Russia said Wednesday negotiations with officials from Kyiv to resolve the conflict in Ukraine were making headway and underscored that Moscow's troops were not working to topple the Ukrainian government.
"Some progress has been made," foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during a press briefing, referring to three rounds of talks with Kyiv. She said the Russian military had not been tasked to "overthrow the current government."
Russia and Ukraine on Wednesday agreed to a day-long ceasefire around a series of evacuation corridors to allow civilians to escape the fighting.
Ukraine Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Moscow vowed to respect the truce from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm around six areas that have been heavily hit by the fighting, including regions near Kyiv, in Zaporizhzhia in the south, and some parts of Ukraine's northeast.
Meanwhile, power has been entirely cut to the Chernobyl power plant, site of the world's worst nuclear disaster in 1986, and its security systems, Ukraine's energy operator Ukrenergo said Wednesday.
The plant "was fully disconnected from the power grid," Ukrenergo said in a statement on its Facebook page, adding that military operations meant "there is no possibility to restore the lines".
Here are the Highlights on Russia-Ukraine War:
The United States on Wednesday rejected Russian claims that it supports a bioweapons program in Ukraine, saying the allegations were a sign that Moscow could soon use the weapons themselves.
"The Kremlin is intentionally spreading outright lies that the United States and Ukraine are conducting chemical and biological weapons activities in Ukraine," State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. (AFP)
The International Monetary Fund said its executive board on Wednesday approved $1.4 billion in emergency financing for Ukraine to help meet urgent spending needs and mitigate the economic impact of Russia's military invasion.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday described a Russian air strike on a children's hospital in the southeastern city of Mariupol as a "war crime" after it prompted international condemnation. (AFP)
A total of 1,207 civilians have died during a nine-day siege by Russian forces of Ukraine's port city of Mariupol, its local authorities said Wednesday.
The first nine days of the Russian siege saw "1,207 peaceful Mariupol residents dying", the authorities of the southeastern city on the Azov Sea posted on Telegram.More than 1 million children have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries in the less than two weeks since Russia started its invasion of Ukraine, the head of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Wednesday. (Reuters)
Around 48,000 Ukrainians have been evacuated through humanitarian corridors, Interfax Ukraine news agency said on Wednesday, citing a senior aide to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the president's office, said 43,000 people had left the city of Sumy, 3,500 from the Kiev region and 1,000 from Energodar. (Reuters)
The New York Times on Tuesday announced its editorial staff was pulling out of Russia over Moscow's punitive new media law, following other outlets that have withdrawn over safety concerns.
Russian authorities have blocked several independent media outlets, and last week moved to impose harsh jail terms for "false news" about the army as part of its efforts to muffle dissent. (AFP)The White House Wednesday slammed the "barbaric" use of force against civilians after an apparent Russian air strike on a children's hospital in Ukraine.
"It is horrifying to see the type of, the barbaric use of military force to go after innocent civilians in a sovereign country," Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters when questioned about the strike. (AFP)
Some 80,035 Ukrainian refugees have been registered in Germany as of Wednesday, a German interior ministry spokesperson said.
The EU has agreed to add more Russian oligarchs and officials to its sanctions blacklist, tighten controls on cryptocurrency transfers and target the maritime sector over Moscow's war in Ukraine, diplomats said Wednesday.
A set of high-resolution satellite pictures released by a private US company shows the ongoing military activity as well as some of the recent damage caused by airstrikes and artillery shelling.
US congressional leaders reached a bipartisan agreement early on Wednesday to allocate $13.6 billion in emergency aid for Ukraine
The multinational music corporation Universal Music Group on Tuesday said it is suspending its operations in Russia in response to the country's invasion of Ukraine.
The number of people fleeing Ukraine since the Russian invasion began has probably now reached 2.1-2.2 million people, the head of the United Nation's refugee agency UNHCR said on Wednesday.
The mayor of the southeastern Ukrainian city of Enerhodar said on Wednesday a temporary ceasefire was in force, allowing the evacuation of civilians to start through a "humanitarian corridor".
People evacuating from Bucha and Irpin areas northwest of Kyiv were seen crossing overthe river in on makeshift walkways of planks and mangled metal at the site of the bridge that was earlier destroyed in a bid to hamper any Russian advance.
The International Monetary Fund's executive board is poised to approve on Wednesday $1.4 billion in emergency funding for Ukraine to help it respond to Russia's invasion, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Tuesday.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged British MPs to designate Russia as a "terrorist state" after President Vladimir Putin ordered a special military operation against his nation and called for tougher sanctions on Moscow to "make sure our skies are safe".
Russia is facing global condemnation for attacking Ukraine. The anger has led to sanctions by the West as well as companies shutting their outlets in Moscow and other Russian cities. There are more than 300 companies, which have left Russia in the past two weeks. The big brands are
The First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, on Tuesday condemned the Kremlin's "mass murder" of civilians, including children, in an open letter to the global media on the Russian invasion.
Crude oil prices jumped again on Wednesday while Asian stocks struggled for footing as investors assessed the impact of the worsening conflict in Ukraine and a new US ban on Russian oil.
The CIA's director said Tuesday he believes China leader Xi Jinping has been "unsettled" by Russia's difficulties in invading Ukraine, and by how the war has brought the United States and Europe closer.
US intelligence chiefs brand Russia's Vladimir Putin "angry and frustrated", warning he is likely to "double down and try to grind down the Ukrainian military with no regard for civilian casualties".
Russia has become a global economic pariah after it attacked Ukraine and the international community has joined the US in imposing tough sanctions against Moscow, the Joe Biden administration has claimed.
Thousands of Airbnb users have booked vacation rentals in war-battered Ukraine, not to visit but to provide aid to local hosts struggling to survive the Russian invasion.
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant is no longer transmitting data to the UN's atomic watchdog, the agency said Tuesday, as it voiced concern for staff working under Russian guard at the Ukrainian facility.
Russia's war against Ukraine has hurt American families with gas prices shooting up and it is going to rise further, US President Joe Biden said after announcing a ban on the import of Russian oil and gas.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, invoking the wartime defiance of British prime minister Winston Churchill, vowed Tuesday to "fight to the end" in a historic virtual speech to UK lawmakers.