city, only civilians and people who want to LIVE here!" he said in a statement. IN PICS | Ukraine under attack: Satellite images show what's happening on the ground zero But what's next? On February 25, Reuters reported citing military analysts and former officials that Russia's invasion of Ukraine looks designed to take Kyiv and create a land corridor south to the Black Sea, splitting the country into two. In the latest analysis by The Telegraph, Russian President Vladimir Putin's move suggested that he is set to 'cut Ukraine in two' as Russian troops gain vital bridgehead to attack Kyiv. The advancement means that Russian armed forces can cross the River Dnieper, which cuts Ukraine in two and head westwards and northwards to attack Kyiv from a second direction. IN PICS | How Russia's Sarmat Intercontinental ballistic missile can change battlefield dynamic The southern port city of Mariupol, which is an industrial port on the Sea of Azov, becomes vital now because Russia will need to control if it is to open a land route from the city of Odesa with the occupied territory of the Crimean peninsula. Mariupol is in the way of the Russian leader controlling the coastline from Crimea to the Donbas. City's mayor, Vadym Boichenko, said: "Their [Russia] mission is to destroy us. We cannot even take the wounded from the streets, from houses and apartments today, since the shelling does not stop." The reports have mentioned that the Russian forces pound and encircle the strategic port city of Mariupol, which is without water or electricity. The Russian forces relentlessly launched rocket artillery fire on Mariupol. The authorities said as quoted by the media outlet that they were trying to make the city unlivable by targeting civilian infrastructure and homes. Officials said it amounted to "real genocide". The media outlet has also uncovered evidence of what appeared to be fresh war crimes committed by Russia. WATCH | Ukraine conflict: New sanctions on Belarus, Russian defence sector ×

Russia-Ukraine conflict: Is this Vladimir Putin's next massive plan?

Russian and Belarusian athletes will not be able to compete at the Winter Paralympics in Beijing, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said on Thursday, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine for which Belarus has been a key staging area.

The decision comes a day after the IPC gave athletes from the two countries the green light to participate as neutrals, saying that the governing body had followed its rules and that "athletes were not the aggressors".

"Following a specially convened meeting, the IPC Governing Board has decided to refuse the athlete entries from the RPC and NPC Belarus for the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games," the IPC said in a statement.

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/exclusive-sport-brings-in-great-culture-and-peace-ropan-bopanna-on-changes-in-tennis-amid-ukraine-crisis-458290">Exclusive | 'Sport brings in great culture and peace' - Ropan Bopanna on changes in tennis amid Ukraine crisis</a>

"This means that para-athletes from these respective countries will no longer be allowed to participate in the Games which open on 4 March 2022.

"What is clear is that the rapidly escalating situation has now put us in a unique and impossible position so close to the start of the Games."

Thursday's verdict was condemned by various sporting bodies, with many urging the IPC to reverse its decision.

The 71-member Russian contingent is already in Beijing for the Games, which kick off on Friday.

Russian and Belarusian athletes will not be able to compete at the Winter Paralympics in Beijing, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said on Thursday, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine for which Belarus has been a key staging area.

Russian and Belarusian athletes will not be able to compete at the Winter Paralympics in Beijing, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said on Thursday, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine for which Belarus has been a key staging area. The decision comes a day after the IPC gave athletes from the two countries the green light to participate as neutrals, saying that the governing body had followed its rules and that "athletes were not the aggressors". "Following a specially convened meeting, the IPC Governing Board has decided to refuse the athlete entries from the RPC and NPC Belarus for the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games," the IPC said in a statement. ALSO READ: Exclusive | 'Sport brings in great culture and peace' - Ropan Bopanna on changes in tennis amid Ukraine crisis "This means that para-athletes from these respective countries will no longer be allowed to participate in the Games which open on 4 March 2022. "What is clear is that the rapidly escalating situation has now put us in a unique and impossible position so close to the start of the Games." Thursday's verdict was condemned by various sporting bodies, with many urging the IPC to reverse its decision. The 71-member Russian contingent is already in Beijing for the Games, which kick off on Friday.

IPC bans athletes from Russia, Belarus to participate in Beijing Winter Paralympics

Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

&nbsp;

Russia on Wednesday made a huge claim that some Indian students in Kharkov (Kharkiv) were being held hostage by Ukrainian forces. The Russian side also said that these students were being used as human shields and that Russia was trying to organise 'urgent evacuation' of this group of students.

The Russian side released this information in a readout given out after telephone conversation between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

As per the readout, Putin has given all necessary instructions to ensure safe evacuation of Indian citizens from the war zone.

