The latest updates on the war in Ukraine:
WASHINGTON – U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday called Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal as the atrocities in Ukraine mount and the president there begged the U.S. Congress for more help.
“He’s a war criminal,” the president said of Putin as he left an unrelated event. It’s the sharpest condemnation yet of Putin and Russian actions by a U.S. official since the invasion of Ukraine.
While other world leaders have used the words, the White House had been hesitant to declare Putin’s actions those of a war criminal, saying it was a legal term that required research.
But in a speech Wednesday, Biden said Russian troops had bombed hospitals and held doctors hostage. He pledged more aid to help Ukraine fight Russia.
——
KYIV, Ukraine — Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko says Russian shelling damaged several residences in the city’s Podil neighbourhood, just north of the city centre and about 2.5 kilometres (1.5 miles) from the so-called ‘government quarter’ that holds the presidential palace, president’s office and other significant offices.
Officials did not immediately release additional details about the attack, including whether there were any casualties.
Kyiv residents have been huddled in homes and shelters amid a citywide curfew that runs until Thursday morning, as Russia shelled areas in and around the city. Earlier, a 12-story apartment building in central Kyiv erupted in flames after being hit by shrapnel.
——
KYIV, Ukraine — The mayor of the southeastern Ukrainian city of Melitopol has been freed after he was seized by Russian forces five days ago, a Ukrainian official said Wednesday.
Andriy Yermak, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, announced the news but did not share details about how Ivan Fedorov became free.
Surveillance video last week showed Fedorov being marched out of city hall apparently surrounded by Russian soldiers.
Prior to the start of the invasion, U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration had warned of Russian plans to detain and kill targeted people in Ukraine, with Zelensky himself likely top target.
——
SIRET, Romania — Refugees fleeing the Russian invasion continued to arrive at the Romanian border town of Siret on Wednesday.
A nearby sports hall has been turned into a shelter for families that includes numerous children.
Mihaita Musteata, a social worker and volunteer at the center, said many of those arriving have been twice displaced.
"We’ve had some people who’ve lost their home a second time," Musteata said. "They first lost their home in Donbas, then moved to Kyiv, and now they lost that home too."
Musteata said most of the refugees are headed elsewhere, but more Ukrainians have decided to remain in Romania and plan to return to Ukraine "if the war ever stops."
Alexandra Stoleriu, a 19-year-old volunteer, said the children at the shelter do not fully understand what has happened to their country.
"I think they are better here," Stoleriu said. "We are trying to calm them, to play with them, to give them food or anything, if they want something. We are here to support them."
——
WINONA, Minn. — A Minnesota mother and father fear for the safety of their adult son in Ukraine who they say was taken by the Russian military.
Tina Hauser, of Winona, told KAAL-TV the last time she spoke with her son, Tyler Jacob, was Saturday when he told her he was being forced by the Russian military to board a bus out of Kherson and leave his Ukrainian wife and daughter behind.
"My worst nightmare is coming true, and I’m fearful that they are going to torture him and kill him and I’m not ever going to see my son again," said Hauser through tears.
Hauser said she has called the U.S. Embassy but has not heard back. She has also reached out to Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s office for help.
"My heart goes out to Tyler’s family and we will do everything we can to locate him. My office is working with the State Department and the embassy to find him and resolve this situation as quickly as possible," Klobuchar said in a statement.
Jacob, 28, was teaching English in Kherson when Russian troops invaded the country, according to his father, John Quinn, of Cannon Falls.
He said Jacob got on an evacuation bus for foreigners headed to Turkey on Saturday. But at a checkpoint in Crimea, the bus was stopped by Russian soldiers and Jacob was detained, WCCO-TV reported.
——
Russian law enforcement has announced the first known criminal cases against people posting what is deemed to be "false information" about the war in Ukraine.
The Investigative Committee, a law enforcement agency, listed three suspects, including Veronika Belotserkovskaya, who is a Russian-language cookbook author and popular blogger living abroad.
It said Belotserkovskaya made posts on Instagram containing "deliberately false information about the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to destroy cities and the civilian population of Ukraine, including children."
Belotserkovskaya, whose Instagram profile says she was born in Ukraine, responded to the announcement by writing that "I have been officially declared to be a decent person!"
The other suspects were identified only as a man and a woman in the Tomsk Region of Siberia. The Investigative Committee said they had posted false messages about Russian military operations and casualties and that their homes had been searched.
