Russia orders cadets into Ukraine, sends more mercenaries after Zelenskyy: LIVE UPDATES

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said on Sunday that 10 million people have either been displaced from their home in Ukraine, or have left the country.

Over 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russian President Vladimir Putin announced an invasion into the country, beginning a war that has already cost the lives of at least 902 people, but that figure is likely much higher because of unconfirmed deaths, according to the United Nations.

Officials in Europe have voiced concern that capacity is being reached in housing Ukrainian refugees.

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Ukraine has informed the IAEA that many of the staff that were forced to stay at the Chernobyl nuclear power plan amid Russia’s takeover of the facility have been allowed to return home.

A group of 46 employees rotated into the facility and started a shift Sunday, according to reporting from Fox New’s NaNa Sajaia. It is unclear how long the new employees will stay to operate the plant.

Spoke to the family, whose father was at the plant since February 24. He is now home and resting.  According to him, the group of 46 employees started their shift today, however it is unclear how long the current group will operate the plant.  

“It is a positive – albeit long overdue – development that some staff at the Chornobyl NPP have now rotated and returned to their families. They deserve our full respect and admiration for having worked in these extremely difficult circumstances,” IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said of the news.

Russian forces took control of the facility on February 24, with the staff there having to stick behind and continue to operate the plant without the ability to go home to their families.

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Ukraine’s president on Sunday called on Israel to take a stronger stand against Russia, delivering an emotional appeal that compared Russia’s invasion of his country to the actions of Nazi Germany.

In a speech to Israeli lawmakers over Zoom, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it was time for Israel, which has emerged as a key mediator between Ukraine and Russia, to finally take sides. He said Israel should follow its Western allies by imposing sanctions and providing arms to Ukraine. 

“One can ask for a long time why we can’t accept weapons from you or why Israel didn’t impose sanctions against Russia, why you are not putting pressure on Russian business,” he said. “It is your choice, dear brothers and sisters.”

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The Russian Defense Ministry has called for the surrender of Mariupol by 5am March 21, according to Russian state media, warning those authorities that remain will be  “with the bandits.”

The report also says that Russia will allow for a humanitarian corridor for civilians who wish to leave the city on Sunday, where food and medical attention will be provided to those looking to leave the city.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned of a third world war if peace talks with Russia fail during a television interview that aired Sunday.

Zelenskyy said that “any format” should be used in order to have a possibility of negotiating with Russia, in particular Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“I think that we have to use any format, any chance in order to have a possibility of negotiating, possibility of talking to Putin. But if these attempts fail, that would mean that this is a third World War,” Zelenskyy said.

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Russian Deputy Commander Deputy Commander of the Black Sea Fleet Andrey Paliy died during fighting in Ukraine, Russian state media reported Sunday.

Paliy was killed during fighting in the Mariupol region, the report said. He joins a growing list of senior Russian leaders who have died during the invasion so far, with Ukrainian officials claiming that their forces have killed at least five Russian generals.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke Sunday to Israel’s Knesset members, urging the government to take a clearer stance against Russia with more pressure and stronger sanctions.

Zelenskyy thanked Israel for playing such a vital role in mediation, but added that you can mediate between states but not between “good and evil.”

He also claimed that Moscow has used the same terminology of “final solution” and referenced the connection between Ukraine and the Jewish.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg sidestepped answering whether Russia potentially using chemical weapons in its invasion of Ukraine would spur NATO to rethink imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine. 

“It does sound like what you’re saying is you don’t have an answer yet on what the use of chemical weapons would do to NATO’s stance about Ukraine,” “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd told Stoltenberg Sunday morning. 

“Any use of chemical weapons will be a blatant and brutal violation of international law – the ban on the use of chemical weapons. At the same time we know that Russia has used chemical agents in Europe before against their own political opponents,” Stoltenberg told Todd. 

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The U.N. human rights office (OHCHR) reported Sunday that at least 902 civilians in Ukraine have been killed since the start of Russia’s invasion.

A further 1,459 civilians have been injured in that time.

The number for both is likely higher than what the U.N. has been able to record.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki announced Sunday that President Biden would visit Europe again this week.

Details of the trip, including stops, have yet to be revealed, but Psaki made clear that Biden will not visit Ukraine.

“The trip will be focused on continuing to rally the world in support of the Ukrainian people and against President Putin’s invasion of Ukraine,” Psaki wrote.

The Ukrainian defense ministry warned Sunday that another group of Russian Wagner Group mercenaries arrived in Ukraine on a mission to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and take out other high-ranking Ukrainian politicians on the fourth week since the invasion’s onset.  

“Another group of militants linked to Yevgeniy Prigozhin, a Russian propagandist close to Putin and owner of the Liga (Wagner), began arriving in Ukraine today,” the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine said in a Facebook post. 

“The main task of criminals is to eliminate the top military and political leadership of Ukraine.” 

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Ukrainian officials warned on Sunday that the Belarusian military was preparing to invade at the onset of the fifth week since Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces first descended on Ukraine last month.  

In a statement shared to Facebook, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense said there were signs that suggested the armed forces of the Republic of Belarus were preparing for a “direct invasion” of Ukrainian territory. 

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Ukraine’s Defense Ministry on Sunday claimed to have intelligence that suggested Russia has deployed more Wagner personnel in an effort to eliminate senior political and military leaders in Ukraine.

Officials said that Putin “personally” ordered the attack, which will target Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as well as Prime Minister Denis Shmigal.

But the Defense Ministry said “Ukrainian army, special services and law enforcement agencies are well-known Kremlin plans.”

