A rescue mission is underway after Russian troops struck a Ukrainian military barracks in the southern city of Mykolaiv, with witnesses reporting dozens of bodies being pulled from the rubble.
“No fewer than 200 soldiers were sleeping in the barracks” when Russian troops struck early Friday, a Ukrainian serviceman on the ground, 22-year-old Maxim, told AFP without providing his last name.
“At least 50 bodies have been recovered, but we do not know how many others are in the rubble,” he said.
Another soldier estimated that the bombing could have killed around 100 people, although uthorities have not yet released an official death toll.
“Yesterday orcs hit our sleeping soldiers with a rocket in a cowardly manner,” Vitaly Kim, head of the regional administration, said in a video on Saturday, using the Ukrainian nickname for Russian forces.
Follow the latest updates below.
01:14 PM
War could halt crop exports from Ukraine, says presidential adviser
Ukraine may not produce enough crops to export if this year’s sowing campaigns are disrupted by Russia’s invasion, presidential adviser Oleh Ustenko said in a televised interview on Saturday.
“Ukraine has enough grain and food reserves to survive for a year, but if the war continues… [Ukraine] will not be able to export grain to the world, and there will be problems,” he said, adding that Ukraine is the world’s fifth-largest wheat exporter.
12:32 PM
Boris Johnson rejects renormalisation of relations with Putin
Boris Johnson has rejected normalising relations with Vladimir Putin, even after the end of his invasion of Ukraine.
“This is a turning point for the world. It’s a choice between freedom and oppression,” he said.
“To try to renormalise relations with Putin after this, as we did in 2014, would be to make exactly the same mistake again.”
“I know it is the instinct of the people of this country to choose freedom every time.”
Follow the latest updates from the Conservative party conference on our live blog.
You can also watch the Prime Minister’s speech below.
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12:14 PM
Putin ‘shattered our post-Cold War complacency’, Truss says
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has said Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has “shattered our post-Cold War complacency”, reports our chief political correspondent Camilla Turner.
She said we “cannot and will not” rest until we see Ukraine’s sovereignty restored, and told delegates that she has heard some people in Ukraine “sing God Save The Queen” as they use British military equipment.
Ms Truss said: “When we’re facing a tyrant like Vladimir Putin, the only thing he understands is strength.”
She went on to tell delegates: “Now is the time to end the culture of self-doubt, the constant self-questioning and introspection – the ludicrous debates about languages, statues and pronouns. Our history, warts and all, is what makes us what we are today.”
12:08 PM
Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh wins world indoor high jump gold
Yaroslava Mahuchikh overcame the “total panic” of armed conflict in her native Ukraine to win gold in the high jump at the World Indoor Championships on Saturday.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Ms Mahuchikh was forced to flee her home, hide out in a cellar and eventually make the 2,000km trip over three days to Belgrade to face what she dubbed her own front line.
She notched up a best of 2.02 metres, Australian Eleanor Patterson claiming silver with 2.00 and Kazakhstan’s Nadezhda Dubovitskaya taking bronze (1.98).
12:02 PM
Ukrainian ambassador receives standing ovation at Tory party conference
Ukraine’s ambassador Vadym Prystaiko received a raucous standing ovation from all those in attendance at the Conservative Party spring conference this morning.
Addressing Mr Prystaiko, Liz Truss said: “Ambassador, everyone in Britain is saying Slava Ukraini.”
Follow all the latest from the conference on our dedicated liveblog.
11:59 AM
In pictures: Refugees continue to flee Ukraine
11:52 AM
Aid agencies struggle to reach Ukraine’s ‘beseiged’ cities
Aid agencies are struggling to reach people trapped in Ukrainian cities ringed by Russian forces, the UN’s World Food Programme said Saturday, including hundreds of thousands of women and children.
“The challenge is to get to the cities that are encircled or about to be encircled,” emergency coordinator Jakob Kern told AFP, describing the situation as “dire”.
Lack of humanitarian access is making it almost impossible to deliver emergency food supplies to the besieged port city of Mariupol, the northeastern city of Kharkiv and the northeastern city of Sumy.
It was a tactic that was “unacceptable in the 21st century”, Mr Kern said.
