UKRAINE FIGHTS BACK AS RUSSIA FORCES ADVANCES
“We won’t put down our weapons,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told his people in a video message from the streets of the capital posted early Saturday.
The fighting continued in Kyiv and across Ukraine on Saturday into Sunday, with the Russian assault appearing to be stymied by the stiffer-than-expected resistance, according to a United States defense official.
The United States and European nations announced several measures to support Ukraine as they fight to defend their nation: The United States and its allies agreed Saturday to take aim at Russia through SWIFT, a service that facilitates global transactions among thousands of financial institutions.
And the U.S. and others, such as Germany, were speeding badly needed weaponry and supplies to the outgunned Ukrainians, who were refusing to surrender.
UKRAINE REJECTS BELARUS AS LOCATION FOR TALKS
Ukraine’s president said on Sunday that his country was ready for peace talks with Russia but not in Belarus, which was a staging ground for Moscow’s 3-day-old invasion.
Speaking in a video message Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy named Warsaw, Bratislava, Istanbul, Budapest or Baku as alternative venues.
He said other locations are also possible but made clear that Ukraine doesn’t accept Russia’s selection of Belarus.
The Kremlin said Sunday that a Russian delegation had arrived in the Belarusian city of Homel for talks with Ukrainian officials.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the delegation includes military officials and diplomats.
“The Russian delegation is ready for talks, and we are now waiting for the Ukrainians,” Peskov said.
Russia invaded Ukraine on Thursday, with troops moving from Moscow’s ally Belarus in the north, and also from the east and south.
RUSSIAN TROOPS MOVE INTO KHARKIV
Russian troops have moved into the center of Kharkiv, a city in northeast Ukraine.
City Chief of Police Volodymyr Tymoshko warned residents to stay inside.
“It is quite dangerous on the streets of the city now,” he said through Telegram, according to an NBC News translation.
“Due to the small groups of the enemy who broke into the city, fighting continues.”
Russian troops take Ukrainian city home to hydroelectric power plant, mayor says
Nova Kakhovka, a city in southern Ukraine home to a strategic hydroelectric power plant, is in the hands of Russian forces, Mayor Volodymyr Kovalenko said Sunday.
“Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson Oblast is completely under the control of Russian troops, they seized the city executive committee, removed all Ukrainian flags from buildings,” Kovalenko said in a statement on Telegram, according to an NBC News translation.
It was unclear if Russian forces had taken control of the power plant.
The Kherson region, which borders Crimea, was once served by a canal that brought water from the Dnieper River, which also churns electricity at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Station.
In 2017, Ukraine built a dam that blocked the canal’s supply of water from the river to Crimea.
Invading Russian troops have already destroyed the dam in the Kherson region, Reuters reported, allowing for the water to flow freely to the occupied peninsula.
KYIV OFFICIAL SAYS CAPITAL IS COMPLETELY CONTROLLED BY UKRAINE FORCES
As Ukraine starts its fourth day fending off Russian troops and munitions, a Kyiv official declared Sunday that the capital city was still in the hands of Ukrainians.
“The situation in Kyiv is calm, the capital is completely controlled by the Ukrainian army and defense,” Mykola Povoroznyk, first deputy head of the Kyiv City State Administration, said on messaging service Telegram.
He warned that it was not news to savor; the city was under attack by Russian forces.
“There were several clashes with sabotage groups at night,” Povoroznyk said.
Ukraine’s minister of defense, Oleksiy Reznikov, said early Sunday that forces fending off the Russian offensive in Kyiv have made history.
“Three days changed our country and the world forever,” he said on Facebook.
“I see a heroic army, a civil guard, fearless border guards, selfless rescuers, reliable police officers, tireless medical angels,” Reznikov said on Facebook.
He also praised thousands of Ukrainians who took up arms in defense of Kyiv and their country.
“You are seen by all, the whole world!” he wrote.
THE UKRANIAN CHORUS DUMKA OF NEW YORK PERFORMS ON SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE
The Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York performs ‘Prayer for Ukraine’ during the opening of ‘Saturday Night Live’ on Feb. 26, 2022.NBC
“Saturday Night Live” opened its first show following the Beijing Winter Olympics with a stunning and solemn performance by the Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York.
Singing “Prayer for Ukraine,” the approximately 30-member group appeared in traditional white vyshyvanka. Ukraine’s national flower, sunflowers, adorning the stage around a table with candles that spelled out Kyiv.
It was SNL’s way of urging peace as Russia invades Ukraine following its initial offensive Thursday morning.
A United Nations office estimates there have been at least 240 confirmed civilian casualties in Ukraine since Russia attacked, with at least 64 dead.
The chorus was founded in the years after World War II by Ukrainian immigrants who wanted to preserve their cultural heritage in a new homeland, according to Ukrainian Weekly. It’s now 72-years-old and is composed of strictly non-professional performers.
Its Facebook page says the group performs work by Ukrainian composers, but its genres can include classical, sacred and folk choral.
Social media reaction to the chorus, introduced by Kate McKinnon and Cecily Strong, was heavily favorable, with some calling it powerful, beautiful and just right. Christian hip-hop artist Tedashii tweeted that the performance honored “those fighting for their life in Kiev.”