<img alt="Russian readout" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="450c4c87-c6b6-4301-be6e-63f8d84809b1" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Russian%20readout.jpeg" />

India has already launched 'Operation Ganga' to bring back Indian citizens and students who are caught in the Ukraine conflict. On Wednesday (March 2) Indian embassy in Ukraine <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/ukraine-conflict-india-says-citizens-must-leave-kharkiv-immediately-458211">issued an advisory</a> for citizens and said that they "must leave" Kharkiv immediately. Kharkiv is under attack from Russian forces.

It was in Kharkiv that first casualty of an Indian medical student was recorded on Tuesday (March 1).&nbsp;

Indian Air Force has also joined Operation Ganga and a plane

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/as-people-refuse-to-leave-furry-companions-behind-india-relaxes-norms-for-bringing-back-pets-from-ukraine-458120">As people refuse to leave furry companions behind, India relaxes norms for bringing back pets from Ukraine</a>

Separate from conversation between Modi and Putin, India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar discussed the "deteriorating" situation in Ukraine with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and his Estonian counterpart Eva-Maria Liimets.

"Discussed the deteriorating Ukraine situation with EU HR VP @JosepBorrellF, French FM @JY_LeDrian and Estonia FM @eliimets respectively. Reiterated India's stance that diplomacy and dialogue alone provide the answer. The cessation of violence is an urgent imperative," Jaishankar said in a tweet.

Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos. Russia on Wednesday made a huge claim that some Indian students in Kharkov (Kharkiv) were being held hostage by Ukrainian forces. The Russian side also said that these students were being used as human shields and that Russia was trying to organise 'urgent evacuation' of this group of students. The Russian side released this information in a readout given out after telephone conversation between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin. As per the readout, Putin has given all necessary instructions to ensure safe evacuation of Indian citizens from the war zone. India has already launched 'Operation Ganga' to bring back Indian citizens and students who are caught in the Ukraine conflict. On Wednesday (March 2) Indian embassy in Ukraine issued an advisory for citizens and said that they "must leave" Kharkiv immediately. Kharkiv is under attack from Russian forces. It was in Kharkiv that first casualty of an Indian medical student was recorded on Tuesday (March 1). Indian Air Force has also joined Operation Ganga and a plane Also Read | As people refuse to leave furry companions behind, India relaxes norms for bringing back pets from Ukraine Separate from conversation between Modi and Putin, India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar discussed the "deteriorating" situation in Ukraine with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and his Estonian counterpart Eva-Maria Liimets. "Discussed the deteriorating Ukraine situation with EU HR VP @JosepBorrellF, French FM @JY_LeDrian and Estonia FM @eliimets respectively. Reiterated India's stance that diplomacy and dialogue alone provide the answer. The cessation of violence is an urgent imperative," Jaishankar said in a tweet.

Indian students taken hostage by Ukraine forces, says Russia after Putin-Modi phone call

Ukraine under attack: Satellite images show what's happening on the ground zero

The Russian invasion of Ukraine continues to escalate as the conflicts and bombing have killed more than 100 people so far, including children. A United Nations agency said on Tuesday (March 1) that at least 136 civilians have been killed, including 13 children, and 400 have been injured since Russia invaded Ukraine last week.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine continues to escalate as the conflicts and bombing have killed more than 100 people so far, including children. A United Nations agency said on Tuesday (March 1) that at least 136 civilians have been killed, including 13 children, and 400 have been injured since Russia invaded Ukraine last week. The United States officials have said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly frustrated by the Russian army's slower than expected progress in Ukraine. As a result, according to intelligence, he could double down on his attack. ALSO READ | Did Biden say Iranian people instead of Ukrainians in State of the Union address? WION's correspondent Jodie Cohen spoke with Dr Yonatan Freeman, who is an national security expert from Hebrew University's Department of Political Science. Here's what he has to say on what could happen next: Question: Now with Russia expected to increase its advance, Ukraine has applied to join the European Union. What are the implications of this? And with Russia saying its nuclear deterrent forces are on high alert, people are even talking of a third world war – how likely is that? Answer: The fact that Ukraine seeking to join the European Union is really a way to project itself to the world that it wants to be with the West. But if it comes to World War II, anything could happen. We also know that historically speaking every 80-100 years there is a very big war that causes very drastic changes in the world. So, since World War II ended, we have reached that point in history. So it really depends on what happens next and how the world reacts to Russia. Question: President Zelensky of Ukraine has expressed doubts that the negotiations between Ukraine and Russia will succeed. However, the two countries have announced the second round of talks. What’s your assessment on their chance of success? Answer: It really depends on how much Ukraine keeps up its fight. I think when the war began, many thought that in a few hours, a few days Ukraine will be defeated but the Ukrainians are giving a fight. West is betting more on Ukraine's ability to resist. We also have to remember that Belarus, where the negotiations are happening isn't a neutral site. It's happening at a place that is currently fighting Ukraine so don't see much moving there. ALSO READ | Ukraine crisis: Football's first reported losses as two Ukrainian players killed during Russian invasion Question: You’ve previously said that you think Israel is one of the best countries in the world right now to serve as a mediator because of its close links to both sides. Now Israel is set to support the General Assembly resolution condemning Russia, where does this leave Israel’s relations with Russia? Answer: Israel is going to be supporting the move in UNGA. Both know that Israel has the ear of both these countries, even the United States. Even after all these announcements by the foreign minister, even that it is sending humanitarian aid to Ukraine, the fact that we are assisting people to leave, but still remains to be seen whether or not Israel will be a mediator. Question: With the West tightening its sanctions, especially through SWIFT, do you think China can fill in for Russia’s war chest. So far it has criticised sanctions politically. Answer: China can assist when it comes to the economy. It has a lot of industries and it has its own. China has everything but it has plenty to lose in that case. China on one hand has been understandable but hasn't been full in support of Russian moves in Ukraine. China to get Russia on lowering its tones on nuclear weapons. Watch the full interaction here: #Exclusive | "China could get Russia to lower its tone on nukes", says Yonatan Freeman (@YFreemanPhD), International relations expert, in an interaction with @JodieCohen613 Watch more: https://t.co/AXC5qRcEPB pic.twitter.com/RuK1ZIl3bC — WION (@WIONews) March 2, 2022 ×