The Rome-based WFP has had to start the mission to stock up Ukraine’s warehouses “from zero”, and replacing broken food supply chains amidst bitter fighting is a “mammoth task”, he said.
11:44 AM
‘Arrogant’ Putin responsible for deaths of Russians, Ben Wallace says
Defence secretary Ben Wallace has slammed Vladimir Putin for being “arrogant”.
“Putin’s arrogant assumptions have directly led to the casualties and attrition among the Russian army,” he said.
“The Kremlin assumed the Ukrainians would not fight. they were wrong. The Kremlin assumed their army was invincible. They were wrong. They assumed the international community would splinter. And they’ve been proven wrong.”
11:36 AM
Three Russian cosmonauts arrive at space station in yellow and blue
Three Russian cosmonauts arrived at the International Space Station late on Friday night wearing flight suits in the colours of the Ukrainian flag, Jessica Abrahams reports.
They were the first new arrivals on the space station since the start of the Russian war in Ukraine last month. A video showed the men – Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveyev and Sergey Korsakov, of Russian space corporation Roscosmos – wearing blue and white suits just before blasting off.
When they arrived, they had changed into yellow suits with blue accents.
However it was unclear what message, if any, the uniforms were intended to send.
Asked about the colours once they had arrived at the ISS, Mr Artemyev said that every crew chooses its own suits so they are not all the same.
“We had accumulated a lot of yellow material so we needed to use it. So that’s why we had to wear yellow,” he said.
11:26 AM
Russia-China cooperation will only get stronger, Interfax cites Lavrov as saying
Cooperation between Russia and China will only become stronger in the current circumstances, the Interfax news agency has quoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying.
“This cooperation will get stronger, because at a time when the West is blatantly undermining all the foundations on which the international system is based, of course we – as two great powers – need to think how to carry on in this world,” Mr Lavrov was quoted as saying.
11:19 AM
‘No kleptocrat will be able to hide behind UK shell company’, Priti Patel tells Tory conference
The Home Secretary has said the UK will tighten controls on the UK financial system, including in the areas of money-laundering and cryptocurrency.
“No criminal or kleptocrat will be able to hide behind a UK shell company ever again,” Priti Patel vowed.
Ms Patel spoke ahead of Boris Johnson, who will headline the list of speakers on day two of the Conservative spring party conference in Blackpool.
The Prime Minister is scheduled to give the closing remarks, after speeches from both the home and foreign secretaries.
Priti Patel will be followed by Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and Liz Truss before the Prime Minister closes out an action-packed morning.
11:13 AM
Mariupol street fighting hampering efforts to rescue people trapped in theatre, mayor says
Street fighting in Mariupol city centre is hampering efforts to rescue civilians trapped beneath a theatre ‘bombed’ by Russia, the city’s mayor has said.
Vadym Boychenko told the BBC: “There are tanks… and artillery shelling, and all kinds of weapons fired in the area.
“Our forces are doing everything they can to hold their position in the city, but the forces of the enemy are larger than ours, unfortunately.”
Russia denies shelling the building on Wednesday, from which 130 people have managed to escape so far.
11:06 AM
Watch: Drone footage shows devastation in Mariupol
[embedded content]
10:59 AM
Britain grants 8,600 visas to refugees under Home Office scheme
Britain has granted 8,600 visas to fleeing Ukrainians under a scheme to help refugees who already have family based in the UK as of 5pm on Friday, the Home Office has said.
The Ukraine Family Scheme, which was launched on March 4, allows immediate and extended family members of British nationals, people settled in the UK, and certain others resident here to come to Britain.
It is free to apply for the scheme, and successful applicants can stay in the UK for three years, during which they have the right to work, study, and access public funds.
???????????????? UPDATE: ????,???????????? Ukraine Family Scheme visas have been granted so far as of 5pm Friday 18 March.
✅ It’s free, grants leave for 3 years, gives those the right to live, work & study in the UK & access public funds.
Full details & to apply: https://t.co/DFs1jNjVgE pic.twitter.com/aleqKJ6wpD
— Home Office (@ukhomeoffice) March 19, 2022
10:53 AM
Switzerland brands war in Ukraine ‘devastating madness’
Russia’s war in Ukraine is driven by “devastating madness”, and Switzerland is prepared to pay the price for defending freedom and democracy, Swiss President Ignazio Cassis said Saturday.
