What happened in Ukraine today, Tuesday, March 29?
The regional government headquarters of Mykolaiv, Ukraine, following a Russian attack today. Picture: AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris
Ukrainian and Russian officials held a four-hourlong meeting in Istanbul today as part of a fresh round of peace talks.
Speaking after the meeting - the first between the two sides for more than two weeks - Russian Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin told reporters that "the necessary conditions for further negotiations and achieving the ultimate goal of agreeing and signing (an) agreement, a decision was made to radically, by a large margin, reduce military activity in the Kyiv and Chernihiv directions."
He said the move was ordered in a bid "to increase mutual trust" between the opposing sides.
Mr Formin did not mention any of the Ukrainian cities which have seen the heaviest fighting recently, namely, Mariupol, Karkiv, Sumy, Kherson and Mykolaiv.
Later however, Moscow’s lead negotiator in the talks, Vladimir Medinsky, said his government's move did not necessarily mean the sides were close to reaching an agreement.
In an interview with the Russian state-owned Tass news agency, Mr Medinsky said there was still “a long way to go”.
"This is not a ceasefire but this is our aspiration, gradually to reach a de-escalation of the conflict at least on these fronts," he said.
The Ukrainian delegation has been seeking a ceasefire without compromising its sovereignty or its territorial integrity and stated that, under Kyiv's proposals, their country would not join alliances or agree to host the military bases of any foreign forces.
The proposals mentioned a 15-year consultation period on the status of Russian-annexed Crimea, and could come into force only in the event of a complete ceasefire, the negotiators said.
The fate of the southeastern Donbas region, which Russia demands Ukraine cede to separatists, would be discussed by the Ukrainian and Russian leaders, they added.
Any peace deal would likely require a referendum in Ukraine.
The Russian delegation said it would study and present the proposals to President Vladimir Putin.
Also present at the talks was billionaire oligarch, Roman Abramovich, who seemed to have recovered from a suspected poisoning during earlier negotiations this month.
As the talks concluded, both sides played down hopes of any significant breakthrough towards ending the conflict, which has thousands of lives and forced almost four million Ukrainians to flee their homeland.
- Britain is to step up military aid to Ukraine as UK prime minister Boris Johnson warned Vladimir Putin could still seek to “twist the knife” despite Russia’s faltering campaign.
- A superyacht belonging to a Russian oligarch was detained in London as part of sanctions against Russia, British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced this morning.
- Ukraine’s foreign minister has called on countries to ban the use of the letter “Z” as a symbol of the Russian war on his country.
Following the meeting between the two sides in Turkey, the Ukrainian delegation reiterated calls for a face-to-face meeting between Russian president Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
They suggested that such a meeting could take place once foreign minister's of both countries had prepared an initial agreement.
"If we manage to consolidate these key provisions, then Ukraine will be in a position to actually fix its current status as a non-bloc and non-nuclear state in the form of permanent neutrality," Ukrainian negotiator Oleksander Chaly said.
Meanwhile, fighting continued across Ukraine.
In Mariupol, where nearly 5,000 people have already been killed and where almost 90% of buildings have been destroyed or damaged, the city's mayor said a "complete evacuation" of the city may now be required.
Vadym Boychenko said that Russian forces still controlled some neighborhoods and were entering "deeper into the city".
However, in an interview with the local UNIAN news agency, he said most of the city remains "under the control of Ukrainian armed forces."
About 40 percent Mariupol's affected residential buildings are now completely uninhabitable as a result of the fighting, he said.
The International Committee of the Red Cross called (ICRC) on Ukraine and Russia to reach a clear agreement for the safe evacuation of civilians from the besieged southern Ukrainian city, as vital supplies rapidly run out.
"Today, civilians are taking the life-and-death decision to flee when there is no ceasefire or other agreements in place that would allow them to leave safely," the ICRC said in a statement.
In Mykolaiv, the city's main Government building was struck and damaged by a missile strike. Seven people were killed, and 20 were injured, including 18 that had to be pulled out from underneath rubble.
In western Ukraine, a fire continued to rage at an oil-storage facility in Lviv following multiple Russian airstrikes on Monday.
Local officials said four missiles hit the outskirts of Lviv, injuring at least five people. However, no deaths were reported.
Ireland has expelled four Russian diplomats from the country.
This afternoon, Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney summoned the Russian ambassador to advise him that the diplomats have to leave the State because their activities "have not been in accordance with international standards of diplomatic behaviour."
Responding to the move, the Russian embassy said the measure "would not go unanswered."
Incubators and baby warmers for premature babies are among the items in the latest shipment of donated medical aid from Ireland to Ukraine as maternity hospitals there struggle to care for women.
Those gathered at his funeral in Dublin this afternoon were told how slain Irish journalist Pierre Zakrzewski would be remembered as an “exceptional human being” who tried to make the world a better place by exposing bullies and tyrants.
Zakrzewski was working for US network Fox News in Horenka, on the outskirts of Kyiv, on March 14 when his vehicle was hit by Russian shelling.
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