Ukraine

LVIV/KHARKIV, Ukraine, March 28 (Reuters) - Ukraine and Russia were preparing on Monday for the first face-to-face peace talks in more than two weeks, but a senior U.S. official said Russian President Vladimir Putin did not appear ready to make compromises to end the war.

Ukraine's foreign minister said a ceasefire was the most his country could hope for from the talks, due to be held in Istanbul on Tuesday after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan spoke to Russia's Vladimir Putin on Sunday.

"We are not trading people, land or sovereignty," Dmytro Kuleba said.

Kyiv, Mar 28 (AP) With its aspirations for a quick victory dashed by a stiff Ukrainian resistance, Russia has increasingly focused on grinding down Ukraine's military in the east in the hope of forcing Kyiv into surrendering part of the country's territory to possibly end the war.

LVIV, Ukraine (AP) — A strawberry-scented air freshener dangled from the Ukrainian military’s latest vehicle to head to war.

In a welding shop in Ukraine’s western city of Lviv, workers were adding steel plates to a donated pickup truck so a volunteer could drive it to the front.

“Our victory depends on us,” said Ostap Datsenko, a welder who is part of a huge volunteer effort playing a role in Ukraine’s resistance, with support from the diaspora.

But he hadn’t expected to see so much of the war, or its shrapnel, so soon.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — With its aspirations for a quick victory dashed by a stiff Ukrainian resistance, Russia has increasingly focused on grinding down Ukraine’s military in the east in the hope of forcing Kyiv into surrendering part of the country’s territory to possibly end the war.

LVIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused the West of cowardice Sunday while another top official said Russia was trying to split the nation in two, like North and South Korea.

Zelenskyy made an exasperated plea for fighter jets and tanks to help defend his country from Russia’s invading troops. Russia now says its main focus is on taking control of the eastern Donbas region, an apparent pullback from its earlier, more expansive goals, but one which is raising fears of a divided Ukraine.

LUGANSK, March 27. /TASS/: A referendum on becoming part of Russia may be held in the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) in the near future, LPR head Leonid Pasechnik told reporters on Sunday.

"I think that in the near future a referendum will be held on the territory of the republic where people will exercise their constitutional right and express their opinion on joining Russia. For some reason, I am sure that this is exactly how it will be," Pasechnik assured.

March 27 (Reuters) - Ukraine has asked the International Committee of the Red Cross not to open a planned office in Russia's Rostov-on-Don, saying it would legitimise Moscow's "humanitarian corridors" and the abduction and forced deportation of Ukranians.

The head of the ICRC said on Thursday after his talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that agreement between the Russian and Ukrainian armies was needed before civilians could be evacuated properly from war-torn Ukraine. 

LVIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian rockets struck the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Saturday while President Joe Biden visited neighboring Poland, a reminder that Moscow is willing to strike anywhere in Ukraine despite its claim to be focusing its offensive on the country’s east.

The back-to-back airstrikes shook the city that has become a haven for an estimated 200,000 people who have had to flee their hometowns. Lviv had been largely spared since the invasion began, although missiles struck an aircraft repair facility near the main airport a week ago.

ODESA, Ukraine (AP) — The Black Sea port of Odesa is mining its beaches and rushing to defend its cultural heritage from a feared Mariupol-style fate in the face of growing alarm that the strategic city might be next as Russia attempts to strip Ukraine of its coastline.

The multi-cultural jewel, dear to Ukrainian hearts and even Russian ones, would be a hugely strategic win for Russia. It is the country’s largest port, crucial to grain and other exports, and headquarters for the Ukrainian navy.

LVIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy angrily warned Moscow that it is sowing a deep hatred for Russia among his people, as constant artillery barrages and aerial bombings are reducing cities to rubble, killing civilians and driving others into shelters, leaving them to scrounge for food and water to survive.