Russia-Ukraine updates: 11 killed in missile attacks, says Kyiv

Former US President Donald Trump has slammed the decision to send top-of-the-line tanks to Ukraine, calling the effort to repel the Russian invasion a “crazy war”.

In his latest criticism of aid to Ukraine, Trump said that sending the Abrams M1 tanks amounts to an escalation that could lead to nuclear war.

“FIRST COME THE TANKS, THEN COME THE NUKES,” Trump wrote on his social media site. “Get this crazy war ended, NOW. So easy to do!”

As Russian forces push forward in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv and European governments should prepare for a possible wave of people fleeing the fighting, the chief of the United Nations refugee agency has told the AFP news agency.

Moreover, he said that despite repeated offers of assistance, Moscow was still only granting the agency limited access to Ukrainians in Russia.

“I cannot make military predictions, this is not my expertise,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said in Kyiv.

“But one thing I can say is, of course, any exacerbation of war risks causing further displacement, one way or another, and we need to be ready for that.”

“As we have seen everywhere, in Mariupol, in Kherson, every time fighting increases, people naturally will try to seek safety,” he said, referring to two of the fiercest battles of Russia’s nearly year-long invasion of Ukraine.

The United States has imposed sanctions on a Chinese company for allegedly providing satellite imagery in Ukraine to help Russia’s Wagner mercenary group.

The US Treasury Department and State Department announced a slew of actions as they formally designated the Wagner Group as a transnational criminal organisation, a move previewed last week by the White House.

The new sanctions “will further impede the Kremlin’s ability to arm its war machine that is engaged in a war of aggression against Ukraine, and which has caused unconscionable death and destruction,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

Among the firms targeted was Changsha Tianyi Space Science and Technology Research Institute Co, a Chinese firm that the Treasury Department said has provided satellite imagery over Ukraine to the Wagner Group.

“These images were gathered in order to enable Wagner combat operations in Ukraine,” said a statement by the Treasury Department, which also announced sanctions on a Luxembourg-based subsidiary of the Chinese company.

Ukraine has threatened to boycott the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France if Russian and Belarusian athletes are allowed to take part, a prospect described as “unacceptable” by the country’s sports minister.

“Such a situation is unacceptable for our country,” Ukrainian Sports Minister Vadym Gutzeit said.

Hungary’s foreign minister has asked the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council to begin negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine.

“We urge the international community to replace the war rhetoric by peace rhetoric, ” Peter Szijjarto said. “I humbly ask the representatives  the so-called superpowers, to sit around the negotiating table and negotiate about how peace could be created in our neighborhood.”

Szijjarto stressed the economic impact the war is having on his country, including an influx of migrants and elevated energy costs since the way began.

France and Italy are close to finalising the technical details to supply an SAMP/T air defence system to Ukraine, two diplomatic sources said on according to the Reuters news agency.

Kyiv has asked its Western allies for more air defence systems and specifically requested the SAMP/T, known as Mamba, in November.

France’s defence minister, Sebastien Lecornu, will travel to Italy on Friday to meet his Italian counterpart, Guido Crosetto, with both sides wanting to push ahead with the SAMP/T talks.

“We are finalising it with the Italians. It’s not very far off,” said a French diplomatic source.

The International Olympic Committee’s efforts to find a “pathway” for Russians to take part in the 2024 Paris Games despite the invasion of Ukraine were strongly criticised by the United Kingdom on Thursday.

The UK’s Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan said the IOC’s move was a “world away from the reality of war”.

“We condemn any action that allows President Putin to legitimise his illegal war in Ukraine,” Donelan said.

Ignoring calls from Ukraine to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from next year’s Olympics, the IOC said on Wednesday that a way to allow competitors from those countries to take part should be “further explored”.

Russia and their allies Belarus have been sidelined from most Olympic sports since the invasion of Ukraine last February. However, the IOC said “no athlete should be prevented from competing just because of their passport”.

The Challenger 2 tanks the United Kingdom is supplying to Ukraine are expected to arrive in the country at the end of March, a defence minister has said.

Alex Chalk said in a statement to Parliament that the UK will begin training Ukrainian soldiers in how to use and fix the contingent of tanks at the start of next week ahead of the anticipated delivery.

The United States has formally designated the Wagner Group as a “transnational criminal organisation”.

The shadowy paramilitary group is closely aligned with the Kremlin and has been heavily involved in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The US Department of the Treasury said it had taken the move as part of action targeting dozens of people and entities in an effort to degrade Russia’s ability to wage the war.

The declaration freezes any US assets that the Wagner Group may have and prohibits US nationals from providing funds, goods, or services to the group.

