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Ukraine war: Russia dive-bombs Kyiv with ‘kamikaze’ drones

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Russia has launched a series of attacks against Ukraine, using what appear to be “kamikaze” drones produced in Iran to dive-bomb the city of Kyiv.  The administration claims that hundreds of towns and villages in the Kyiv, Dnipro, and Sumy regions had their energy shut off.

At least eight individuals were slain, including four each in Sumy and Kyiv. As Iran continues to deny providing drones to the Russian military, calls for sanctions against the country have grown.

Russian missiles struck the Ukrainian capital a week ago during rush hour as part of widespread attacks that claimed 19 lives. 28 drones targeted the capital in the most recent attack, which began at around 6:00 (03:30 GMT), but only five of them struck their intended targets, according to Vitaliy Klitschko, the mayor.

Gunfire rattled around the city as anti-aircraft batteries urgently attempted to shoot them down. One interception looked to be captured on video posted on social media.

Rescuers in the Shevchenkivskyi neighbourhood looked for survivors among the rubble of an apartment building that partially collapsed during one attack. As numerous firefighters and emergency personnel worked at the site, the street was blocked off. A pregnant woman was one of the four individuals slain in the area.

The offices of Ukraine’s energy business were also damaged; they were located across the street from the demolished structure. It’s likely that the facility was the strike’s intended target. The attacks were referred to as a “genocide of the Ukrainian people” by Mayor Klitschko, who added that “The Russians demand a Ukraine without Ukrainians.”

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Estonia’s, Latvia’s, Lithuania’s, and Poland’s presidents are travelling to Ukraine

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Estonia’s, Latvia’s, Lithuania’s, and Poland’s presidents are travelling to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “On our way to Kyiv, a city that has suffered greatly as a result of the Russian war since my last visit,” Estonian President Alar Karis tweeted.

On Wednesday, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausda stated that he would be “heading to Kyiv with a strong message of political support and military assistance.”

The trip also includes Polish President Andrzej Duda and Latvian President Egils Levits.

The visit was supposed to include German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier “to send a strong signal of European solidarity with Ukraine,” but he said on Tuesday that he was not welcome in Ukraine.

“I was prepared to do this,” he said, “but apparently, and this is something I must note, this was not wanted in Kyiv.”

After an unidentified Ukrainian diplomat told the German newspaper Bild that he was not welcome in Kyiv at the moment, Steinmeier spoke out.

President Zelenskyy has criticised Steinmeier’s historical support for Western-Russian rapprochement.

The German president has been a vocal proponent of the “Wandel durch Handel” (Change through Trade) theory, which contends that strengthening commercial ties can help spur democratic reforms.

Berlin had been hesitant to send weapons to Ukraine due to historical reasons, but in response to the conflict, it has now sent anti-tank weapons, missile launchers, and surface-to-air missiles.

Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister, paid a visit to Kyiv last week after promising to provide Ukraine with more than $130 million in advanced weaponry. Johnson’s surprise visit was described by Downing Street as a “show of solidarity with the Ukrainian people,” with his one-on-one meeting with Zelenskyy focusing on long-term support and new financial and military aid.

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At a meeting, Roman Abramovich was allegedly poisoned

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According to sources close to Roman Abramovich, he experienced symptoms of suspected poisoning while attending peace talks on the Ukraine-Belarus border earlier this month.

The Chelsea FC owner reportedly suffered from sore eyes and peeling skin, but has since recovered. According to reports, two Ukrainian peace negotiators were also harmed.

According to one report, the alleged poisoning was planned by Russian hardliners who wanted to derail the talks.

Shortly after the allegations surfaced, Reuters quoted an unnamed US official as saying that intelligence indicated the men’s symptoms were caused by “environmental” factors rather than poisoning. Later, Ihor Zhovkva, a spokesman for Ukraine’s president, told the BBC that while he hadn’t spoken to Mr Abramovich, members of the Ukrainian delegation were “fine” and one had said the storey was “false.”

However, as BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner points out, it’s not surprising that the US would want to downplay claims that anyone – particularly Russia – used a chemical weapon in Ukraine, as this could lead to retaliatory action that the US is hesitant to take.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Mr. Abramovich’s and the Ukrainian negotiators’ conditions have improved since the March 3 incident, which included Ukrainian MP Rustem Umerov. According to a source close to Mr Abramovich, he has recovered and is continuing to negotiate to end the war in Ukraine. The incident sheds light on Mr. Abramovich’s alleged role as a middleman in Ukraine-Russia talks. His exact role is unknown, but a spokesman for the oligarch previously stated that his influence was “limited.”

Mr. Abramovich was sanctioned by the European Union and the United Kingdom earlier this month for alleged ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, which he denies.

Mr Zelensky, on the other hand, is said to have asked the US to hold off on sanctioning Mr Abramovich because he could help negotiate a peace deal with Moscow.

Mr Abramovich played an early role in peace talks, according to the Kremlin, but the process is now in the hands of the two countries’ negotiating teams.

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Ukraine War: Oksana Baulina, a Russian journalist, was killed in shelling in Kyiv

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In the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, a Russian journalist was killed during shelling by Russian forces.

Oksana Baulina had been reporting for investigative website The Insider from Kyiv and the western city of Lviv, the outlet said in a statement. It added that she died while filming damage in the city’s Podil district. Baulina had previously worked for Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s anti-corruption foundation before leaving the country.

The foundation was declared illegal and extremist by the authorities last year, forcing many of its employees to flee to other countries. Another person was killed and two others were injured in the shelling, according to reports. Baulina had previously sent several reports from Kyiv and Lviv in western Ukraine.

To the reporter’s family and friends, the publication expressed its “heartfelt condolences.” In a month of war, Baulina is one of five journalists known to have been killed. During shelling of the TV transmission tower in Kyiv in early March, Yevhenii Sakun, a camera operator for Ukrainian TV channel LIVE who also worked for the Spanish news agency EFE, was killed.

Brent Renaud, a 50-year-old American journalist and filmmaker, was shot and killed while filming in the town of Irpin outside of Kyiv two weeks later. Two days later, on the outskirts of Kyiv, two Fox News journalists, cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski, 55, and Oleksandra Kuvshinova, 24, were killed when their vehicle was hit by incoming fire.

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Evacuation of Mariupol Halted Due to the Death of Civilians Near Kyiv

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Three civilians were killed while attempting to flee Irpin, a town just outside Kyiv.

A photographer for the New York Times captured a heartbreaking image of three members of a family of four – a mother and two children – lying dead on the pavement, while Ukrainian soldiers try to save the wounded father’s life.

Due to the graphic nature of the image, we are not publishing it here.

According to the newspaper, the children were a teenage son and an eight-year-old daughter.

The family had fled the fighting, carrying a suitcase and a few backpacks, as well as their small dog.

A mortar attack was launched at them.

Russian forces have been firing mortar shells at evacuating civilians, including children, who were using an already-collapsed bridge.

After a railway track was hit and damaged on Saturday, Ukraine accused Russian forces of deliberately targeting the evacuation routes from Irpin.

In addition to Irpin, heavy fighting has recently erupted in the small towns of Hostomel and Bucha to the northwest of Kyiv.

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