VIENNA, Austria — The International Atomic Energy Agency has said Russian forces are tightening their grip on the Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant, Ukraine’s largest, that they seized last week.
The director general of the agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi, said Sunday Ukrainian staff members are now required to seek approval for any operation, even maintenance, from the Russians, and that they have impeded normal communications by switching off some mobile networks and internet at the site.
Ukraine’s regulatory authority said that phone lines, as well as e-mails and fax, are no longer working. Grossi said he is “extremely concerned about these developments,” adding that for the plant to operate safely, “staff must be allowed to carry out their vital duties in stable conditions, without undue external interference or pressure.”
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NEW YORK — The Russian military has warned Ukraine's neighboring countries from hosting its warplanes, saying Moscow may consider them a part of the conflict if Ukrainian aircraft fly combat missions from their territory.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov charged Sunday that some Ukrainian combat planes had redeployed to Romania and other Ukraine neighbors he didn’t identify.
Konashenkov warned that if those warplanes attack the Russian forces from the territory of those nations, it “could be considered as those countries’ engagement in the military conflict.”
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PARIS — The French presidency said the call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday focused primarily on the safety of Ukraine’s nuclear plants.
The call was on request from Macron and lasted almost two hours, the Elysee said.
A French official said Macron insisted on the need to ensure the International Atomic Energy Agency’s safety standards are respected at Chernobyl and in other nuclear plants. He told Putin these facilities must not be targeted by a Russian offensive or caught in the fighting.
Putin said he does not intend to attack nuclear plants and agreed on the principle of a “dialogue” between IAEA, Ukraine and Russia on this issue, according to the official, who spoke anonymously in line with the French presidency’s practices. Potential talks are to be organized in the coming days, he said.
Macron reiterated his call for Russia to stop its military operations and insisted on the need to protect the civilians and allow access to humanitarian aid.
“The (humanitarian) situation is difficult” including in Mariupol on Sunday, the official stressed. “Our demands remain the same: we want Russia to respond to these demands... very quickly and clearly.”
— By Sylvie Corbet
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PARIS — European Union leader Charles Michel said Sunday closing Ukraine’s airspace could spark a world war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly called on NATO countries to stop the Russian onslaught on his country by imposing a no-fly zone. Western leaders have refused for fear of triggering a wider war in Europe. Deploying fighter jets over Ukraine could “in current circumstances” be considered as “NATO’s entry into the war and therefore risk World War III,” Michel said in an interview with the public broadcaster France Inter.
Michel denied that economic sanctions against Russia constitute “a war of the EU or NATO against Russia.” Russian President Vladimir Putin has linked the West’s economic punishment for his invasion of Ukraine to “declaring war” on Moscow.
Michel said European and American allies imposed sanctions “to create pressure and hurt the (Russian) regime”, not the people.
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JERUSALEM — A group of 100 Ukrainian Jewish orphans who were evacuated from the country after Russia invaded have landed in Israel.
The children arrived Sunday a few hours before two flights carrying around 300 other Ukrainian Jewish immigrants landed.
The children were evacuated from the central Ukrainian city of Zhytomyr and brought to Israel by the KKL-JNF organization.
The Jewish Agency for Israel, a quasigovernmental organization that manages immigration affairs, said that it had received 5,500 urgent requests by Ukrainian Jews to move to Israel since Russia attacked on Feb. 24.
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WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the United States and its allies are having a “very active discussion” about banning the import of Russian oil and natural gas in the latest escalation of their sanctions in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine.
Asked about oil and gas imports, Blinken told CNN on Sunday that President Joe Biden convened a meeting of his National Security Council on the subject the day before. Biden and Western allies have until now held off on sanctions against Russia’s lucrative energy industry to avoid blowback on their own economies.
“We are now talking to our European partners and allies to look in a coordinated way at the prospect of banning the import of Russian oil while making sure that there is still an appropriate supply of oil on world market,” said Blinken. “That’s a very active discussion as we speak.”
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BERLIN -- The U.N. human rights office says it has confirmed the deaths of 364 civilians in Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on Feb. 24.
The Geneva-based office said that another 759 civilians had been injured as of midnight Saturday.
The rights office uses strict methodology and only reports casualties it has confirmed.
It says it believes the real figures are considerably higher, “especially in government-controlled territory and especially in recent days.” That’s because the flow of information has been delayed amid the fighting and many reports still need to be corroborated.
Ukrainian officials have presented far higher numbers.
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NEW YORK — The Kremlin says President Vladimir Putin told his Turkish counterpart that Russia’s military action in Ukraine could be halted “only if Kyiv ceases hostilities and fulfills the well-known demands of Russia.”