The invasion of Ukraine is being characterized in Russia as a "special military operation," not a war. President Vladimir Putin on March 4 signed legislation allowing for jail terms of up to 15 years for posting false information about the military.
——
BRUSSELS — Poland’s defense minister says that at Wednesday’s NATO meeting he presented his country’s proposal to have the alliance establish a humanitarian and peacekeeping mission in Ukraine, similar to the one in Kosovo.
Minister Mariusz Blaszczak spoke in Brussels following talks among the 30-member alliance’s defence ministers regarding the war in Ukraine.
Blaszczak said he presented a peace mission proposal that Poland’s deputy prime minister, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, made Tuesday in Kyiv. The proposal will be discussed further, he said.
NATO has been leading a peace-support operation in Kosovo since June 1999 in support of wider international efforts to build peace and stability in the area.
During a visit of support to Kyiv, along with Poland’s, Czech and Slovenian prime ministers, Kaczynski said he thinks a NATO peacekeeping mission is needed in Ukraine, or "possibly some wider international structure, but a mission that will also be able to defend itself and that will operate in Ukraine."
He maintained it would be in line with international law and would not have any hostile character.
——
PRISTINA, Kosovo — Kosovo president awarded a medal to the Ukrainian contingent, part of the NATO-led Kosovo Force, or KFOR, before they left to join fighting in their homeland.
President Vjosa Osmani awarded the Presidential Military Medal to the Ukrainian contingent who have sent 1,400 troops on a rotational basis in the last three years.
"Today’s Medal is an embodiment of our gratitude to your army, and our way of paying respect to the professionalism they have displayed in Kosovo, and the bravery they are displaying during this dark time for the Ukrainian nation," said Osmani.
The last contingent of 40 Ukrainian officers of the Armed Forces Engineering Regiments will return to Ukraine.
Kosovo has condemned Ukraine’s invasion by Russia and has joined the European Union and the U.S. with sanctions on Russia "over the unjustified and unprovoked aggression toward Ukraine."
——
TIRANA, Albania — Albania has sheltered the first group of Ukrainians who have left the country after Russia’s invasion.
Interior Minister Bledi Cuci said 351 Ukrainians are being housed in Albania.
Albania has offered to shelter thousands of Ukrainians. The country housed Afghans last year and Kosovar brethren in their 1999 war.
Ukrainians may enter Albania without visas and stay for a year without being issued a residents’ permission, the ministry said.
Albania has joined the European Union in the hard-hitting sanctions against Russian top officials and institutions.
Tirana also joined the U.S. as a "co-pen holder" in initiating resolutions at the United Nations Security Council against Ukraine’s Russian invasion.
——
BRUSSELS – NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has categorically ruled out any role for the military organization in setting up and policing a no-fly zone over Ukraine to protect against Russian airstrikes.
Stoltenberg says “NATO should not deploy forces on the ground or in the air space over Ukraine because we have a responsibility to ensure that this conflict, this war, doesn’t escalate beyond Ukraine.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly appealed for NATO to set up a no-fly zone given Russia’s air superiority, as civilian casualties mount three weeks into the war.
Speaking Wednesday after chairing a meeting of NATO defense ministers, Stoltenberg conceded that “we see human suffering in Ukraine, but this can become even worse if NATO (takes) actions that actually turned this into a full-fledged war between NATO and Russia.”
He says the decision not to send air or ground forces into Ukraine is “the united position from NATO allies.” Earlier Wednesday, Estonia urged its 29 NATO partners to consider setting up a no-fly zone.
——
WARSAW, Poland – Ukrainian refugees stood in long lines in Warsaw on Wednesday to complete the process for acquiring a Polish ID number (PESEL).
It was the first day Ukrainians were allowed to apply for a national identification number that will provide access to public services such as medical care and education.
Similar queues were seen in other Polish cities. The Polish government has deployed 1,000 clerks nationwide to help process applications.
Almost 1.9 million Ukrainian refugees have crossed Poland’s border since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.
While some refugees planned to travel to Germany, Italy and other Western European countries, many have chosen to stay in Poland, where they share familial and cultural ties with their neighboring Slavic nation.
Newly signed Polish legislation allows Ukrainian refugees to legalize their stay for 18 months and gives them many other rights usually reserved for citizens and permanent residents.
Tens of thousands of Ukrainian children have already been registered at Polish schools.
——
COPENHAGEN, Denmark – The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration on Wednesday urged Ukrainians arriving in Denmark with their pets to have them registered with the government agency because of fear that they might carry rabies
”It is important to have a special focus on dogs, cats and ferrets, which can be carriers of the rabies virus which occurs in Ukraine,” the agency said.
