Zelensky remains defiant as Russian forces pound Ukraine for third day
Ukrainian soldiers handle equipment outside Kharkiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Marienko )
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YouTube on Saturday barred Russian state-owned media outlet RT and other Russian channels from receiving money for advertisements that run with their videos, similar to a move by Facebook, after the invasion of Ukraine.
Citing "extraordinary circumstances," YouTube said in a statement that it was "pausing a number of channels’ ability to monetize on YouTube, including several Russian channels affiliated with recent sanctions." Ad placement is largely controlled by YouTube.
Facebook said it is prohibiting Russian state media from running any advertising on or monetising from its platform.
The firm’s head of security policy, Nathaniel Gleicher, said in a statement: “We also continue to apply labels to additional Russian state media.
“These changes have already begun rolling out and will continue into the weekend.”
Mr Gleicher added Facebook was “closely monitoring” the situation in Ukraine.
The official website of the Kremlin, the office of Russian President Vladimir Putin, kremlin.ru , was ALSO down on Saturday, following reports of cyberattacks on various other Russian government and state media websites.
Meanwhile, Twitter has said access to the platform is being restricted in Russia in the wake of the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
A curfew has come into force in Kyiv until Monday morning, according to The Guardian.
Initially, it had been believed that a curfew would be in place from 5pm to 8am every day, but it has been announced this will instead run until 8am on Monday morning without any breaks.
The mayor’s office said: “For more effective defence of the capital and security of its residents the curfew will run from 1700 today, February 26, 2022, until the morning February 28.”
Earlier on Saturday, Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko said that "all civilians on the street during the curfew will be considered members of the enemy’s sabotage and reconnaissance groups".
The previous curfew imposed two days ago was from 10pm until 7am.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country’s armed forces are successfully fighting back against Russian troops.
He said in a video released on Saturday that Russian attempts to forge into Kyiv have been repelled and Moscow’s plan to quickly seize the capital and install a puppet government has been thwarted.
In an emotional speech, he accused Russian forces of hitting civilian areas and infrastructure.
Mr Zelensky pushed for Ukraine’s urgent ascension to the European Union, saying he had discussed the issue with the EU leaders.
He also urged cutting Russia from the Swift international electronic bank payment system, noting that Germany and Hungary should show “courage” and agree to the move.
Briefly switching to Russian, Mr Zelensky hailed Russia’s cultural figures who denounced the invasion and urged them to redouble efforts to force the Kremlin to halt the attack.
He claimed thousands of Russian troops had been killed, and hundreds of those who were taken prisoner “can’t understand why they were sent into Ukraine to kill and get killed”.
“The sooner you say to your government that this war should be immediately stopped, the more of your people will stay alive,” he said.
French officials say marines patrolling the English Channel have intercepted a cargo ship sailing under the Russian flag and escorted it to the port of Boulogne-Sur-Mer for an investigation.
The interception of the ship, carrying cars, early on Saturday was triggered by financial sanctions levied days ago against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
Maritime spokesperson Veronique Magnin said it appeared to be the first such action in the English Channel.
The 130-metre ship was headed from Rouen in Normandy to St Petersburg, and was stopped near Honfleur, Ms Magnin said.
Customs officials carrying out the investigation were verifying if the vessel is linked to Russian financial interests. The process could take up to 48 hours.
The French government has given maritime officials the power to intercept vessels suspected of contravening the sanctions, she said.
Russian forces pounded Ukrainian cities including the capital Kyiv with artillery and cruise missiles on Saturday for the third day running and Russia's Interfax news agency said they had captured the southeastern city of Melitopol.
Ukrainian officials were not immediately available to comment on the fate of Melitopol and Britain's armed forces minister James Heappey cast doubt on the report, saying the city of some 150,000 people was still in Ukrainian hands.
"All of Russia's day one objectives ... and even Melitopol, which the Russians are claiming to have taken but we can't see anything to substantiate that, are all still in Ukrainian hands," he told BBC radio.
Western intelligence sources say Russian forces have encountered far stronger Ukrainian resistance than they had expected and this was significantly slowing their advances since their invasion began on Thursday.
If the Interfax report about Melitopol, which cited Russia's defence ministry, is confirmed, it would be the first significant population centre the Russians have seized.
At least 198 Ukrainians, including three children, have been killed and 1,115 people wounded so far in Russia's invasion, Interfax quoted Ukraine's Health Ministry as saying. It was unclear whether the numbers comprised only civilian casualties.
Russian troops are pressing toward Ukraine’s capital after a night of explosions and street fighting that sent Kyiv residents seeking shelter underground.
The country’s president refused an American offer to leave the city, insisting he would stay and adding: “The fight is here.”
It was not clear how far Russian troops had advanced. Ukrainian officials reported some success in fending off assaults, but fighting persisted near the capital.
Skirmishes reported on the edge of the city suggested small Russian units were probing Ukrainian defences to clear a path for the main forces.
The swift movement of troops after less than three days of fighting further threatened a country clinging to independence in the face of a broad Russian assault, which threatened to topple Ukraine’s democratic government and scramble the post-Cold War world order.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky offered renewed assurance on Saturday that the country’s military would stand up to the Russian invasion. In a video recorded in a central Kyiv street, he said he remained in the city.
Не вірте фейкам. pic.twitter.com/wiLqmCuz1p
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 26, 2022
“We aren’t going to lay down weapons. We will protect the country,” he said. “Our weapon is our truth, and our truth is that it’s our land, our country, our children. And we will defend all of that.”