Putin has listed “demilitarization” and “denazification” of Ukraine, recognition of Russian-annexed Crimea as part of Russia and separatist regions in eastern Ukraine as independent states as the Kremlin’s main demands.
According to the readout of Sunday's call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, “hope was expressed that during the planned next round of negotiations, the representatives of Ukraine would show a more constructive approach, fully taking into account the emerging realities.”
A third round of talks is scheduled for Monday.
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MEDYKA, Poland -- The head of the United Nations’ refugee agency says the international Red Cross and the U.N. are negotiating access to the cities in Ukraine most impacted by fighting since Russia invaded Feb. 24.
Filippo Grandi, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees, said Sunday that “those discussions continue” with hope for success, but didn't name specific cities. He said during a visit to Poland's border with Ukraine that “these corridors are mainly to bring humanitarian goods basic goods to people that are really in desperate need and also to extract maybe the most vulnerable people.”
Grandi stressed that wide international assistance is needed for Poland and other countries receiving refugees from Ukraine. He said that “predictions are difficult, hundreds of thousands are on the move inside Ukraine, and it is very likely that we will see a large influx continuing in the next few days.” Earlier Sunday, he said that more than 1.5 million people have already fled Ukraine for neighboring countries.
Grandi said that “what is needed really is a ceasefire, is the end to hostilities because that’s the only way to stop this tragedy.”
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LVIV, Ukraine — A Ukrainian official says a second attempt to evacuate civilians from a southern city under siege for a week has failed due to continued Russian shelling.
Ukrainian military authorities said earlier Sunday that evacuations from the port city of Mariupol were scheduled to begin at noon local time (10 a.m. GMT) during a 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. local ceasefire.
Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko said the planned evacuations along designated humanitarian corridors were halted because of an ongoing assault.
He said on Telegram that “there can be no ‘green corridors’ because only the sick brain of the Russians decides when to start shooting and at whom."
A similar cease-fire planned for Mariupol and the nearby city of Volnovakha collapsed Saturday, trapping residents under more shelling and aerial bombardment by Russian forces.
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ISTANBUL — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's office says he has called for an urgent cease-fire in Ukraine in a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In a statement following Sunday's one-hour call, the Turkish presidency said Erdogan had urged a halt to fighting to “address humanitarian concerns” and “seek a political solution” to the conflict. The war is now in its 11th day.
Erdogan called for the opening of humanitarian corridors and a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine.
Turkey has extensive ties with both Russia and Ukraine and has sought to place itself as a mediator. It has invited both to a diplomatic forum in Antalya next week.
Erdogan's office said he told Putin that he was “ready to make every contribution" to resolving the crisis.
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WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s border guard agency says that over 922,000 refugees have crossed the border from Ukraine since Feb. 24, when Russia launched its invasion.
The agency said on Twitter that a record one-day number of over 129,000 crossed into Poland on Saturday, and almost 40,000 between midnight and 7 a.m. on Sunday.
A nation of some 38 million people, Poland is receiving the largest number of refugees among Ukraine’s neighbors. Some who entered Poland have continued to other countries.
The head of the United Nations’ refugee agency said Sunday that more than 1.5 million refugees have crossed from Ukraine into neighboring countries since Russia invaded.
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SIRET, Romania — Romania’s border police say more than 227,000 Ukrainian citizens have entered Romania in total since the crisis began and more than 155,000 of them have already left the country.
During a visit on Saturday to Romania’s northern border at Siret, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said that “no Ukrainian will be denied entry into Romania.”
He said Romanian authorities believe that the situation “will continue for a long time, and the complications will worsen.” The president added: “We believe that this humanitarian catastrophe will spread, that a lot of help will be needed here, but also in Ukraine.”
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VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis says he has dispatched two cardinals to Ukraine, a highly unusual move.
The pontiff said Sunday that “the Holy See is willing to do everything to put itself in service for peace.” The papal almsgiver, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, has been dispatched with aid, along with Cardinal Michael Czerny, who is head of the papal office that deals with migration, charity, justice and peace.
Francis did not say where exactly the cardinals had gone, but said they represented him and all Christian people with the message that “war is madness.’’
Referring to Ukraine as “that martyred country,” Francis called for a cessation of violence, the establishment of humanitarian corridors and a return to negotiations.
“In Ukraine, rivers of blood and tears are flowing. This is not just a military operation, but a war that sows death, destruction and misery,’’ he said in his traditional Sunday blessing.
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HELSINKI -- The top U.S. military officer says Ukrainian soldiers and civilians alike have put up an “extraordinarily courageous” fight since the Russian invasion.
