WAR IN UKRAINE: March 10,2022
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS (Day 15):
A mass grave in the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol. Credit: Evegeniy Maloletka
In Mariupol, mass graves have been photographed by Associated Press photographer Evgeniy Maloletka. City officials saying there are so many bodies that there is no where else to place them. At least 1,300 civilians have been killed in Mariupol since the Russian invasion began, an adviser to the city's mayor said Wednesday. "Really, we can't calculate how many deaths we have — I mean three to four times more. We are not even able to count how many people on the streets have been killed by bombing and artillery," Mariupol's deputy mayor, Sergei Orlov told CNN. "We do not know how many, because we cannot collect all the bodies and we cannot count."
To deal with the sheer number of bodies, city workers dug a deep trench over 75 feet (22 meters) long inside a graveyard and laid to rest the bodies of soldiers and civilians who had been killed during repeated attacks by Russian forces.
Evgeniy Maloletka, a photojournalist with the AP who captured the scene, said some of the bodies are "brought wrapped in carpets or plastic bags." "Forty came Tuesday, another 30 so far Wednesday," he added.
The deputy mayor of the besieged city of Mariupol in southern Ukraine has told the BBC, three people - including one child - were killed when Russia bombed a maternity hospital on Wednesday. At least seventeen others were reportedly injured, some of whom included pregnant women. "I'm absolutely sure they know about this facility and this is their third hospital that they are destroying in this city," Sergei Orlov told the BBC.
Ukraine and Russia's foreign ministers have arrived in Turkey for peace talks, however by around 10:00GMT, CNN reported that it had ended without an agreement on humanitarian corridors or a ceasefire. Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he raised the prospect of establishing a humanitarian corridor to allow civilians to flee from the besieged city of Mariupol, but “unfortunately Minister Lavrov was not in a position to commit himself to it.”
The US warns that Russia could be planning a chemical or biological attack in Ukraine
Britain is set to send the world’s most advanced anti-aircraft missile system to Ukraine, the Defence Secretary has announced. Designed to destroy fighter jets and helicopters, Starstreak is the fastest short-range surface-to-air missile developed, reports The Telegraph.
The US House of Representatives has passed a $13.6bn aid plan for Ukraine, while the IMF has approved $1.4bn in emergency funding (BBC)
A map showing the extent of Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine as of March 9, 2022
A serious backlash against the UK Government has been triggered after it emerged that the Home Office is unable to accommodate about 10,000 applications from Ukrainians applying to join relatives in the UK. MPs have criticised the Home Office for a slow response to the flight of more than two million people from Ukraine, saying those seeking sanctuary are being held up by bureaucracy or turned away.
Sting: “I’ve only rarely sung this song in the many years since it was written, because I never thought it would be relevant again. But, in the light of one man’s bloody and woefully misguided decision to invade a peaceful, unthreatening neighbor, the song is, once again, a plea for our common humanity. For the brave Ukrainians fighting against this brutal tyranny and also the many Russians who are protesting this outrage despite the threat of arrest and imprisonment - We, all of us, love our children. Stop the war.”