Washington also designated other entities it accused of supporting the Wagner Group’s military operations, including Russia-based Joint Stock Company Terra Tech and China-based Changsha Tianyi Space Science and Technology Research Institute Co LTD, and targeted entities and individuals linked to Russia’s defence industry.

“Today’s expanded sanctions on Wagner, as well as new sanctions on their associates and other companies enabling the Russian military complex, will further impede Putin’s ability to arm and equip his war machine,” Treasury secretary Janet Yellen said

At least 11 people have been killed by Russia’s latest wave of missile attacks, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SESU) says.

The raids, which targeted several different areas including the capital Kyiv and the southern region of Odesa, wounded 11 others, SESU said in a Telegram post.

It added more than 100 personnel were taking part in search and rescue operations in the aftermath of the shelling.

Al Jazeera could not independently verify the death toll.

Russian authorities have designated independent news outlet Meduza as an “undesirable organisation”, effectively outlawing the site from operating in the country and banning Russian citizens from cooperating with the organisation or its journalists.

The designation is the latest in a years-long campaign by the Kremlin to curb independent media outlets and stop their reporting from reaching ordinary Russians in a crackdown that has escalated since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine last February.

In a statement announcing the decision, Russia’s General Prosecutor said the Latvia-based news outlet “poses a threat to the foundations of the constitutional system and the security of the Russian Federation”.

There was no immediate response from Meduza, which is one of Russia’s most widely read independent news sites.

Ukraine is undergoing its biggest political shake-up since the beginning of the war as part of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s anti-corruption drive.

Meanwhile, Kyiv’s allies in the West have pledged to deliver highly sought-after battle tanks to help it battle Russia’s invasion.

Some have speculated the two events may be linked. Read more here.

The United States and Germany have pledged to send state-of-the-art battle tanks to Ukraine, paving the way for several of its European allies to follow suit.

The moves, announced by President Joe Biden and Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday, will see Washington deploy 31 Abrams tanks while Berlin will supply Kyiv with 14 German-made Leopard 2 units at first.

Read more here.

Turkey’s foreign minister has ruled out resuming talks with Sweden and Finland over their NATO bids, saying such a move would be “meaningless”.

Speaking at a news conference, Mevlut Cavusoglu also said there was no offer to evaluate Sweden’s and Finland’s NATO membership separately after Ankara pulled out of trilateral talks scheduled for next month following recent protests in Stockholm.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has said his country wants to restore NATO dialogue with Turkey.

Ukrainian air defences shot down 47 of the 55 missiles Russian forces fired at Ukraine in Moscow’s latest wave of attacks, the country’s top general has said.

Moscow used the Kh-47 Kinzhal hypersonic missile, among other models, in the attacks, General Valery Zaluzhny said in a post on Telegram. Twenty of the incoming missiles were shot down around the capital, Kyiv, he added.

“The goal of the Russians remains unchanged: psychological pressure on Ukrainians and the destruction of critical infrastructure,” Zaluzhny said. “But we cannot be broken!”

Here are three maps that we update daily to chart the latest war developments:

France’s foreign minister has arrived in the Ukrainian city of Odesa on a visit intended to underscore her country’s backing of Kyiv.

Catherine Colonna said in a post on Twitter that she was travelling to “show France’s support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, now as before”.

Although delayed by a new wave of Russian strikes overnight and on Thursday morning, Colonna was still set to meet her Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, in the Black Sea port city, AFP reported.

The US ambassador to Ukraine has denounced Russia’s latest wave of missile attacks on Ukraine as “cruel” and a “strategic failure”.

“Waves of Russian drones and missiles can’t stop Ukraine’s heroic defenders, its brave people or our determined, unified support,” Bridget Brink said on Twitter.

Germany’s defence minister says Berlin intends to deliver the Leopard 2 tanks it has pledged to Ukraine by early April at the latest.

“The aim with the Leopards is to have the first company in Ukraine by the end of March, beginning of April,” Boris Pistorius said.

He added that training of Ukrainian troops on German Marder infantry fighting vehicles will start in the next few days, with training on the heavier Leopard 2 tanks due to start “a little later”.

The Kremlin says promises from Ukraine’s Western allies to deliver tanks to Kyiv are evidence of their direct and growing involvement in the war.

“There are constant statements from European capitals and Washington that the sending of various weapons systems to Ukraine, including tanks, in no way signifies the involvement of these countries or the alliance in hostilities in Ukraine,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

“We categorically disagree with this, and in Moscow, everything that the alliance and the capitals I mentioned are doing is seen as direct involvement in the conflict. We see that this is growing,” he added.