Gen. Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke Sunday during a visit to an air base in Amari, Estonia. He is visiting the three Baltic nations to pledge U.S. and NATO support to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, former Soviet republics that border Russia.
Milley said that “the will of the Ukrainian people, the importance of their national leadership and the fighting skills of the Ukrainian army has come through loud and clear.”
He said Ukrainians have put up “an extraordinarily courageous and brave fight” and “they’ve been doing very, very well. But it’s a little bit early to draw any definitive lessons.”
Milley said the U.S. currently has no indications that Moscow is planning to attack on the Baltic countries and “we want to make sure it stays that way.”
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LVIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelenskyy is pushing his call for foreign countries to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
Establishing a no-fly zone would risk escalating the conflict by involving foreign militaries directly. Although the United States and many Western countries have backed Ukraine with weapons shipments, they have sent no troops.
Zelenskyy said in a video address on Sunday that “the world is strong enough to close our skies."
NATO countries have ruled out policing a no-fly zone, which would bar all unauthorized aircraft from flying over Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that Moscow would consider any third-party declaration of a no-fly zone over Ukraine as “participation in the armed conflict.”
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TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel’s prime minister says his country will continue to assist in finding a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis, even if the chances for success are few.
Naftali Bennett spoke Sunday to a meeting of his Cabinet, hours after he returned from a surprise meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, where the two discussed the war with Ukraine. He then traveled to Germany where he met Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Bennett revealed no details from his talks with Putin, but called the country’s mediation efforts “our moral duty.” Earlier, his office said he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke by phone Sunday morning, the third such call between the two leaders over the past day.
Bennett also told his Cabinet Israel was readying for a wave of Jewish immigration from Ukraine. Israel is also preparing to allow entry to a small number of non-Jewish Ukrainians fleeing the conflict.
Israel is one of the few countries that has good working relations with both Russia and Ukraine.
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LVIV, Ukraine — An official in one of Ukraine's pro-Russia separatist region says Russian forces will observe a temporary cease-fire Sunday in two Ukrainian cities. An agreement to allow civilians to evacuate collapsed a day earlier amid continued shelling and the flight of refugees to neighboring nations.
Eduard Basurin, a spokesman for the military in separatist-held Donetsk, said safe passage corridors for residents of the besieged port city of Mariupol and the city of Volnovakha would reopen Sunday. He did not say for how long nor whether a cease-fire would accompany the evacuation.
Ukrainian officials confirmed that evacuations from Mariupol would take place starting from 12 p.m. local time. Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk regional military administration, said a ceasefire would be in effect between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m.
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BERLIN -- The head of the United Nations’ refugee agency says that more than 1.5 million refugees have crossed from Ukraine into neighboring countries since Russia invaded.
Filippo Grandi, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees, tweeted on Sunday that it is “the fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.”
His agency didn't immediately give a more precise update on the refugee figures. Grandi is visiting countries that border Ukraine.
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PRAGUE — Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty says it has suspended its operations in Russia after Moscow intensified a crackdown on what it deems to be “fake” reports and tax authorities initiated bankruptcy proceedings against it.
The U.S.-funded, Prague-based broadcaster's president and chief executive, Jamie Fly, said "this is not a decision that RFE/RL has taken of its own accord, but one that has been forced upon us by the Putin regime’s assault on the truth.”
The broadcaster, which has had a physical presence in Russia since 1991, plans to continue reporting on Russia and the war in Ukraine from abroad.
The announcement came after Russia on Friday passed a law foreseeing prison sentences of up to 15 years for spreading what is deemed to be fake information about its armed forces.
In addition, RFE/RL said that Russian authorities initiated bankruptcy proceedings on Friday. It said it is seeing "the culmination of a years-long pressure campaign against RFE/RL.”
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CHISINAU, Moldova - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Moldova pledging America’s support to the small Western-leaning former Soviet republic that is coping with an influx of refugees from Ukraine and warily watching Russia’s intensifying war with its neighbor.
Blinken was meeting on Sunday with senior Moldovan officials who are appealing for international assistance in dealing with more than 120,000 refugees from Ukraine that it is now hosting while also seeking security reassurances against potential Russian aggression. More than 230,000 people have fled into Moldova from Ukraine since the war began 11 days ago.
Blinken said Moldova’s welcoming of refugees is an inspiration to the world.
“We admire the generosity of hospitality, the willingness to be such good friends to people who are in distress, and, indeed, I want to do everything we can to help you deal with the burden that this has imposed,” he said.
