International
Moscow says it will let Ukrainian civilians flee – to Russia
LVIV/IRPIN, Ukraine, March 7 (Reuters) – Ukrainian officials said a bread factory had been hit by a Russian air strike on Monday as the country’s negotiators assembled for talks with Russian officials after previous rounds that brought no respite in the conflict.
The bodies of at least 13 civilians were recovered from the rubble after a factory in the town of Makariv in the Kyiv region was hit, local emergency services said. Five people were rescued off the 30 believed to have been there at the time. Reuters was not immediately able to verify the reported attack.
Russia earlier offered Ukrainians escape routes to Russia and its close ally Belarus on Monday after weekend evacuation ceasefire attempts failed. In the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, hundreds of thousands of people remained trapped without food and water under regular bombardments.
A Ukrainian negotiator urged Russia to stop its assault on Ukraine, which the United Nations said had sent 1.7 million people fleeing to Central Europe.
“In a few minutes, we will start talking to representatives of a country that seriously believes large-scale violence against civilians is an argument,” Ukrainian negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter. “Prove that this is not the case.”
Under the Russian offer, a corridor from the capital Kyiv would lead to Russia’s ally Belarus, while civilians from Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second biggest city, would be directed to Russia, according to maps published by the RIA news agency.
“Attempts by the Ukrainian side to deceive Russia and the whole civilised world…are useless this time,” the Russian defence ministry said after announcing the “humanitarian corridors”.
A spokesperson for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the Russian proposal was “completely immoral”.
“They are citizens of Ukraine, they should have the right to evacuate to the territory of Ukraine,” the spokesperson said.
A day earlier, Reuters journalists had witnessed people trying to flee the town of Irpin near Kyiv getting caught in Russian shelling.
On Monday people picked their way over the twisted ruins of a large bridge in Irpin, with river water rushing just beneath them.
“It’s like a disaster. The city is almost ruined and the district where I’m living (there are) no houses which were not bombed,” a young woman leaving with her children told Reuters.
Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians. It calls the campaign it launched on Feb. 24 a “special military operation” to disarm Ukraine and remove leaders it describes as neo-Nazis. Ukraine and its Western allies call this a transparent pretext for an invasion to conquer a nation of 44 million people.
Twelve Turkish soldiers have died after inhaling methane gas during a mission in a cave in northern Iraq, the Turkish Ministry of National Defense announced on Monday. The incident occurred on Sunday during an operation to recover the remains of a soldier who went missing in the cave in 2022 after being killed by Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters.
“Four other of our heroic comrades in arms, affected by methane gas, have died … bringing the total number of victims to 12,” the ministry stated in a post on X. Nineteen soldiers were exposed to the gas inside a site previously used as a hospital by armed fighters. The condition of the remaining seven soldiers was not immediately clear, though Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya wished them a speedy recovery on X.
The soldiers were conducting a sweep operation inside a cave at an altitude of 852 meters (2,795 feet) in the Metina region. This mission is part of Turkiye’s ongoing Operation Claw-Lock, which targets PKK positions in northern Iraq. The PKK is designated as a terrorist group by Turkiye, the European Union, and the United States.
While methane gas is not considered toxic, it can be deadly in confined spaces due to the risk of suffocation. The ministry has not yet clarified how the gas accumulated inside the cave.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his “great sorrow” over the incident and extended condolences to the families of the fallen soldiers. Defense Minister Yasar Guler has traveled to the area to oversee inspections and attend ceremonies for the deceased.
Japan has conducted its first-ever land-to-ship missile test within its own territory, a move the Ministry of Defense described as “extremely important for enhancing military capability in the current difficult security situation.”
The ‘Type-88’ missile was test-fired by the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) from a military base on the northern island of Hokkaido on Tuesday (local time), hitting an area off the Pacific coast, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP). Traditionally, Japan has conducted such live-fire drills at U.S. military bases, but these are often expensive and involve a limited number of personnel. The decision to conduct drills domestically comes as a weaker Japanese Yen has further increased these costs.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi stated in a Wednesday press briefing that conducting live-fire exercises at home allows for the training of a greater number of troops and aids in the defense of islands and other areas. While he maintained the exercise was not directed at any specific country, Japan has previously identified China as its “biggest security threat.”
Experts suggest that Beijing’s push for regional dominance, particularly its assertive stance on Taiwan, has led Japan to significantly alter its defense strategy. Japan is currently working towards a long-term plan to increase its defense budget to 2% of GDP, aligning with NATO standards. Concurrently, it is strengthening its military alliance with the United States to enable a swift response to regional tensions and potential threats.
US President Donald Trump has issued a stern warning to Israel, urging an immediate halt to its airstrikes on Iran and declaring that both nations have broken the ceasefire agreement brokered by the United States and Qatar.
Speaking at a White House briefing on Tuesday, Mr Trump said he was “really unhappy” with Israel’s continued military action, calling on the country to “bring your pilots home, now.”
Tensions have escalated sharply in recent days following Israel’s attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, prompting Iran to launch missile strikes on a US military base in Qatar in retaliation.
Israel’s Defence Minister, Israel Katz, announced “intense strikes” on Tehran in response to what he described as Iranian violations of the truce. Iran, however, denies breaching the agreement and has warned it is prepared to respond “decisively” to further Israeli actions.
The conflict has already resulted in heavy casualties. Iranian officials report that more than 400 people, including 13 children, have been killed since Israel began its offensive on June 13. An additional 3,056 people have been injured, according to Iranian sources. In Israel, at least 24 people have died as a result of Iranian strikes.
The ceasefire, intended to reduce tensions in the region, now appears to be in tatters, with the US struggling to rein in both allies and adversaries.
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