Ukraine officials say 300 feared dead in Mariupol theater strike — live updates

Ukrainian officials have said around 300 people might have died after last week's Russian strike on a theater in the port city of Mariupol being used as a shelter by many hundreds of people.

"From eyewitnesses, information is emerging that about 300 people died in the Drama Theatre of Mariupol following strikes by a Russian aircraft," Mariupol city hall wrote on Telegram.

Ukrainian officials reported in the past days that attempts to rescue those trapped in the basement of the theater had been hampered by a lack of emergency services and constant bombardment by Russian forces.

New attempt to evacuate Mariupol: Ukrainian deputy PM

Ukraine hopes that some civilians currently trapped in the southern port city of Mariupol will be able to leave in private cars on Friday, according to Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.

Several attempts to create humanitarian corridors out of the city, which has been under constant attack from surrounding Russian forces, have failed. Civilians in the city are reportedly suffering for food, power and water shortages.

Vereshchuk said buses would be waiting in the nearby city of Berdiansk to take those who succeeded in leaving Mariupol to the city of Zaporizhzhia.

"We will do everything in our power so that buses filled with Mariupol residents reach Zaporizhzhia today," she said.

Germany plans to halve Russian oil imports by summer

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck says Germany will be able to greatly reduce its dependence of Russian coal, gas and oil in the coming weeks.

He said Russian oil would drop to 25% from 35% of oil imports and those of Russian coal would fall by a current 50% of Germany's total to 25%.

He also said that Germany expects to become independent of Russian gas by mid-2024.

To this end, he said the government had secured the use of three "floating'' terminals capable of regasifying liquefied natural gas (LNG) brought in by ship and is involved in building permanent LNG terminals for long-term imports.

US to supply additional LNG to Europe

The United States and the European Union have announced a plan to reduce the bloc's reliance on Russian fossil fuels.

Under the deal, the US will increase its liquified natural gas (LNG) exports to Europe by 15 billion cubic meters this year, the White House said.

The initiative is to be unveiled by US President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Global food prices could keep rising: Ukraine's agriculture minister

Ukraine's new agriculture minister has said global food prices would continue to rise if the situation in Ukraine following Russia's invasion did not change.

Mykola Solskyi, who was appointed on Thursday after the sudden resignation of his predecessor, said Ukraine's grain stocks for export amount to $7.5 billion (€6.8 billion). He did not say what the volume of grains for export was.

Ukraine is one of the world's biggest grain exporters.

The former agriculture minister, Roman Leshchenko, stepped down on Thursday, citing health reasons. Two days previously, he said he expected Ukraine's spring crop area might be halved this year to only 7 million hectares (17.3 million acres).

Russian forces pushed back up to 35 km east from Kyiv: UK intelligence

According to British intelligence, Ukrainian forces have succeeded in recapturing towns and defensive positions from invading Russian forces up to 35 kilometers (22 miles) east of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

A report from the British Defense Ministry on Friday said Ukrainian troops were also likely to continue pushing back Russian forces on the northwestern axis from Kyiv toward the Hostomel Airfield, some 26 kilometers from the capital. It was captured by Russian forces on February 25 at the start of Moscow's invasion.

Russian forces in the south of Ukraine were still seeking to circumvent the city of Mykolaiv as they try to move in on Odesa, with fierce Ukrainian resistance and supply issues impeding their progress, according to the report.

Almost half of people in Germany want Ukraine in the EU: Survey

The number of people in Germany who are in favor of Ukraine joining the EU has risen by 16% since 2018, a YouGov survey has shown.

Forty-six percent of those asked would now like to see Ukraine in the bloc.

The survey also showed a clear reduction in the number of people opposed to the country's EU membership, with just 30% against compared with 47% in 2018.

Other countries are showing similar trends, with 42% of people in France in favor of Ukraine's EU accession (2018: 22%), 60% in Spain and 45% in Italy. The percentage of those who are undecided remains fairly high in all the countries included in the survey at 24-29%.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged that his country be quickly accepted into the bloc amid Russia's invasion and has signed a formal application. But several EU countries, including Germany, have spoken out against fast-tracking Ukraine's bid for membership.

Some Russian military units withdrawing after heavy losses: Ukrainian general staff

A number of Russian military units have withdrawn behind the Russian border after suffering the loss of more than half their personnel, the Ukrainian general staff has said.