Switzerland has decided to impose the same sanctions on Russia as the European Union but Cassis insisted Switzerland’s neutrality was not at stake.
However, he said Switzerland could not simply stand by in the “confrontation between democracy and barbarism”, and was prepared to take an economic hit.
“On February 24, the face of the world changed, and not in a good way. We must valiantly and tirelessly defend freedom and democracy. This has a price. A price that Switzerland is ready to assume”, he wrote in Le Temps newspaper.
“This war is driven by a devastating madness which shatters all the principles and values of our civilisation.”
10:49 AM
Poland proposes total EU ban on trade with Russia, PM says
Poland has proposed to the European Union that the bloc impose a total ban on trade with Russia, Prime Minister Mateus Morawiecki said on Saturday, urging tougher sanctions on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.
“Poland is proposing to add a trade blockade to this package of sanctions as soon as possible, (including) both of its seaports… but also a ban on land trade. Fully cutting off Russia’s trade would further force Russia to consider whether it would be better to stop this cruel war,” Mr Morawiecki said.
Earlier this week EU member states agreed on a fourth package of sanctions against Russia. Details were not disclosed, but the French presidency said Russia’s “most-favoured nation” trade status would be revoked.
10:38 AM
Putin a ‘completely normal and reasonable person’, Lukashenko claims
Vladimir Putin is a “completely normal and reasonable person”, Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko has said.
In an interview with a Japanese television channel, reported by Belarusian state media, Mr Lukashenko said: “If you think President Putin is physically unfit or that something happened… He is, as we say over here, more alive than the others.
“He will catch cold many times at our funerals. He is a completely normal and reasonable person.”
He went on to say that “the West better off throw this hoax out of their heads. Putin has never been more reasonable or in a better shape.
“He’s a sane, healthy person, physically fit. He’s an athlete. All of that talk is to undermine trust in President inside Russia. It’s not going to happen.”
Lukashenko says “Putin is more alive than anyone else”, “will survive us all”, “in top shape”, “never been more in his right mind”, “will only catch a cold at our funerals”… pic.twitter.com/Uze4fKAZRW
— Christo Grozev (@christogrozev) March 19, 2022
10:35 AM
Pictured: British soldiers serving at Nato military base in Estonia
10:04 AM
Ukraine’s hidden war: Villagers behind Russian lines prevented from burying their dead
In Ukraine’s big cities, strength of numbers affords some protection. But there seems little to stop Russian troops running amok in villages, Nataliya Vasilyeva and Colin Freeman report.
The villagers of Andriivka buried Sergey Petrenko as best they could. Some cardboard and planks made a coffin, while two more planks made a rough cross. It was not the most dignified of funerals, but it showed more respect than he’d had in the final moments of his life.
“He told me that a Russian tank had pulled up in the street nearby to him, and that a man sitting on top of it threw a grenade at him,” said Andrey Lahoda, who found Mr Petrenko lying mangled in the street.
“His legs were lacerated, with a bone protruding. I made a tourniquet, but he only lived for five hours before he bled to death.”
09:52 AM
Ukraine sees no major changes in fighting over past 24 hours, says official
Ukrainian authorities have not noticed any significant shifts over the past 24 hours in front line areas where Ukrainian troops are battling Russian forces, presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said on Saturday.
In an online video address, he said fighting was ongoing and named the southeastern city of Mariupol, the southern cities of Mykolaiv and Kherson, and the eastern town of Izyum as particular hotspots where Russian troops were on the offensive.
09:47 AM
The latest images from Ukraine
09:21 AM
Shelling kills nine in outskirts of Zaporizhzhia, deputy mayor says
Nine people were killed and 17 wounded in shelling of the suburbs of the city of Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine on Friday, deputy mayor Anatoliy Kurtiev said on Saturday.
The military has since declared a 38-hour curfew in Zaporizhzhia, which was being attacked by Russian forces with mortars, tanks, helicopters and rocket systems, Kurtiev said in an online post.
09:18 AM
US to provide Stryker army company to Nato battlegroup in Bulgaria
The United States has agreed to provide a Stryker mechanized infantry company for Bulgaria’s battlegroup under Nato’s drive to bolster its eastern flank after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Bulgarian Prime Minister Kirill Petkov said on Saturday.
