Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

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© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A rescuer walks through debris at the site of a bombing at a shopping center as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine March 21, 2022. REUTERS/Marko Djurica/File Photo
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(Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has urged the West to give Ukraine tanks, planes and missiles to fend off Russian forces as his government said Moscow’s forces were targeting the country’s fuel and food depots.

FIGHTING

* Russia is trying to split Ukraine in two to create a Moscow-controlled region after failing to take over the whole country, the head of Ukrainian military intelligence said.

* The Russian-backed eastern Ukrainian rebel region of Luhansk said it may hold a referendum on joining Russia, drawing a warning from Kyiv that any such vote would have no legal basis and trigger a stronger international response.

* Russia continued its “full-scale armed aggression”, while Ukrainian forces had repulsed seven attacks in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said.

TALKS AND DIPLOMACY

* The next round of face to face talks between Ukraine and Russia will take place in Turkey on March 28-30, Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia said on social media.

* Top American officials said the United States does not have a policy of regime change in Russia, ramping up efforts to clarify President Joe Biden’s statement that Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power.”

* French President Emmanuel Macron called for restraint in both words and actions in dealing with the Ukraine conflict, following Biden’s remarks.

* Turkey and other nations must still talk to Russia to help end the war in Ukraine, Turkey’s presidential spokesman said, adding that Kyiv needed more support to defend itself.

CIVILIANS

* The United Nations human rights office said 1,119 civilians had so far been killed and 1,790 wounded since Russia began its attack on Ukraine.

* Ukraine has asked the International Committee of the Red Cross not to open a planned office in Russia’s Rostov-on-Don, saying it would legitimise Moscow’s “humanitarian corridors” and the abduction and forced deportation of Ukranians.

ECONOMY, BUSINESS

* Privately-owned French retailer Auchan plans to maintain its presence in Russia, its CEO said in an interview published in the French newspaper Journal du Dimanche, prompting Ukraine to call for a boycott of the international chain.

* India is leaning toward continuing to import coking coal from Russia, the steel minister said, seeming to buck a global trend to shun Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

QUOTES

* “More than a month has passed since the invasion of Ukraine, since the start of this cruel and senseless war, which, like every war, is a defeat for everyone, for all of us,” Pope Francis said, speaking to thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square (NYSE:SQ) for his Sunday blessing.