People are asked to fill in a form that is available on the agency’s website and pet owners will be contacted and an inspection will take place. That includes visits by an official veterinarian, isolation and various measures, such as rabies vaccination and antibody titration test of the animal, the administration said.
Rabies is usually a fatal disease in animals and humans, caused by a virus that invades the central nervous system. It’s most commonly spread through a bite from an infected animal.
——
MADRID – Real Madrid says it will donate 1 million euros ($1.1 million) for humanitarian aid for the war victims in Ukraine.
The Spanish soccer club said Wednesday that the money will be used by its own charity foundation which “works alongside the main international NGOs” including the Red Cross and UNHCR, among others. The aid will go to fund relief projects both inside Ukraine and in neighboring countries to help refugees.
The club added that it will also donate 13,000 items of clothing and sporting goods to the Spanish Red Cross and other charity-run centers in Madrid for refugees coming to Spain.
——
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The United Nations’ top court ordered Russia to stop hostilities in Ukraine on Wednesday, granting measures requested by Kyiv, but many are skeptical that Russia will comply.
Ukraine asked the International Court of Justice, also known as the World Court, to intervene two weeks ago, arguing Russia violated the 1948 Genocide Convention by falsely accusing Ukraine of committing genocide and using that as a pretext for the ongoing invasion.
The court’s president, U.S. judge Joan E. Donoghue, demanded that "the Russian Federation shall immediately suspend the special military operations it commenced on Feb. 24."
Following the news, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted: "Ukraine gained a complete victory in its case against Russia at the International Court of Justice. The ICJ ordered to immediately stop the invasion. The order is binding under international law. Russia must comply immediately. Ignoring the order will isolate Russia even further."
——
SOFIA, Bulgaria — Bulgaria is beefing up its refugee registration system by opening additional border points where documents are issued to Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s invasion.
According to latest government figures, more than 81,000 Ukrainian citizens have entered Bulgaria trough the border crossings since the war broke out, and almost half of them have said that they want to stay in the Balkan country.
After initial registration, refugees are accommodated with families or in apartments provided by NGOs and local communities.
Bulgaria, which is the European Union’s poorest member, is facing a serious demographic crisis as its population has shrunk from almost nine million in 1989 to 6.5 million now, mainly due to a massive west-bound emigration.
In the wake of the current refugee influx, Bulgarian employers in the IT, tourism and construction sectors have offered to hire tens of thousands of Ukrainians.
Bulgaria is also concerned over the safety of some 200,000 ethnic Bulgarians, most of whom have been living for over a century mainly in the southern Ukrainian region of Odesa.
——
NEW YORK — Fox News reporter Benjamin Hall, who was seriously injured in the wartime incident that killed two colleagues on Monday, is out of Ukraine, the network said on Wednesday.
"Ben is alert and in good spirits," said Suzanne Scott, Fox News Media CEO, in a memo to staff. "He is being treated with the best possible care in the world and we are in close contact with his wife and family."
Fox video journalist Pierre Zakrzewski and Oleksandra "Sasha" Kuvshynova, a Ukrainian journalist working with the Fox crew, were both killed when their vehicle was struck by incoming fire in Horenka, outside of Kyiv. Hall survived the blast.
The network offered no other details of Hall’s whereabouts or his condition.
——
NEW YORK — The Russian Orthodox Church says Pope Francis discussed the war in Ukraine with its leader, Patriarch Kirill, in a call on Wednesday.
The Russian Orthodox Church said the call, which included other senior figures from both churches, included expressions from both sides "that a just peace is achieved soon" and the importance of negotiations, as well as "humanitarian aspects of the current crisis."
The Vatican didn’t immediately respond when asked to confirm the call or comment on its contents.
Earlier Wednesday, during his weekly general audience, Francis made reference to a "final catastrophe" of an atomic war that would extinguish humanity. While he didn’t reference Ukraine explicitly in that part of his speech, he did elsewhere call for prayers for Ukraine and for God to protect its children and to forgive those who make war.
——
BUCHAREST, Romania — Three Romanian citizens are being investigated by prosecutors after a car was discovered by security officials carrying six Ukrainian men in a city near the Ukraine border, Romanian border police said.
"Upon enterxjmtzywing the city the driver abandoned the car and fled to the nearby houses, and inside the car was discovered six men of Ukrainian citizenship," border police said in a statement Wednesday. "They had not completed the entry formalities in Romania through the border point."
