Good morning all. Lauren Boland here. It’s Monday morning and we’ll be bringing you all the latest developments on the war in Ukraine as they happen.

Here’s a quick round-up at where things stand right now:

• Russian and Ukrainian negotiators will resume face-to-face peace talks today.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the country would consider declaring neutrality.
• France, Greece and Turkey are hoping to launch a “humanitarian operation” to evacuate civilians from the besieged city of Mariupol within days.
• The UN estimates that at least 1,100 civilians have died and more than 10 million have been displaced.
• The head of Ukraine’s Lugansk separatist region has indicated it may hold a referendum on becoming part of Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine could hold a referendum on neutrality and agreeing to stay out of Nato after Russian troops pull out of the country.

Speaking to independent Russian journalists, Zelenskyy said that a vote could take place within a few months after troops leave.

Russia quickly banned the interview from being published through communications regulator Roskomnadzor, which said action could be taken against outlets that took part, including “those that are foreign media outlets acting as foreign agents”.

In response, Zelenskyy called Moscow afraid of a short conversation with journalists.

“It would be funny if it weren’t so tragic,” he said, according to the Ukrainian news agency RBK Ukraina.

AP / PA Images AP / PA Images / PA Images

Negotiators from Ukraine and Russia are resuming face-to-face talks soon to try to chart a path to peace.

The talks, which are being held in Turkey, come as the two sides face a near-stalemate as Russia faces greater losses than it anticipated.

Read more about the talks here on The Journal.

Commissioner for Human Rights in Ukraine Lyudmyla Denisova has stated that 143 children have been killed and 216 injured since the beginning of Russia’s invasion.

The total tally may be higher as heavy fighting prevents access to some areas, the Kyiv Independent reports. 

The latest intelligence update from the British Ministry of Defence outlines that ongoing logistical shortages “have been compounded by a continued lack of momentum and morale amongst the Russian military and aggressive fighting by the Ukrainians”.

“Significant” new fires have broken out in the exclusion zone around the defunct Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which is occupied by Russian forces, according to Ukraine.

On Telegram, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said it is “impossible to control and extinguish fires in full due to the capture of the exclusion zone by the Russian occupation forces”.

The area around the power plant was a site of fierce battle between Russia and Ukraine in the first days of the invasion, when Russia seized control of the plant.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that 3,821,049 Ukrainians have now fled the country, an increase of 48,450 from the previous day’s figure.

Around another 6.5 million people are displaced from their homes inside Ukraine.

Evacuations along humanitarian corridors will not take place today due to intelligence reports that Russia plans to stage provocations along the routes. 

The UK and Australia are jointly sending humanitarian aid for Ukrainians displaced by the war via chartered flights.

The first of two flights will leave for Poland tomorrow carrying hygiene kits, solar lights, kitchen sets and blankets along with other basic necessities for the UN refugee agency to distribute on the ground.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the two countries are working together to support people who have had their lives destroyed by Russia’s “brutal, unprovoked invasion”.

“We call on Russia to enable safe humanitarian access and safe passage for people to flee the violence,” Truss said.

Meanwhile, also in the UK, Labour leader Keir Starmer said the British government has got the response to the Ukraine refugee crisis “completely wrong” and has acted “too slowly, they are too mean”.

Speaking to LBC radio, Starmer said that “they’ve still got this DIY package really, which is all over the place, where we hear the refugees who were supposed to be on their way here still haven’t got visas and clearance”.

He said sanctions against Russia should have gone “further and faster”.

Listen back: Oleg Ustenko, an economic adviser to Zelenskyy, calls on Europe to impose an embargo on Russian oil

The United Arab Emirates has shot down suggestions that it should increase oil production unilaterally and leave an energy alliance with Russia.

Its energy minister Suhail al-Mazrouei said that Russia, with 10 million barrels of oil a day, is an important member of the global Opec+ energy alliance and “that volume is needed today”.

“Unless someone is willing to come and bring 10 million barrels, we don’t see that someone can substitute Russia,” he said.

Europe, the US, Japan and others have been calling on oil producers in the Arab Gulf to do more to help bring down fossil fuel prices in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including an in-person visit by the UK’s Boris Johnson to the UAE and Saudi Arabia earlier this month.

That’s it from me – my colleague Jane is here to take you through the next developments.

Ukraine pausing civilian evacuations, citing Russian ‘provocations’

Ukraine has said it is pausing evacuations of civilians from war-scarred regions of the country because intelligence reports suggested invading Russian troops were planning attacks on humanitarian routes.