“The USA agreed to provide a Stryker company,” he told a press conference with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. “This is a strong sign to all of our allies in Nato.”
Bulgaria is establishing a battlegroup of up to 1,000 troops under the operational command of Nato’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe. The battlegroup is expected to host troops from other allied countries as well.
09:17 AM
Ukraine claims Russian occupiers have captured city council secretary
Ukraine has claimed that Russian occupiers have captured a secretary to the city council of Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson region.
In a tweet, Ukraine’s parliament said that Dmytro Vasyliev is being “tortured in a local detention facility.”
❗ WARNING ❗
Russian occupiers captured a secretary to the city council of Nova Kakhovka, #Kherson region, Dmytro Vasyliev. He is now tortured in a local detention facility.#StopRussia#StopPutin
— Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (@ua_parliament) March 19, 2022
08:56 AM
Watch: Zelensky warns Russia it will take several generations to recover their losses
[embedded content]
08:48 AM
Convoy of UK fire trucks heading to Ukraine to help emergency services
The leader of a convoy of fire engines carrying thousands of pieces of equipment which is bound for Ukraine has described the trip as “personal”.
Mike Pitney, who with other volunteers is taking 22 vehicles and two lorries packed with equipment, said he felt he had to help out the emergency services in Ukraine after Russia invaded last month.
UK charity Fire Aid and the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) sent an initial delivery to the country on March 11.
The second convoy, consisting of donations from fire services across the UK, left Ashford in Kent on Saturday morning.
Mr Pitney told BBC Breakfast: “For me it’s quite personal, I’ve been going out there now for 10 years to Ukraine, so I have friends and family, as far as I’m concerned, out there.”
08:46 AM
Pictured: Ukrainian woman cries outside destroyed building in Kyiv
08:45 AM
Japan PM visits India for ‘candid’ talks on Ukraine
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was due in India on Saturday with officials in Tokyo predicting “candid discussions” about New Delhi’s unwillingness to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Unlike fellow members of the Quad alliance Japan, Australia and the United States, India has abstained in three UN votes deploring Moscow’s actions, calling only for a halt to the violence.
Earlier this month in a four-way call, Kishida, US President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison failed to convince India’s Narendra Modi to take a tougher line.
A joint Quad statement had said they “discussed the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and assessed its broader implications” – without any condemnation of Moscow.
A separate Indian readout pointedly “underlined that the Quad must remain focused on its core objective of promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.”
08:38 AM
‘High degree of scepticism’ needed about Russia’s approach to talks, Tory chairman says
Tory party chairman Oliver Dowden has said there needs to be a “high degree of scepticism” about Russia’s approach to peace talks. His comments came after Foreign Secretary Liz Truss suggested the talks could be a “smokescreen” put up by Vladimir Putin.
Mr Dowden told Times Radio: “We of course have to treat the Russians with a high degree of scepticism given that they were the ones that commenced this war.”
He said the UK had to have a “hard-headed sceptical approach” but as Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky wanted to talk to Moscow “if we can find a way through to a peaceful and negotiated settlement we should of course try to achieve that”.
08:25 AM
Two former PMs among those calling for Putin to be in front of Nuremberg-style trial
Gordon Brown and Sir John Major are among those calling for the creation of a new international tribunal to investigate Vladimir Putin and his underlings for their attacks in Ukraine.
The former prime ministers have joined a campaign aiming to put the Russian President on trial alongside those who helped plan his invasion of February 24.
Launched with a website and a target of two million petition signatures, the campaign – already backed by 740,000 people around the globe – seeks to gain public support for a special tribunal modelled on the Nuremberg trials.
The proposal already has more than 140 signatories, including both former prime ministers, Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Koleba, leading professor of international law Philippe Sands QC, former prosecutor for the Nuremberg Military Tribunal Benjamin Ferencz, Helena Kennedy QC and former president of the European Court of Human Rights Sir Nicolas Bratza.
08:22 AM
Your morning briefing
Good morning. If you’re just joining us, here are five key developments you might have missed so far today.
1. Liz Truss: Talks could be a ‘smokescreen’
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said on Friday that she fears peace talks between Russia and Ukraine are being used as a “smokescreen” by the Kremlin to allow forces to regroup.
