Zelensky speaks to Modi, seeks support
1st flight returns as India begins evacuation
Kyiv, Feb 26: Kyiv residents braced today for another night sheltering underground, as Russian troops closed in on Ukraine’s capital and skirmishes were reported on the outskirts. Ukraine’s leader, meanwhile, claimed the country’s forces had repulsed the Russian assault and vowed to keep up the struggle as he appealed for more outside help.
“The real fighting for Kyiv is ongoing,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video message in which he accused Russia of hitting infrastructure and civilian targets.
“We will win,” he said.
Kyiv appeared quiet today, though sporadic gunfire could be heard. And fighting on the city’s outskirts suggested that small Russian units were trying to clear a path for the main forces. Britain and the U.S. Said the bulk of Russian forces were 19 miles (30 kilometers) from the center of the city.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko extended an overnight curfew to run from 5 pm. Until 8 am. He said “all civilians on the street during the curfew will be considered members of the enemy’s sabotage and reconnaissance groups.”
Russia claims its assault on Ukraine is aimed only at military targets, but bridges, schools and residential neighbourhoods have been hit since the invasion began Thursday with air and missile strikes and Russian troops entering Ukraine from the north, east and south.
Ukraine’s Health Minister reported today that 198 people, including three children, had been killed and more than 1,000 others had been wounded during Europe’s largest land war since World War II. It was unclear whether those figures included both military and civilian casualties.
In Kyiv, a missile struck a high-rise apartment building in the southwestern outskirts near one of the city’s two passenger airports, leaving a jagged hole of ravaged apartments over several floors. A rescue worker said six civilians were injured.
The conflict has driven thousands of Ukrainians from their homes in search of safety. U.N. Officials said more than 120,000 Ukrainians had left the country for Poland, Moldova and other neighboring nations.
Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine after he spent weeks denying that’s what he intended, all the while building up a force of almost 200,000 troops along the countries’ borders.
He claims the West has failed to take seriously Russia’s security concerns about NATO, the Western military alliance that Ukraine aspires to join. But he has also expressed scorn about Ukraine’s right to exist as an independent state.
Putin has has not disclosed his ultimate plans for Ukraine or said how long the Russian military operation could last. Western officials believe he is determined to overthrow Ukraine’s Government and replace it with a regime of his own, redrawing the map of Europe and reviving Moscow’s Cold War-era influence.
It was unclear in the fog of war how much territory Russian forces have seized. Britain’s Ministry of Defense said “the speed of the Russian advance has temporarily slowed likely as a result of acute logistical difficulties and strong Ukrainian resistance.”
A senior U.S. Defense official said today that more than half of the Russian combat power that was massed along Ukraine’s borders had entered Ukraine, and that Russia has had to commit more fuel supply and other support units inside Ukraine than originally anticipated. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal U.S. Assessments, did not provide further details.
Ukraine’s Infrastructure Ministry said a Russian missile was shot down before dawn Saturday as it headed for the dam of the sprawling water reservoir that serves Kyiv, and Ukraine said a Russian military convoy was destroyed near the city early Saturday.
Footage showed soldiers inspecting burned-out vehicles after Ukraine’s 101st brigade reported destroying a column of two light vehicles, two trucks and a tank. The claim could not be verified.
Highways into Kyiv from the east were dotted with checkpoints manned by uniformed Ukrainian troops and young men in civilian clothes carrying automatic rifles. Low-flying planes that appeared to be Su-25 fighter jets patrolled the skies, though it was unclear if they were Russian or Ukrainian.
In addition to Kyiv, the Russian assault appeared to focus on Ukraine’s coastline, which stretches from near the Black Sea port of Odesa in the west to beyond the Azov Sea port of Mariupol in the east.
If the Russian troops succeed, Ukraine would be cut off from access to all of its sea ports, which are vital for its economy. In Mariupol, Ukrainian soldiers guarded bridges and blocked people from the shoreline amid concerns the Russian navy could launch an assault from the sea.
Fighting also raged in two territories in eastern Ukraine that are controlled by pro-Russian separatists. Authorities in the city of Donetsk said hot water supplies to the city of about 900,000 were suspended because of damage to the system by Ukrainian shelling.
The U.S. Government urged Zelenskyy early Saturday to evacuate Kyiv but he turned down the offer, according to a senior American intelligence official with direct knowledge of the conversation. Zelenskyy issued a defiant video recorded on a downtown Kyiv street early Saturday, saying he remained in the city.
“We aren’t going to lay down weapons. We will protect the country,” the Ukrainian president said. “Our weapon is our truth, and our truth is that it’s our land, our country, our children. And we will defend all of that.”
Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have been on the move, seeking safety in the west of the country or beyond. The U.N. Estimates that up to 4 million could flee if the fighting escalates.
Refugees arriving in the Hungarian border town of Zahony said men between 18 and 60 were not being allowed to leave Ukraine.
“My son was not allowed to come. My heart is so sore, I’m shaking, I can’t calm down, they did not let him come,” said Vilma Sugar, 68.
Hungary and Poland both opened their borders to Ukrainians with or without travel documents. At Poland’s Medyka crossing, some said they had walked for 15 miles (35 kilometers) to reach the border.
