Ukraine War LIVE: Locals put in camps and moved to distant Russia – ‘like Nazi Germany’

Boris Johnson has said he will continue to ensure that Ukraine receives military, economic and diplomatic support from the UK.

The PM wrote on his Twitter account: “I spoke to President @ZelenskyyUa this afternoon to set out how I will be working to advance Ukraine's interests at meetings of NATO and the G7 this week.

“The UK will continue to step up military, economic and diplomatic support to help bring an end to this terrible conflict.”

His remarks come as a new poll shows more Ukrainians in favour of a military and economic pact with the UK than with NATO.

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MYKOLAYIV is a city of mixed Russian and Ukrainian speakers and tradition.

Before February 24, there would have been a large number of Kremlin-leaning locals who looked eastwards in politics, culture and heritage. But no more.

The flattening of parts of their city and killing of civilians has alienated them from old allegiances.

It’s a huge own-goal by Vladimir Putin. When I saw crying children amid rubble, I realised he has created a visceral loathing of Russia that will continue for generations.

Putin’s forces currently surround this strategically important city – one of several they must take to create a land corridor to the Black Sea port of Odesa – on three sides and its people are facing a battle for their existence.

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CAPTURED Russian soldiers have broken into tears and announced “liar” Putin will never conquer Ukraine.

The troops urged their people to rise up against Putin. They also warned fellow soldiers are being thrown into mass graves. The group of Russian soldiers spoke during a press conference with news agency Interfax-Ukraine.

Alexei Zheleznyak is one of the soldiers, of the 34th Russian motorised rifle brigade, to surrender to Ukraine’s forces.

He warned the Kremlin would never be able to send enough soldiers into Ukraine to take the country.

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British volunteer fighters are feared to have triggered the deadly attack on Ukraine’s Yavoriv military base last Sunday, as several UK phone numbers were reportedly visible to surveillance and could have been passed to Russian intelligence.

Some 12 to 14 numbers starting with +44 were detected in the area of the base in the hours before the missile strike killed 35 people on March 13. Knowledge of British personnel through snooping technology could have led the Kremlin to immediately order an attack.

A security source told The Telegraph: “As soon as Moscow got any whiff of possible British presence on the base, they would have immediately ordered a strike.”

Russia is thought to have access to a vast array of phone numbers linked to elite British units — with which many of the volunteers in Ukraine formerly served — gathered through secretive surveillance operations near military bases in the UK.

A second source said: “There was potentially a mole placed in the unit (on the Yavoriv base) who was seen running from the camp around 30 minutes before the attack, with a laptop and kit.”

The target on the base, near the Polish border, is believed to have been the International Centre for Peacekeeping and Security, where Kyiv has been training foreign civilian recruits.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking to CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, said Russia would not have invaded Ukraine if the country had been admitted into NATO earlier.

He said: “If we were a NATO member, a war wouldn’t have started. I’d like to receive security guarantees for my country, for my people.”

Emphasising he was grateful for the aid the Alliance has provided since Moscow’s attacks began, he said: “If NATO members are ready to see us in the alliance, then do it immediately because people are dying on a daily basis.

“But if you are not ready to preserve the lives of our people, if you just want to see us straddle two worlds, if you want to see us in this dubious position where we don’t understand whether you can accept us or not — you cannot place us in this situation, you cannot force us to be in this limbo.”

He continued: “I requested them personally to say directly that we are going to accept you into NATO in a year or two or five, just say it directly and clearly, or just say no.

“And the response was very clear, you’re not going to be a NATO member, but publicly, the doors will remain open.”

After, when asked about Putin’s claims that the Ukrainian government is full of neo-Nazis, Mr Zelensky said he cannot take those statements “seriously”, dubbing them “laughable.”

Yet, he admitted the Russian president’s remarks do make him worry.

He said: “I’m not afraid of anything except for people, but the fact, the fact is that if he is serious about this statement he might be capable of very horrendous steps because that would mean that this is not a game for him.

“If he really believes in this, if it’s not a game, then we will just continue fighting against it.

“If it’s a game. But if it’s not a game, if he’s serious about it, if he thinks that this is his mission to conquer our territory and if he sees signs of neo-Nazis in our country, then many questions emerge about what else he is capable of doing for the sake of his ambitions, for the sake of his mission.”

A Russian defence ministry official says Vladimir Putin’s forces have launched a hypersonic missile attack on Ukraine for the second consecutive day.

The weapon — known as Kinzhal, meaning dagger — hit a Ukrainian fuel depot near the Black Sea port of Mykolaiv, the official claims.

Moscow on Saturday said it had used the missile, which can strike targets 1,250 miles away at a speed 10 times faster than sound, to destroy a Ukrainian underground depot in the Ivano-Frankivsk region on Friday.

The video below is from the attack reported by Russia’s MoD yesterday.

Ukraine: Russian hypersonic missile hits ammunition depot

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has reiterated he is “ready for negotiations” with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He warned, however, that if they fail, the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv could lead to World War Three.

In an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, he said: “I’m ready for negotiations. I was ready for the last two years. And without negotiations, we cannot end this war.