“Our intelligence has reported possible provocations by the occupiers on routes of humanitarian corridors. Therefore, for reasons of public safety, we are not opening humanitarian corridors today,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a statement on social media.

The Mayor of Kharkiv Ihor Terekhov has said that 30% of the city’s residents have now fled since the Russian invasion began.

Speaking during a media briefing, Terekhov also said that “in the last few days”, people have begun returning to the city to join the Territorial Defence Force.

He claimed Russian troops have destroyed 1,410 sites in the city, adding that 1,177 were residential buildings. 

Among those destroyed, he said, were 53 kindergartens, 69 schools and 15 hospitals.

⚡️A third of Kharkiv residents fled city.

Over 30% of Kharkiv resident have now left the city, according to Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov.

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) March 28, 2022

Kremlin: Biden’s comments on Putin ‘alarming’

The Kremlin has expressed concern after US President Joe Biden called the Russian leader Vladimir Putin a “butcher” over his military operation in Ukraine.

“This is a statement that is certainly alarming,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during his daily press briefing.

“We will continue closely monitoring statements of the US president,” Peskov added.

During a visit to Poland on Saturday, Biden dubbed Putin “a butcher” who “cannot remain in power”.

The White House later scrambled to deny he was seeking “regime change” in Moscow, while the Kremlin said Biden’s words could harm bilateral relations.

In the UK, Downing Street has said that it is up to the Ukrainian government to decide what approach it should take for any peace talks with Russia.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that he is ready to discuss his country’s neutrality in any talks with Moscow.

In response, the British Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The Prime Minister believes that Putin must fail in Ukraine and the sovereignty of Ukraine must be restored.

“Obviously it would be for President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian government to decide on the right approach to negotiations. We will support them in that.

“But it is not for the UK or any other country to seek to impose its will on the Ukrainian government as to what it should accept in those negotiations.”

After the White House was forced to clarify remarks by US President Joe Biden appearing to call for regime change in Moscow, the Downing Street spokesman said: “It is up to the Russian people who should be governing them.”

Russian invasion has cost Ukraine over $560 billion, economy minister says

Ukraine’s Minister of Economic Development Yulia Svyrydenko has said that the Russian invasion has cost the country “exactly” $564.9 billion so far.

In a social media post, she said that the fighting had damaged or destroyed 8,000 kilometres of roads and 10 million square metres of housing.

“It should be noted that every day, the numbers change and unfortunately they are increasing,” she said.

She gave a breakdown of the costs from the “structure of the demolition” in US dollars:

• $119 billion – infrastructure losses
• $112 billion – GDP losses in 2022
• $90.5 billion – the loss of the civilian population (she said this includes 10 million square metres of housing and 200,000 cars)
• $80 billion – the loss of enterprises and organisations
• $54 billion – the loss of direct investments in the Ukrainian economy
• $48 billion – the loss of the state budget

⚡️ Ukraine loses over $560 billion from Russian invasion.

According to Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukraine has already lost $564.9 billion because of Russia’s full-scale invasion, including $119 billion in destroyed infrastructure.

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) March 28, 2022

Russia expels three Slovakian diplomats

Moscow is expelling three Slovakian diplomats, Russia’s foreign ministry has said, in a tit-for-tat move after Bratislava expelled three Russian diplomats for espionage earlier this month.

The Russian ministry said it had summoned Slovakia’s ambassador to Moscow and told him three diplomats were now persona non grata “as a retaliatory measure”.

Top Russian independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta suspends publication

Russia’s top independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, whose chief editor was last year awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, has said it is suspending publication until the end of Moscow’s military action in Ukraine

In a statement shared on its website, the editors of the newspaper said they had received “another warning” from Roskomnadzor, Russia’s media regulator.

“We are suspending publication of the newspaper on our website, on social media and in print – until the end of the ‘special operation in Ukraine’,” the statement said.

Russia’s parliament passed a law earlier this month that imposes a prison sentence of up to 15 years for spreading what it considers intentionally “fake” news about the country’s invasion of Ukraine, which the Kremlin refers to as a “special operation”.

Russian demand for gas payment in rubles ‘not acceptable’ to G7

The G7 has dismissed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demand to pay for gas in rubles, with German Economy Minister Robert Habeck saying the bid showed Putin had his “back against the wall”.