According to Oleksiy Arestovych, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy, the front lines between Ukrainian and Russian troops have become "practically frozen."

The general staff said Russian troops were continuing to blockade the large cities of Kharkiv and Sumy and also seemed to be preparing for a new offensive in Izyum in the Kharkiv region.

The information cannot be independently verified.

US to announce increased gas shipments to Europe

US President Joe Biden is expected to announce increased shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe, with the aim of weaning the continent off Russian energy.

Biden plans to discuss this issue with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday.

Earlier this week, von der Leyen said "we are aiming at having a commitment for additional supplies for the next two winters."

According to sources cited by Reuters, Biden promised the US would deliver an additional 15 billion cubic meters of LNG to Europe this year.

Almost 40% of the EU's natural gas currently comes from Russia.

Ex-President Medvedev says sanctions will 'consolidate' Russian society

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's security council and former president, said that it is "foolish" to believe that Western sanctions could have an effect on the Kremlin.

Sanctions on Russian businesses will not cause popular discontent with the authorities, he told the RIA news agency, adding that they will instead lead citizens to support the government.

"It seems to me that those who make these decisions [to impose sanctions] don't understand our mentality; they don't understand the Russian worldview," Medvedev said. 

"This isn't pressure on big business and entrepreneurs, but pressure on absolutely everyone [in Russia]," he underlined, adding that this will lead to the "consolidation of Russian society."

The Kremlin has described Western sanctions as an "economic war" against Russia.

Medvedev served as Russia's president from 2008 to 2012 and as prime minister from 2012 to 2020.

Ukraine's Zelenskyy speaks of 'peace' and 'victory'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address that his country was getting closer to "peace" and "victory."

"The country must move toward peace, move forward. With every day of our defense, we are getting closer to the peace that we need so much," Zelenskyy said.

"We are getting closer to victory."

"We need to look for peace," Zelenskyy stressed, adding that "Russia also needs to look for peace."

Ukraine's president said that he had spoken with NATO and EU leaders and that they had promised to impose more sanctions on Russia.

Russia will emerge weaker from Ukraine conflict — Pentagon official

US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl said that Russia will be weakened as a result of its invasion of Ukraine.

"I think with a high degree of certainty that Russia will emerge from Ukraine weaker than it went into the conflict," Kahl said.

"Militarily weaker, economically weaker, politically and geopolitically weaker, and more isolated," he added.

Kahl said that Russia is likely to increase its use of unguided bombs and artillery in Ukraine as it runs out of precision-guided munitions.

Biden to visit town in Poland near Ukraine border

The White House said that US President Joe Biden will visit a city in Poland near the Ukrainian border on Friday.

The city in question is Rzeszow in Poland's southeast, which lies some 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of the country's border with Ukraine. Until now the White House had not disclosed specifics of the president's Poland trip. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also visited Rzeszow on March 5 as he traveled to Poland to show support for NATO's eastern flank countries.

EU leaders call for Ukraine recovery fund

EU leaders have called for a solidarity fund to be set up for Ukraine's economic recovery, according to a joint statement.

The statement from the 27 EU member states was published late on Thursday following two days of talks.

The fund is to support Ukraine to recover from the "destruction and enormous losses" inflicted on the country by Russia during the war.

The statement also called for an international donor conference to support Ukraine after "the Russian onslaught has ceased."

Furthermore, EU leaders pledged to support the Ukrainian government "for its immediate needs."

Summary of events in Ukraine-Russia crisis on Thursday

During a press conference in Brussels on Thursday, US President Joe Biden asserted that NATO is more united than ever amid Russia's ongoing invasion. He announced over $2 billion (€1.8 billion) military aid for Ukraine and $1 billion in assistance for Ukrainians impacted by the war.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Facebook that a total of 3,343 people were evacuated from Ukrainian cities via humanitarian corridors on Thursday.

The Canadian government said it would increase oil exports by roughly 5% as countries forgo Russian energy due to the attack on Ukraine.

Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called on Belarusian troops to not get involved in Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Ukrainian lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in support of a measure to punish citizens who help Russian forces. Ukrainian collaborators could face up to 12 years in prison under the new law.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said that the battlefront is "practically frozen." He said Russian forces are "practically at a standstill" and claimed Russian troops lack the resources to advance their offensive.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reportedly told reporters in Brussels that Russia and Ukraine are in agreement on technical issues during peace talks, but said the two countries are divided on territorial issues such as the Crimean Peninsula.

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