The Russian military says it has launched a barrage of cruise missiles at Ukrainian military facilities.
Defence Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said the military struck a range of installations with long-range Kalibr cruise missiles.
He said that since the start of Russia’s attack on Thursday, the military has hit 821 Ukrainian military facilities, including 14 air bases and 19 command facilities, and destroyed 24 air defence missile systems, 48 radars, seven warplanes, seven helicopters, nine drones, 87 tanks and eight military vessels.
Maj Gen Konashenkov claimed the Russian military has taken full control of the southern city of Melitopol, about 35 kilometres inland from the Azov Sea coast, and said Russia-backed separatists have made significant gains in the eastern region of Donbas.
The mayor of the Ukrainian capital said a missile has hit an apartment building but no casualties were immediately reported.
Vitali Klitschko said the missile slammed into a high-rise building on the south-western outskirts of Kyiv near Zhuliany airport. He said rescue workers were heading there.
He posted an image on a messaging app showing a gaping hole on one side of the building that ravaged apartment units and several stores.
The UN refugee agency said more than 120,000 Ukrainian refugees have left the country since Russia began its attack.
Speaking as Russian troops battled with Ukrainian forces in the capital Kyiv on Saturday, the UN deputy high commissioner for refugees, Kelly Clements, said in an interview on CNN that the situation was expected to get worse.
“We now see over 120,000 people that have gone to all of the neighbouring countries,” she said.
“The reception that they are receiving from local communities, from local authorities, is tremendous. But it’s a dynamic situation. We are really quite devastated, obviously, with what’s to come.”
Most are heading to Poland and Moldova, but some are also arriving in Romania, Slovakia and Hungary.
The mayor of a city south of the Ukrainian capital says the country’s military has fended off a Russian attempt to take control of a military air base.
Natalia Balansynovych, mayor of Vasylkiv, about 25 miles south of Kyiv, said Russian airborne forces landed near the city overnight and tried to seize the base. She added that fierce fighting also raged in Vasylkiv’s central street.
She said Ukrainian forces repelled the Russian attacks, and the situation is now calm. Ms Balansynovych said there were heavy casualties, but did not give any numbers.
For their part, US defence officials believe the Russian offensive has encountered considerable resistance and is proceeding slower than Moscow had envisioned, though that could change quickly.
The Kremlin accepted Kyiv’s offer to hold talks, but it appeared to be an effort to squeeze concessions out of Ukraine’s embattled leader instead of a gesture toward a diplomatic solution.
As fighting persisted, Ukraine’s military reported shooting down an II-76 Russian transport plane carrying paratroopers near Vasylkiv, a city 25 miles south of Kyiv, an account confirmed by a senior American intelligence official. It was unclear how many were on board, with transport planes able to carry up to 125 paratroopers.
A second Russian military transport plane was shot down near Bila Tserkva, 50 miles south of Kyiv, according to two American officials with direct knowledge of conditions on the ground in Ukraine who spoke to the Associated Press.
The Russian military has not commented on either plane.
It remains unclear how many people overall have died so far. Ukrainian officials reported at least 137 deaths on their side from the first full day of fighting and claimed hundreds on the Russian one. Russian authorities released no casualty figures.
UN officials reported 25 civilian deaths, mostly from shelling and airstrikes, and said that 100,000 people were believed to have left their homes. They estimate that up to four million could flee if the fighting escalates.
Mr Zelensky tweeted that he and US President Joe Biden spoke by phone and discussed “strengthening sanctions, concrete defence assistance and an antiwar coalition.”
Mr Biden subsequently signed a memo clearing the way for the US to expedite up to 600 million dollars (£448 million) in emergency military assistance to the Ukrainian government, though it was not immediately clear how quickly the aid would flow.
I just talked with a real friend of Ukraine - President of Poland @AndrzejDuda. I am personally grateful to him, to the Polish people, for their effective concrete help in such a difficult time. Together 🇺🇦 🇵🇱 stronger. Thank you
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 26, 2022
Mr Zelensky’s whereabouts were kept secret after he told European leaders in a call Thursday that he was Russia’s No 1 target — and that they might not see him again alive.
His office later released a video of him standing with senior aides outside the presidential office and saying that he and other government officials would stay in the capital.
He later appealed for cease-fire and warned in a bleak statement that multiple cities were under attack, but also posted a video just before 8am (6am London) to show he was still alive.
Russia has vetoed a UN Security Council resolution telling Moscow to stop attacking Ukraine and withdraw all troops immediately.
The veto was expected, but the United States and its supporters argued that the effort would highlight Moscow’s international isolation.
The 11-1 vote — with China, India and the United Arab Emirates abstaining — showed significant but not total opposition to Russia’s invasion of its smaller, militarily weaker neighbour.
The resolution’s failure paves the way for backers to call for a swift vote on a similar measure in the 193-member UN General Assembly, where there are no vetoes.
There was no immediate timetable for a potential Assembly vote.
Spearheaded by the US and Albania, the Security Council resolution would have deplored Russia’s “aggression” against Ukraine.
It called for Moscow immediately to pull out its military and stop using force against Ukraine, and to reverse a decision to recognise two separatist areas in eastern Ukraine as independent.
Unlike Security Council resolutions, General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, but they can function as statements of world opinion.
In an Assembly meeting on Wednesday as Moscow’s invasion loomed, dozens of countries condemned Russia or expressed solidarity with Ukraine.
Russia and ally Syria defended Moscow’s moves.
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