“All G7 (energy) ministers agreed that this is a unilateral and clear breach of the existing agreements,” said Habeck, whose country holds the G7 presidency. “Payment in rubles is not acceptable and… we call on the companies concerned not to comply with Putin’s demand.”

Putin would not have made the demand if he didn’t feel he had his “back against the wall”, Habeck added.

Alexander Rodnyansky, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Kyiv was opposed to “slicing up our country” in any peace talks with Russia.

The assistant professor of economics at Cambridge University, put to him that Ukraine might have to give up land in the east to end the conflict, told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme: “That’s not clear. Right now, the pressure is on Russia and we don’t know what is going to happen within Russia at some point if this continues.

Clearly they can’t sustain this war for years and their morale is so low that they cannot even keep up the supplies and logistics, so I wouldn’t say that is a given whatsoever.

We’re certainly not willing to give up any territory or talk about our territorial integrity.

He added: “If you ask the people who live in these areas, they wouldn’t want to live in Russia, so how can we leave them, let alone the whole idea of just slicing up our country?”

Rodnyansky said Ukraine was open to signing a neutrality agreement but stressed that security guarantees would need to be offered by other nations – possibly Nato members – in the event “our security or territorial integrity is threatened”.

Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney has spoken to his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba.

In a tweet, Coveney said Kuleba updated him on the current situation in Ukraine and the new round of peace talks, which are set to take place in Turkey tomorrow.

Good conversation with @DmytroKuleba this morning. He updated me on the current situation and the new round of Peace talks in Turkey. He thanked #Ireland for our ongoing strong support on all levels. #StandWithUkraine

— Simon Coveney (@simoncoveney) March 28, 2022

Carlsberg and Heineken to pull out of Russia

Carlsberg headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Danish brewer Carlsberg has announced that it will pull out entirely from Russia, one of its main markets where it has 8,400 employees, over the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

The move follows a “strategic review” of Carlsberg’s Russian operations, which was announced on 9 March.

“Based on this review, we have taken the difficult and immediate decision to seek a full disposal of our business in Russia, which we believe is the right thing to do in the current environment. Upon completion we will have no presence in Russia,” the company said in a statement.

We deeply regret the consequences of this decision for our 8,400 employees in Russia. Until the completion of the process, we will maintain the recently announced reduced level of operations to sustain the livelihoods of these employees and their families. Any profits generated during the humanitarian crisis will be donated to relief organisations.

Our thoughts are with the people of Ukraine and we call for peace to be urgently restored.

It follows Dutch brewer Heineken’s announcement that it is pulling out of Russia in a move that it said will cost it around €400 million.

The beer company, which employs 1,800 people in Russia, had already halted the sale and production of its Heineken brand in Russia, and suspended new investments and exports to the country earlier this month.

It said in a statement:

Following the previously announced strategic review of our operations, we have concluded that Heineken’s ownership of the business in Russia is no longer sustainable nor viable in the current environment. As a result, we have decided to leave Russia.

We aim for an orderly transfer of our business to a new owner in full compliance with international and local laws.

 The company said that it will “not profit” from any transfer of ownership and expects impairment charges to total €400 million.

It added that it will guarantee the salaries of its 1,800 workers in Russia will be paid until the end of 2022.

Heineken is the third largest brewer in Russia, where it makes the Zhigulevskoe and Oxota brands for the local market

That’s it from me, Jane Moore, for now.

My colleague Gráinne Ní Aodha will take you through the latest developments for the next while. 

Hello, Gráinne here, coming to you with the latest. 

The headlines:

• Mayor of Irpin, a town on the outskirts of Kyiv, has said that the city has been liberated from Russian forces after weeks of fighting. This comes after reports in the past few days that the Russian forces are being pushed back from Kyiv.
• The Kremlin says previous rounds of talks have made little progress, with no “significant achievements or breakthroughs” so far.
• And, after Putin announced last week that Russia would only accept payments in rubles for natural gas deliveries to “unfriendly countries”, which includes all of the European Union, the G7 said that this would be unacceptable, and that it showed Putin’s back was “against the wall”. 

If you want to know more about the main photo on the Liveblog: A soldier smokes a cigarette near the frontline in Brovary, on the outskirts of Kyiv.

AP / PA Images AP / PA Images / PA Images

Oleksandr Riaboi, aged 70, talks to reporters next to a destroyed Russian tank near the front line in Brovary.

Rodrigo Abd Rodrigo Abd

The Economist carried out an exclusive interview with Volodymyr Zelenskyy from his war bunker in Kyiv, and there are some fascinating snippets of the Ukrainian leader.