“All the people who think that this dialogue is shallow and that it is not going to resolve anything, they just don’t understand that this is very valuable.

“If there is just one percent chance for us to stop this war we need to take this chance, we need to do that.

“I can’t tell you about the result of these negotiations [but] we’re losing people on a daily basis, innocent people on the ground.

“Russian forces have come to exterminate us, to kill us. And we have demonstrated the dignity of our people, and our army, we are able to deal a powerful blow, we are able to strike back.

“But unfortunately, our dignity is not going to preserve their lives. We have to use any format, any chance, in order to have the possibility of negotiating the possibility of talking to Putin.

“But if these attempts fail, that would mean that this is a third world war.”

Mariupol’s city authorities echoed MP Inna Sovusan’s claims.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of the Donetsk regional administration, said more than 1,000 residents had been deported to the camps.

He said: “The occupiers are sending the residents of Mariupol to filtration camps, checking their phones and seizing (their) Ukrainian documents.”

The city council said: “People who are being forcibly taken to Russia are being stripped of their Ukrainian passports and given a piece of paper that carries no legal weight and is not recognised by the entire civilised world.”

Watch what Ms Sovusan told Times Radio’s Tom Newton Dunn and Lucy fisher below.

“They’re taking Ukrainian citizens, sending them through what are called filtration camps, and then relocating them to distant parts of Russia to work for free. This is the logic of Nazi Germany.” @InnaSovsun , a Ukrainian MP, makes a stark claim to @Tnewtondunn and @LOS_Fisher . pic.twitter.com/Gibqu2mgEV

\u2014 Times Radio (@TimesRadio) March 20, 2022

Petro Andrushenko, an advisor to Mariupol’s mayor, said on Telegram: “The city continues to be shelled both from the sky and the sea.”

Civilians in the port city, where 400,000 people are said to be trapped due to constant bombardments in the last two weeks, continue to struggle to leave.

Mr Andrushenko said those trying to flee in their cars are being shot at by Russian forces.

He wrote: “Last night, cars trying to drive towards the village of Melekine [10km west of the city centre] were fired upon.

“Evacuation is difficult – difficult but moving.

“The Russians are doing everything to complicate things.”

Condemning Moscow’s actions, Mr Andrushenko added: “It seems the occupiers are so eager to wipe out Mariupol that they are ready to cover themselves with fire.”

Despite the dangers, the Ukrainian government announced the humanitarian corridor linking Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia, outside Russian-occupied territory, had been agreed for today.

A council official confirmed that a column of 11 buses carrying nearly 800 people had completed the second part of the journey, from Berdiansk to Zaporizhzhia, by 12pm Kyiv time.

Ukraine: Border chief shames Belarus Ambassador

At least 1.5 million children have been made refugees by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while another 3.3 million minors are displaced within the country, according to figures shared by UNICEF.

UNICEF spokesperson Joe English told CNN: “Each of these is an individual child whose life has been torn apart, whose world has been turned upside down.”

The lives of millions of children are ‘torn apart’ by the war (Image: Getty)

According to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, close to 15,000 Russian soldiers have died in Vladimir Putin’s war to date.

In addition, more than one hundred helicopters, 400 tanks and 900 vehicles have been destroyed.

It comes as the UK Ministry of Defence says Moscow has failed to gain control of the air in its war against Ukraine, which “significantly blunted their operational progress”.

The MoD’s intelligence report adds: “The Ukrainian Air Force and Air Defence Forces are continuing to effectively defend Ukrainian air space.”

These are the indicative estimates of Russia\u2019s losses as of March 20, according to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/wuyU0L7Xmb

\u2014 The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) March 20, 2022

Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, said Ukraine cannot “withstand” Russia’s attacks on its own.

Although the Kremlin has been unable so far to achieve its goals against its neighbour, Ms Stefanishyna said external help is needed for Ukrainian forces to continue to resist Vladimir Putin’s attacks.

She told Sophy Ridge On Sunday on Sky News: “The enormous bravery of Ukrainian people, army, nation and government, it’s something we would expect from all leaders around the world for standing for the values enshrined in the UN Charter.

“That’s why Ukraine will resist as long as it needed to make sure that no terror, no mass-murdering, no genocide is committed on this land in the 21st century.”

Calling on world leaders to establish an anti-war coalition, she insisted: “But it’s absolutely clear that only a Ukrainian army, and only a Ukrainian president, will not be able to withstand it alone.”

Vladimir Putin has reportedly opened the door to face-to-face negotiations with Volodymyr Zelensky.

The two leaders have let their diplomatic teams conduct peace talks on neutral ground since shortly after the start of the conflict on February 24.

BBC correspondent Lysa Doucet said the Russian president is now believed to have caved to his top diplomats and accepted he will have to attend negotiations himself “at some point.”

Speaking to BBC’s Broadcasting House, Ms Doucet said: “The diplomats are talking, the negotiators are talking.

“And we understand they are making progress. And we understand President Putin has finally agreed that he will meet, at some point, President Zelensky who has been asking for a meeting since January.

“He hasn’t said it in public, he says quite the opposite in public.