2. Russia claims it uses hypersonic missiles for first time
Russia used its newest Kinzhal hypersonic missiles for the first time in Ukraine on Friday to destroy a weapons storage site in the country’s west, the defence ministry said.
3. Russian forces enter Mariupol
Russia has claimed that its soldiers have entered the centre of the besieged port city of Mariupol, which has been bombarded by shelling for days.
4. Volodymyr Zelensky warns Russia it will take ‘generations’ to recover its losses
Volodymyr Zelensky called again for talks with Moscow on Saturday, saying they were the “only chance for Russia to minimise the damage done with their own mistakes” after invading.
5. Ukraine claims to have killed fifth Russian general
A member of the Russian military was killed in the Ukrainian town of Chernobayevka after an artillery strike, said Ukraine’s General Staff of the Armed Forces in a Facebook post on Saturday.
My colleague Marcus Parekh has more details.
08:13 AM
Ukraine claims to have killed fifth Russian general
A member of the Russian military was killed in the Ukrainian town of Chernobayevka after an artillery strike, Ukraine’s General Staff of the Armed Forces said in a Facebook post on Saturday.
In the post, it said Lieutenant General Andrei Mordvichev, commander of the 8th Combined Arms Army of the Southern Military District of the Russian Armed Forces had died.
Ukraine now claims to have killed five Russian general during the first four weeks of the war.
????Внаслідок нанесення вогневого ураження по противнику, знищено командувача 8-ї загальновійськової армії Південного військового округу збройних сил російської федерації генерал-лейтенанта Андрія Мордвічева. ???? pic.twitter.com/gNfSCMIpkw
— Генеральний штаб ЗСУ (@GeneralStaffUA) March 19, 2022
08:06 AM
Ukraine hopes ten humanitarian corridors will operate on Saturday
Ukraine hopes to evacuate civilians on Saturday via ten humanitarian corridors from cities and towns on the front line of fighting with Russian forces, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk has said.
She said a corridor had been agreed for the besieged city of Mariupol, although the authorities’ previous efforts to evacuate civilians there under a temporary ceasefire have mostly failed, with both sides trading blame.
08:02 AM
Big steel plant ‘being destroyed’ in Mariupol
In the besieged port city of Mariupol, Ukrainian and Russian forces are fighting for the Azovstal steel plant, one of the biggest in Europe, said Vadym Denysenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, in televised remarks on Saturday.
“Now there is a fight for Azovstal. I can say that we have lost this economic giant. In fact, one of the largest metallurgical plants in Europe is actually being destroyed,” Mr Denysenko said.
07:55 AM
Ukraine military orders 38-hour curfew in southern Zaporizhzhia city, says official
The Ukrainian military imposed a 38-hour curfew in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, starting at 2pm GMT on Saturday and ending early on Monday, deputy mayor Anatoliy Kurtiev has said.
“Do not go outside at this time!” he said in an online post.
The regional capital has become an important point of transit for some of the 35,000 people estimated to have fled the besieged Mariupol city in the southeast.
07:51 AM
Clearing live ordnance in Ukraine will take years, Ukrainian minister says
Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky has said it will take years to defuse the unexploded ordnance once the Russian invasion is over.
Mr Monastyrsky told The Associated Press in an interview on Friday that the country will need Western assistance to carry out the massive undertaking after the war.
“A huge number of shells and mines have been fired at Ukraine, and a large part haven’t exploded. They remain under the rubble and pose a real threat,” Mr Monastyrsky said in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. “It will take years, not months, to defuse them.”
In addition to the unexploded Russian ordnance, Ukrainian troops have planted land mines at bridges, airports and other key locations to prevent the Russians from using them.
07:24 AM
Liz Truss fears peace talks are ‘smokescreen’ for further Russian aggression
The Foreign Secretary has warned peace talks between Ukraine and Russia might be being used as a “smokescreen” for the Kremlin to regroup troops for a fresh offensive.
Liz Truss said it was up to president Volodymyr Zelensky how his country approached peace talks.
But in an interview with The Times she said she feared the negotiations – which have been said to have made some progress – were a “smokescreen”.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the Scottish Conservative conference in Aberdeen he had pledged to send more defensive weapons to Ukraine after speaking to Mr Zelensky on Friday.
