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Ukraine appeals for Russia no-fly zone

Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has urged the West to consider a no-fly zone for Russian aircraft over the besieged nation as its second largest city was bombarded.

Mar 01, 2022, updated Mar 01, 2022
A child plays in front of an apartment building hit by Russian rockets in Kyiv. Photo: Justin Yau/Sipa USA

A child plays in front of an apartment building hit by Russian rockets in Kyiv. Photo: Justin Yau/Sipa USA

Russia faces increasing international isolation over its invasion of Ukraine, and hours of negotiations between the two sides on Monday failed to reach a breakthrough.

Ukrainian officials said Russian attacks in Kharkiv, a city of 1.4 million people, had killed civilians, including children.

In a video address, Zelenskiy said it was time to block Russian missiles, planes and helicopters from Ukraine’s airspace.

“Fair negotiations can occur when one side does not hit the other side with rocket artillery at the very moment of negotiations,” Zelenskiy said.

The United States has ruled out sending troops to fight Russia and officials have voiced concern about further escalating tensions between the world’s two biggest nuclear powers.

“A no-fly zone would require implementation,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters.

Such a move would require “deploying US military to enforce, which would be … potentially a direct conflict, and potentially a war with Russia, which is something we are not planning to be a part of”, she said.

Despite extensive Western sanctions, Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown no sign of reconsidering the invasion.

The Russian leader put his nuclear forces on high alert on Sunday, though a senior US defence official said Washington had still not seen any “muscle movement” following the announcement.

In a sign of souring relations, the United States expelled 12 Russian diplomats at the United Nations, citing national security concerns.

Kharkiv, in Ukraine’s northeast, has become a major battleground.

Oleg Synegubov, Kharkiv’s regional administration chief, said Russian artillery had pounded residential districts, killing at least 11 people.

“This is happening in the daytime, when people have gone out to the pharmacy, for groceries, or for drinking water. It’s a crime,” he said.

Kharkiv’s mayor, Igor Terekhov, said four people had died after emerging from a bomb shelter to collect water, and that a family with three children had burned to death in a car.

Earlier, Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko said Russian rocket strikes on Kharkiv had killed dozens. It was not possible to verify the casualty figures independently.

Moscow’s United Nations ambassador said the Russian army did not pose a threat to civilians.

Images from the US satellite company Maxar appeared to show a Russian military convoy stretching over 27km and moving closer to the capital Kyiv.

Fighting also occurred around the port city of Mariupol, officials said, and Russian forces seized two small cities around a nuclear plant in southeast Ukraine, the Interfax news agency reported.

Talks between the two sides were held on the border with strong Russian ally Belarus, which has been used as a launch pad for invading Russian troops.

The meeting ended with officials heading back to capitals for further consultations.

“The Russian side, unfortunately, still has a very biased view of the destructive processes it has launched,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted.

Russian delegation head Vladimir Medinsky told reporters: “The most important thing is that we agreed to continue negotiating.”

The Western-led response has been emphatic, with sanctions that effectively cut off Moscow’s financial institutions from Western markets.

Zelenskiy signed a letter formally requesting EU membership, an emphatic statement of commitment to Western values.

Putin dismissed the West as an “empire of lies” and replied to the new sanctions with moves to shore up Russia’s crumbling rouble currency, which plunged 32 per cent against the US dollar before recouping about half of its losses.

UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said at least 102 civilians in Ukraine had been killed since Thursday but the real figure could be “considerably higher”.

More than half a million people have fled to neighbouring countries, according to the UN refugee agency.

Partners in the US-led NATO defence alliance were providing Ukraine with air-defence missiles and anti-tank weapons, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said.

The Kremlin accused the EU of hostile behaviour, saying weapons supplies to Ukraine were destabilising and proved that Russia was right in its efforts to demilitarise its neighbour.

-AAP

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