LIVE: Everything is going to plan in Ukraine, says Putin

Russian President said the Russian army would fulfil its aims as part of the special military operation

8:40 PM

We've decided to increase the DA of government employees to 31%: MP CM

8:38 PM

More than 350 civilians confirmed killed in Ukraine so far, says UN

At least 351 civilians are confirmed to have been killed in Ukraine since Russian troops invaded on Feb. 24, and another 707 wounded, although the true numbers are probably "considerably higher", a U.N. monitoring mission said on Saturday.

 

Most of the civilian casualties were caused by explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multi-launch rocket systems, and from missile and air strikes, monitors from the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said.

8:29 PM

Poland is doing vital work to respond to this crisis: Blinken

8:17 PM

'Russia has provided 100s of buses and is waiting to take Indians out'

8:15 PM

Evacuation trains from war zone pour into Lviv in western Ukraine

Thousands of women and children, many weeping and numb with exhaustion, arrived in Lviv in western Ukraine on Saturday as the state railway put on more trains to rescue people from fierce Russian attacks on eastern cities.

 

"I've barely slept for 10 days," said Anna Filatova, who had arrived with her two daughters from Kharkiv, Ukraine's second city, near its eastern border with Russia. "The Russians want to flatten Kharkiv. It was impossible to stay there anymore." Hundreds more people lined up in flurries of snow on the station forecourt, warming themselves on oil-drum braziers or lining up for hot food and drinks served by volunteers.

 

Many women were in tears or on the verge of tears, their weary children standing silently beside them. Others carried cats in baskets or pulled shivering dogs on leashes.

7:53 PM

'Over 10,000 evacuated from Ukraine barring Kharkiv and Sumy'

7:49 PM

Russia in talks with aircraft leasing firms over sanctions

The Russian government is in talks with aircraft leasing companies to resolve potential issues linked to Western sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday.

 

Earlier, Russia's state aviation authority recommended Russian airlines with foreign-leased aircraft to suspend flights of passengers and cargo abroad from Russia from March 6 and from foreign countries to Russia starting on March 8 to prevent their possible seizure.

7:46 PM

PM Modi to chair a high-level meeting on the Ukraine issue shortly

7:40 PM

Blinken speaks with Chinese foreign minister on Ukraine: State Dept

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke on Saturday with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi about "Moscow's premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified war against Ukraine," a U.S. State Department spokesperson said.

 

"The Secretary noted the world is watching to see which nations stand up for the basic principles of freedom, self-determination and sovereignty," spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.

 

"He underscored that the world is acting in unison to repudiate and respond to the Russian aggression, ensuring that Moscow will pay a high price," Price added.

7:37 PM

Everything is going to plan in Ukraine: Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that everything was going to plan in Ukraine and the Russian army would fulfil its aims as part of the special military operation.

7:37 PM

Putin says Western sanctions are akin to declaration of war

President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that Western sanctions on Russia were akin to a declaration of war and defended Russia's invasion of Ukraine, saying Moscow needed to defend Russian speakers in Ukraine's east as well as its own interests.

 

Speaking to female flight attendants in comments broadcast on state television, the Kremlin leader said Russia wanted Ukraine to be "demilitarised", "denazified" and that Ukraine should have neutral status.

7:26 PM

Ukraine says Russian shelling is blocking evacuations from eastern cities

Ukraine said on Saturday Russian shelling of eastern cities including the port of Mariupol was preventing residents from evacuating the area in humanitarian corridors agreed at the last round of ceasefire talks.

 

"The ongoing shelling makes it impossible to open humanitarian corridors for the safe evacuation of civilians and the delivery of medicines and food," said a foreign ministry statement.

 

The ministry also said Russian allegations about Ukraine hobbling the evacuations "are not true and are misinformation to justify the criminal actions of the Russian army."

7:25 PM

Evacuations from Mariupol, Volnovakha won't start on Saturday: ICRC

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it understood that evacuations of civilians from Mariupol and Volnovakha in Ukraine would not start on Saturday because of the conflict following Russia's invasion.

 

"We remain in dialogue with the parties about the safe passage of civilians from different cities affected by the conflict," the ICRC said in a statement.

 

"The scenes in Mariupol and in other cities today are heart-breaking. Any initiative from the parties that gives civilians a respite from the violence and allows them to voluntarily leave for safer areas is welcome." The Ukrainian government previously said the plan was to evacuate around 200,000 people from Mariupol and 15,000 from Volnovakha and the ICRC is the ceasefire's guarantor. 

7:14 PM

Maharashtra reports 535 new Covid cases

6:44 PM

Main focus is on Sumy now, challenge remains ongoing violence & lack of transportation: MEA

6:33 PM

'3 buses organised by GoI have reached Pisochyn'

6:24 PM

3,000 Indians airlifted today from Ukraine’s neighbouring countries: Govt

Under ‘Operation Ganga’ to rescue Indian citizens, about 3,000 Indians have been airlifted today by 15 special flights from Ukraine’s neighbouring countries. These included 12 special civilian and 3 IAF flights. With this, more than 13,700 Indians have been brought back since the special flights began on February 22, 2022.The number of Indians brought back by 55 special civilian flights goes up to 11,728. Till date, the IAF has flown 10 sorties to bring back 2,056 passengers, while taking 26 tonnes of relief load to these countries, as part of Op Ganga.

