Ukraine

LVIV, Ukraine (AP) — What looked like a breakthrough cease-fire to evacuate residents from two cities in Ukraine quickly fell apart Saturday as Ukrainian officials said continued shelling had halted the work to remove civilians hours after Russia announced the deal.

The Russian defense ministry earlier said it had agreed on evacuation routes with Ukrainian forces for Mariupol, a strategic port in the southeast, and the eastern city of Volnovakha. The vaguely worded statement did not make clear how long the routes would remain open.

New Delhi, Mar 4 (PT) Global steel giant ArcelorMittal has stopped production at its Kryvyi Rih facility in Ukraine amid the ongoing conflict between the eastern European country and Russia.

In a statement, ArcelorMittal, which is owned by Indian-origin industrialist Lakshmi N Mittal, said "the decision to idle its steel making operations in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine (has been taken) in order to ensure the safety and security of our people and assets."

KIEV, March 4. /TASS/: Ukraine calls on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to immediately take measures to organize humanitarian corridors for the civilian population, Ukraine’s Strana media outlet said on Friday, citing a statement of the Ukrainian presidential office.

According to the statement, Ukraine is ready to do everything necessary to evacuate civilians and organize humanitarian cargoes deliveries.

Humanitarian corridors are needed in settlements in the Sumy, Chernigov, Kharkov, Kiev, Nikolayev, Zaporozhye, Kherson, Lugansk, and Donetsk regions.

KIEV, March 4. /TASS/: Russia’s stance in the negotiations is tough, as is Ukraine’s, so the talks will be difficult, but they will be continued, Adviser to the Head of the President’s Office Mikhail Podolyak said on Friday.

LVIV, Ukraine, March 4 (Reuters) - A Russian air strike on a rural residential area in Kyiv region killed at least seven people on Friday, including two children, Ukraine state police said in a statement.

Police said the strike hit the village of Markhalivka, around 10 kilometres (6 miles) from the southwestern outskirts of the capital.

LVIV, Ukraine, March 4 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appealed to Russians on Friday to stage protests over Russian forces' seizure of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.

A building at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant was set ablaze during intense fighting, Ukrainian authorities said on Friday, triggering fears of a potential nuclear disaster. The blaze was later extinguished. 

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A fire at Europe’s biggest nuclear plant ignited by Russian shelling has been extinguished, Ukrainian authorities said Friday, and Russian forces have taken control of the site.

LUGANSK, October 27. /TASS/: The armed forces of Ukraine have officially admitted violating the Minsk Agreements on Ukrainian reconciliation by using a Turkish-made Bayraktar drone in the east of the country, a diplomat of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) has said.

BORODYANKA, Ukraine, March 3 (Reuters) - Ukraine said it would call for humanitarian corridors for its besieged citizens at peace talks with Russia on Thursday, as war entered its second week with Ukrainian cities surrounded and under bombardment.

Hundreds of Russian soldiers and Ukrainian civilians have been killed since President Vladimir Putin sent his troops over the border on Feb. 24. Russia itself has been plunged into isolation never before experienced by an economy of such size. 

KIEV, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Russian forces captured the building of Kherson regional administration in southern Ukraine, Gennady Laguta, the head of the regional administration, said Thursday on Telegram.

Laguta said the Kherson regional operational headquarters continues to work and address pressing issues to help residents of the region.

Currently, the Kherson region is waiting for humanitarian aid, Laguta added.

Russia launched a "special military operation" against Ukraine on Feb. 24.