Russia already has troops in the country of 2.6 million that are stationed in the disputed territory of Transnistria and are being closely watched as Russian President Vladimir Putin presses ahead with the invasion of Ukraine. Although it has no plans to try to become a member of NATO, Moldova formally applied to join the European Union just three days ago in a fast-track bid to bolster its ties with the West.
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KYIV, Ukraine — A Ukrainian paramedic who was shot while on her way to evacuate injured people from the outskirts of Kyiv was buried in the country’s capital on Saturday.
Valentyna Pushych was known locally as “Romashka,” which means “Daisy.” A friend described her as a “daredevil,” who was never afraid to “get under bullets.’
She was always “running to the most dangerous places” to rescue to the injured, Nataliia Voronkova said.
Pushych used to be a well-paid worker at a transport and logistic company. But in 2016, she joined the army as a paramedic in response to the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Several women, including some dressed in camouflage jackets, cried as her body lay in a casket at a service. A portrait of Pushych was on a wall nearby.
At the cemetery, red roses were placed on Pushych’s body. After she was buried, the dirt was covered with the flag of Ukraine.
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KYIV, Ukraine — Crowds of men have been lining up in Kyiv to join the Ukrainian army.
An order from Ukraine’s government prohibited men between the ages of 18 and 60 from leaving the country to keep them available for military conscription.
But some like Volodymyr Onysko volunteered to fight.
“We know why we are here. We know why we defend our country. And our guys that are actually standing there and fighting Russian military forces,” he told Britain’s Sky News. “We know what we are doing and that’s why we will win.”
Others, like British Army veteran Mark Ayres, travelled to Ukraine to help.
Ayres said the Ukrainian people have been inspiring and “it’s galvanized everybody.”
“I’ve got no illusions. I’ve got no romantic ideas of war or like ‘I’m going to be some hero’ or make a difference … but it is what I do,” Ayres said.
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BEIJING — Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken that China opposes any moves that “add fuel to the flames” in Ukraine.
Blinken says the world is watching to see which nations stand up for the principles of freedom and sovereignty.
The two spoke by phone on Saturday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.
Wang called for negotiations to resolve the immediate crisis, as well as talks on creating a balanced European security mechanism. Wang says the U.S. and Europe should pay attention to the negative impact of NATO’s eastward expansion on Russia’s security.
The U.S. State Department says Blinken underscored that the world is acting in unison in response to Russian aggression and ensuring that Moscow will pay a high price.
China has broken with the U.S., Europe and others that have imposed sanctions on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. China says that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations should be respected, but that sanctions create new issues and disrupt the process of political settlement.
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WASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden has called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss ongoing efforts to impose economic costs on Russia and to speed U.S. military, humanitarian and economic assistance to Ukraine.
The White House said the pair also discussed talks between Russia and Ukraine during the more than 30-minute call early Sunday in Ukraine, but offered no additional details.
Zelenskyy said on Twitter the two presidents discussed security, financial support for Ukraine and the continuation of sanctions against Russia.
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LVIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk for giving Ukraine access to his company’s satellite-internet system, called Starlink.
“I’m grateful to him for supporting Ukraine with words and deeds” Zelenskyy said in a tweet. “Next week we will receive another batch of Starlink systems for destroyed cities.” He joked that they discussed possible space projects, which he would talk about “after the war.”
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko on Saturday showed off a shipment of the Starlink systems that had arrived in the capital city. He said Starlink would help secure the work of critical infrastructure and the defense of the city.
Several large Ukrainian cities remained without internet or phone connection after being shelled by Russian troops.
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CHERNIHIV, Ukraine — Russia has dropped powerful bombs on residential areas of the city of Chernihiv, a regional official said Saturday.
Vyacheslav Chaus posted a photo of what he said was an undetonated FAB-500, a Soviet-designed 500-kilogram (1,100-pound) air-dropped bomb.
“Usually this weapon is used against military-industrial facilities and fortified structures,” said Chaus, head of the same-named region of Chernihiv. “But in Chernihiv, against residential areas.”
The city of Chernihiv, located north of Kyiv and with a population of 290,000, has come under heavy fire from Russian forces. Officials said 17 people in the region were killed in the shelling.
A video released Saturday by the Ukrainian government showed people cheering as they watched a Russian military plane fall from the sky and crash.
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NEW YORK — Mastercard and Visa are suspending their operations in Russia, the companies said Saturday,
Mastercard said cards issued by Russian banks will no longer be supported by its network and any card issued outside the country will not work at Russian stores or ATMs in the latest blow to the country’s financial system after its invasion of Ukraine.
Mastercard said it made its decision after discussions with customers, partners and governments.
Visa said it’s working with clients and partners in Russia to cease all Visa transactions over the coming days.
