Foreign

Russia vs Ukraine: 20 latest developments you should know

Published

3 years ago

February 27, 2022

Here are the latest developments in Russia’s attack on Ukraine:.

Russia orders big push
Russia orders its troops to advance “from all directions” as it pounds the Ukrainian military with cruise missiles.

‘Stiff resistance’
The Pentagon says half of Russia’s invasion force is already inside Ukraine but is being frustrated by unexpectedly stiff Ukrainian resistance, with President Volodymyr Zelensky claiming his troops have “derailed” the Russian masterplan.

Battle for Kyiv
Ukrainian soldiers beat back a Russian attack in the capital Kyiv only hours after Zelensky warns Moscow would attempt to take the city before dawn.

Civilians against tanks

Civilians – some of whom have never held a gun before – hunker down to battle with Russian tanks.

Russians ‘murder’ 10 Greeks:

Athens–Greece calls on Russia to stop bombing Ukrainian villages after it blames Moscow for the “murder” of at least 10 ethnic Greek civilians in air strikes near the southern city of Mariupol.

Bodies in the streets
AFP sees a dead civilian lying sprawled on the pavement in central Kyiv as nearby medics help another man whose car was crushed by an armoured vehicle. Others are feared dead after artillery blasted a five-storey hole in a high-rise apartment block.

198 civilians dead
Ukraine’s health minister says 198 civilians, including three children, have been killed and 1,115 wounded since Russia invaded.

‘I am here’: Zelensky
A defiant Zelensky releases a self-shot video from central Kyiv saying, “I am here… this is our land, our country, our children and we will protect all of this.”

250,000 refugees
Poland says 100,000 refugees have crossed its border from Ukraine since Russia invaded, with the UN estimating a similar number are internally displaced. Some 50,000 have also poured into Hungary and Romania with thousands more crossing into Moldova.

US military aid
The United States says it is providing Ukraine with $350 million in additional military assistance to fight off the Russian invasion.

Europe sending weapons

Germany is sending 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 “Stinger” surface-to-air missiles to help Ukraine. France is also rushing military equipment and fuel there with Prague supplying small arms and ammunition.

Danish reporters shot
Two Danish journalists are shot and wounded when their car comes under fire near the northeastern city of Okhtyrka, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the Russian border.

Germany bows to SWIFT ban
Germany says it is working on excluding Russia from the SWIFT interbank system after coming under severe criticism from Poland for resisting EU efforts to impose the sanction that would cripple Moscow’s trade with most of the world.

France intercepts Russian ship
French naval forces intercept a cargo vessel in the Channel loaded with cars heading for Saint Petersburg after the EU slapped sanctions on Moscow.

Kremlin bans ‘war’, ‘invasion’
Russia orders its media to remove reports describing its attack on Ukraine as an “assault, invasion, or declaration of war” or face being blocked and fined.

NATO deploys force
NATO is deploying its 40,000-strong rapid response forces for the first time to bolster defences on its eastern flank. No details were given on where the forces are being sent.

Worldwide ‘Russia out!’ protests
Pro-Ukraine protests erupt across the world as thousands take to the streets from London to Athens and Argentina to Canada to denounce Russia’s assault on its neighbour.

Meanwhile more than 3,000 Russians have been arrested since Thursday for protesting against the invasion.

UK royals back Ukraine
Britain’s Prince William and his wife Kate tweet a message of support to “all of Ukraine’s people” in a rare geopolitical intervention.

– Abramovich hands over Chelsea –
Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich hands over the English Premier League club to its charitable trust as football fans across Europe turn on Russia with banners such as “Stop it, Putin!” and gestures of solidarity with Ukraine.

– Tennis star joins army –
Ukrainian tennis star Sergiy Stakhovsky says he has joined his country’s military reserves to fight the Russian invasion.

– KLM cancels flights –
Dutch flag carrier KLM cancels all its flights to or travelling through Russia for the next seven days after the European Union slapped sanctions on Moscow, saying they prevented spare parts from being sent to Russia and compromised safety.