Here are the latest updates on the war in Ukraine:
Russian forces have taken control of a city where workers live at a non-functioning Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the governor of the Kyiv region said on Saturday, citing fighting in the streets of the besieged southern port of Mariupol. US President Joe Biden has told Polish President Andrzej Duda that “your freedom is ours”, echoing one of Poland’s unofficial mottos. Canada and the European Commission will launch an international fundraising campaign to help people fleeing the war in Ukraine. The president of Finland says that his country will most likely be targeted by Russian cyber warfare and will face border violations if it decides to apply for NATO membership. Mark Mackinnon of The Globe took 20 years to cover Ukraine to prepare him for three weeks of war. He writes that he will return to see what happens next.
10:10 a.m. ET
Biden to Poland: “Your freedom is ours”
US President Joe Biden, left, and Polish President Andrei Duda walk during a military welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Poland, on March 26, 2022. Czarek Sokolowski / The Associated Press US President Joe Biden has told Polish President Andrzej Duda that “your freedom is ours”, echoing one of Poland’s unofficial mottos. He assured Duda that the US and other NATO allies would come to the rescue if Russia attacked. The two gathered in Biden’s last day in Europe on Saturday to talk about their joint effort to end the war in neighboring Ukraine. Biden described the Western military alliance’s “collective defense” agreement as a “sacred commitment” and said NATO unity was paramount. He also acknowledged that Poland was bearing the brunt of the humanitarian crisis as more than 2 million of the 3.5 million people who fled Ukraine entered the country. He said other NATO allies needed to do more. The United States has pledged to accept up to 100,000 refugees. Duda said that relations between the two nations are flourishing, despite the difficult times. – The Associated Press 9:50 a.m. ET
Bombed city in northern Ukraine fears it will become the “next Mariupol”
This satellite imagery provided by Maxar Technologies shows an overview of burned oil storage tanks and an industrial area in Chernihiv, Ukraine during the Russian invasion on March 21, 2022. The Associated Press The nights are spent crammed underground by Russian strikes hitting their besieged city in ruins. The hours of the day are dedicated to the hunt for drinking water and the danger of standing in line for the little food available as it rains shells and bombs. This is what he now lives for in Chernihiv, a city in northern Ukraine where death is everywhere. It is not – yet – as synonymous with horrific human suffering as the pulverized southern city of Mariupol became 31 days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But equally besieged, besieged and pounded from afar by Russian troops, the remaining Chernihiv residents are terrified that with every explosion, bomb and body found on the streets, they will be caught in the same macabre trap of inevitable assassinations. “In the basements at night, everyone is talking about one thing: Chernihiv is becoming the next Mariupol,” said Ihar Kazmertsak, a 38-year-old linguist. Kazmerchak starts his day in long queues for drinking water, with 10 liters per person. People come out with empty bottles and buckets for filling when water trucks go around. “The food is over and the bombing and the bombing is not stopping,” he said. On Wednesday, Russian bombs exploded on the Chernihiv main bridge over the Dessna River on the road to Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. On Friday, artillery shells made the remaining footbridge impassable, cutting off the last possible route for people to leave or food and medical supplies to enter. Refugees from Chernihiv who escaped the siege and arrived in Poland this week spoke of widespread and terrible disaster, with bombs leveling at least two schools in the city center and strikes also hitting stadiums, museums, kindergartens and many homes. – The Associated Press 9:30 a.m. ET
Canada, Europe to co-sponsor international social media fundraiser for displaced Ukrainians
Canada and the European Commission will launch an international fundraising campaign to help people fleeing the war in Ukraine. The fundraising effort, called “Stand Up For Ukraine”, will involve politicians, artists and businesses, among others, and will culminate in a commitment event on April 9 hosted by Prime Minister Justin Trinto and the President of the European Commission. Ursula von der Leyen. They are collaborating with the global defense organization Global Citizen to raise funds for the humanitarian crisis caused by the worst fighting in Europe since World War II. A statement from Trinto’s office said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was inviting musicians, actors, athletes, business leaders, politicians and anyone else to attend a large-scale social media gathering to help his besieged country. The goal is to raise money to help the millions of refugees and internally displaced Ukrainians who were forced to flee their homes after the Russian invasion of their country on February 24. – The Canadian Press 9:00 a.m. ET
The Russian threat of tension is evident in Finland’s bid for NATO
The president of Finland says that his country will most likely be targeted by Russian cyber warfare and will face border violations if it decides to apply for NATO membership. Several polls in recent weeks have shown that a majority of Finns now support NATO membership, up from a maximum of 25% before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. President Sauli Niinisto said in an interview with the public broadcaster YLE on Saturday that the biggest benefit would be “to get a preventative effect”. However, he noted the risk of divisive behavior by Russia during the accession process, which will take at least months. He said a request would lead to tensions on Finland’s 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border with Russia, including the possibility of “strong” border and ground violations – not just by Russian aircraft, as Finland has experienced in the past. Niinisto said: “We do not even know all the possibilities of hybrid influence that one can invent. The whole IT world is vulnerable. “Even some important functions of society can be disrupted.” Moscow has said it would consider the membership of the European Union in Finland and neighboring Sweden in NATO as a hostile move that would have serious military and political implications. – The Associated Press 8:35 a.m. ET
Biden to call on “free world” to oppose Putin in Poland speech
US President Joe Biden, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken arrive at Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine near Rzeszow, Poland, March 25, 2022. Patryk OENCJAZ / Reut US President Joe Biden will say in a speech in Poland on Saturday that the “free world” opposes the Russian invasion of Ukraine and that there is unity among the big economies over the need to stop Vladimir Putin, the White House said. Biden will also meet with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba and Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov in Warsaw on Saturday for his first face-to-face meeting with top Ukrainian officials since the start of the war. Biden held three days of emergency meetings with allies in the G7, Europe and NATO, and visited US troops in Poland on Friday. He was also scheduled to meet with Polish President Andrei Duda on Saturday. Putin’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine, which Russia calls a “special operation,” tested Biden’s promise when he took office last year to confront authoritarians, including Russian President and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The White House said in a statement later Saturday that Biden would “comment on the United Nations’ efforts to support the people of Ukraine, to hold Russia accountable for its violent warfare, and to defend a rooted future.” in democratic principles. ” – Reuters 8:00 a.m. ET
Russian forces occupy the working-class city of Chernobyl. fights in the center of Mariupol as Moscow changes targets
An overview shows the New Safe Confinement structure above the old sarcophagus covering the damaged fourth reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, November 22, 2018. GLEB GARANICH / Reuters Russian forces have taken control of a town where workers live at a non-functioning Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the governor of the Kyiv region said on Saturday, citing clashes in the streets of the besieged southern port of Mariupol. After more than four weeks of fighting, Russia has been unable to occupy any major Ukrainian cities, and on Friday Moscow indicated it was limiting its military ambitions to focus on territories claimed by Russian-backed separatists in the east. However, heavy fighting erupted in several places on Saturday, suggesting there would be no immediate cessation of the conflict, which has killed thousands, sent some 3.7 million abroad and driven more than half of Ukraine’s children out of their homes. according to the United Nations. Russian troops have seized the town of Slavutych, near the border with Belarus, where workers at the Chernobyl plant live, said the governor of the Kiev region, Oleksandr Pavlyuk. He added that the soldiers had taken over the hospital and abducted the mayor. Reuters could not independently verify the reports. – Reuters