The suspensions are a follow-up to more limited moves earlier in the week to block financial institutions from the networks that serve as arteries for the payments system. Russian people have already been hit hard by heavy sanctions and financial penalties imposed by the U.S. government and others.
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LVIV, Ukraine — Russian forces have intensified shelling in the port city of Mariupol, including with the use of airplanes, the mayor said Saturday night.
“The city is in a very, very difficult state of siege,” Vadym Boychenko told Ukrainian TV. “Relentless shelling of residential blocks is ongoing, airplanes have been dropping bombs on residential areas."
Boychenko said that thousands of children, women and the elderly came under fire as they arrived in the morning for a possible evacuation through a safe passage corridor. Russia promised to stop the shelling of Mariupol, a port city of 430,000, and Volnovakha, a city in the east, but violated the cease-fire.
Russia has made significant advances in the south, clearly seeking to cut off Ukraine’s access to the sea. Capturing Mariupol, which has been fending off the attack for six days, could allow Russia to build a land corridor to Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.
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KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Saturday echoed the president's assertion that Russia has lost more than 10,000 troops.
Kuleba also said in a video message released by the Ukrainian government that the Russians had lost dozens of aircraft and hundreds of armored vehicles.
The claim could not be independently verified. The Russian military doesn’t offer regular updates on their casualties. On Wednesday, military officials revealed a death toll of 498.
“Russians keep bearing devastating losses on the ground, and I cannot understand how mothers, wives and daughters of these Russian soldiers bear this pain, seeing how President Putin sends more and more of their beloved ones to Ukraine,” Kuleba said.
Kuleba added, “Ukraine is bleeding but Ukraine has not fallen and stands (with) both feet on the ground.”
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NEW YORK — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the United Nations is committed to scaling up its humanitarian operations to help both those who have stayed in Ukraine and the more than 1 million who have fled.
Guterres relayed the promise to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in a phone call on Saturday, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Dujarric said the two also discussed the conditions for safely evacuating civilians, including foreigners, from combat zones.
Ten days into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, 1.45 million people have fled the battered country, according to the U.N.-affiliated Organization for Migration in Geneva. The U.N. has predicted that the total number of refugees could swell to 4 million, to become the biggest such crisis this century.
The U.N. Security Council will hold a meeting Monday afternoon on the escalating humanitarian needs that have arisen since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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NEW YORK — Hundreds of people rallied in New York City’s Times Square on Saturday to show solidarity with Ukraine.
Many attendees were waving Ukrainian flags or draped the flag around their shoulders at the afternoon demonstration.
Others brought signs decrying Russian President Vladimir Putin or calling for a no-fly zone to be imposed over Ukraine.
About 140,000 people of Ukrainian descent live in New York, making it the largest Ukrainian population in the U.S., according to population data from the federal government.
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PHOENIX — An Arizona-based ammunition company is offering to donate 1 million bullets to Ukraine’s military amid Russia’s invasion of its European neighbor.
CEO Fred Wagenhals of AMMO Inc. on Friday said it was his response to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s appeal for international assistance.
There was no immediate indication whether the U.S. government will approve the proposed export of the ammunition, which has a retail of about $700,000, Phoenix television station KSAZ-TV reported.
The company is based in Scottsdale, a Phoenix suburb.
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MARIUPOL, Ukraine — Doctors relied on light filtering in through windows and emitted from cellphones to tend to wounded Ukrainian soldiers Saturday at a hospital in the besieged port city of Mariupol, where a promised cease-fire collapsed.
Dr. Evgeniy said the hospital had no power or heat. Patients were lined up in beds along the corridors, and some people were curled up on the floor to protect themselves.
“We have some issues with supplies, not enough analgesics,” Dubrov said. “We’ve worked more than a week without a break.”
A soldier, Svyatoslav Borodin, said a blast blurred his vision, and he thought he might have lost his legs. Another soldier applied a tourniquet.
“Scary,” he said. “Very scary.”
In the city of Irpin, near Kyiv, a sea of people on foot and in wheelbarrows trudged over the remains of a destroyed bridge to cross a river and evacuate.
Assisted by Ukrainian soldiers, they lugged pets, infants, purses and flimsy bags stuffed with minimal possessions. Some of the weak and elderly were carried along the path in blankets and carts.
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SIRET, Romania — Romanian President Klaus Iohannis visited a refugee camp in Siret on Saturday and declared that no Ukrainian would be denied entry to his country.
He pledged food, clothing, transportation and help with personal documents.
“It is a situation that no Ukrainian and no Romanian wanted, but we are very determined to deal with it here in Romania, as it should be,” Iohannis said.