On the 33rd day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, follow our latest information live.
► The site of the Russian editorial staff of RFI broadcasts Ukrainian public radio (in the Ukrainian language) from the home page.
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The main points:
► The Russian and Ukrainian delegations confirmed on Sunday that a new round of talks will take place at the beginning of the week. According to kyiv, these face-to-face negotiations will be held from Monday March 28 to Wednesday March 30 in Turkey, while the Russian chief negotiator has advanced the dates of Tuesday and Wednesday, without specifying a location.
► Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelensky said in an interview with Russian independent media on Sunday that his government was studying “in depth” the question of the “neutrality” of Ukraine. This is one of Moscow’s main demands in the negotiations to end the conflict.
► Strong explosions were felt in kyiv, Lutsk, Kharkiv and Zhytomyras airstrike warnings sounded in almost all Ukrainian regions on Sunday.
► Reacting to the words of US President Joe Biden, who called Vladimir Putin a “ Butcher ” who “ can’t stay in power “, the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, judged that ” personal insults of this kind reduce the field of possibilities for our bilateral relations with the current US government “.
► In total, 5,208 people were evacuated from Ukrainian cities through humanitarian corridors on Saturday, according to a senior official, up from 7,331 the previous day. 4,331 people have left Mariupol, but according to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk, more than 100,000 people still need to be evacuated.
Times are given in Universal Time (UT)
3:05 a.m .: The Oscars call for a minute of silence for Ukraine
A minute of silence was called for in tribute to Ukraine, invaded by Russia, at the 94th Academy Awards in Hollywood on Sunday evening. During this brief moment of contemplation, screens broadcast messages calling for help, listing basic needs of Ukrainians such as ” food “, from ” medical care ” or some ” blankets “. ” We ask you to help Ukraine in every way possible one of the posts added.
2 a.m.: new fires in the Chernobyl zone, according to kyiv
New fires have broken out in the area of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, occupied by Russian forces, according to Ukrainian authorities. ” Large fires have started in the exclusion zone, which can have very serious consequences Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshuk wrote on her Telegram account on Sunday evening.
” However, it is now impossible to fully control and extinguish the fires due to the capture of the exclusion zone by the occupying Russian forces. “, she added. “ Therefore, we demand that the UN Security Council take immediate action to demilitarize the Chernobyl excusion zone. “, Continued this official.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Sunday that the security situation at Ukraine’s nuclear power plants remained unchanged. She had estimated last week that the forest fires around Chernobyl did not pose a major radiological risk.
1:35 am: “The situation is more and more critical” in Lviv
The suburbs of the city of Lviv were bombed this Saturday, in western Ukraine a few tens of kilometers from the border with Poland. The city, relatively spared since the beginning of the Russian invasion, is nevertheless in a complicated situation with the influx of refugees. Derek is an Irish volunteer, he came like many others to help. He was in Lviv during the bombardment. Testimony.
“ The situation is critical now, it’s getting closer to the border. It’s getting worse and worse in Lviv, people are more and more afraid and have to take refuge after the bombardment. We left at night to go to Premiche, on the Polish side. We loaded up some supplies and now we’re in Rzeszow picking up some medicine. As soon as we have loaded the truck, we return to Lviv. It’s crazy what’s going on there, because there’s not enough medicine there. We need insulin, morphine, bandages… We really need everything because we’re really running out of them. We need all the help we can get, financially too, from the international community because the situation is becoming more and more critical. »
12:50 am: Germany plans to acquire an anti-missile system
Germany plans to acquire an anti-missile defense system to protect itself against a possible attack from Russia, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Sunday evening, without specifying the type of system that Berlin could obtain. ” This is one of the questions we discuss, and for good reason he told state television in response to a question about the possibility of Germany acquiring a defense system similar to the Iron Dome used by Israel.
Asked about the hypothesis that Berlin is moving towards a defense system with a longer range than its current Patriot missiles, the German Chancellor replied: “ We must be aware that we have a neighbor who is willing to use violence to advance his interests “.
Earlier in the day, Bild reported that the issue of a missile defense system covering the whole of German territory was raised during a meeting between Olaf Scholz and the head of the armed forces, Eberhard Zorn. According to the newspaper, there was talk of the possible acquisition of the Israeli Arrow 3 system. The German Defense Ministry declined a request for comment.
00h: Before new negotiations, Ukraine says it is “studying” the Russian request for its “neutrality”
Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelensky said his government was studying ” in depth » the question of the « neutrality of Ukraine, one of the central points in the negotiations with Russia to end the conflict, which should resume at the beginning of the week.
One of the clauses of the negotiations relates to “ security guarantees and neutrality, the nuclear-free status of our state “, a requirement of Moscow, he said in an online interview with Russian independent media, broadcast on the Telegram channel of the Ukrainian presidential administration. “ This point of the negotiations is understandable to me and it is under discussion, it is studied in depth “.
But it will have to be submitted to a referendum and guarantees are needed, he warned, accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin and his entourage of doing “ drag things out “.