He said he was “more convinced than ever” Russian president Vladimir Putin’s military venture would fail.
07:13 AM
The latest pictures from Ukraine
07:07 AM
Ukraine’s prosecutor office says 112 children killed in war in Ukraine
The Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office said on Saturday that 112 children have been killed so far in the war in Ukraine.
It also said on Telegram that 140 children had been wounded.
Reuters could not immediately verify the information.
07:01 AM
Russia to now pursue war of attrition, says UK MoD
The Ministry of Defence says Russia has been forced to change its operational approach to the war after failing to achieve its original objectives, with it now “pursuing a strategy of attrition”.
Russia has been surprised by the ferocity of the Ukrainian resistance and is going to lengths to detract from its operational setbacks by tightening its grip on the media, said the MoD.
“Russia has been forced to change its operational approach and is now pursuing a strategy of attrition.”
“This is likely to involve the indiscriminate use of firepower resulting in increased civilian casualties, destruction of Ukrainian infrastructure, and intensify the humanitarian crisis,” it warns.
06:47 AM
Humanitarian corridor for evacuation in Ukraine’s Luhansk region will be open on Saturday
A humanitarian corridor for evacuations in Ukraine’s Luhansk region will be opened on Saturday morning, regional governor Serhiy Gaiday said on Telegram.
“A humanitarian corridor has been agreed, we will try to evacuate people and bring food today. A ‘regime of silence’ has been agreed for March 19, starting at 9 am (7am UK time),” Gaiday said.
06:09 AM
Japan PM Kishida to stress unity on Ukraine in meet with India’s Modi
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will encourage a unified approach on Ukraine when he meets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Saturday, while aiming to strengthen security ties across the Indo-Pacific region.
“Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine coincides with this trip, I’d like to emphasise the importance of international unity and confirm that Japan and India will work together on various issues,” Mr Kishida said ahead of his visit.
India and Japan are party to the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), a security framework that also includes the United States and Australia.
Japan has imposed sanctions on dozens of Russian individuals and organisations since the Ukraine invasion that began on Feb 24 and has been receiving Ukrainian refugees. India, however, is the only one of the four Quad members that has not condemned the invasion.
05:39 AM
Zelensky calls for fresh talks, Russia says entered Mariupol centre
Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky made a fresh appeal for talks with Moscow on Saturday, while Russia said its soldiers had entered the centre of besieged port city Mariupol.
As bitter fighting between local forces and Russian troops rages across the country more than three weeks into the invasion, the two sides are already holding negotiations remotely.
But so far, as in previous rounds, the talks have yielded little progress, with both sides blaming the other, and none have been at the presidential level.
“This is the time to meet, to talk, time for renewing territorial integrity and fairness for Ukraine,” Zelensky said in a video posted to Facebook.
“Otherwise, Russia’s losses will be such, that several generations will not recover.”
04:58 AM
War will push 40 million toward extreme poverty, says US think tank
More than 40 million people will be pushed into extreme poverty as a result of rises in food and energy prices caused by the war, said a US think tank.
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sparked significant rises in energy and food prices. Our analysis suggests the scale of price spike will push over 40 million into extreme poverty,” said the Center for Global Development.
Russia and Ukraine export 19 percent and 10 percent, respectively, of globally traded wheat, said the Center.
“Amongst importers, vulnerability to the impacts of rising global grain prices will largely depend upon poverty. Households from poorer countries spend much more of their income on food, with families in low-income countries allocating almost half (45 percent) of their budgets to food.”
The Center advised the G20 and other grain producers to keep markets open and avoid sanctions on food, even if further disruptions arise, to avoid artificially exacerbating the impacts.
04:22 AM
Ukrainian refugees receiving a warm welcome in Madrid
Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion arrived in Madrid with the help of a group of Spanish taxi drivers who volunteered for a 40-hour trip to Poland and back to support the mass evacuation
Thank you! #StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/g5asoRbJ3K
— Stratcom Centre UA (@StratcomCentre) March 18, 2022
03:55 AM
Ukrainian forces conducted a major counterattack around Mykolayiv in recent days, says Institute for the Study of War
Ukrainian forces conducted a major successful counterattack around Mykolayiv in the past several days, with Russian forces continuing to secure territorial gains only around Mariupol, The Institute for the Study of War said on Friday.