More than 3 million refugees from war-torn Ukraine, mostly women and children, have fled into neighbouring countries since Russia’s invasion started on Feb. 24. Men in Ukraine aged between 18 and 60 years old are not allowed to legally leave, unless they have three or more children.
The car carrying the Ukrainian nationals failed to stop when signalled Monday by police, resulting in a car chase that ended in the town of Radauti, border police said.
The town of Radauti in Suceava County is situated about 30 kilometres (19 miles) from Romania’s northern Siret border crossing with Ukraine, where tens of thousands of refugees have entered since Russia began its attacks.
The men have asked for protection from the Romanian state and have applied for asylum, authorities said.
——
WASHINGTON — White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan and Gen. Nikolay Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security Council, spoke by phone on Wednesday, the highest level engagement between the U.S. and Russia since the invasion nearly three weeks ago.
Sullivan warned Patrushev "about the consequences and implications of any possible Russian decision to use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine," according national security council spokesperson Emily Horne. The White House last week accused China of spreading Russian disinformation that could be a pretext for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces to attack Ukraine with chemical or biological weapons.
Patrushev spoke of "the need to stop Washington’s support for neo-Nazis and terrorists in Ukraine and to facilitate the transfer of foreign mercenaries to the conflict zone, as well as to refuse to continue supplying weapons to the Kyiv regime," council spokesman Yevgeny Anoshin said.
The call marked the highest-level conversation between the two sides since the invasion began.
Lower-level interactions between two sides have been ongoing, with the embassies in Moscow and Washington passing messages, much as they do with their missions at the United Nations. Those exchanges have been largely confined to informing the other side of diplomatic expulsions.
——
Russian President Vladimir Putin charged Wednesday that the West is trying to divide Russia through "the fifth column" and "national traitors," apparently referring to Kremlin critics.
"(The West) now, once again, wants to repeat the attempt to squeeze us, to put pressure on us, to turn us into a weak dependent country, to violate (our) territorial integrity, to dismember, in the best way for them, Russia. It didn’t work out then, and it won’t work out now," Putin said in a long emotional speech, opening a video conference meeting with government officials. "Of course, they will bet on the so-called `fifth column,’ national traitors, those who earn money here, but live there."
The Russian leader juxtaposed "our people" to Russians who "have a villa in Miami or on the French Riviera, those who can’t go by without foie gras, oysters or so-called gender freedoms." "That’s not the problem, the problem is that many of those people, by their very nature, are mentally there. They are not here. Not with our people. Not with Russia," Putin said.
——
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan travelled to Ukraine on Wednesday and had a surprise virtual linkup with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss the court’s ongoing war crimes investigation.
"I was pleased to hold important exchanges with the President while in the country; we agreed all efforts are needed to ensure international humanitarian law is respected and to protect the civilian population," Khan said in a statement following the virtual meeting.
The court opened an investigation into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity two weeks ago, following a record-breaking number of referrals from other signatories to the Rome Statute, which created the court in 2002. Investigators traveled to Ukraine last week to begin collecting evidence.
Ukraine is not a member of the court but gave the court jurisdiction over crimes on its territory in 2014 after the Russian-backed government was removed following a popular uprising. As the Russian Federation is also not a party to the court, it has no jurisdiction over the invasion itself but could indict people from either country for committing war crimes.
Kyiv has alleged widespread human rights abuses by Russia, including the use of cluster bombs against civilians and attacking hospitals and schools.
——
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that the operation in Ukraine is unfolding "successfully, in strict accordance with pre-approved plans" and decried Western sanctions against Russia, describing them as "aggression and war with economic, political, information means."
At the same time Putin said that the West has failed to wage "an economic blitzkrieg" against Russia.
"In effect these steps are aimed at worsening the lives of millions of people," Putin said of the sanctions that have delivered a crippling blow to Russia’s economy.
"One should clearly understand that the new set of sanctions and restrictions against us would have followed in any case, I want to emphasize this. Our military operation in Ukraine is just a pretext for the next sanctions," Putin told a government meeting Wednesday.
——
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called for an end to the "bloodshed and tears" from the conflict in Ukraine during a joint news conference with his Russian counterpart.
Speaking after a meeting with Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on Wednesday, Cavusoglu also called for an immediate cease-fire for the besieged city of Mariupol to allow the evacuation of stranded civilians, including Turkish citizens.