GOOGLE BLOCKS STATE-OWNED MEDIA OUTLET, OTHER RUSSIAN CHANNELS FROM EARNING AD DOLLARS
Alphabet Inc’s Google on Saturday barred Russia’s state-owned media outlet RT and other channels from receiving money for ads on their websites, apps and YouTube videos, similar to a move by Facebook after the invasion of Ukraine.
Citing “extraordinary circumstances,” Google’s YouTube unit said it was “pausing a number of channels’ ability to monetize on YouTube.”
These included several Russian channels affiliated with recent sanctions, such as those by the European Union.
Google is also barring Russian state-funded media outlets from using its ad technology to generate revenue on their own websites and apps.
In addition, the Russian media will not be able to buy ads through Google Tools or place ads on Google services such as search and Gmail, spokesman Michael Aciman said.
“We’re actively monitoring new developments and will take further steps if necessary,” Aciman said.
Videos from affected media will also come up less often in recommendations, YouTube spokesperson Farshad Shadloo said.
He added that RT and several other channels would no longer be accessible in Ukraine after a Ukrainian government request.
Russia received an estimated $7 million to $32 million over the two years to December 2018 from ads across 26 YouTube channels it backed, digital researcher Omelas told Reuters at the time.
YouTube has previously said it did not treat state-funded media channels that comply with its rules differently from others when it comes to sharing ad revenue.
A much needed rest in Kyiv
Image: A woman sleeps on chairs in the underground parking lot of a hotel that was turned into a bomb shelter in Kyiv on Feb. 27, 2022.
A woman sleeps on chairs in the underground parking lot of a hotel that was turned into a bomb shelter in Kyiv on Sunday.
UKRANIAN FORMER TENNIS STAR SERGIY STAKHOVSKY ENLISTS IN RESREVE ARMY
Ukrainian former tennis player Sergiy Stakhovsky enlisted in his country’s reserve army last week prior to Russia’s invasion, he said, despite a lack of military experience, although he can handle a gun.
The 36-year-old Stakhovsky, who won four ATP titles and had a shock win over Roger Federer in the second round of Wimbledon in 2013, said on Saturday he was willing to take up arms in Ukraine’s defense.
“Of course, I would fight, it’s the only reason I’m trying to get back,” Stakhovsky told Sky News.
“I signed up for the reserves last week. I don’t have military experience, but I do have experience with a gun privately.
“My dad and brother are surgeons, they are stressed out, but I speak to them frequently — they sleep in the basement.
“None of us believed that this could happen, and yet it happened.”
Former heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko also enlisted in Ukraine’s reserve army this month, saying that love for his country compelled him to defend it.
Radioactive waste site struck by Russian munitions
Russian munitions struck a radioactive waste site in Kyiv, prompting some concern that the effects won’t be known until the shelling and missile fire stops, government officials in Ukraine said Sunday.
The State Inspectorate for Nuclear Regulation of Ukraine said in a statement that the capital branch of the government Radon Association reported seeing falling missiles on security cameras.
“It is currently not possible to assess the extent of the destruction,” the state office said, according to a translation of its statement.
Experts from the Ukrainian State Association Radon, or Radon Association, reported the attack by phone after seeing it via security video, the inspectorate said.
They had taken shelter and viewed the offensive via a remote video system intended for security, it said.
The site’s automated reporting system had failed.
Now those personnel are pinned down until the offensive at their location ends, the inspectorate said.
Assessment will happen in the wake of Russia’s mission, it said. At the same time, the inspectorate believes there is no radioactive threat to people outside of a buffer zone intended to protect communities from radioactive waste sites.
Ukraine has more than a half dozen of these regional sites, including the Kyiv SISP, for State Interregional Specialized Plants for Radioactive Waste Management. They were built to accept waste from the use of radiation in medicine, science and “different industries,” according to the government.
RUSSIAN FORCES BLOW UP GAS PIPELINE IN KHARKIV, UKRANIAN OFFICIAL SAY
Russian forces blew up a gas pipeline in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials said Sunday.
Video shared by State Special Communications’ Telegram channel showed a rising fireball similar to a mushroom cloud. Officials reassured in the post that was not a nuclear strike.
“In Kharkiv, the occupiers blew up a gas pipeline,” the communications office said.
More than 200 miles to the west near Vasylkiv, south of the capital of Kyiv, a Russian ballistic missile attack set an oil depot on fire, officials said.
The flames could reportedly be seen from Kyiv, and fighting was reported to be preventing emergency services from working to extinguish the blaze.
Missiles hit Vasylkiv, oil plant on fire, officials say
Ballistic missiles struck the city of Vasylkiv, south of Kyiv, and an oil plant was on fire, the mayor said as a Russian attack in the country continued for a fourth day.
“You all can see what is happening right now, you see the fire,” Vasylkiv Mayor Natalia Balasinovich said in a video message.
Alexey Kuleba, head of the administration in Kyiv Oblast, said on Facebook that the missile strike caused a fire at the oil depot in the village of Kryachky, just outside of Vasylkiv.
Fighting was ongoing and prevented emergency services from extinguishing the fire, according to Kuleba. “We are in danger of an ecological catastrophe. We do everything possible to prevent this!” he said in the statement.
Ballistic missiles also struck an airfield, the mayor said. Vasylkiv is around 20 miles south of the capital of Kyiv. The fire could reportedly be seen from there. (REUTER/AP)
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