Russia invasion of Ukraine LIVE: At least nine people were killed in a Russian bombing of a television tower

Ukraine denounces that the attack on civilians by the Russian army continues. Hospitals, schools and residential areas have been targeted by Kremlin troops.

At the international level, international concern is growing over the development of fighting in Ukraine. While Germany and France say that Vladimir Putin will not stop in their advance over the territory of the neighbouring country, President Zelensky assured that Moscow took a “fundamentally different approach” in negotiations to end the conflict that broke out with the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

At a press conference, Zelensky indicated that Moscow is no longer limited to “giving ultimatums” and said he is “happy to receive a signal from Russia,” after Russian President Vladimir Putin said he saw “positive steps” in recent bilateral negotiations.

Next, the minute by minute of the Russian invasion: (Ukrainian time, GMT+2):

MONDAY, MARCH 14:

20:50: High-level officials from the United States and China participated on Monday in a “substantial discussion” on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, said the White House after talks held in Rome between the two superpowers.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Yang Jiechi, the Chinese Communist Party's top diplomat, did not address journalists after their meeting in a hotel.

The White House said the two officials also “stressed the importance of keeping the lines of communication between the United States and China open.”

20:00: Russian President Vladimir Putin would not seek to change the government of Ukraine with his offensive in that country, said on Monday the Finnish president in an interview with CNN.

“Putin has his list, we all know that,” said the head of state of the Nordic country, according to an excerpt from the interview released by CNN International.

“But it seems that changing the government of Ukraine is no longer in,” she said.

18.50: Nine people were killed and nine others were wounded on Monday in a Russian bombing of a television tower near the city of Rivne, in the western Ukraine, local authorities announced.

“At 16:00 GMT, we can declare that there are 9 dead and 9 injured,” Vitaly Koval, the head of the local administration, told the press, stating that “two missiles” had hit the television tower in the town of Antopil, 15 km east of Rivne, and in a nearby administrative building.

18.05: Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares asked his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, that China use its influence with Russia to end its war against Ukraine, according to the Spanish Ministry on Monday. Albares spoke on the phone with China's foreign minister to urge him to redouble efforts with Russia to end the war.

18.00: Ben Hodges, former commander of the US Army in Europe, analyzed: “We are probably 10 days away from Russia's completion. In other words, time is running out, people are running out, and ammunition is running out.”

17.30: The IMF warned that the war in Ukraine threatens global food security. In a report on the Ukrainian economic situation, the agency warned that local activity could contract by up to 35% if the conflict provoked by Russia continues, with a minimum contraction of 10% if the invasion is resolved quickly.

16.30: The European Union confirmed a fourth package of sanctions against Russia. “This will be another big blow to the economic and logistical base on which the Kremlin is building the invasion and taking the resources to finance it,” said the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borell. “Putin's war not only concerns Ukraine, but the security and stability of our European continent. It affects us all,” he added.

The AFP and EFE agencies announced that the magnate Roman Abramovich will be on the list of sanctioned oligarchs.

16.10: Russia and Ukraine will resume their talks on Tuesday, the Ukrainian government reported, following the virtual meeting held by both countries' negotiators.

16.00: The President of Ukraine, Volodymir Zelensky, will give a virtual address to the US Congress on Wednesday, as announced by the leaders of both houses of the US legislature.

15.30: Some 160 vehicles were able to leave the Ukrainian city of Mariupol on Monday, besieged for days by Russian and pro-Russian separatist forces, through a humanitarian corridor, municipal authorities reported. The column of vehicles was able to take a road linking this strategic port city on the Sea of Azov with the Ukrainian city of Zaporiyia, Mariupol City Council said on Telegram, without specifying how many people have been able to flee the city.

15.00: Protesters invade a mansion in London of an oligarch linked to Putin. They unfurled flags with insults to the Russian president and in favor of Ukraine. The police forced entry to remove them.

14.20: Update of refugee figures. According to UNHCR, they amount to 2.8 million since the beginning of the invasion. Of these, 1.7 came to Poland, 255,000 to Hungary, 204,000 to Slovakia, 131,000 to Russia, 106,000 to Moldova, 84,000 to Romania and 1,200 to Belarus.