"This state of events must come to an end, the bloodshed and tears must be stopped now," Cavusoglu said. "There can be no winners in war and no losers in peace."
Cavusoglu is visiting Moscow as Turkey — a NATO member — has maintained close ties to both Ukraine and Russia, positioning itself as a mediator between the two sides. He is scheduled to travel to Ukraine on Thursday.
Dozens of Turkish nationals and others have been sheltering inside a mosque in Mariupol, seeking refuge from the Russian attack on the encircled port.
Cavusoglu said Turkey has so far evacuated more than 15,000 of its citizens from Ukraine.
——
TOKYO — Japan’s Defence Ministry says it has spotted Russian warships crossing a strait in northern Japan this week as Russia’s maritime activity in the area has escalated.
The ministry said Wednesday that it has also spotted an unmanned Chinese aircraft BZK-007 violating Japanese Defense Identification Zone over the East China Sea, causing the Air Self-Defence Force to scramble fighter jets and conduct surveillance activity.
China and Russia have stepped up their military collaboration recently, causing concerns in Japan about escalating tension in East Asia.
A pair of Russian tank-landing ships crossed the Tsugaru Strait between Aomori on the northern end of Japan’s main island and Hokkaido on Tuesday night, and another pair of tank carriers were spotted in similar waters Wednesday. The ships moved west to the Sea of Japan.
Larger fleets of Russian warships have been repeatedly seen in northern Japanese waters in recent months.
——
WASHINGTON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is citing Pearl Harbour and the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, in appealing to the U.S. Congress in his country’s fight against Russia.
Zelensky said by livestream at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday: "We need you right now.
Zelensky has been rallying support against Russia’s crushing invasion. Wednesday’s speech is among Zelensky’s most important as he pushes the U.S. to do more than it has pledged so far.
U.S. President Joe Biden has resisted Zelensky’s requests to send warplanes to Ukraine, which would risk escalating the war with Russia. Instead, Biden is expected to deliver an address later Wednesday announcing US$800 million in additional security assistance for Ukraine.
——
PRAGUE — The Czech Republic’s Prime Minister, Petr Fiala, who visited the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv together with his Polish and Slovenian counterparts, said the Ukrainians urgently need weapons to have a chance to face the invading Russian troops.
"Ukraine these days and weeks needs above all arms supply," Fiala said on Wednesday at a Prague airport after returning from Tuesday’s visit.
He said such supplies have to be delivered quickly by as many countries as possible and have to be massive.
It must be done in days," Fiala said.
"We have to realize that (the Ukrainians) do also fight for our independence, for our freedom and we have to support them. That’s the reason why we travelled there, to show them they’re not alone."
——
WARSAW, Poland — Ukrainian refugees in Poland stood in long queues on Wednesday, the first day they were allowed to apply for a national identification number which will give them access to public services such as medical care and education.
Huge lines formed in Warsaw and other cities. The government deployed 1,000 clerks nationwide to process their requests.
Almost 1.9 million Ukrainian refugees have crossed Poland’s border since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. While some head on to other countries, many are choosing to stay in Poland, where they often have family ties and share cultural similarities with the neighbouring Slavic nation.
Poland’s President Andrzej Duda has signed into law a set of measures to help the refugees.
It allows them to legalize their stay for 18 months and gives them many other rights usually reserved for citizens and permanent residents of the country. It makes it easier for Ukrainians to receive the ID number, to work and access benefits, healthcare and education, and even to receive monthly cash bonuses for children under age 18.
Tens of thousands of Ukrainian children have been registered at Polish schools.
——
JERUSALEM — The speaker of Israel’s parliament says the Ukrainian president will make a speech to legislators next week.
Mickey Levy said President Volodymyr Zelensky’s address will be held via video conference on Sunday at 6 p.m.
In a statement from his office Wednesday, Levy said it would be "an honour" to hear Zelensky speak "at this difficult time facing the Ukrainian people."
Israel is one of the few countries to have good working relations with both Ukraine and Russia.
——
STRASBOURG, France — The Council of Europe has expelled Russia from the continent’s foremost human rights body in an unprecedented move over its invasion and war in Ukraine.
The ministerial committee of the 47-nation organization said in statement Wednesday that "the Russian Federation ceases to be a member of the Council of Europe as from today, after 26 years of membership."
The decision comes on the heels of weeks of condemnation of Russia’s actions in Ukraine. Earlier this week, the group’s parliamentary assembly already initiated the process of expulsion and unanimously supported Russia’s expulsion.
