The latest information on the crisis in Russia and Ukraine, March 23. Click here for the latest information from March 22nd.
Ukraine states that Russia has seized rescue workers in Mariupol’s convoy
Ukrainian leaders have accused Russia of capturing 15 rescue workers and drivers from humanitarian aid and desperately trying to bring the necessary food and other supplies to the bloody port city of Mariupol.
Zelensky spoke in his evening video speech to his country late Tuesday, accusing Russian troops of interfering with the convoy, despite agreeing to the route in advance.
“We are trying to organize a stable humanitarian corridor for the inhabitants of Mariupol, but unfortunately almost all of our attempts have failed by Russian occupiers, either by artillery or deliberate terrorism.” Said Zelensky.
The Red Cross confirmed that a humanitarian convoy trying to reach the city could not enter.
According to US officials, the convoy sought to provide assistance because Russian Navy vessels participated in weeks of air strikes and land attacks on Mariupol, Russia.
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Russians destroy Chernobyl Institute: Ukrainian State Institution
Russian troops are working to destroy a new laboratory at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, especially to improve the management of radioactive waste, a Ukrainian state agency responsible for the Chernobyl off-limits area said Tuesday.
Russian troops seized a plant that was abolished at the beginning of the war. The exclusion zone is the contaminated area around the factory where the world’s worst core meltdown occurred in 1986.
State officials said the institute, which was built at a cost of € 6 million with the support of the European Commission, was opened in 2015.
The institute “contained a very active sample and a sample of radionuclides currently in the hands of the enemy, which we hope to harm itself, not the civilized world.” Authorities said in a statement.
Radionuclides are unstable atoms of chemical elements that emit radiation.
As another worrying development, Ukrainian nuclear regulators said on Monday that radiation monitors around the plant had failed.
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Zelensky says the humanitarian convoy was attacked
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that not only did Russian troops stop humanitarian aid from trying to reach Mariupol, which was desperately surrounded by necessary supplies on Tuesday, but also captured rescue workers and some bus drivers. Stated.
He said the Russians had agreed to the route in advance.
“We are trying to organize a stable humanitarian corridor for the inhabitants of Mariupol, but unfortunately almost all of our attempts have failed by Russian occupiers, either by artillery or intentional terrorism. “I did,” Zelensky said in his nightly video speech to the country.
Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said the Russians had seized 11 bus drivers and 4 rescue workers along with their cars. She said their fate was unknown. The numbers could not be confirmed immediately.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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