Russian invasion of Ukraine: Top 10 developments today

An Indian student lost his life in Russian shelling on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, on Tuesday. As Russians stepped up the onslaught, more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in an attack on a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, even as a 40-mile convoy of tanks and other vehicles threatened Kyiv.

Russians on Tuesday threatened ‘high-precision strikes’ on Kyiv, while Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered an emotional speech addressing the European Parliament, urging European leaders to “prove that you are with us”. He added that the “light will win over darkness”.

Here are top developments in the Russia-Ukraine conflict:

🔴 An Indian student lost his life in the shelling on Kharkiv on Tuesday morning, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi stated. “With profound sorrow we confirm that an Indian student lost his life in shelling in Kharkiv this morning. The Ministry is in touch with his family. We convey our deepest condolences to the family,” he tweeted.

🔴 The Indian student was identified as Naveen Shekharappa Gyanagoudar, 20, from Karnataka. He was a fourth-year medical student at the Kharkiv National Medical University. “Naveen was shot dead around 10.30 am Ukrainian time today. He was standing in the queue before a grocery shop when the Russian army fired at people. We have no information about his body. None of us was able to visit the hospital, probably where it is kept now,” said Sridharan Gopalakrishnan, who was Naveen’s hostel mate.

🔴 More than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed by a Russian rocket attack and dozens of civilians have died in “barbaric” shelling, Ukrainian authorities said Tuesday, as a huge Russian military convoy approached the capital Kyiv. Kharkiv region head Oleg Synegubov said Tuesday that Russian missile attacks hit the centre of Ukraine’s second-largest city, including residential areas and the regional administration building.

🔴 Addressing the European Parliament via a video call, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday delivered an emotional speech, urging European leaders to “prove that you are with us” and added that “light will win over darkness”. “We are just fighting for our land and for our freedom. And believe me, despite the fact that all the big cities of our country are now blocked, no one will enter our freedom and state. Do prove that you are with us. Do prove that you will not let us go. Do prove that you are indeed Europeans. And then, life will win over death and light will win over darkness,” he said.

🔴 The mayor of Ukraine’s Mariupol said on Tuesday morning the southern port city was under constant shelling that had killed civilians and damaged infrastructure. The city lost power after constant attacks, reported AFP.

Story continues below this ad

🔴 A 40-mile convoy of Russian tanks and other vehicles threatened Ukraine’s capital on Tuesday. Later in the day, Russian defence ministry warned Kyiv residents to leave. In a statement issued on Tuesday, the defence ministry said that Russia was preparing to launch “high-precision strikes” against the “Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the 72nd Center for Information and Psychological Operations (PSO)” in Kyiv. “We urge Ukrainian citizens involved by Ukrainian nationalists in provocations against Russia, as well as Kyiv residents living near relay stations, to leave their homes,” the statement said.

🔴 The Indian embassy in Kyiv, in an advisory issued Tuesday, asked Indians asked to leave Kyiv urgently through ‘any means available’. The advisory came at a time when Moscow strengthened its attack on Ukraine and closed in Kyiv, even as talks aimed at stopping the fighting yielded only an agreement to keep talking.

🔴 Prime Minister Narendra Modi called a high-level meeting this evening on the Ukraine crisis, his fourth since Sunday, PTI reported citing official sources. Modi has asserted that his government’s top priority is to ensure safety and evacuation of Indian students.

🔴 NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg called on Russia to end the war in Ukraine and withdraw all its forces, The Guardian reported. “The Russian assault is totally unacceptable and it is enabled by Belarus,” Stoltenberg said on Tuesday after meeting Polish president Andrzej Duda. “Nato is a defensive alliance, we do not seek conflict with Russia. Russia must immediately stop the war, pull all its forces from Ukraine and engage in good faith in diplomatic efforts,” he added.

Story continues below this ad

🔴 EU has disconnected key Russian banks from SWIFT. The union will also ban the transaction of Russia’s Central Bank to “turn off the tap on Russia’s and Putin’s war,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Meanwhile, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said he will open an investigation soon into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.

From the homepage