Category: Russia-Ukraine conflict

Syrian children have continued to endure physical and psychological scars and the trauma of displacement, as a result of more than a decade of civil war in the country,

The United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF issued the warning on Tuesday in a statement.

“In 2021, nearly 900 children in Syria lost their lives or were injured. This brings the total number of children killed and injured since the beginning of the crisis to close to 13,000,’’ UNICEF stated.

It added that last year, a third of children in Syria showed signs of psychological distress including anxiety, depression, fatigue, or frequent trouble sleeping.

On March 15, 2011, peaceful demonstrations against the Syrian Bashar al-Assad led government began.

READ ALSO: Woman gives birth to conjoined twins in Syrian war zone

Government forces put down the protest using excessive force, starting a civil war that still rages.

In spite of a decrease in violence following al-Assad’s Russian-Iranian-backed recapture of two-thirds of the country from the opposition, rebel-held areas in northwest Syria still remain targets for frequent airstrikes and shelling.

Meanwhile, aid organisations working inside Syria have warned that the country was now facing a new hunger crisis.

Else Kirk, of the German aid organisation, Welthungerhilfe, said that the tense U.S. Russian relations since the war in Ukraine began would affect the humanitarian corridor into northwest Syria.

“This will restrain the ability of UN agencies to deliver humanitarian aid cross border into north-west Syria, with catastrophic effects on a region that is sorely dependent on humanitarian assistance,’’ she said. (dpa/NAN)

A 35-hour curfew will come into force in Kyiv tonight sparking fears that Russia is going to step up its assault on the capital.

It comes after Russian shelling struck a number of buildings and killed at least two people overnight. The curfew will be imposed from 8 pm local time (6pm GMT) on Tuesday.

Residents in Ukraine’s capital will be banned from travelling around Kyiv while the curfew is in place.

Kyiv Mayor and former boxer Vitali Klitschko said: “Today is a difficult and dangerous moment.

“The capital is the heart of Ukraine, and it will be defended. Kyiv, which is currently the symbol and forward operating base of Europe’s freedom and security, will not be given up by us.”

Kyiv has so far been spared from the worst of the fighting since Russia’s invasion began 20 days ago.

But Russian troops are closing in on the capital and attacks have escalated.

Read Also: Ukraine: Residents protest in Russian-occupied cities

On Tuesday, two large blasts were heard in the city.

At least two apartment blocks in Kyiv, including a 10-storey residential building, were set ablaze following a Russian missile strike.

“What is happening right now in Kharkiv, in Mariupol and other cities – it was understandable that sooner or later it would happen in Kyiv,” local resident Igor Krupa told the news agency.

Mr Krupa said he managed to escape the blast uninjured as he used furniture to shelter himself in his home.

“This actually saved me because all the windows went out and all the debris went into the apartment, and I remained unwounded. Just a couple of scratches,” he said.

Almost 3 million people have fled Ukraine since the war began but many civilians remain by force or choice.

While shelling across the country is ongoing, US intelligence has reported Russian advances across Ukraine “remain stalled”.

Russian forces moving towards Kyiv have not appreciably progressed over the weekend, the US official told reporters during a background briefing on Monday.

The official said Russian troops had not made further advances on the town of Mykolaiv, from where their forces could move on to Odesa or Kyiv, CNN reported.

The latest attacks on Kyiv come as delegates from Ukraine and Russia prepare for another round of peace talks.

The discussions have so far ended without a major breakthrough and both sides have expressed reservations about any potential resolutions made through the talks.

“The work is difficult and in the current situation the very fact that they are continuing is probably positive,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.

He added: “We don’t want to make predictions. We await results.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has again urged Russian soldiers to retreat, said the negotiations with the Russians on Monday were “pretty good, as I was told. But let’s see”. Newsnow.co.uk

Residents of Kherson, Melitopol and Berdyansk, cities occupied by Russian forces, have held “multiple” demonstrations protesting the occupation, the U.K. Defence Ministry said on Tuesday.

Protests in Kherson came as Russia may be making plans for a “referendum” to legitimise the region as a Russian-backed “breakaway republic,” similar to Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea, the Ministry said.

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“Further protests were reported in the city yesterday with Russian forces reportedly firing warning shots in an attempt to disperse peaceful protesters,” the Ministry said.

Russia is likely to “make further attempts to subvert Ukrainian democracy,” the update said.

