Moscow, Mar. 6: Russia’s defence ministry said late on Saturday that it has resumed “offensive actions” in Ukraine after announcing a ceasefire earlier in the day to allow residents of two besieged cities to evacuate. The ministry also said that Russian forces in a wide offensive in Ukraine have taken several towns and shot down four Ukrainian Su-27 Jets, Interfax report stated.
Earlier on Saturday, the Russian defense ministry had said in a statement that it had agreed on evacuation routes with Ukrainian forces to allow civilians to leave the strategic port of Mariupol in the southeast and the eastern town of Volnovakha “from 10 am Moscow time”. But the ceasefire collapsed later, with the Russian defence ministry saying that the offensive has resumed.
While a vast Russian armoured column threatening Ukraine’s capital remained stalled outside Kyiv, the shelling in Mariupol showed Russia’s determination to cut Ukraine off from access to the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, further damaging the country’s economy.
Putin warns 3rd parties against creating Ukraine no-fly zone: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that Moscow would consider any third-party declaration of a no-fly zone over Ukraine as “participation in the armed conflict”.
Speaking at a meeting with female pilots on Saturday, Putin said Russia would view “any move in this direction” as an intervention that “will pose a threat to our service members”. “That very second, we will view them as participants of the military conflict, and it would not matter what members they are,” the Russian president said.
Putin accused Ukraine of sabotaging the evacuation and even claimed Ukraine’s leadership was calling into question the future of the country’s statehood, saying that “If this happens, it will be entirely on their conscience.”
Before Russia announced the cease-fire, Ukraine had urged Moscow to create humanitarian corridors to allow children, women and the older adults to flee the fighting, calling them “question No. 1.”
Russia ready for 3rd round talks: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Saturday said Russia was ready for a third round of talks on that and other issues, but he asserted that “the Ukrainian side, the most interested side here, it would seem, is constantly making up various pretexts to delay the beginning of another meeting.”
Zelenskiy asks for aircraft during call with US senators: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a “desperate plea” to provide Russian-made aircraft to Ukraine during a call with U.S. senators on Saturday, said the chamber’s majority leader, Chuck Schumer. “These planes are very much needed. And I will do all I can to help the administration to facilitate their transfer,” Schumer.

The entire staff of a Russian television channel resigned live on-air after declaring “no to war” in the final telecast. The decision was taken by the staff of TV Rain (Dozhd) after Russian authorities suspended its operations over its coverage of Ukraine war.
Natalia Sindeyeva, one of the channel’s founders, said “No to war” in its last telecast as the employees staged a walkout from the studio. The channel later said in a statement that it has suspended the operation “indefinitely”. The video of mass resignation was shared by writer Daniel Abrahams on LinkedIn.
After the dramatic exit of the staff, the channel played the ‘Swan Lake’ ballet video, which was shown on state-run TV channels in Russia when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. The video has now gone viral on social media. Ekho Moskvy (Echo of Moscow) radio station, one of Russia’s last remaining liberal media outlets, has also been dissolved by its board after coming under pressure over its coverage of the war in Ukraine, its editor said on Thursday.
The station, one of the leading news and current affairs channels in Russia, had been taken off the air on Tuesday though it appeared still to be broadcasting on YouTube after the board’s decision was announced.
The radio station has featured interviews with Ukrainian journalists who described the horrors of Russia’s invasion, a decision, which according to New York Times, could have crossed a line.
However, Editor-in-Chief Alexei Venediktov told news agency Reuters this week that the station would not abandon the independent editorial line that has been its hallmark for three decades, declaring: “Our editorial policies won’t change.”
The United States accused Russia on Wednesday of launching a “full war on media freedom and the truth” by blocking independent news outlets and preventing Russians from hearing news of the invasion of Ukraine.
“Russia’s government is also throttling Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram platforms that tens of millions of Russia’s citizens rely on to access independent information and opinions,” the State Department said in a statement.
Russians also used social media to connect to each other and the outside world, it added.-Agencies