One is when he was asked about what victory for Ukraine looks like.

He raises his eyebrows, winces and takes a full seven seconds before speaking – realising, it seems, that millions of people depend on his answer: “Victory is being able to save as many lives as possible.”

 “I didn’t expect it to be this hard,” says Zelensky. “You can’t imagine what it means or how well you’ll do as president.” The Russian attack has pushed his leadership into the unknown. He leans back in his chair: “I’m not a hero”. That is the achievement of his people, he says.

Ukraine recaptures village on outskirts of Kharkiv

Ukrainian forces have recaptured a small village on the outskirts of Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv, as Kyiv’s forces mount counterattacks against a stalling Russian invasion.

Members of the Ukrainian army were clearing and securing destroyed homes in the settlement of Malaya Rohan, about five kilometres from Kharkiv, after pushing out Russian forces.

Russian and Ukrainian troops have also been fighting for several days for control of the neighbouring town of Vilkhivka, a few kilometres further north.

In Malaya Rohan, the situation was relatively calm, AFP journalists reported, with the deep sounds of shelling in the distance.

An adviser to the head of the president’s office, Oleksiy Arestovich, said that Ukrainian forces were counter attacking against invading Russian troops in the northeast, referring to small, tactical offensives.

Biden’s budget proposal for military support for Ukraine

The US could spend $6.9 billion to help Ukraine fend off Russia’s invasion and support NATO member countries under a budget proposal President Joe Biden’s administration released today.

The funds would represent Washington’s latest allocation of defense aid after Russia’s shock invasion of its neighbor last month, and would be used to “enhance the capabilities and readiness of US forces, NATO allies, and regional partners in the face of Russian aggression,” the White House said.

A plea from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine

Getting no local support in Ukraine, Russian invaders abduct elected local leaders, activists, and journalists. Join the Day of Action by Ukrainian human rights activists @zminaUkraine. Post names and faces of the abductees with #TheTaken hashtag. Demand their immediate release. pic.twitter.com/uA9hcz6e39

— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) March 28, 2022

At least 5,000 people have been killed in Mariupol since start of Russian invasion, a Ukrainian official has told AFP.

We’re keeping an eye on this development as it unfolds, but just so you’re aware, this is being reported by the Wall Street Journal and Bellingcat:

Bellingcat can confirm that three members of the delegation attending the peace talks between Ukraine and Russia on the night of 3 to 4 March 2022 experienced symptoms consistent with poisoning with chemical weapons. One of victims was Russian entrepreneur Roman Abramovich. https://t.co/DJaZ4CoL8J

— Bellingcat (@bellingcat) March 28, 2022

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that at least two senior members of the Ukrainian delegation to peace talks suffered symptoms that included red eyes, constant and painful tearing, and peeling skin on their faces and hands, according to sources.

Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich also suffered some of these symptoms, it reports. 

The piece also says that Western experts who looked into the incident said it was hard to determine whether the symptoms were caused by a chemical or biological agent or by some sort of electromagnetic-radiation attack.

Zelenskyy has been speaking with the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.

He said he informed Aliyev about new strikes at the civilian population, and the urgent necessity for green corridors was discussed. 

Held talks with President of Azerbaijan @azpresident. Informed about new strikes at the civilian population. The urgent necessity for green corridors was discussed. Thanked for the humanitarian aid and readiness to provide fuel for sowing.

— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 28, 2022

More on the poisoning reports from Shaun Walker, who covers central/eastern Europe for The Guardian:

A source with direct knowledge has just confirmed to me the WSJ/Bellingcat reports that Abramovich suffered symptoms of poisoning. "Roman lost his sight for several hours" and was treated in Turkey, the source said.

— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) March 28, 2022

Hello, Hayley Halpin here taking over from Gráinne Ní Aodha. 

I’ll bring you the latest developments for the next while. 

Irish artist Niall O’ Loughlin is auctioning a painting of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to raise money for the Irish Red Cross.

O’ Loughlin created the canvas painting of Zelenskyy, which is being auctioned at Balla Ban art gallery in Westbury Mall, Dublin, with a reserve price of €1,200.

All the proceeds will go to the Irish Red Cross Ukraine Crisis Appeal.

Frank O’Dea, who owns the Balla Ban art gallery, where the painting is on display, said it reflects the serious tone of the war.

“It was something that Niall had been looking to do, so Niall approached myself at the gallery with the intention of doing this painting,” O’Dea said.

