The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeast Ukraine amid shelling by Russian forces, March 4, 2022

Thursday’s Coverage: Russia Takes Southern Ukraine City, Checked Elsewhere

UPDATE 2241 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has criticized NATO’s refusal to establish a no-fly zone (see 1418 GMT) over the country.

Knowing that new strikes and casualties are inevitable, NATO deliberately decided not to close the sky over Ukraine.

Today the leadership of the alliance gave the green light for further bombing of Ukrainian cities and villages, refusing to make a no-fly zone.

UPDATE 2230 GMT:

Continuing their crackdown on media outlets and platforms (see 0737 GMT), Russian officials have blocked Facebook and Twitter and restricted YouTube.

In the face of threatened fines and sentences of up to 15 years for reporting on the invasion, CNN and Bloomberg are the latest outlets to suspend coverage from inside Russia.

A team from UK’s Sky News was ambushed. One journalist was wounded, and another was hit with two rounds to his body armor.

UPDATE 2225 GMT:

Local Ukrainian officials say Russia is already breaking a purported agreement to provide “humanitarian corridors”.

The arrangement was supposedly confirmed in talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations on Thursday.

But the regional governor of southern Ukraine’s Khersan, occupied by Russian troops on Thursday, said the “occupiers” have not allowed 19 Ukrainian trucks to enter the city.

Gennady Laguta said that Russians declared “they will provide humanitarian aid themselves”.

Kherson Mayor Ihor Kolykhaev added, “Despite yesterday’s agreements at the highest level, in practice, all this is not yet working.”

UPDATE 2215 GMT:

Italian police have seized a yacht of Alexey Mordashov, once the richest man in Russia before he was blacklisted by the European Union.

The 215-foot Lady M was sequestered in Imperia in northern Italy. A yacht owned by billionaire Gennady Timchenko, who is linked to Vladimir Putin, is being blocked in the port and will be impounded shortly.

On Wednesday, German authorities impounded the $600 million luxury yacht owned by Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov. On Thursday, French customs seized the yacht of Igor Sechin, the head of the Russian oil giant Rosneft, as the ship tried to leave the Mediterranean port of La Ciotat.

UPDATE 1740 GMT:

Police confirmed that seven people, including two children, were killed by a Russian airstrike on the village of Markhalivka, about 6 miles from the southwestern outskirts of Kyiv, on Friday.

Ukrainian MP Rustem Umerov tweeted:

UPDATE 1725 GMT:

Regional officials say Russian forces have been repelled from city of Mykolayiv in southern Ukraine.

Governor Vitaliy Kim said fighting continues on the outskirts. He had said on video as the Russians entered Mykolayiv this morning, “Let’s not get nervous.”

Mykoayiv is on the Dnieper River, just to the north of the Black Sea. To the east, Mariupol on the Sea of Azov is still besieged and bombarded by the Russians.

Mayor Vadym Boychenko said Mariupol has no water, heat, or electricity and is running out of food after a five-day assault.

He called for a humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians, “We are simply being destroyed.”

UPDATE 1705 GMT:

Microsoft is the latest company to suspend sale of products and services in Russia.

The US bank JPMorgan is projecting a 35% contraction in the Russian economy in the second quarter of 2022.

UPDATE 1700 GMT:

European Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič said he wants Ukraine to become an European Union member “as soon as possible”.

Šefčovič said after a meeting with ministers, “It’s time for signalling that the Ukrainian people is one of the European peoples and we want them in as soon as possible.”

He added that what is “most important now is to help Ukraine in the fight”.

UPDATE 1418 GMT:

NATO has rejected a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said, after a meeting with Foreign Ministers of NATO members:

We understand the desperation but we also believe that if we did that we would end up with something that could lead to a fully-fledged war in Europe, involving much more countries….

We have a responsibility as Nato allies to prevent this war from escalating beyond Ukraine because that would be even more dangerous, more devastating and would cause even more human suffering.

Stoltenberg warned that days to come are “likely to be worse, with Russia bringing in more heavy weapons, in “the worst military aggression in Europe for decades”:

With cities under siege, schools, hospitals, and residential buildings shelled. Reckless actions around a nuclear power plant last night and many civilians killed or wounded.

The days to come are likely to be worse, with more death, more sufferings, and more destruction.

UPDATE 1415 GMT:

More than 1.2 Ukrainians have become refugees since the start of the Russian invasion, according to the UN.

At least 331 civilians, including 19 children, have been killed and 675 injured, the UN human rights office said, warning that the actual toll is likely much higher.

