At a press conference, Kremlin Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov defiantly vis-à-vis the West by assuring that his country will continue the war until its security demands are met. Meanwhile, fighting continues across the country after Russian troops seized the Ukrainian city of Kherson late on Wednesday, local officials confirmed.
Ukraine is experiencing this March 3 the eighth day of war since the Kremlin launched the large-scale attack against the country on February 24.
Although a second meeting between the Moscow and Kiev delegations is scheduled for this Thursday to explore a possible negotiated solution, the bombardments by Russian troops are intensifying in the cities.
The mayor of Kherson reported that the Russian military have already imposed controls in that city, in the south of the nation, where the lines of defense of the Ukrainian Army are resisting the assault.
While the mass exodus of Ukrainian citizens increases and the West tries to dissuade the Kremlin with unprecedented economic sanctions, the Government of Vladimir Putin lashed out in recent hours with strong threats and defied the financial punishments imposed against him.
These are the main news of the day:
- 6:57 (BOG) Kiev holds Moscow responsible for “war crimes”
Ukraine’s First Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova said Russian troops commit acts amounting to war crimes on Ukrainian soil and called for perpetrators to be held accountable.
“Recent events clearly point to the fact that Russian troops in Ukraine carry out the most flagrant violations and abuses of human rights, systematically engage in acts that clearly amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity (…) We must unite to ensure accountability for the war criminals who shed the blood of Ukrainian children,”Dzhaparova asserted in an urgent debate before the UN Human Rights Council.
For his part, Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Gennady Gatilov, denounced what he calls the “Kiev criminal regime” and accused the United States and the European Union of supplying lethal weapons. “We don’t see any added value in today’s debate,” he concluded.
- 6:35 (BOG) Mayor of Mariupol says Russia is trying to blockade the city
Russian forces intensified their bombardment against the cities of Kharkov and Mariupol, in the south of the country.
Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko claims that Vladimir Putin’s Army is trying to blockade the port city, attacking rail links to prevent the evacuation of civilians.
In addition, Boichenko pointed out that the constant attacks in the past 24 hours have cut off water and power supplies, and local authorities need a ceasefire to restore power.
“The invaders are systematically and methodically trying to blockade the city of Mariupol,” he said.
- 05:57 (BOG) Ukraine confirms second meeting with Russia
The adviser to the Ukrainian Presidency, Mikhail Podoliak, reported that his country’s delegation is heading to a second meeting with representatives of Putin, in the Brest region, near the border with Poland.
The meeting will take place after the meeting will be postponed on Wednesday. The continuity or not of the dialogues remained in suspense after Kiev conditioned the talks with the cessation of hostilities.
- 4:49 (BOG) Zelensky: Russia wants to crush us, but we are still standing
The Ukrainian president returned to address his country and the international community on Thursday. During a video statement, the president promised to rebuild his nation and said Russia will pay for it.
The president again appealed to the union of his citizens and insisted that, despite the Russian military power, the Ukrainian troops contain the attacks in different cities.
“Russia wants to crush us, erase us, but we are still standing. We are resisting, the whole world is helping us (…) We do not have nuclear weapons, but we have our people, our land,” Zelensky said.
Likewise, the head of state ratified his complaint that Kremlin troops are attacking the civilian population, despite the fact that the Kremlin has denied it.
“You are trying to kill our civilians,” he said, referring to the Moscow Army.
He added that “Russian forces will find no refuge from the wrath of God after the bombing of the Ukrainian cathedral.”
- 04:14 (BOG) Lavrov: Russia will continue war in Ukraine “until the end”
During a press conference in Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attacked the Western powers, which he blamed for the escalation of the war in his neighboring country.
Lavrov stated that Russia will continue the war in Ukraine “until the end” and assured that one of his country’s objectives is to ensure that Kiev does not join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
The Kremlin representative maintained that the West is aware of Russia’s concerns and will have to address them at some point. “You can’t ignore them forever,” he said.
He also pointed out that his nation does not intend to start a nuclear war against Ukraine, despite the fact that on February 27 President Vladimir Putin put Russia’s nuclear deterrent forces on high alert.
“The idea of nuclear energy is constantly spinning in the heads of Western politicians, but not in the heads of Russians (…) I assure you that we will not allow any kind of provocation to unbalance us,” he said.
In addition, Putin’s foreign minister said that his government believes that some foreign leaders are preparing for war against Russia.
- 04:09 (BOG) Moscow: Sanctions are a kind of “tax” on independence
During his speech, Lavrov dismissed the damage of the economic sanctions against his country and stated that they are “a kind of tax on independence.”
The head of the Foreign Ministry added that Russia will solve all “problems created by the West.”
Amid the aggression of one of the most powerful armies in the world against Ukraine, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and the European Union have responded with a series of economic punishments. Among them, the expulsion of Russian banks from the Swift international payment system, which determines the codes necessary to make or receive any international transfer, thus threatening to suffocate Moscow’s financial institutions.
In addition, Western powers have limited high-tech exports to Russia and drastically restricted Russia’s use of its foreign exchange reserves.
- 3:33 (BOG) Zelensky: Ukrainian defense lines resist Russian attacks
The Ukrainian Army stands firm against the Russian offensive, assured President Volodymyr Zelensky. The president stressed that there has been no respite from the bombing since midnight.
“We have nothing to lose except our freedom,” said the Ukrainian president, who noted that his troops receive weapons from their international allies on a daily basis.
In the eyes of the Ukrainian president, Russian forces have been forced to change their strategy and the shelling of civilians in Ukrainian cities shows that the country has succeeded in thwarting Moscow’s initial plan of a swift invasion after a ground offensive.
“It’s been a week since we were attacked by a new virus,” Zelensky said, insisting that his country will continue to defend its sovereignty.
With AP, Reuters and EFE