13.40: The Vatican offered to mediate and Russia does not respond. The Vatican Secretary of State, Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, explained that “the Holy See's offer to mediate was personally discussed in recent days with Lavrov,” with whom he had telephone conversations. Parolin noted that the Russian foreign minister took note of the proposal, but that “so far there have been no signs” willing to seize this opportunity.

13.30: The Kremlin said it does not rule out taking “complete control” of large cities in Ukraine. “Putin gave orders to stop any immediate assault on big cities because civilian losses would be great,” the spokesman said, adding that “the Ministry of Defense does not rule out the possibility of putting large cities under its full control.”

13.20: Poland warned of the Russian attack 20 kilometers from its territory, in which 35 people were killed. “They knew for sure that this military base was very close to the Polish border. So of course the Russians knew what they were attacking and wanted to threaten NATO,” said Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz.

13.00: The Ukrainian Chernobyl power station was again without electricity, announced the operator. “The occupation forces damaged the line that feeds the plant,” said the Ukrenergo agency.

12.50: One of Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest allies said that Russia's military operation in Ukraine has not progressed as fast as the Kremlin would have wanted, in Moscow's most significant public recognition so far that things are not going as planned.

In a religious service presided over by the patriarch of the Orthodox Church Cyril, the head of the Russian National Guard, Viktor Zolotov, blamed the slow progress on what, according to him, are far-right Ukrainian forces hiding behind civilians. “I would like to say yes, that not everything is going as fast as we would like,” said Zolotov, who was once in charge of Putin's personal security, in comments posted on the National Guard website. “But we are going towards our goal step by step and victory will be for us.”

His comments seem to contradict the assessment made on Friday by Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, who told Putin that “everything is going according to plan.”

12.30: The World Health Organization confirmed 31 attacks on health facilities since the beginning of the invasion of Russia, with 12 dead and 34 injured, of which 8 of the injured and 2 of the dead were health workers. “WHO strongly condemns acts of violence against health care. Each attack deprives people of life-saving services. Attacks on health care are violations of international humanitarian law and human rights,” they said in a statement.

12.15: The fourth meeting of negotiators began, the first in virtual format. “The parties actively expressed their positions. Communication is done even though it is difficult,” said the Ukrainian spokesman.

12.10: Authorities raised the death toll from the Russian bombing of a residential building in Kiev, in the district of Obolon to two. Three other people were hospitalized and nine received on-site assistance. Dozens fled the fire generated by the attack.

12.00: A Russian attack targeting the Antonov aircraft factory left two dead in Kiev.

One of the deceased died in a nearby area, after the impact of a fragment of a missile.

“Fragments of missiles fell on the highway in Kurenivka district, causing one death and six injuries,” said the mayor's office.

11.00: The delegates of Ukraine will demand an immediate truce and the withdrawal of Russian troops during a new round of negotiations with Moscow scheduled this Monday by videoconference, after three weeks of offensive. “Our position has not changed: peace, immediate ceasefire, withdrawal of all Russian troops, and only after that can we talk about our relations and political differences,” said Mikhailo Podoliak, negotiator and advisor to Volodymyr Zelensky.

10.50: Russian separatists reported that at the hands 23 people were killed and about twenty were injured in an attack by Ukrainian forces on the Donetsk region. According to them, the attack in Kiev was carried out with a Tochka-U type missile.

10.30: The social network Instagram is no longer accessible in Russia, whose authorities accuse it of spreading calls for violence against Russians, in connection with the conflict in Ukraine. This Monday morning, the application could not be updated and it was impossible to access the page without VPN.

9:50: At least one person was killed and 12 others were wounded in an attack on a residential building in Kiev, rescuers reported this Monday in a new balance sheet, at a time when Russian troops are approaching the Ukrainian capital.

In a first report, the rescue services had indicated two deaths, but they deleted the message on social networks and corrected it with another one mentioning a deceased. Rescuers added that the building was located in the northern Obolon district of the Ukrainian capital and that the fire was controlled by firefighters after it was “shot by artillery” in the early morning. According to these sources, three people were injured and were hospitalized and nine others were treated for minor injuries at the scene of the attack.