Most of the victims were killed by explosive weapons such as shelling from heavy artillery, multi-launch rocket systems, and missile and air strikes.

UPDATE 1140 GMT:

The Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council has voted to establish a commission of inquiry to investigate violations in Ukraine.

Only Eritrea voted with Russia against the resolution, while 13 countries abstained.

Ukraine’s Ambassador in Geneva, Yevheniia Filipenko, said, “It is our common duty to ensure accountability by mandating the documentation and verification of Russia’s crimes and identification of those responsible.”

Russia’s Evgeny Ustinov insisted that those voting for the resolution “will use any means to blame Russia for the events in Ukraine”.

UPDATE, 1025 GMT:

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko says his country’s troops are not involved in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and will not participate in the offensive in the future.

Lukashenko, propped up by Moscow amid protests against his rule, said he spoke to Vladimir Putin at length by telephone on Friday.

Russian forces are invading from Belarus, which lies to the north of Ukraine.

UPDATE, 0940 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Russians to protect the occupation of nuclear power complexes, including the Zaporizhzhia plant, by Moscow’s troops.

“Russian people, I want to appeal to you: how is this possible? After all we fought together in 1986 against the Chernobyl catastrophe,” he said in the televised address.

Russian officials are trying to escape blame over this morning’s shelling of Zaporizhzhia with the lie that the attack was by Ukrainian troops.

“Last night on the territory adjacent to the power plant, an attempt was made by the Kyiv nationalist regime to carry out a monstrous provocation,” said Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov.

UPDATE, 0900 GMT:

The death toll has risen to 47 from Russia’s attacks on Thursday on the city of Chernihiv.

Two schools and private houses were among the targets. Rescue work was suspended because of the fear of further bombardment.

UPDATE, 0850 GMT:

Russian tech giant Yandex warns that it may default on its debt after it was suspended from trading on NASDAQ and the New York Stock Exchange.

The New York markets halted all listings of Russian companies this week until they explain how they will be affected by sanctions on Moscow.

Yandex, often labelled the “Russian Google”, said on Thursday that it has not been targeted: “There are currently no regulatory restrictions on the ability of the US, the United Kingdom, or the European Union persons to acquire and trade in Yandex’s securities.”

Yandex said that if it is suspended for more than five trading days, owners of some bonds will be able to redeem their debt with interest: “The Yandex group as a whole does not currently have sufficient resources to redeem the notes in full.”

Even if financing could be obtained for the bonds, Yandex is concerned about “a material adverse effect on our short-term financial position and liquidity [which] may affect our ability to meet our other obligations”.

In 2021, Yandex earned about 356 billion rubles (about $4.77 billion). Its engine accounts for more than 60% of Russia’s Internet searches.

The company now also offers a ride-hailing and grocery delivery service.

UPDATE, 0810 GMT:

A Russian airstrike on Thursday destroyed the power plant in Okhtyrka, in northern Ukraine between Kharkiv and Kyiv.

“We are trying to figure out how to get people out of the city urgently, because in a day the apartment buildings will turn into a cold stone trap without water, light or electricity,” regional head Dmytro Zhyvytskyy said on Telegram.

Earlier this week, a Russian strike killed about 70 Ukrainian troops in a military base in the city.

UPDATE, 0800 GMT:

Russian forces have occupied the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant after shelling it earlier this morning.

Ukraine’s State Inspectorate for Nuclear Regulation wrote at 7:30 a.m. local time: “The Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant is captured by the military forces of the Russian Federation.”

The inspectorate said employees are continuing to work on the premises, with operational personnel controlling the safe condition of the power units.

UPDATE, 0743 GMT:

In a significant blow to Russia’s economic position, the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has suspended all business with Moscow and Belarus in light of “the evolving economic and financial situation”.

The 105-member AIIB explained, “Under these circumstances, and in the best interests of the Bank, Management has decided that all activities relating to Russia and Belarus are on hold and under review.”

AIIB had only two projects in Russia and none in Belarus. However, the suspension has symbolic importance following the withdrawal of several Chinese state-owned financial institutions, including the Bank of China, from any financing of deals involving Russian commodities.

Russian officials have said that they could withstand sanctions by the US, Europe, and other states by relying on trade and investment with China.

Moscow is facing the difficulty that almost 70% of Russian oil is struggling to find buyers.

On Tuesday, oil trader Trafigura offered a cargo load of Russian crude oil at a record discount of $18.60 per barrel below the market rate, but could not find a buyer willing to take the risk.

