Ukraine war: What happened on Tuesday night

Created: 08/03/2022, 05:00

By: Luke Rogalla

Ukraine War: Soldiers guard a checkpoint on a main street in Kyiv.

© Vadim Ghirda/dpa

The war in Ukraine continues.

A high-ranking Russian general is killed near Kharkiv.

Another attack on a nuclear facility.

All news at a glance.

Kyiv – The invasion of Ukraine* by the Russian army began twelve days ago.

But Vladimir Putin*'s campaign is apparently not going as the Russian President had hoped.

The country's largest cities – Kyiv and Kharkiv – are particularly hard fought.

The Ukrainian armed forces put up fierce resistance.

Here you can find out what happened on the night of Tuesday (March 8th, 2022).

Ukraine War: Battles for Kharkiv - Russian Major General killed

Russian Major General Vitaliy Gerasimov was killed in fighting outside the embattled city of Kharkiv.

This is reported by the Ukrainian military intelligence service.

Other high-ranking Russian officials were also killed or wounded.

Gerasimov had previously also fought in the second Chechen war and was awarded a medal for the "conquest of Crimea".

According to the responsible Ukrainian authority, a nuclear research facility in Kharkiv is said to have been damaged after attacks.

However, no increased radioactivity was found.

War in Ukraine: Airstrikes in Sumy Oblast - authorities report dead civilians

Russia* is said to have carried out airstrikes in several places in Sumy Oblast.

There are said to be dead and injured, including children.

Numerous people could be under the rubble, reports Dmitro Zhyvitskiy, governor of the region in northern Ukraine, on the Telegram platform.

Ukraine war: President Zelenskyy blames Russia for failed evacuations

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj* has blamed Russia for the failed evacuation of embattled cities.

"There was an agreement on humanitarian corridors," Zelenskyy said in a video message on Monday.

"Did it work?

The Russian tanks worked instead, the Russian 'Grad' (rocket launchers), the Russian mines.”

The Ukrainian president accused Russian troops of "mining" the agreed route to bring food and medicines to the besieged city of Mariupol in southern Ukraine.

In addition, Russian soldiers destroyed the buses that were supposed to take civilians out of the contested areas.

Zelenskyy accused Russia of "cynicism".

The humanitarian situation in Mariupol continues to deteriorate.

"There is no street without broken windows, destroyed apartments or houses," says the city council.

The city is without electricity, water and gas.

However, Ukraine will continue to conduct peace negotiations with Russia.

"I'm staying here, I'm staying in Kyiv.

(...) I'm not afraid of anyone," stressed the Ukrainian head of state.

On Monday morning Moscow announced the opening of several "humanitarian corridors" to bring people from the cities of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mariupol and Sumy to safety.

However, most of these corridors are said to lead to Russia or Belarus, from where the attack on Ukraine was launched.

Ukraine War: Kyiv and Odessa prepare for Russian attack

Although Putin's war of aggression in Ukraine has not yet reached Odessa, more and more people are leaving the port city on the Black Sea.

Russian ships in the Black Sea also fired missiles at the village of Tusly in the Odessa region, a military spokesman for the region said.

In Kyiv, too, the Ukrainian armed forces are preparing for a major attack.

Thousands of troops, including those from Chechnya, are said to be regrouping outside the capital, Ukrainian media reports.

The Ukrainian Air Force also reports that it shot down two Russian planes over the Kyiv area on Monday evening.

Ukraine War: Further negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv

According to Kiev, in the third round of negotiations between representatives of Russia and Ukraine, progress has been made towards establishing humanitarian corridors.

"We have achieved some positive results regarding the logistics of the humanitarian corridors," Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter Monday evening.

"There will be changes, and people suffering from the aggression of the Russian Federation will be helped more effectively," he added.

On other key issues, such as a ceasefire, "intensive dialogues will continue," said Podolyak, who is taking part in negotiations with Russia.

So far, there are “no results that could improve the situation” on these points.

The Russian side, on the other hand, expressed disappointment with the talks: "Our expectations of the negotiations have not been fulfilled," Moscow's chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said on Russian television.

"We hope that we can take a bigger step forward next time." The foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine are expected to meet with their Turkish counterparts in Antalya on Thursday.

(lrg/dpa/afp) *