“We are ready for the rest of the aggressor both in the front and in the back,” a press release said. “No terrorist attacks will succeed.”

Ukrainian defense officials claimed Sunday to have obtained documents that indicate Russia has ordered the deployment of cadets to Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly told his people that the army is not utilizing cadets, but photos of the documents posted online indicate that Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has signed an order to the contrary.

The deployment will see Yunarmia cadets aged 17 and 18 pushed to the frontlines in Ukraine.

A Senior U.S. official confirmed to Fox News that Russia did deploy more than one hypersonic missile Saturday.

Fox News correspondent Jennifer Griffin reported that officials have stressed that the use of such a weapon is not part of an escalation towards nuclear weapons.

But officials have speculated that Putin may instead be running out of precision guided missiles.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is becoming a “pariah,” an outcast, before the world stage amid his ongoing invasion of Ukraine, foreign policy experts say.

While experts believe it’s too soon to determine whether Putin will be successful in his attempts to take control of Ukraine — acknowledging that there will likely be some form of a partial victory — it is clear that the Russian dictator has done irreversible damage to his own country with the invasion.

“I think Putin’s future is grim. I think, at home, he will be under the constant threat of opposition — possibly of a coup, some kind of power grab — to remove him because even his closest allies are now seeing the problem,” said Robert English, a professor of Central European Studies at the University of Southern California. “And if they gain less by staying loyal than they would if he’s replaced, it’s just a matter of how to do it.”

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A new poll by the Rating Group found that 93% of Ukrainians believe they will defeat Russia.

Almost half of Ukrainians polled believe the war will end in the next few weeks, The Kyiv Independent reported.

And Ukrainians do not support a ceasefire unless Russia fully retreats from the country.

Russia’s “terror” unleashed on the city of Mariupol, Ukraine, this month will be “remembered for centuries to come,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy predicted Sunday.

Zelenskyy’s remarks came in his latest video statement to Ukraine’s citizens, The Associated Press reported.

The remarks coincided with Sunday reports that Russian forces had destroyed an art school building in Mariupol where as many as 400 people were believed to have sought shelter.

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The Russians bombed an art school in Mariupol where about 400 people were sheltering in the latest attack on the besieged port city, local authorities said Sunday.

It’s unclear if there were any casualties.

At least 115 children have been killed by Russian forces during the war so far, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office said Sunday. Another 140 have been injured.

A 9-year-old boy died in Kharkiv on Sunday during a Russian artillery attack. It’s unclear if he was included in the count.

The fuel behind Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rage against Ukraine probably has more spiritual and religious foundations than most pundits have acknowledged.

For religious leaders, the war in Ukraine is a top concern. 

For faith leaders in media, this conflict is not just about politics.

Dirk Smith is one of the thousands of faith leaders in media who met last week in Nashville, Tennessee, for the National Religious Broadcasters convention. 

He says Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a simple spiritual matter. 

“It’s good versus evil … It is not Russians versus Ukrainians,” Smith says. “The Russian people — they don’t want this.”

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At laest five civilians were killed by a Russian artillery attack in the eastern city of Kharkiv Sunday morning, including a 9-year-old boy, local authorities said.

The city has faced relentless attacks since the start of the war.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has been derided by world leaders as a “dangerous” and “small, feral-eyed man” as he directs the invasion of Ukraine
. But don’t tell that to Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko.

In an interview with a Japanese media outlet, Lukashenko – a Putin ally whose country borders both Russia and Ukraine and was reportedly used as a staging area for the invasion that began Feb. 24 and is now in its fourth week – described the 69-year-old former KGB agent as “a completely sane, healthy person, physically healthy – he’s an athlete.

“As they say here,” Lukashenko added about Putin, “he’ll catch a cold at all our funerals.”

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Michael Pregent weighs in on Putin reportedly detaining top Russian general.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday ordered the suspension of 11 political parties in Ukraine that have ties to Russia.

The Opposition Platform for Life is the largest with 44 out of 450 seats in parliament. The party’s leader Viktor Medvedchuk is friendly with Russian President Vladimir Putin who is the godfather of Medvedchuk’s daughter.

He also suspnded the Nashi Party led by Yevheniy Murayev who U.K. authorities previously warned Russia would try to install as the new president of Ukraine.

“given a large-scale war unleashed by the Russian Federation and links between it and some political structures, the activities of a number of political parties is suspended for the period of the martial law.” He added that “activities by politicians aimed at discord and collaboration will not succeed.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy early Sunday said Russia’s attack on the besieged city of Mariupol would be remembered for centuries for its “terror” on the residents and “war crimes” committed.

Mariupol is a strategic port city and its fall would mark a crucial advance for Russian troops who have yet to take control of a major Ukrainian city nearly a month into the war.

“To do this to a peaceful city, what the occupiers did, is a terror that will be remembered for centuries to come,” Zelenskyy said in a video address to the nation.

A Mariupol police officer in a separate video said children and the elderly are dying in the city, which has been largely without necessities like food and water since the war started.

“The city is destroyed and it is wiped off the face of the earth,” Officer Michail Vershnin said.

A Ukrainian-American couple who traveled from New York to Kyiv for business say they could not escape the Ukrainian capital city before the war broke out Feb. 24 because they welcomed a new baby just days before the Russian invasion, which prevented them from leaving. Now they’re turning to the bread business to supplement their income.

International officials “were telling people you have to leave because there is the possibility of war but my wife being nine months pregnant [made that] impossible,” said Sergii Nosenko.

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Steve Harrigan describes what was different from most other war zones following his return from Ukraine.