UPDATE, 0737 GMT:

Russian authorities are clamping down further on media.

Roskomnadzor, the State regulator, is restricting access to independent news website Meduza, following bans earlier this week on TV Rain and Ekho Moskvy radio.

The regulator, saying it is acting on a request from prosecutors, is also restricting the UK’s BBC, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, and Svoboda, the Russian-language website of the US Government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

On Friday, the Russian Duma passed a law threatening fines and up to three years in prison for anyone spreading “fake” information about armed forces.

The sentence can be up to 10 years in prison if the information is considered to be part of an “organised group’ or to be using “false evidence”. Up to 15 years can be imposed if “serious consequences” are declared.

Leading Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta said it will remove material on Russia’s military actions in Ukraine.

The newspaper, edited by Nobel Prize winner Dmitry Muratov, will continue to report on Russia’s economic problems and the persecution of dissidents as the country “moves into a new phase”.

The BBC has responded by temporarily suspending the work of all its journalists and staff in Russia. Canada’s CBC has halted all reporting from the ground in the country.

UPDATE, 0733 GMT:

RT America, the US outlet of State-owned Russia Today, has halted operations and laid off its staff.

Earlier this week, Direct TV — one of two US platforms which carried RT America — dropped the channel.

The European Union is moving to suspend RT on all satellite platforms.

UPDATE, 0705 GMT:

The Moscow Stock Exchange is closed for the fifth day in a row.

While there has no been open trading of stocks, values have tumbled as investment funds pull out of Russian holdings.

On Thursday, Fitch and Moody’s joined S&P in downgrading Russian bonds to “junk” status, in the sharpest reduction of a sovereign fund’s reliability since South Korea in 1997.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: On Day 10 of its assault on Ukraine, Russian forces have shelled Europe’s largest nuclear plant, starting a fire which has been contained.

The blaze at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear complex in southeast Ukraine, with six of the country’s 15 reactors, started early Friday and burned for several hours in a five-story training building on the perimeter of the site. It was extinguished about 6.20 a.m. local time.

Ukrainian official said reactors were safe and the fire did not affect “essential” equipment. However, the incident underlined the dangers to a nuclear plant in the midst of a conflict.

Soon after the Russian attack, a plant spokesperson, Andriy Tuz, posted a video on social media: “Firefighters can’t access the site and extinguish the fire because of heavy shelling. The first energy unit has already been hit. Stop!”

Fighting near complex was so intense that Dmitry Orlov, the mayor of nearby Enerhodar, said wounded could not be moved from the site to a hospital.

Orlov noted that a column of Russian armored vehicles passed through Enerhodar on Thursday afternoon, opening fire along the way.

Oleksandr Starukh, the head of the regional government, said a plan to evacuate the town had been prepared because of the danger posed by an attack on the nuclear plant.

Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted:

Russian forces seized the area around Zaporizhnia earlier this week. Residents and plant workers protested on Wednesday at roadblocks which they set up between the troops and the plant.

The plant is on the Dnieper River, north of the coastal area along the Black Sea which Russian forces have occupied this week.

Ukraine President Volodymr Zelenskiy said in a video statement on Friday morning:

Europe must wake up now. The largest nuclear station in Europe is on fire. Right now Russian tanks are shelling nuclear units. Those are the tanks that have thermal vision, so they know where they are shelling.

If there will be an explosion, it will the end to all of us, the end of Europe, the evacuation of Europe. Only immediate action of Europe can stop Russian troops and prevent the death of Europe from the disaster at a nuclear station

The President concluded, “No country other than Russia has ever fired on nuclear power units. This is the first time in our history. In the history of mankind. The terrorist state now resorted to nuclear terror.”

Zelenskiy took a call from US President Joe Biden about 3:40 a.m. Kyiv time. The two men urged “Russia to cease its military activities in the area and allow firefighters and emergency responders to access the site”.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson also phoned Zelenskiy.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said just before 4 a.m. that it was informed by the Ukrainian nuclear regulator of no change in radiation levels at the plant. Director General Rafael Grossi,appealed for a ceasefire and warned of “severe danger” if reactors were struck.

A nuclear reactor’s confinement chambers of a nuclear reactor are built to withstand bombing, and a pressurised water reactor — far safer than the type which exploded in Chernobyl in northern Ukraine in 1086 — is designed to shut down in an emergency.

However, an interruption to the power supply, affecting the cooling system, could start a chain of events leading to meltdown. Spent fuel pools are also at risk from a direct hit.