 

Three C-17 heavy lift transport aircraft of the IAF, which had taken off yesterday from the Hindan air base, landed back at Hindan today morning. These flights evacuated 629 Indian nationals from Romania, Slovakia and Poland. These flights also carried 16.5 tonnes of relief load from India to these countries. All civilian flights, except one, had landed during morning today, while flight from Kosice to New Delhi is expected to arrive late in the evening. Today’s civilian flights included 5 from Budapest, 4 from Suceva, 1 from Kosice and 2 from Rzeszow.

 

Tomorrow, 11 special flights are expected to operate from Budapest, Kosice, Rzeszow and Bucharest, bringing in more than 2,200 Indians back home.

6:15 PM

Russia says West's sanctions create a 'problem' for Iran nuclear deal

Russia said on Saturday that Western sanctions imposed over the conflict in Ukraine had become a stumbling block for the Iran nuclear deal, warning that West that Russian national interests would have to be taken into account.

 

Iran said on Saturday it had agreed a roadmap with the U.N. nuclear watchdog to resolve all outstanding questions about the country's nuclear program by late June, a move seen as a latest push to revive Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with global powers.

 

But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the sanctions on Russia had created a "problem" from Moscow's perspective.

5:49 PM

Russia's Aeroflot to halt flights abroad, except Belarus, from March 8

Russia's flagship carrier Aeroflot will stop all flights abroad with the exception of those to Belarus from March 8, the TASS news agency quoted the company as saying on Saturday.

 

Russia's state aviation authority on Saturday recommended that Russian airlines with foreign-leased aicraft to suspend flights of passengers and cargo abroad from Russia from March 6 and from foreign countries to Russia starting on March 8.

5:48 PM

Russia accuses Ukrainian 'nationalists' of thwarting humanitarian corridors: Report

Russia's defence ministry said no one made use of two humanitarian corridors set up near Ukraine's cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha on Saturday and accused Ukrainian "nationalists" of preventing civilians from leaving, RIA news agency reported.

 

In remarks that contrasted starkly with comments from Ukrainian officials, the ministry said that the Russian forces had come under fire after it had set up the humanitarian corridors during a partial ceasefire.

 

The city council in Mariupol said earlier that Russia was not observing the ceasefire entirely, and Ukrainian authorities said they were looking into reports Russian troops were using the ceasefire to advance towards Mariupol.

5:47 PM

Russia's Lavrov not optimistic about talks due to Zelensky's angry stance

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday the angry statements of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky were not inspiring optimism about the fate of talks to end hostilities in Ukraine.

 

Earlier, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he was open to talks with Lavrov, but only if such negotiations were "meaningful".

 

Lavrov also said that Russia was checking information that Ukrainian authorities may not be allowing civilians to be evacuated from the city of Mariupol via humanitarian corridors agreed earlier.

5:46 PM

Western countries have increased the dispatch of mercenaries to the combat zones in Ukraine: Russian embassy

5:18 PM

Evacuations halted in Ukraine area where ceasefire pledged

The Ukrainian president's office says civilian evacuations have halted in an area of the country where Russian defense officials had announced a ceasefire.

 

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office, said the evacuation effort was stopped because the city of Mariupol remained under fire on Saturday.

 

The Russian side is not holding to the ceasefire and has continued firing on Mariupol itself and on its surrounding area," he said.

 

"Talks with the Russian Federation are ongoing regarding setting up a ceasefire and ensuring a safe humanitarian corridor.

4:45 PM

Ukraine says Russia violates ceasefire pact on corridors

Russian forces have resumed shelling Volnovakha with heavy weaponry, said Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk. The government earlier announced plans to evacuate 15,000 children, women and elderly people from the town in the eastern Ukraine.

 

Fighting is also taking place on along a route meant to serve as a humanitarian corridor to evacuate 200,000 people from Mariupol, Vereshchuk said. She called on Russia to allow the delivery of food and medicine. Mariupol officials asked people to seek shelter.

4:24 PM

About 200,000 expected to flee Mariupol

Ukraine plans to evacuate about 200,000 women and children from Mariupol, which has been under heavy Russia’s shelling and is encircled, and another 15,000 from Volnovakha to the north, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Saturday in a video address.  

 

The Red Cross will guarantee ceasefires along those corridors, she said.

 

Vereshchuk also said Russian troops are taking advantage of Saturday’s ceasefire to advance in those areas, and called on authorities to order a halt to such activity.

4:00 PM

Pressed Russia, Ukraine for ceasefire to create safe corridor for Indian students, says MEA

3:52 PM

Kremlin says the West is behaving like bandits

The Kremlin said on Saturday that the West was behaving like bandits but that Russia was far too big to be isolated as the world was much larger than just the United States and Europe.

 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also told reporters that if the United States imposed sanctions on Russia's energy exports then it would roil energy markets.

3:30 PM

Russian forces are not observing full ceasefire on Mariupol evacuation route, says city council

The city council of Ukraine's Mariupol city said Russian forces were not observing an agreed ceasefire along the whole length of a planned route for the evacuation of civilians that was due to take place on Saturday.

 

"We are negotiating with the Russian side to confirm the ceasefire along the entire evacuation route," it said in a statement.

3:23 PM

Evacuated 6,222 Indians in last 7 days from Romania & Moldova: Scindia

3:00 PM

'Students are still stuck in Sumy. They have nothing to eat'