——
ROME — Italy has frozen 4 million euros (US$4.4 million) in Sardinian real estate belonging to Petr Aven, classified by the European Union as "one of Vladimir Putin’s closest oligarchs."
A statement from Premier Mario Draghi’s office Wednesday said the Sassari building complex was frozen March 15.
It was the latest in a series of confiscations of Russian oligarch-owned yachts, villas and other holdings in Italy following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the imposition of EU sanctions on Putin and members of his inner circle.
According to the European Union Council decision sanctioning Russian oligarchs, Aven regularly meets with Putin and "does not operate independently of the president’s demands." It identified him as an important shareholder of the Alfa Group, which includes the Russian Alfa Bank.
——
TOKYO — Japan’s prime minister says his country will revoke Russia’s "most favoured nation" trade status over its invasion of Ukraine, as Tokyo steps up sanctions against Moscow in line with other Group of Seven countries.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters Wednesday that Japan is also barring the export of luxury products to Russia and is to stop importing selected Russian goods.
He said Japan will also step up efforts to prevent Russia from obtaining loans from global financial institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund.
The measures are the latest Japan has taken against Moscow in recent weeks. Japan has also frozen the assets of Russian President Vladimir Putin and top officials and billionaires close to him and banned exports of high technology goods that could be used for military purposes.
Japan will also step up humanitarian support for the Ukrainians, including shipping medical supplies and other relief goods, while taking in those who flee the country, Kishida said.
——
GENEVA — The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross is in Kyiv to try to obtain greater access for humanitarian groups in Ukraine and better protection for civilians.
The ICRC said Wednesday that the planned five-day visit by its president, Peter Maurer, aims to view first-hand the challenges facing civilians, meet with members of Ukraine’s government and explore ways the ICRC can expand its work in the country.
The trip came a day after the Geneva-based organization helped shepherd out hundreds of people in an evacuation from the northern city of Sumy in some 80 buses.
The ICRC also announced the delivery of 200 tons of aid to Ukraine, including kits for the war-wounded, blankets, kitchen sets, water and more than 5,200 body bags.
The ICRC has been working in Ukraine since 2014 and has a team of more than 600 staffers there, it says.
——
ROME — Italy is bolstering its refugee reception system to accommodate the around 47,000 Ukrainian refugees who have arrived since the start of the Russian invasion.
Top government officials from Italy’s interior, economy and labor ministries, as well as the Civil Protection agency, met Wednesday to coordinate Italy’s response. To date, 47,153 Ukrainians have arrived, including 19,069 minors, the government said in a statement.
Italy initially processes refugees in welcome centres. They are then placed with families or in apartments run by NGOs, church groups or other agencies.
——
MOSCOW — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says a "business-like spirit" is emerging at talks with Ukraine that are now focused on a neutral status for the war-torn country.
"A neutral status is being seriously discussed in connection with security guarantees," Lavrov said Wednesday on Russian channel RBK TV. "There are concrete formulations that in my view are close to being agreed."
He didn’t elaborate, but said "the business-like spirit" starting to surface in the talks "gives hope that we can agree on this issue."
Russia’s chief negotiator in the latest round of talks with Ukraine, which started Monday and are set to continue Wednesday, said earlier the sides are discussing a possible compromise idea for a future Ukraine with a smaller, non-aligned military.
"A whole range of issues tied with the size of Ukraine’s army is being discussed," Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said, according to Russian news agencies.
There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that the country realizes it can’t join NATO. Ukraine’s bid to join the Western military alliance has been a sore point for Moscow.
——
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis is begging for prayers and protection for the children of Ukraine as the Vatican intensifies its appeals for peace while still refraining from condemning Russia by name for its invasion.
Francis met with Italian school children in St. Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday and urged them to think of their Ukrainian counterparts who are hungry, cold and have been forced to flee their homes.
Francis has stepped up his criticism of the war but has refrained from condemning Russia by name. That is evidence of his aim to keep open a dialogue with the Russian Orthodox Church and reflects the Vatican’s tradition of not calling out aggressors amid its efforts to position itself as a possible mediator.
Meanwhile, Francis is to celebrate a Mass on Friday during which he will consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in a ritual that holds deep significance for the Catholic faithful. According to tradition, one of the so-called secrets of Fatima concerns the consecration of Russia to "the Immaculate Heart of Mary," prophesizing that peace will follow if the consecration is done.