“Russia has reportedly installed its own mayor in Melitopol following the alleged abduction of his predecessor on Friday 11 March,” the update said. “Subsequently, the Mayor of Dniprorudne has also reportedly been abducted by Russian forces.” abcnews.go.com

Oleksiy Arestovich, an adviser to the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, on Tuesday, said the war in Ukraine was likely to be over by early May when Russia would have run out of resources to attack its neighbour.

Talks between Kyiv and Moscow in which Arestovich was not personally involved had so far produced very few results other than several humanitarian corridors out of besieged Ukrainian cities.

In a video published by several Ukrainian media, Arestovich said the exact timing would depend on how many resources the Kremlin was willing to commit to the campaign.

“I think that no later than in May, early May, we should have a peace agreement, maybe much earlier, we will see, I am talking about the latest possible dates.

“We are at a fork in the road now: there will either be a peace deal struck very quickly, within a week or two, with troop withdrawal and everything.

“Or there will be an attempt to scrape together some, say, Syrians for a round two and, when we grind them too, an agreement by mid-April or late April.’’

A “completely crazy” scenario could also involve Russia sending fresh conscripts after a month of training, he said.

According to Arestovich, even once peace was agreed, small tactical clashes could remain possible for a year, although Ukraine insists on the complete removal of Russian troops from its territory.

The war in Ukraine began on Feb. 24 when Russian President Vladimir Putin launched what he called a “special military operation,” the biggest attack on a European state since World War Two. (Reuters/NAN)

Ukrainian city authority reported that two people were killed when a Russian shell smashed into an apartment block after a missile strike on another part of the Ukrainian capital.

Deputy Mayor Mykola Povoroznyk said three Russian rockets also hit the Antonov aircraft factory in Kyiv and firefighters “localised” a blaze at the plant. There were no immediate reports of any deaths at the factory.

Ukrainian television footage showed firefighters clambering through rubble and up a ladder into what was left of the smoldering apartment block that was hit in Kyiv’s Obolon district.

A corpse lay on the ground, the face covered.

Maksim Korovii, a resident of the badly damaged building, said he had hidden in a closet after being woken by his mother with smoke and dust everywhere.

“We thought that we were being captured, that the Russians were getting in through the door. But we were wrong.

“We got out from the apartment and saw that the staircase was not there anymore, everything was on fire.

“We managed to put on whatever clothes we had at hand and made our way from balcony to balcony and in the end we climbed down by the next building’s entrance,” Korovii said.

READ ALSO: 35 die in Russian missile strike on Lviv – Ukrainian officials

Kyiv Mayor, Vitali Klitschko said the second death on Monday was in the Kurenivka neighbourhood of the capital.

Kyiv, a city of about three million in peacetime, has repeatedly come under fire since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Russia says it does not target civilians, describing its actions in Ukraine as a “special operation” to demilitarise and “denazify” its neighbour. Ukraine and Western allies call this a baseless pretext for a war of choice.

Towns near Kyiv were being evacuated for the fifth successive day, regional governor Oleksiy Kuleba said as occasional explosions were heard in the distance.

The extent of the damage at the Antonov factory was not immediately clear.

Antonov, which was founded in the Soviet Union in 1946, has manufactured some 30 different types of airplane including the two biggest air cargo planes – the An-124 Ruslan and An-225 Mriya.

Ukrainian state arms manufacturer, Ukroboronprom said in February that the Mriya, which can carry up to 250 tonnes, had been set ablaze in a Russian attack and that restoring it would cost more than three billion dollars. (Reuters/NAN)

Almost 1.8 million people have taken refuge in Poland since the Russian attack on Ukraine, officials said on Monday.

On Sunday alone, around 82,100 people crossed the border, bringing the total number to 1.76 million, the Polish Border Guard said.

On Monday, another 18,400 Ukrainians were cleared between midnight and 7.00 a.m., the Agency said.

Poland and Ukraine are connected by a border of more than 500 kilometres.

READ ALSO: Ukraine: Another batch of evacuees arrive

There is currently no official information on how many refugees remained in Poland and how many have already moved on to other EU states.

The number of those who had reached Germany by Monday morning stands at 146,998, according to the country’s Interior Ministry.

The true figure is likely to be higher because only those refugees, who are identified by the Federal Police, are recorded.

There are usually no fixed border controls at the EU’s internal borders and Ukrainians are allowed to enter Germany without a visa.

It is also not possible to say how many of them may be travelling on from Germany to friends or relatives in other countries.

According to UN figures, around 2.7 million people from Ukraine have already sought refuge abroad.

Most of them initially stayed in neighbouring countries. (dpa/NAN)