09:03: The Government of New Zealand lowered the fuel tax and public transport tariffs on Monday in response to the increase in the cost of living in the oceanic country following the energy crisis caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

“The global energy crisis has rapidly worsened and that is why the government has taken a step forward to cut the fuel tax,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a statement.

The fuel and toll tax will be reduced by NZ$0.25 ($0.17 or 0.15 euros) per liter over the next three months, which will save about NZ$11 ($7.46 or 6.84 euros) by filling a 40-liter tank, according to the Executive.

08:43: The President of the United States, Joe Biden and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron have held a new phone call this Sunday and have committed to “holding Russia accountable” for the invasion of Ukraine.

“President Biden spoke today with President Emmanuel Macron of France to discuss Russia's war against Ukraine. They reviewed recent diplomatic commitments and underscored their commitment to holding Russia accountable for its actions and supporting the Government and people of Ukraine,” the White House said in a statement.

08:29: Moldavian Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu said on Monday that more than 328,000 refugees from Ukraine — including 48,254 minors — have arrived in Moldovan territory since start of Russia's offensive in Ukraine.

“Here is the daily update of the refugee situation in the Republic of Moldova: more than 328,000 refugees have crossed our borders since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. Around 101K refugees are in shelters or private homes across the country, including 48,254 minors,” Popescu reported on his Twitter account.

08:09: There are no humanitarian corridors enabled this Monday for the evacuation of the population in the Ukrainian region of Sumy.

“Sumy region! There will be no 'green runners' in the region on March 14,” announced the head of the Sumy Regional Administration, Dimitro Zhivitsky, as reported by the Ukrainian news agency Unian.

08:00: The Australian Government announced this Monday new sanctions against 33 Russian oligarchs, prominent businessmen and their immediate relatives due to the Russian invasion in Ukraine.

“The sanctions announced today reinforce Australia's commitment to sanction those who have amassed great personal wealth and are of economic and strategic importance to Russia, including as a result of its connections with Russian President Vladimir Putin,” said the Australian Foreign Ministry in a statement.

The Ministry also detailed the names of those affected by the sanctions: “Among them are Roman Abramovich, owner of Chelsea Football Club, Alexey Miller, CEO of Gazprom, Dmitri Lebedev, President of Rossiya, Sergey Chemezov, Rostec President, Nikolay Tokarev, Transneft CEO, Igor Shuvalov, president of the Vnesheconombank and Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund.”

07:46: The Ukrainian Army has destroyed this Sunday four planes, three helicopters and a drone of Russia, as reported by the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

“During the day of March 13, the state air defense forces hit four aircraft, three helicopters and an unmanned aerial vehicle of the occupants,” said the report, as reported by Ukrainian news agency 'Unian'.

04:51: The President of Poland, Andrzej Duda, has this Sunday asked the rest of Europe to open its borders in response to the Ukrainian refugee crisis.

Duda has stated on the BBC's 'Sunday Morning' programme that his country could end up to 2.5 million Ukrainians.

It is estimated that around 1.5 million people have fled to Poland since the Russian invasion began. President Duda has called for other European countries to open their borders to what he has called the worst refugee crisis on the continent since the Second World War.

“It's definitely the biggest crisis since World War II, definitely,” Duda emphasized.

02:40: The Ministry of Health of Ukraine revealed that since Russia began its offensive completely destroyed 7 hospitals and another 104 are severely damaged. In addition, it revealed that 34 ambulances were burned, that 6 paramedics were killed and more than 12 were seriously injured.

00:40: Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky on Monday claimed NATO a no-fly zone over his country and warned that otherwise the members of the Atlantic Alliance will be attacked by Russia. “If they don't close our skies, it's only a matter of time before Russian rockets fall on their territory, onto NATO territory,” Zelensky said in a video speech. On Sunday 35 people were killed in air strikes on a military base in the west of the country, near the border with NATO member Poland.

00:30: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned early on Sunday the Russian attack near the Ukrainian border with Poland, calling for “brutality” to cease as the war approaches the gates of NATO.

“We condemn the Russian Federation's missile attack on the International Centre for the Maintenance of Peace and Security in Yavoriv, near Ukraine's border with Poland,” Blinken tweeted on Sunday.

News in development...

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