Day 14 of Putin's war: Russia allows more humanitarian corridors, Chornobyl NPP cut from power (UPDATED)
Full-scale war Russia has started in Ukraine, has been going on for two weeks. Today, March 9th, is the 14th day of the Russian invasion.
UPDATE (1835): After three hours of negotiations, the Russians allowed a convoy with evacuees from Enerhodar to pass through the village of Vasylkivka and move closer to Zaporizhzhia, Enerhodar City Council has reported in the Telegram messenger. Kyiv Oblast council also said in a statement that the evacuations from Vorzel and Irpyn continued. The evacuees are heading to Kyiv.
UPDATE (1635): Evacuations from Kyiv Oblast continue. In Bucha district, in the village of Stoyanka, the invaders blocked a column of 50 buses with evacuees, not letting the people go further, Kyiv Oblast Council has reported. Negotiations to allow the convoy to go forward are going on.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the Ukrainian President's Office, said in a statement that more than 25 buses with more than 1,000 people have left Sumy and are now heading to safety. Some 6,000 private vehicles with more than 20,000 people have been moving in the same green corridor.
Meanwhile, in Mariupol, invading Russian troops have bombed a children's hospital, Mariupol city council reported in Telegram. "Russian jets dropped several bombs on a children's hospital, causing enormous destruction," city council said. "The medical institution's building was completely destroyed. Information about the affected children is still being clarified."
UPDATE (1419): Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant has been completely disconnected from the power grid, Ukraine's state energy company Ukrenergo has reported on Facebook.
Meanwhile, the Russians have imposed a police state in occupied Kherson, after Ukrainians kept protesting against the occupation. More than 400 Ukrainians have been arrested, Ukraine's Army General Staff has reported. Others continue to protest against the invaders.
In Kyiv Oblast two police officers were killed as Russian invaders opened fire during an evacuation in the village of Demydiv, the National Police of Ukraine has reported.
UPDATE (1354): Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said in a statement he will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Turkey on March 10.
Kuleba said he doesn't expect much from the negotiations with Lavrov. "But we will of course squeeze out the maximum from these negotiations. We will demand a ceasefire, a Russian withdrawal from our territories. And of course (reparations for) all the humanitarian catastrophes Russian army has created on our lands," Kuleba added.
He said Ukraine has a strong position in an upcoming negotiations due to the heroic fight of the Ukrainian people and the firm position of Ukraine's President Zelensky. Kuleba also said Lavrov would come to the negotiations aiming to find a solution to the conflict, and not to spread more Russian propaganda.
Russian Army has already lost more than 12,000 soldiers in Ukraine, more than 300 tanks, and more than 1000 armoured vehicles, Ukraine's Army General Stuff has reported on Facebook. Ukraine's big cities Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mariupol, Mykolaiv and others have been holding out strongly against the Russian invasion. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky continues to win support from world leaders, who are impose stricter sanctions against Russia day by day.
Meanwhile, the UNCHR has reported that more than 2 million Ukrainians have already fled the country, approximately 474 civilians have been killed and 861 were wounded in 13 days of Russia's war on Ukraine. Zelensky said in a statement that 52 children have been killed.
The New Voice of Ukraine continues to provide coverage of the unprovoked war against Ukraine that Russian President Vladimir Putin launched on Feb. 24.
UPDATE (1032): More than 5,000 residents have been evacuated from Sumy, the Ukrainian President's Office has reported.
Today, evacuations will continue, with Russia and Ukraine having agreed on six more evacuation routes for civilians, Ukraine's Reintegration Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said during a morning briefing on March 9.
According to her, with the help of the International Red Cross, the sides agreed to observe a ceasefire starting from 0900 until 2100 on the following routes:
- From Enerhodar, a city where some 500 Russian soldiers have seized control of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, Zaporizhzhia NPP. The column of vehicles with civilians will be allowed to go to Zaporizhzhia.
- From Sumy to Poltava, a central Ukrainian city, controlled and protected by the Ukrainian Army.
- From Mariupol, a port city on the Sea of Azov, which has been on the verge of a humanitarian disaster due to a lack of water, food, heating and water, to Zaporizhzhia. This will be the fourth attempt to evacuate at least some of the more than 200,000 civilians remaining in the city. The Russians have foiled three previous attempts by shelling the city during evacuations.
Yesterday, Russian forces surrounding Mariupol tried to breach the defenses of the city as civilians were evacuated along the humanitarian corridor, Mariupol City Council reported on the Telegram messenger. As night fell, the Russians opened fire with a Grad multiple rocket launcher system against a humanitarian convoy that was delivering food and medical supplies from Zaporizhhia to Mariupol. However, Mariupol City Council reported that the convoy was not hit by the Grad rocket salvo.
- From Volnovakha, a town in Donetsk Oblast, to Pokrovsk. Previously Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kireev reported that the authorities had managed to evacuate only some 400 residents from Volnovakha, where there us also no gas, food, water or heating due to the constant shelling by invading Russian forces.
- From Izium to Lozova, Kharkiv Oblast. Russian soldiers have almost destroyed Izium in recent days, even bombing its central hospital, local authorities there have reported.
- From Vorzel, Irpyn, Bucha, Borodianka, and Hostomel in Kyiv Oblast to the city of Kyiv.
Previously the National Police of Ukraine reported that there were more than 3,000 evacuees from destroyed and besieged towns in Kyiv Oblast. Many people were killed as Russians constantly shelled the humanitarian corridors, police said.
Overnight, the Russian invaders shelled Zhytomyr region. The Russian shelling completely destroyed a boarding house and several private houses, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine reported. "Two toddlers were killed during a missile strike on (the town of) Malyn," Zhytomyr Oblast Military Administration reported.
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