St. John Paul II performed the consecration on March 25, 1984, and Francis will repeat the gesture 38 years later. On the same day, Francis’ chief alms-giver, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, who recently returned from a humanitarian mission to Ukraine, will celebrate a consecration Mass in Fatima, Portugal, the site of the early 20th century Marian apparitions that formed the basis of the "secrets of Fatima."
——
DUBAI — Ambulances and trauma and emergency surgery supplies are on their way to Ukraine from Dubai, via Poland.
The World Health Organization on Wednesday sent the shipment from their warehouses in the United Arab Emirates on two chartered flights provided for free by the government.
These were the third and fourth flights by the WHO to be sent to Ukraine through Dubai and were carrying 36 tons of medical supplies, including medicines for noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes or hyper-tension.
The International Humanitarian City, a Dubai-based hub, has so far sent a total of 36 shipments worth approximately US$4 million in response to the Ukraine emergency. They have included trauma and emergency supplies, shelter and food.
——
WARSAW, Poland — The prime ministers of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia have returned safely from a visit to Kyiv, as invading Russian forces menace the embattled Ukrainian capital.
The visit was meant to show support for Ukraine as it endures heavy bombardment.
The leaders met with President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday to send the message that Ukraine is not alone and that they support the nation’s aspirations to one day join the European Union.
They went ahead with the hours-long train trip despite worries within the European Union about the security risks of travelling within a war zone.
Polish government spokesman Piotr Mueller said Wednesday morning that they had returned safely to Poland.
Officials had not given details about their schedule for security reasons.
——
LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says Ukraine is not going to join NATO "any time soon," after the country’s president acknowledged Ukraine would not become part of the Western military alliance.
President Vladimir Putin has long depicted Ukraine’s NATO aspirations as a threat to Russia, something the alliance denies.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that Ukraine realized it could not join NATO, his most explicit acknowledgment that the goal, enshrined in Ukraine’s constitution, was unlikely to be met.
It came as Russia and Ukraine held a new round of talks, with Zelensky saying Wednesday that Russian demands were becoming "more realistic."
On Wednesday, Johnson — one of the most vocal Western supporters of Ukraine — said "the reality of the position" is that "there is no way Ukraine is going to join NATO any time soon." But he said the decision had to be for Ukraine to make.
——
LVIV, Ukraine — Satellite photos from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by The Associated Press show a suspected Ukrainian strike on the Russian-held Kherson International Airport and Air Base set several helicopters and vehicles ablaze.
The images Tuesday at the dual-use airfield show thick black smoke rising overhead from the blazes. At least three helicopters appeared to be on fire, as well as several vehicles. At a pad further away, other helicopters appeared damaged from an earlier strike.
The Ukrainian president’s office said that fighting had continued at Kherson airport on Tuesday, with "powerful blasts" rocking the area during the course of the day. They said they were assessing damage in the area, without elaborating.
Kherson is about 450 kilometres (275 miles) southeast of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.
Meanwhile, satellite images Tuesday of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Enerhodar, Ukraine, showed no damage to the site’s six reactors after Russian forces engaged in a firefight to seize the facility. Zaporizhzhia is Europe’s largest nuclear power plant and the fighting raised fears about safety there.
Zaporizhzhia is about the same distance and direction as Kherson from Kyiv. Residents in the region are building barricades and setting up firing positions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office said some 4,000 vehicles left Mariupol in the first major evacuation from the besieged southern city, but most of the convoy spent the night on the road out toward Zaporizhzhia.
——
NEW YORK — Russia’s Defence Ministry reported fighting near the separatist-held eastern regions Wednesday but did not comment on Russian military activity elsewhere.
Defence Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov claimed Russian forces have destroyed 111 Ukrainian aircraft, 160 drones and more than 1,000 tanks or other military vehicles since the start of what Russia calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine.
The Russian military’s daily public statements on the war focus almost exclusively on fighting in the separatist-held Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and on Ukrainian military targets, without acknowledging attacks on civilians.
——
KHARKIV, Ukraine — Hospital workers in Ukraine’s second-largest city find themselves on two frontlines, battling COVID-19 in intensive care units as war rages outside.
The Kharkiv Regional Clinical Infectious Diseases Hospital, the city’s leading facility for treating virus patients throughout the pandemic, has barricaded its windows and is adapting every day.
Hospital director Dr. Pavel Nartov said air raid sirens go off multiple times daily, forcing fragile patients into the hospital’s makeshift bomb shelter. Handling ICU patients on ventilators is the most difficult and dangerous part of the process, but also the most crucial, given the dangers of exposing oxygen tanks to bombings and shrapnel, he said.
