Europe

Ukraine: what we know on day 19 of Russia’s invasion

Death toll from attack on military base near Polish border rose to 35

A view of an apartment building heavily damaged after a Russian rocket exploded just outside it in Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv. Photograph: Sergey Bobok/AFP via Getty

Mon Mar 14 2022 - 08:12
  • Russia’s defence ministry has admitted responsibility for a rocket attack on the International Centre for Peacekeeping and Security, a military base, near the Polish border on Sunday.
  • The death toll from the attack rose to 35 people. British prime minister Boris Johnson called Russia's actions barbaric and said it was a test of all of humanity. US secretary of state Antony Blinken condemned the attack, saying the brutality must stop.
  • A pregnant woman and her baby have died after Russia bombed the maternity hospital where she was meant to give birth, the Associated Press reported. Images of the woman being rushed to an ambulance on a stretcher had been published around the world.
  • Two people were killed after a shell hit a residential building in Kyiv on Monday morning. Three others were injured in the attack, Ukraine's emergency services said.
  • Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy again urged Nato to implement a no-fly zone. "If you don't close our sky, it is only a matter of time before Russian rockets fall on your territory, on Nato territory," he said.
  • Russia has asked China for military equipment since the start of the invasion, the Financial Times reported. The request has sparked fear in the White House that Beijing may aid Russia and undermine the West's efforts in Ukraine. China's US embassy spokesperson said they hadn't heard about that request and that "the current situation in Ukraine is indeed disconcerting".
  • US national security adviser Jake Sullivan is due to meet China's top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, in Rome on Monday. Ahead of the meeting, Mr Sullivan warned that Beijing will "absolutely" face consequences if it helps Moscow evade sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine.
  • Mr Sullivan also said Russia would pay a "severe price" for a chemical weapons attack.
  • The UK defence ministry claimed Russian naval forces are "effectively isolating Ukraine from international maritime trade", in its latest defence intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine.
  • Instagram was reportedly down in Russia after its owner Meta Platforms said last week it would allow social media users in Ukraine to post messages such as "Death to the Russian invaders". An email message from the state communications regulator told people to move their photos and videos from Instagram before it was shut down, and encouraged them to switch to Russia's own "competitive internet platforms".
  • The chief executive of controversial facial recognition company Clearview AI said the Ukraine defence ministry had started to use its services, according to Reuters. The ministry was given free access to Clearview AI – a controversial facial recognition software that scrapes images from social media and other platforms – to use during the war.
  • Talks between Russia and Ukraine are due to resume via video link on Monday. The confirmation of the next round of talks come after both sides said they were making headway at the negotiations aimed at ending more than two weeks of fighting between the Russian and Ukrainian armies.
  • Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Russia's Chechnya region, is reportedly in Ukraine alongside Russian forces, according to footage shared by Chechen television channels and posted to Kadyrov's Telegram account. – Guardian
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