Ukraine conflict: mothers should pick up captured soldiers in Kyiv

Created: 03/03/2022Updated: 03/03/2022 10:51 am

By: Tobias Utz, Lukas Rogalla, Johannes Nuß, Katja Thorwarth, Tim Vincent Dicke, Nico Scheck, Nail Akkoyun, Andreas Schmid, Marvin Ziegele, Christian Stör

In the Ukraine conflict, the cities of Kyiv and Mariupol are still hard fought.

The news ticker.

• The attack from Russia* meets with heavy resistance in Ukraine*.

• Russia is apparently preparing a major attack on Kyiv in the Ukraine conflict*.

  However, a kilometer-long convoy rolling towards the capital comes to a standstill.

• The situation in Ukraine* in the ticker.

>>> Update news ticker <<<

+++ 10:00 a.m .:

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense is probably ready to release Russian soldiers who were previously captured.

One appeal said the sons would surrender to their mothers if they "come to Ukraine to pick them up."

The ministry published telephone numbers and e-mail addresses through which information about the prisoners can be queried.

"Unlike the fascists (of Kremlin chief Vladimir) Putin, we are not waging war against mothers and their captured children," the Defense Ministry said.

+++ 9:00 a.m .:

The port city of Mariupol is apparently surrounded by separatists.

After several attacks on the area in eastern Ukraine, there is no electricity and no running water.

Around 430,000 people live in Mariupol.

A building in Kyiv destroyed during the Ukraine conflict.

© Sergey Bobok/AFP

+++ 7.50 a.m .:

Pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk threaten an attack on the port city of Mariupol on the Sea of ​​Azov.

As the Russian news agency Interfax reports, citing the separatist commander Eduard Basurin, Mariupol could be targeted if the troops of Ukraine do not surrender.

According to their own statements, Russian and Separatist troops have surrounded the city with its 430,000 inhabitants.

Ukraine conflict: Criminal Court investigates war crimes

+++ 5.05 a.m .:

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has launched official investigations into war crimes in Ukraine, which was attacked by Russia.

This was announced by chief prosecutor Karim Khan on Wednesday evening in The Hague.

39 contracting states of the ICC had issued a corresponding recommendation, which made the investigations possible.

Accordingly, there is "sufficient basis for the assumption that both war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed in Ukraine," said the chief prosecutor on Monday.

The investigation should focus on possible crimes by all parties in the conflict.

In light of the investigation, Khan on Thursday reiterated his call for all those involved in hostilities in Ukraine to "strictly abide by the applicable rules of international humanitarian law."

Airstrike in Ukraine: Several people die in Kharkiv and Zhytomyr

+++ 3.30 a.m .:

According to local authorities, eight people, including two children, were killed in an air raid in the eastern Ukrainian city of Izyum near Kharkiv.

According to the media, a multi-storey residential building was hit during the attack on Thursday night.

The information cannot be independently verified.

Two rockets hit an administration building in the city of Kharkiv.

The Assumption Cathedral is said to have suffered damage that is not described in detail.

Nothing was initially known about injuries.

Explosions have been rocking Ukraine in recent days.

© dpa/Emergency Service Of Ukraine

Ukraine urges Russia to cease fire in Kharkiv and Sumy regions to evacuate civilians.

In Korosten, north of the city of Zhytomyr, two people died in an airstrike on a large checkpoint, according to the administration.

Five people were injured.

Ukraine conflict: Russia attacks Kyiv – Klitschko comments on the situation  

+++ 3.07 a.m .:

In the Ukrainian capital of Kiev there were several serious explosions on Thursday night.

According to the Unian agency, an air alarm was triggered.

The residents were called on to seek protection immediately, it said.

Powerful detonations were seen on videos shared on social networks.

At first it was unclear whether it was an air raid and what the goals could have been.

Ukrainian media reported on fighting in the suburbs of the metropolis.

A Russian plane is said to have been shot down.

The information is not independently verifiable.

Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote in the Telegram news channel: "The enemy is trying to break through into the capital."

Ukraine conflict: Heavy fighting in Kharkiv and Mariupol

+++ 2.42 a.m .:

As the US news channel CNN reports, at least three schools in Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine, were hit by Russian military strikes.

This is shown by photos and videos on social media, which CNN has since been able to locate geographically.

One of the schools is located in the northern district of Saltivka, the other two schools are about one kilometer apart in the industrial area in the south-east of the city.

Classes have been suspended since the beginning of the Russian invasion.

It is currently unclear whether the attacks resulted in injuries or deaths.

Meanwhile, from Mariupol, the news channel Al Jazeera has received “disturbing reports” of people trying to leave the city of Mariupol amid fierce fighting.

There are also reports of "terrible shelling and many casualties" from the area around the town of Volnovakha, north of Mariupol.

Mayor of Mariupol: "The hardest of all seven days of war"

+++ 1.23 a.m .:

According to Mayor Wadym Boychenko, the southern Ukrainian port of Mariupol is without water, heating and electricity after air raids.

"Today was the hardest of all seven days of the war," Boychenko said on Wednesday, according to the Unian agency.

The energy supply of the city with around 440,000 inhabitants was damaged.

"Tomorrow our public utilities will start restoring the critical infrastructure," he said.

Bojchenko thanked the Ukrainian military, municipal utilities and doctors.

"We didn't attack anyone.

We are at home here.” Mariupol is near the so-called line of contact between pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian army in the Donetsk region.

The city is strategically important.

According to the authorities, more than 130 people have been injured in air raids in Mariupol.

Ukraine blames Russia for this.

The information could not be independently verified.

Ukraine conflict: Russian forces capture port city of Cherson

Update from Thursday, March 3rd, 2022, 12:45 a.m .:

According to Mayor Igor Kolykhaiev, the southern Ukrainian city of Cherson has now finally been conquered by Russian forces.

The Ukrainian military is no longer in the city, and the residents now have to follow the instructions of "armed people who have come to the city administration".

First report:

The Ukraine conflict continues to escalate.

During the war, meanwhile, large losses were recorded in both armies.

The Russian military is mainly focused on the siege of the capital Kyiv.

However, a kilometer-long convoy has come to a standstill and is making slow progress.

At the same time, separatists are laying siege to areas in eastern Ukraine.

(skr/tu/ktho/marv/lrg/nak/as/cs/nc with dpa/AFP/rtr/epd/KNA)