“But we understand there’s many, many eager mediators – everyone wants the prize of saying they brought this war to an end.”

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First rank captain Andrey Paliy, the deputy commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, has been shot dead by Ukrainian forces.

Russian first rank captain Andrey Paliy was shot dead by Ukraine (Image: east2west)

Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko shared a video of an attack on Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant.

She wrote: “One of the biggest metallurgic plants in Europe destroyed. The economic losses for Ukraine are huge. The environment is devastated.”

This was confirmed in televised remarks by Vadym Denysenko, adviser to Ukraine's interior minister, as reported by the Associated Press.

#Mariupol #Azovstal One of the biggest metallurgic plants in #Europe destroyed. The economic losses for #Ukraine are huge. The environment is devastated #StopRussiaNOW pic.twitter.com/4GMbkYb0es

\u2014 Lesia Vasylenko (@lesiavasylenko) March 19, 2022

Russia has hit Ukraine with cruise missiles from ships in the Black Sea and Caspian Sea, and launched hypersonic missiles from Crimean airspace, Reuters cited the Russian defence ministry as saying today.

Spokesman Igor Konashenkov said: “Kalibr cruise missiles were launched from the waters of the Black Sea against the Nizhyn plant that repairs Ukrainian armoured vehicles damaged in fighting.”

Vladimir Putin’s forces fired the cruise missiles, which are highly precise and can travel long distances at subsonic speeds, last night and this morning.

The targets, according to Mr Konashenkov, were a fuel storage facility used by the Ukrainian military and a Ukrainian military preparation centre where foreign fighters joining Kyiv’s forces were based.

Labour MP Lisa Nandy, in an interview with the Observer, cited the Homes for Ukraine scheme’s “lengthy forms and the documents you need to prove your identity and residency” as a big issue for the program to succeed.

She said: “Unless urgent steps are taken to address this, we will see very small numbers of people taking up this offer and a lot of the public’s generosity squandered.”

Under the scheme, UK residents can individually sponsor a Ukrainian national’s visa.

Launched on Tuesday, some 100,000 people registered interest within the first day.

Applications opened on Friday.

Housing and Communities Secretary Michael Gove said there is no limit to how many Ukrainians can enter the program.

Each household taking in one refugee will be offered £350 a month, tax-free, and will not be expected to provide food and living expenses – though they can choose to offer this.

One of the current most evident limitations of the scheme is that Britons ready to open their home to a refugee rely on knowing a named individual from Ukraine they want to help.

According to Mr Gove, this is a temporary condition intended to get things “up and running as soon as possible”.

Ms Nandy condemned the Government’s little to no collaboration with councils and charities when setting up the scheme.

She said: “I met with a group of councils just before Michael Gove came to make a statement about the scheme to the Commons on Monday and not a single one had been contacted.

“Councils are desperate to help, but their concern is how to make this scheme work in practice.”

The Homes for Ukraine scheme is mired in excessive bureaucracy with no thought given to the desperate situation facing Ukrainian families fleeing Russian aggression. This is a serious crisis, not online dating. Government needs to grip this urgently. https://t.co/JQPksX1EMr

\u2014 Lisa Nandy (@lisanandy) March 20, 2022

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the siege of Mariupol would go down in history for what he dubbed "war crimes" committed by Russian troops.

He said in a video address to the nation in the early hours of Sunday: "To do this to a peaceful city, what the occupiers did, is a terror that will be remembered for centuries to come."

The besieged and battered port city has been under heavy bombardments for more than two weeks, with some 400,000 people trapped.

Russian forces have already cut Mariupol off from the Sea of Azov.

Its fall would link Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, to eastern territories controlled by Kremlin-backed separatists.

Satellite imagery shows fires burning near Fontanna Street in eastern Mariupol on Monday (Image: Maxar Technologies/Getty)

Russian forces have bombed an art school in the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, where about 400 residents — women, children and elderly people — had taken shelter, the city council said this morning.

In a message on the Telegram channels of Mariupol council and the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada, it said many people remain “under the rubble” inside the destroyed G12 art school in the city’s Left Bank district.

In the statement, the council accused the Russians of committing war crimes

The number of casualties is still unclear.

The latest intelligence update from the UK Ministry of Defence says Russia has made “limited progress” in capturing cities in Eastern Ukraine. However, forces are continuing to encircle them.

It adds: “It is likely Russia will continue to use its heavy firepower to support assaults on urban areas as it looks to limit its own already considerable losses, at the cost of further civilian casualties.”

The United Nations yesterday reported it had recorded the deaths of 847 civilians in Ukraine since the start of Russia's invasion on February 24.

The true death toll, it said, is “considerably higher”.

It also recorded the injuries of 1,399 civilians.

Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 20 March 2022 https://t.co/4JKS04Ob7r #StandWithUkraine \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 pic.twitter.com/TB9B35K1A0

\u2014 Ministry of Defence \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 (@DefenceHQ) March 20, 2022

Hello, I’m Teresa Gottein Martinez and I'll be bringing you all the latest developments on the conflict in Ukraine. Please feel free to get in touch with me as I work if you have a story or tips to share! Your thoughts are always welcome.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @TGotteinM