“Niall would be a caricature artist in general, but he wanted to reflect a more serious tone with this portrait, as opposed to his more humorous ones, because of the nature of the war.

“He wanted to incorporate the Ukrainian colours within the painting and also the horror. The pain that is going on is reflected in the tear that Zelensky has in his eyes.

“The painting looks at his suffering as well as his leadership, but also the pain of what is happening in this humanitarian crisis.”

My tribute to the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. My plan is to sell this original painting with all proceeds going to the @irishredcross . This will be on display shortly in the @ballabanartgallery in Dublin #ukraine #ukrainewar #slavaukraini @zelenskiy_official pic.twitter.com/kIyRLFuwKh

— Niall O'Loughlin Artist (@nialloloughlin) March 9, 2022

Russia’s top independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, whose chief editor last year won the Nobel Peace Prize, has suspended publication until the end of Moscow’s military action in Ukraine.

“For us and, I know, for you, this is a terrible and difficult decision,” said chief editor Dmitry Muratov.

“But we need to save us for each other,” he said in a statement, indicated that it was necessary to avoid a complete shutdown of the newspaper.

Co-founded by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1993, Novaya Gazeta was the only main newspaper left voicing criticism of President Vladimir Putin and his tactics in and outside the country.

“We have received another warning from Roskomnadzor,” the newspaper said, referring to Russia’s media regulator.

“We are suspending publication of the newspaper on our website, on social media and in print – until the end of the ‘special operation in Ukraine’,” it added.

Earlier today, Novaya Gazeta staff learned of a formal warning from Roskomnadzor state communications watchdog, its second since last week.

Nadezhda Prusenkova, a Novaya Gazeta spokeswoman, told AFP that the newspaper still did not have a copy of the warning, adding they had learnt about the development “from the news”.

If a media outlet receives two warnings from the communications regulator in the space of a year, a court can shut it down.

“If we don’t stop, we will be stripped of our licence through court,” Prusenkova said.

Muratov said the formal warnings were payback for Novaya Gazeta’s coverage of the conflict and its efforts to estimate “losses and destruction”, both in Russia and Ukraine.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has said the global body is seeking a humanitarian ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.

Guterres told reporters he had asked UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths “immediately to explore with the parties involved the possible agreements and arrangements for a humanitarian ceasefire in Ukraine”.

He said he hoped Griffiths would go to both Moscow and Kyiv as soon as possible after he returns from a mission to Afghanistan.

Guterres condemned the civilian toll and displacement, as well as the destruction of Ukraine’s infrastructure and global ripple effects of the conflict that have sent food and energy prices soaring.

“This must stop,” he said, emphasising, however, that “the solution to this humanitarian tragedy is not humanitarian. It is political”.

He appealed for “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, to allow for progress in serious political negotiations”.

A cessation of hostilities would also “help to address the global consequences of this war, which risk compounding the deep hunger crisis in many developing countries” already struggling to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, he added.

Roman Abramovich Adam Davy Adam Davy

Here’s some more details on the poisoning reports: 

Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich was among a group who suffered symptoms consistent with poisoning after attending peace talks in Ukraine.

The Russian oligarch, who is involved in negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow, is understood – along with at least two Ukrainian negotiators – to have developed red eyes, constant and painful tearing, and peeling skin on their faces and hands since the meeting at the start of the month, according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

Sources told the PA news agency Abramovich had now recovered and was continuing to try to help with the negotiations.

It is understood the oligarch had been involved in talks about securing humanitarian corridors to allow Ukrainians to leave, and bringing other countries to the negotiating table.

The WSJ reported that it was believed the suspected attack had been orchestrated by hardliners in Russia who wanted to sabotage the talks.

The WSJ said Abramovich met President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the trip, but the Ukrainian leader was not affected and his spokesman had no information about the alleged incident.

A spokesman for the businessman previously said he was playing a “limited” role in trying to find a “peaceful resolution” between the two countries.

Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK Government earlier this month over his connections with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Government described him as “a prominent Russian businessman and pro-Kremlin oligarch” who is “associated with a person who is or has been involved in destabilising Ukraine and undermining and threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine” – Putin.

The Government said Abramovich had received financial benefits from the Kremlin, including tax breaks for his companies, the buying and selling of shares from and to the state at favourable rates, and contacts in the run up to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

“He is one of the few oligarchs from the 1990s to maintain prominence under Putin,” a statement said.

Abramovich has denied any association with the Russian regime.