Ukrainian Television Channels Knocked out by Russian Bombing, Talks to Resume on Wednesday

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, March 1: Even as the second round of talks between Russia and Ukraine is planned for Wednesday, the Ukrainian televisions channels across the country went off the air on Tuesday evening after Russia blew of the TV tower in the capital city of Kyiv.

Earlier, Russian defence ministry had said it was planning to launch “high precision strikes” in Kyiv and asked its residents to leave. Russia had issued a warning that it would strike Kyiv’s security service HQ with ‘high-precision weapons.’ Residents living close by were asked to evacuate. Russia said it would launch a strike against the ‘Centre for Information and Psychological Operations’ in the Ukrainian capital to suppress the number of information attacks on various state institutions and Russian citizens.

Moscow has issued warnings for residents who live in close proximity to communications towers near the headquarters in the centre of Kyiv to evacuate their homes for their own safety.

The Russian sources said the two sides had agreed to resume talks on Wednesday for stopping the war after the first round of talks on Monday failed to yield any concrete results except reaching an agreement to “keep talking.” The first round of talks held in the border town of Gomel in Belarus on Monday lasted for nearly five hours. The representatives of Russia and Ukraine seemed to have “agreed on certain things.” Now, the representatives will consult their heads of government before returning to the table for another round of discussions, Russian media reported on Tuesday.

Russian shelling pounded the central square in Ukraine’s second-largest city and other civilian targets Tuesday and the Russian armed convoy was inching close to the Ukrainian capital city of Kyiv on Tuesday as Ukraine’s embattled president accused Moscow of resorting to terror tactics to press Europe’s largest ground war in generations.

With the Kremlin increasingly isolated by tough economic sanctions that have tanked the rouble currency, Russian troops advanced on Ukraine’s two biggest cities. In strategic Kharkiv, an eastern city with a population of about 1.5 million, videos posted online showed explosions hitting the region’s Soviet-era administrative building and residential areas. A maternity ward relocated to a shelter amid shelling.

The Ukrainian President called the attack on Kharkiv’s main square “frank, undisguised terror,” blaming a Russian missile and calling it a war crime. “Nobody will forgive. Nobody will forget. … This is state terrorism of the Russian Federation.” As the fighting reached beyond military targets on Day 6 of a Russian invasion that has shaken the 21st century world order, reports emerged that Moscow has used cluster bombs on three populated areas. If confirmed, that would mean the war has reached a worrying new level. Russia, however, has refuted the claim.

The European Parliament, meanwhile, accepted Ukraine’s application to join the European Union on Tuesday. A special admission procedure has begun and it will take place at 9 pm (IST). The development comes after the Ukrainian president  Volodymyr Zelensky virtually addressed the European Parliament. In his address, Zelensky pointed out how all the countries of the block were unified and expressed his desire for Ukraine to be a part of it. He urged the EU countries to prove that it sided with Ukraine in its war with Russia. “The EU is going to be much stronger with us, that’s for sure,” he said.

In Delhi, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday convened another high-level meeting in the wake of the killing of an Indian student in Russian shelling in Kharkiv. The meeting was attended by Union ministers S Jaishankar and Piyush Goyal and foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla among others. The PM has been holding similar meetings over the past few days as the government undertakes a massive evacuation process to bring back stranded Indians from the war-hit nation.

Earlier, Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, mourning the death of the India student, who hailed from Karnataka said all efforts would be made to bring the deceased’s body back to the country. He further said two persons were with the deceased at the time of shelling. “One of them also got injured. They are also from Chalageri and Ranebennur taluk of Haveri district,” Bommai said. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s ambassador to India Igor Polikha paid a visit to the ministry of external affairs (MEA). “I extend my deepest condolences on the death of the Indian student in Kharkiv. Earlier, shelling and bombings happened on military sites, but now also happening in the civil areas, Polikha said.

According to reports, Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, saw at least 10 deaths and injuries to 35 people during the day in rocket strikes by Russian forces. In a social media post, interior ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko said the toll could rise as debris was being cleared.