“Russian forces face growing morale and supply problems, including growing reports of self-mutilation among Russian troops to avoid deployment to Ukraine and shortages of key guided munitions,” the Institute said.
“The Ukrainian General Staff continued to report on March 18 that Russia has failed to achieve its strategic objectives in Ukraine including destroying the Ukrainian Armed Forces, capturing Kyiv, and establishing control over Ukraine to the east bank of the Dnipro River—the first time the Ukrainian General Staff included this territorial conquest as an explicit Russian objective.”
03:35 AM
Ukraine and Moldova have synchronised with European electric grid to improve power supply
Ukraine & Moldova have successfully synchronized w/ the European electric grid. This move will improve the stability of electric power to critical facilities amidst continuing war. @USAID supported this effort for years; grateful that Europe agreed to accelerate this process.
— Samantha Power (@PowerUSAID) March 19, 2022
03:16 AM
Ukraine ‘temporarily’ loses access to Sea of Azov
Ukraine’s defence ministry said late on Friday it lost access to the Sea of Azov “temporarily” as invading Russian forces were tightening their grip around the Sea’s major port of Mariupol.
“The occupiers have partially succeeded in the Donetsk operational district, temporarily depriving Ukraine of access to the Sea of Azov,” Ukraine’s defence ministry said in a statement.
The ministry did not specify in its statement whether Ukraine’s forces have regained access to the Sea.
Russia said on Friday its forces were “tightening the noose” around Mariupol, where an estimated 80 per cent of the city’s homes had been damaged more some 1,000 people may still be trapped in makeshift bomb shelters beneath a destroyed theatre.
02:51 AM
Overshadowed by Ukraine war, Yemen on brink as pledges fall short
The United Nations and aid groups have warned of grave consequences for Yemen after an international pledging conference failed to raise enough money to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in the war-torn country.
Overshadowed by the conflict in Ukraine, aid-starved Yemen – already suffering the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, according to the UN – is on the verge of total collapse.
With the country almost completely dependent on imports, aid groups say the situation will only worsen following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which produces nearly a third of Yemeni wheat supplies.
Some 80 per cent of its around 30 million people depend on aid for survival, after seven years of a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people, directly or indirectly.
The UN voiced disappointment after Wednesday’s conference raised less than a third of the target to help 17.3 million of Yemen’s needy.
It has repeatedly warned that aid agencies are running out of funds, forcing them to slash “life-saving” programmes.
02:34 AM
Pro-war rally in Moscow’s World Cup stadium
The FT’s reporter Max Seddon says Moscow’s Luzhniki stadium, which hosted the World Cup final in 2018, was packed out on Friday as pro-war demonstrators gathered on the anniversary of Russia’s Crimea annexation.
Moscow’s Luzhniki stadium, which hosted the World Cup final in 2018, is packed out for a pro-war rally on the anniversary of Russia’s Crimea annexation.
Lots of reports of state employees being bussed in. They’re watching a video with Ukrainian flags being thrown to the ground pic.twitter.com/fIKEzD5WnV
— max seddon (@maxseddon) March 18, 2022
02:22 AM
Xi says improper handling of Taiwan issues will hit China-U.S. ties
Chinese President Xi Jinping told Joe Biden on Friday that the Taiwan issue needs to be handled properly to avoid a negative impact on Sino-US relations, according to Chinese media.
China says Taiwan, which it views as a breakaway province to be brought back to the fold, by force if necessary, is the most sensitive and important issue in its relations with the United States.
His comments come as the war in Ukraine garners broad sympathy in Taiwan, with many seeing parallels between Russia’s invasion and the military threat posed by China.
01:51 AM
Zelensky warns Russia it will take generations to recover from its losses
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called again for talks with Moscow on Saturday, saying they were the “only chance for Russia to minimise the damage done with their own mistakes” after invading.
The two sides are currently holding negotiations remotely but so far, like previous rounds, they have yielded little progress. None have been at the presidential level.
“This is the time to meet, to talk, time for renewing territorial integrity and fairness for Ukraine,” Zelensky said in a video posted to Facebook.
“Otherwise, Russia’s losses will be such, that several generations will not recover.”
