6, March 2022
Ukraine could cease to exist 0
Here are the latest developments in Russia’s war in Ukraine:
Fierce battles
Ukraine’s military says it is fighting “fierce battles” with Russian forces on the edge of the southern city of Mykolaiv, which controls the road to the country’s biggest port Odessa in the west.
President Volodymyr Zelensky warns that Russia is preparing to bombard the historic city near the Romanian and Moldovan borders.
Chernihiv pummelled
Dozens of civilians are being killed in the battle for Chernihiv in the north, with those who remain in the city living in craters or among the ruins. AFP has witnessed scenes of devastation.
Mariupol evacuation fails again
Attempts to evacuate civilians from the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol — which has neither power nor water — fail for a second day.
The Red Cross describes “devastating scenes of human suffering” in the battered Sea of Azov port.
Deadly and indiscriminate
The Russian push on Kyiv is becoming more deadly and indiscriminate despite Moscow’s denials that it is targeting civilian areas. People are fleeing the towns of Bucha and Irpin as they are pounded by air strikes.
Airport destroyed
A barrage of Russian missiles destroy Vinnytsia airport in central Ukraine, Zelensky says.
Refugee crisis: fastest since WWII
Ukraine is the fastest-growing refugee crisis since World War II, says the UN. More than 1.5 million people have fled into neighbouring countries since Russia invaded on February 24.
Polish jets deal
The United States says it is working on a deal with Poland to supply Ukraine with fighter jets that its pilots are trained to fly.
Zelensky had pleaded with former Warsaw Pact countries in eastern Europe to give Ukraine Russian-made warplanes.
Russia limits essential food sales
Russian shops are told to limit sales of essential foodstuffs to counter black market speculation as Western sanctions bite.
1,100 held at Russia protests
More than 1,000 people are held across Russia after new protests against the war in Ukraine, bringing to 10,000 the number arrested since the invasion began, according to a monitor.
Zelensky’s plea to US
Zelensky phones President Joe Biden after pressing US lawmakers for an embargo on Russian oil imports. The White House is against a ban for fear of driving up prices.
Putin: Ukraine could cease to exist
Russian President Vladimir Putin warns Ukraine it may cease to exist as a state if leaders “continue to do what they are doing”.
He also says countries imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine will be considered combatants, while equating sanctions with a declaration of a war.
Visa and Mastercard ban
Credit card giants Visa and Mastercard refuse to do business with Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine but Russian banks say they will use China’s UnionPay system.
Macron, Erdogan call Putin
French President Emmanuel Macron and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan hold separate telephone talks with Putin, with Turkey calling for an “urgent general ceasefire”.
Peace prospects ‘not great’
Israel’s premier Naftali Bennett says the chances of stopping fighting were “not great”, after Kyiv had asked Israel to launch a dialogue with Moscow.
Media blackout
A host of international broadcasters, including the BBC and CNN, say they will stop reporting from Russia because of a new law threatening up to 15 years in jail for “fake news” about its invasion.
Independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta says it will also have to stop its reporting of the war.
No ticket out
Russia’s flagship airline Aeroflot says it is suspending all its international flights except to Belarus.
Culled from AFP
6, March 2022
Southern Cameroons Crisis: Francophone governor urges civilians not to flee after Amba bomb Kills 7 0
Cameroon has sent military and senior civilian officials to ask residents not to flee from Ekondo Titi, an English-speaking western town where anglophone separatists this week killed seven people, including the most senior administrative official, the mayor and traditional ruler. The government says hundreds of civilians are fleeing to safer locations.
In a video, armed men identifying themselves as Ndian warriors brandish assault rifles and pledge total allegiance to what they say is their fight for the independence of Cameroon’s English-speaking western regions.
In the video, widely circulated on social media platforms including Facebook and WhatsApp, they display two assault rifles, an undisclosed amount of money and Cameroonian military uniforms.
They say the rifles, money and uniforms belonged to Cameroonian military and government officials they killed Wednesday in Ekondo Titi — a district in Ndian, an administrative unit in Cameroon’s English-speaking South-West region.
The main speaker in the video claims to be field marshal of anglophone separatists. He says fighters are developing a new modus operandi in their battle to achieve independence for Cameroon’s English-speaking western regions.
He says besides eliminating government troops, fighters have decided to target and kill all civilian workers representing Cameroon’s central government in the English-speaking western regions. He says those posted by the central government in Yaoundé should resign or refuse to work in English-speaking towns and villages.
Cameroon’s military said the video is that of fighters who killed seven people and government troops in Ekondo Titi this week.
A government release read Friday on Cameroon state radio, CRTV, said Paul Timothee Aboloa, highest government official and representative of President Paul Biya in Ekondo Titi, was among the officials killed by fighters.
The release said Nanji Kenneth, mayor of Ekondo Titi, and Ebeku William, the Ekondo Titi president of Cameroon’s ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement party, also died.
The Cameroon government Friday said hundreds of civilians, especially government workers, have escaped from Ekondo Titi since Wednesday’s separatist bomb attack.
Bernard Okallia Bilai is the governor of the South-West region, where Ekondo Titi is located. He said he was sent to Ekondo Titi on Friday to ask frightened residents to stop fleeing. Bilai spoke via a messaging app.
He said he is at the head of a delegation of top government and military officials, politicians and clerics sent to Ekondo Titi by Biya. He said the delegation is telling people of Ekondo Titi who are going through terrifying moments that Biya and government troops will crush separatists who do not surrender.
Bilai said civilians should be vigilant and report suspects and strange people in the towns and villages to government troops or administrative officials.
Officials reported in November that a separatist attack on a school in Ekondo Titi killed four students and a teacher. Hundreds of teachers and students stopped going to school.
Timothe Abolo, before he died in Wednesday’s attack, said enough security measures had been taken to protect schools, teachers, students and government workers from further attack.
Source: VOA