“They didn’t have food, no tea, they were standing in the middle of a field, on the road, kids were freezing,” said Iryna Wiklenko as she waited on the Polish side for her grandchildren and her daughter-in-law to make it across.
The United States and other NATO allies have sent weapons and other aid to Ukraine and beefed up their troops on NATO’s eastern flank, but ruled out deploying troops to fight Russia.
Instead, the US, the European Union and other countries have slapped wide-raging sanctions on Russia, freezing the assets of Russian businesses and individuals including Putin and his foreign minister.
Zelenskyy appealed for tougher sanctions, urging holdout countries in Europe to agreed to cut Russia out of the SWIFT international payments system.
A senior Russian official on Saturday shrugged off the sanctions as a reflection of Western “political impotence.”
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, warned that Moscow could react to the sanctions by opting out of the last remaining nuclear arms pact, freezing Western assets and cutting diplomatic ties with nations in the West.
“There is no particular need in maintaining diplomatic relations,” Medvedev said. “We may look at each other in binoculars and gunsights.”
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday sought India’s political support at the UN Security Council to stop Russia’s military offensive against his country during a telephonic call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who expressed New Delhi’s willingness to contribute towards peace efforts.
During the conversation, Modi conveyed India’s deep concern for the safety and security of its nationals in Ukraine and sought assistance in expeditious and safe evacuation of Indians from that country, Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement.
Modi expressed his deep anguish about the loss of life and property due to the ongoing conflict and reiterated his call for an immediate cessation of violence and a return to dialogue, it said.
Tweeting about his telephonic conversation with Modi, Zelenskyy said,”spoke with Indian Prime Minister @narendramodi. Informed of the course of Ukraine repulsing Russian aggression. More than 100,000 invaders are on our land. They insidiously fire on residential buildings. Urged India to give us political support in UN Security Council. Stop the aggressor together!”.
The Modi-Zelenskyy talks came in the midst of the Russian military advancing towards Ukrainian capital city Kyiv and other prominent areas that prompted Zelenskyy to plead for immediate global support.
“President Zelenskyy briefed the Prime Minister in detail about the ongoing conflict situation in Ukraine. The Prime Minister expressed his deep anguish about the loss of life and property due to the ongoing conflict,” the statement said.
Modi reiterated his call for an immediate cessation of violence and a return to dialogue, and expressed India’s willingness to contribute in any way towards peace efforts, it said.
“The Prime Minister also conveyed India’s deep concern for the safety and security of Indian citizens, including students, present in Ukraine. He sought facilitation by Ukrainian authorities to expeditiously and safely evacuate Indian citizens,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, India began the evacuation of its nationals who are leaving Ukraine after the Russian military offensive, with an Air India flight bringing back 219 people from Bucharest while one flight each from the Romanian capital and Hungarian capital Budapest are scheduled to arrive in New Delhi and Mumbai.
“Welcome back. First step of Operation Ganga,” External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar tweeted after Union Minister Piyush Goyal received the passengers of AI1944 that arrived in Mumbai from Bucharest at 7.50 PM on Saturday.
The airline posted a short video showing the first batch of 219 evacuees clapping with joy as the plane landed.
The Ukrainian airspace has been closed for civil aircraft operations since February 24 morning when the Russian military offensive began and the Indian evacuation flights are operating out of Bucharest and Budapest.
The other two flights – AI1942 from Bucharest and AI1940 from Budapest – are scheduled to arrive with rescued citizens in Delhi on Sunday morning, senior government officials said, adding all three flights were sent from India on Saturday.
AI1942 departed from Bucharest at 9.30 PM on Saturday and is expected to land in Delhi at around 4.30 AM on Sunday. Jaishankar said it is bringing 250 Indian nationals.
Indian nationals who reached the Ukraine-Romania border and Ukraine-Hungary border have been taken to Bucharest and Budapest by road, respectively, by Indian government officials so that they can be evacuated in these Air India flights, they said.
The government is not charging the rescued passengers for the evacuation flights, the officials said.
Around 16,000 Indians, mainly students, were stranded in Ukraine, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had said on February 24.
The Indian Embassy in Ukraine said on Twitter on Saturday morning that Indian citizens in Ukraine should not move to any of the border posts without prior coordination with the Indian government officials at the border posts using the helpline numbers.
Jaishankar said on Twitter that India is making progress regarding the evacuation of Indian nationals from Ukraine. “Our teams are working on the ground round the clock. I am personally monitoring,” he added.
The Indian embassy in Hungary also said more batches of Indian students were entering Hungary from the Ukrainian side at Zahony crossing, travelling onward to Budapest for return to India by AI flight.
They posted pictures and videos of relieved students waving the Tricolour and shouting slogans of ‘Bharat Mata ki jai’ and ‘Vande Mataram’.
“Our mission is not complete till we have taken the last person to India out of Ukraine. Wishing you a very safe journey back home,” Indian Ambassador to Romania Rahul Shrivastava told the Indian students on board the first evacuation flight from Bucharest just before it left for Mumbai.
Prior to the closure of the Ukrainian airspace, Air India had operated a flight to Ukraine’s capital Kyiv on February 22 that brought 240 people back to India.
It had planned to operate two more flights on February 24 and February 26 but could not do so as the Russian offensive began on February 24 and the Ukrainian airspace was consequently shut down. (PTI)
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