WAR IN UKRAINE: FEB 28, 2022 — Michael Bociurkiw

MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS

The economy of Ukraine could implode and the lives of millions of civilians “are simply at stake” - the stark message just now from the United Nation’s relief chief Martin Griffiths (further documented in my Tweets).
The humanitarian situation in Ukraine is worsening. I have pasted in below a screen shot below my twitter post today as well as an upload of a video of people in Kyiv, able to got outside after the curfew was lifted, to get food. Despite the assurances of local authorities, store shelves are quickly becoming depleted. Bread lines with hundreds of people were seen in Kharkiv.
Talks between Russia and Ukraine, hosted by Belarus, lasted several hours aimed at achieving a ceasefire. They ended with a pledge to continue negotiations. Expectations were low before they even got underway. During the talks a heavy Russian strike on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s largest city, caused widespread death, injuries and destruction. “It was like going to negotiate with a neighbour but they bring a gun to the table,” I told BBC Persian.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is experiencing an unprecedented surge in popularity due to his handling of the crisis, told the nation today that the next few hours are critical. Western media reported at about 18:00 local time of a kilometres-long column of Russian armoured vehicles headed towards Kyiv
Hungary has banned the passage of weapons headed to Ukraine through its territory. Expect it to tighten its borders to Ukrainian migrants
U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price says a joint task force created “to further politically and financially to block Russia.” Says the Kremlin will face “massive costs.”
Mr. Zelensky today signed a European Union membership application. “This is the choice of the Ukrainian people. We more than deserve it,” Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said in a Tweet. Ukrainian parliamentarians are also working on an appeal to remove Russia from the U.N. Security Council and prepping legislation to freeze Russian assets in Ukraine (which are significant in value and number, including banks), M.P. Kira Rudik said in a Tweet.
As people flee other parts of Ukraine, the western city of Lviv is quickly becoming congested. All hotels are fully booked.
Russian airlines, particularly flag carrier Aeroflot, are finding it much more difficult to maintain their network. With the carriers banned from the airspace of more than 30 countries, including the European Union and the United Kingdom, reaching countries which still extend landing rights has become challenging. A Moscow-bound Aeroflot flight from the U.S. violated Canadian airspace over the weekend, prompting Ottawa to launch a probe. Meanwhile, Russia has closed off its airspace to the airspace of 36 countries - depriving it of badly-needed foreign currency. Russian airspace is among the most expensive in the world for carriers overflying the country. As a result, Air Canada has to re-route some Asia-bound flights and that means new “technical stops” in places like Dublin for the journey back to Canada.
As Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, Google has temporarily disabled Google Maps live traffic data in Ukraine following reports that the tool could be used to track the movements of civilians and troops. The search giant has also demonetized ads from Russian state media outlets amid mounting pressure on tech companies to "take tougher line against Russia."
And finally, aside from enjoying a huge popularity boost at home, Mr. Zelensky, often seen dressed in army clothing and unshaven, is apparently sending hearts aflutter globally. Tweeted a senior staffer at the UK Parliament, Emma Salisbury: “Every woman in your life now has at least a small crush on Volodymyr Zelenskyy and there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it.”

Kyiv residents queuing up for food as a curfew ends in the Ukrainian capital.

Meanwhile, people are continuing to seek safer ground outside of the major cities and outside of Ukraine. Some estimates put the potential number of people crossing into Poland and other neighbouring European countries at 5-million, though I expect that to be higher. At least half-a-million are said to have fled so far but that number is probably an under-estimate as well.

In the video below, my friend and BBC correspondent Fergal Keane shows how women and children have ben exposed to terrible conditions at the Lviv train station.