"Bombing takes place from morning into night. Thank God a bomb has not yet hit our hospital. But it could hit at any time," he told The Associated Press.
Kharkiv has been under sustained fire from Russian forces since the outbreak of the war, with shelling hitting residential buildings and sending masses of people fleeing.
Ukraine’s official daily COVID-19 cases reached record highs in February but have declined since Russia invaded amid the chaos of war. COVID-19 concerns have fallen by the wayside as people focus on fleeing the fighting.
——
TOKYO — U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel praised Japan Wednesday for standing with the U.S. and other Western nations in announcing its latest sanctions to oppose Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Emanuel noted Japan’s ban on the exports of about 300 goods to Russia and Belarus, including semiconductors and communications equipment, as well as its stripping Russia of its most favoured nation trade status.
"Japan’s actions demonstrate its steadfast commitment to stand in unity with the United States, our allies and partners in Europe and around the world, and the Ukrainian people," he said.
The U.S. also welcomed Japan’s recent decision to freeze the assets of 17 more Russian politicians, tycoons and their relatives. The number of Russians targeted by Japan’s sanctions that freezes their assets now totals 61.
——
KYIV, Ukraine — A plume of smoke was seen rising up over western Kyiv on Wednesday morning after shrapnel from an artillery shell slammed into a 12-story apartment building in central Kyiv, obliterating the top floor and igniting a fire, according to a statement and images released by the Kyiv emergencies agency.
The neighbouring building was also damaged. The agency reported two victims, without elaborating.
Russian forces have intensified fighting in Kyiv suburbs, notably around the town of Bucha in the northwest and the highway leading west toward Zhytomyr, the head of the Kyiv region Oleksiy Kuleba said Wednesday.
He said Russian troops are trying to cut off the capital from transport arteries and destroy logistical capabilities even as they plan a wide-ranging attack to seize Kyiv.
Twelve towns around Kyiv are without water and six without heat.
Russia has occupied the city of Ivankiv, 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of Kyiv, and controls the surrounding region on the border with Belarus, Kuleba said.
Across the Kyiv region, he said, "Kindergartens, museums, churches, residential blocks and engineering infrastructure are suffering from the endless firing."
——
LVIV, Ukraine — Russian warships around midnight fired missiles and artillery at the Ukrainian sea coast near Tuzla, to the south of Odesa, Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko said.
"They fired a huge amount of ammunition from a great distance," he said on Facebook.
Gerashchenko said Russia wanted to test Ukraine’s coastal defence system.
He said there was no attempt to land troops. He didn’t say whether any of the shelling hit anything.
——
LVIV, Ukraine — Ukraine said a fourth Russian general has been killed in the fighting.
Maj. Gen. Oleg Mityaev died Tuesday during the storming of Mariupol, said Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko, who published a photo on Telegram of what he said was the dead officer.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported the death of another Russian general in his nighttime address but didn’t name him.
Mityaev, 46, commanded the 150th motorized rifle division and had fought in Syria, Gerashchenko said.
There was no confirmation of the death from Russia.
——
NEW YORK — The Russian state television employee who was arrested after interrupting a live news program by protesting the war in Ukraine said she was not allowed to sleep in police custody and was interrogated for 14 hours.
"These were very difficult days of my life because I literally went two full days without sleep, the interrogation lasted for more than 14 hours and they didn’t allow me to contact my family and close friends, didn’t provide any legal support," Marina Ovsyannikova said after she was released.
Ovsyannikova, an employee of Channel 1, walked into the studio during Monday’s evening news show with a poster saying "stop the war, don’t believe the propaganda, they are lying to you here." In English, it said "no war" at the top of the poster and "Russians against the war" at the bottom.
In a video recorded before her action, she urged Russians to join anti-war protests and said that "Russia is the aggressor country and one person, Vladimir Putin, solely bears responsibility for that aggression."
She was fined 30,000 rubles (about US$270) on charges of organizing unsanctioned actions for her call to take part in demonstrations against the war.
The state news agency Tass said Ovsyannikova was fined for the video, not for her appearance during the news show.
She remains under investigation for that on-air protest, Tass said, citing a law enforcement source. Tass said Ovsyannikova is being investigated under a new law against the dissemination of "deliberately false information" about the use of Russian armed forces, which carries a prison sentence of up to 15 years.
RELATED IMAGESview larger image
A firefighter walks outside a destroyed apartment building after a bombing in a residential area in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