Exclusive: 'China could get Russia to lower its tone on nukes', says international relations expert

A spokesperson for the US Mission to United Nations on Tuesday (March 1) said that amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict , the US is expelling a Russian "intelligence operative" who works at the United Nations. &nbsp;&nbsp;

The US has levelled accusations of espionage for the second day running on Tuesday and it has targeted Russians working at the United Nations.&nbsp;

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/mom-i-am-scared-we-are-hitting-everyone-russian-soldiers-last-words-to-mother-are-heart-wrenching-457862">'Mom, I am scared. We are hitting everyone': Russian soldier's last words to mother are heart-wrenching</a>

News agency Reuters reported citing a spokesperson who commented on the condition of anonymity that the US began the process on Monday "to require the departure of one Russian intelligence operative working at the United Nations who has abused their privileges of residence in the United States".&nbsp;

"We regret that we find ourselves in this situation, but are engaging with the host country," said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric on Tuesday of the expulsion of the Russian UN staff member. &nbsp;&nbsp;

"What makes this decision a little difficult to understand is that the staff member was scheduled to end his assignment on March 14th," Dujarric said.&nbsp;

WATCH |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/video-ukraine-russia-conflict-man-miraculously-saved-after-military-combat-vehicle-runs-over-his-car-457805">Ukraine-Russia conflict: Man miraculously saved after military combat vehicle runs over his car</a>

On Monday (February 28), Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said that the 12 Russian diplomats had been asked to leave by March 7. &nbsp;

Nebenzia described the move by the US as "hostile" and said Russia would respond "because it's diplomatic practice."&nbsp;

When asked if there was any link with Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, the spokesperson said that the request, like the expulsion of the 12 diplomats, had been in the works for "months."&nbsp;

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A spokesperson for the US Mission to United Nations on Tuesday (March 1) said that amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict , the US is expelling a Russian "intelligence operative" who works at the United Nations.

A spokesperson for the US Mission to United Nations on Tuesday (March 1) said that amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict , the US is expelling a Russian "intelligence operative" who works at the United Nations. The US has levelled accusations of espionage for the second day running on Tuesday and it has targeted Russians working at the United Nations. ALSO READ | 'Mom, I am scared. We are hitting everyone': Russian soldier's last words to mother are heart-wrenching News agency Reuters reported citing a spokesperson who commented on the condition of anonymity that the US began the process on Monday "to require the departure of one Russian intelligence operative working at the United Nations who has abused their privileges of residence in the United States". "We regret that we find ourselves in this situation, but are engaging with the host country," said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric on Tuesday of the expulsion of the Russian UN staff member. "What makes this decision a little difficult to understand is that the staff member was scheduled to end his assignment on March 14th," Dujarric said. WATCH | Ukraine-Russia conflict: Man miraculously saved after military combat vehicle runs over his car On Monday (February 28), Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said that the 12 Russian diplomats had been asked to leave by March 7. Nebenzia described the move by the US as "hostile" and said Russia would respond "because it's diplomatic practice." When asked if there was any link with Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, the spokesperson said that the request, like the expulsion of the 12 diplomats, had been in the works for "months." ×

'Intelligence operative': US expels Russian spy working for United Nations

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