Russia-Ukraine war: Chernobyl high-voltage power line damaged

Multiple deaths and injuries from shelling in Ukrainian capital • Antonov aircraft plant shelled • Chernobyl power line damaged

 Rescuers work next to a residential building damaged by shelling, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine, in this handout picture released March 14, 2022. (photo credit: Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via REUTERS)
Rescuers work next to a residential building damaged by shelling, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine, in this handout picture released March 14, 2022.
(photo credit: Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via REUTERS)

Residential buildings have been bombed as the Russia-Ukraine war entered its 19th day. 

Shelling in residential Ukrainian towns

Additionally, at least one person was killed and three injured when a shell hit a residential building in Kyiv on Monday morning, state Ukrainian TV reported.

According to Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko, two people were killed and three were hospitalized.

Additionally, a nine-story apartment building in the Obolon district in Kyiv was hit and multiple stories were blown apart, according to Ukrainian state media. 

Emergency services are clearing out the space. No casualties have been reported so far. 

 An aeriel view shows an military vehicle shoot rounds next to a building, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Maripuol, Ukraine as uploaded on March 13, 2022, in this handout drone video obtained by Reuters on March 13, 2022. (credit: AZOV MARIUPOL/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)
An aeriel view shows an military vehicle shoot rounds next to a building, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Maripuol, Ukraine as uploaded on March 13, 2022, in this handout drone video obtained by Reuters on March 13, 2022. (credit: AZOV MARIUPOL/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)

The mayor of Ukraine's front line city of Kharkiv on Monday said the city had been under constant attack by Russian forces, who had fired at central districts causing an unspecified number of casualties.

"They're firing at us constantly," Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on national television.

Fighting has continued to take place in the Donetsk region, with Ukrainian sources claiming that Russians were continuing their advance towards Kharkiv. 

More than 2,500 residents of the Black Sea port city of Mariupol have been killed since the invasion began, presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said in a televised interview on Monday.

He said he was citing figures from the Mariupol city administration, and accused Russian forces of preventing humanitarian aid from reaching the encircled city on Sunday. Russia said that it does not target civilians.

As of Monday, 90 Ukrainian children have been killed, and over 100 were wounded, in the fighting so far, Ukrinform reported. 

Additionally, the Antonov aircraft plant in Kyiv has been shelled by Russian forces, the capital's administration said on Monday.

At least nine people were killed and nine more wounded in an airstrike on a television tower in Ukraine's northern Rivne region on Monday, Governor Vitaliy Koval said.

"There are still people under the rubble," he said in an online post.

Senior Ukrainian presidential official Kyrylo Tymoshenko on Monday accused Russia of blocking a humanitarian aid convoy sent to relieve the besieged port city of Mariupol.

Civilians have been trapped in Mariupol by Russian shelling for more than two weeks and have been without heating, electricity and running water for most of this time, the Ukrainian authorities say.

However, at least 160 cars left the city on Monday in the first successful attempt to evacuate civilians in a humanitarian corridor after over a week of trying.

Around 150,000 people had been evacuated through humanitarian corridors so far, Tymoshenko said.

The Separatists 

20 separatist soldiers were killed and nine were injured in fighting with Ukrainian forces in the Donetsk region, Tass reported, sourcing the military headquarters.

Chernobyl

 A satellite image shows an overview of Chernobyl, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine, March 10, 2022.  (credit: Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS )
A satellite image shows an overview of Chernobyl, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine, March 10, 2022. (credit: Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS )

A high-voltage power line to Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear plant was damaged by Russian forces not long after electricity supplies were restored to the facility, grid operator Ukrenergo said in a statement on Monday.

It did not say if all external power supply to the plant had been lost as a result of the damage, but demanded access to the area to carry out repairs.

Ukrenergo did not produce evidence of the damage or the actions of the Russian forces and Reuters was unable to independently verify the extent of the damage or the cause of it.

Russian forces occupied the plant soon after invading Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Attack on Yavoriv

The Russian attack on Ukraine's Center for International Peacekeeping and Security in Yavoriv, a military training base less than 25 kilometers from the border with NATO member Poland, was aimed at creating panic among the civilian population, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Monday, a day after the attack which killed 35 people.

"A missile attack just 20 km from our border shows how Russia operates. (Russia) wants to create panic among the civilian population," Morawiecki said at a joint media conference with his counterparts from Ukraine and Lithuania.

Mercenaries

More than 1,000 Syrian refugees were recruited by Russia, according to the Defense Ministry. Roughly 400 of them arrived in Russia on Monday.

Humanitarian Aid

A field hospital was set up near Lviv on Monday, according to the Lviv Regional Administration press service. The hospital, which was set up and will be run by American doctors, can accommodate up to 60 patients and will provide emergency care, surgical care, inpatient and outpatient services and medical care for women and children.

The hospital is expected to be fully operational in the next few days.

The World Bank on Monday announced it was making available nearly $200 million in additional and reprogrammed financing to bolster Ukraine’s social services for vulnerable people, on top of $723 million approved last week.

The financing is part of a $3 billion package of support that the World Bank previously announced it is preparing for Ukraine over the coming months.

Ukraine has evacuated 548,000 civilians since Russia invaded it on February 24, the country’s Deputy Interior Minister Yevheniy Yenin said in a televised interview on Monday.

"Only in the last 24 hours, our emergency rescue crews have attended over 600 calls, including over 250 at sites of Russian shelling," he said, adding that 50 people had been pulled out from under the rubble of destroyed buildings in this time period.