The Evening Wrap: Ukraine official says assault halts evacuations for second time

Plans to evacuate civilians from a besieged port city in Ukraine failed to materialise on Sunday for the second time along with an expected Russian ceasefire, a Ukrainian official said, as officials tried to persuade Russia to agree on establishing other evacuation routes near Ukraine’s capital. Residents expected to leave the port city of Mariupol during a 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. (1.30 p.m. to 12.30 a.m. IST) local ceasefire, Ukrainian military authorities said earlier in the day. Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko said the planned evacuations were halted because of an ongoing assault by Russian troops. “There can be no ‘green corridors’ because only the sick brain of the Russians decides when to start shooting and at whom,“ Mr. Gerashchenko said on Telegram. The news dashed hopes of progress in easing, nevertheless ending the war in Ukraine, which is now in its 11th day and has caused 1.5 million people to flee the country. The head of the U.N. refugee agency on Sunday called the exodus “the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II”. The presidents of Turkey and France, as well as Pope Francis, appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate to end the conflict. Separately, Ukraine’s national security service says Russian forces fired rockets at a physics institute in the city of Kharkiv that contains nuclear material and a reactor. Russian troops already took control of the Zaporizhzhia plant in Ukraine, as well as Chernobyl, the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster. The security service said a strike on the nuclear facility in Kharkiv could lead to “large-scale ecological disaster.” The service said on Facebook on Sunday that the Russians were firing from Grad launchers. Those missiles do not have precise targeting, raising concern that one would go astray. Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelenskyy reiterated a request for foreign protectors to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine, which NATO so far has ruled out because of concerns such an action would draw the West into the war. “The world is strong enough to close our skies,” Mr. Zelenskyy said in a video address on Sunday. Mr. Putin warned Saturday that Moscow would consider a third-party declaration to close Ukrainian airspace to be a hostile act. Five BSF personnel killed in Amritsar camp Five Border Security Force (BSF) personnel were killed on Sunday when one of the jawans allegedly opened fire at the force’s camp in Punjab’s Amritsar. Constable Satteppa S.K, who opened the fire, was also killed in the incident. A sixth jawan is said to be critically injured. A BSF statement said five personnel were injured due to the fratricide committed by constable Satteppa. “Out of the six injured, five troops including Ct. Satteppa, have lost their lives. One of the injured is critical. A court of inquiry has been ordered,” the statement added. A senior BSF official said the incident was reported around 9.45 a.m. at the battalion headquarters at Khasa near Amritsar. The official added that the force would not release the names of the deceased to protect the privacy of the family members. The police were also investigating the case. “We do not want to speculate about the reasons that may have led to the incident. We will wait for the inquiry to conclude before making any further statement,” a BSF spokesperson said. PM inaugurates Pune Metro, claims projects never saw light of day during erstwhile Governments Taking jibes at the ‘inefficacy’ of erstwhile non-BJP Governments in Maharashtra, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after inaugurating the Pune Metro Rail on Sunday, said while foundation stones of projects were used to be laid before in Pune, no one could know when they would be operational. Mr. Modi’s day-long visit, ahead of the crucial Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad civic body polls likely next month, commenced with the PM unveiling a 9.5-foot-tall statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji at the Pune Municipal Corporation premises, thereby being only the second Indian premier after Jawaharlal Nehru to visit the PMC since 1961. He then inaugurated a 12-km stretch of the 32.2-km Pune Metro Rail Project, which is being built at a projected cost of ₹11,400 crore and travelled 5 km on one of the lines. Jadeja’s all-round brilliance helps India to innings and 222-run win against Sri Lanka inside three days India completed a comprehensive innings and 222-run victory over Sri Lanka inside three days in the first Test to go 1-0 up in the two-match series in Mohali on Sunday.Ravindra Jadeja stood tall with his all-round brilliance as he complemented his unbeaten 175 with nine wickets in India’s innings and 222-run win against a Sri Lankan team that looked anything but Test class in a match that ended inside three days. After being bowled out for 174 in the first innings, Sri Lanka, who lost 16 wickets on the day, were dismissed for 178 in their second essay. In the first innings, they were one short of Jadeja’s individual score and in the second they were three more, which speaks about their plight. India lead the two-match series 1-0, and will like to gain full 24 points from the rubber by winning the Pink Ball Test in Bengaluru, starting March 12. The match as a contest was over on the first day when India scored 357 and then piled on Sri Lanka’s misery with Jadeja toying with a depleted bowling attack. It is after 60 years that an Indian has scored 150 runs and taken five wickets in an innings. Vinoo Mankad, in 1952 against England at Lord’s, and Polly Umrigarh in 1962 versus West Indies at Delhi, are the other owners of this rare feat. If that wasn’t enough, India got as many as 16 wickets on the third day to wrap up the match with a cumulative bowling effort of 125 overs across two innings. Jadeja (175 not out, 5/41 and 4/46) made the match his own while Ravichandran Ashwin (4/47 in 21 overs) also had a satisfying run, replacing Kapil Dev (434 in 131 games) as India’s second highest wicket-taker with 436 victims. He is now only behind Anil Kumble’s 619 scalps. One of the contemporary greats, Ashwin achieved the feat in his 85th Test match compared to Kapil’s 131 games. U.S. rivalry drives China’s Ukraine calculus If China’s policymakers are facing a tightrope walk as they calibrate their response to the Ukraine crisis, caught between close ties with Russia and concerns that their stand will aggravate already fraught relations with the West, one abiding Chinese foreign policy concern is likely to tilt the balance. One consistent theme in China’s messaging since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been highlighting U.S. responsibility for the crisis. “When the U.S. drove five waves of NATO expansion eastward all the way to Russia’s doorstep,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said on February 23, “and deployed advanced offensive strategic weapons in breach of its assurances to Russia, did it ever think about the consequences of pushing a big country to the wall?” Beijing has since expressed its support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, although like India, it has abstained on UN Security Council resolutions condemning Russia. It is, also like India, primarily focused about the safety of its citizens and has been engaged in a similar evacuation effort to help Chinese students. That aside, the broader context for Beijing’s dual-track approach of highlighting Russia’s “legitimate security concerns” while blaming the U.S. and NATO is what China’s leaders have been highlighting, over the past few years, as a geopolitical moment with “changes unseen in a century”. Read the analysis by our China correspondent Ananth Krishnan here. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 4,29,62,781 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 5,15,082. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 06 MARCH 2022 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Ukraine official says assault halts evacuations for second time  [Plans to evacuate civilians from a besieged port city in Ukraine failed to materialise]( on Sunday for the second time along with an expected Russian ceasefire, a Ukrainian official said, as officials tried to persuade Russia to agree on establishing other evacuation routes near Ukraine’s capital. Residents expected to leave the port city of Mariupol during a 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. (1.30 p.m. to 12.30 a.m. IST) local ceasefire, Ukrainian military authorities said earlier in the day. Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko said the planned evacuations were halted because of an ongoing assault by Russian troops. “There can be no ‘green corridors’ because only the sick brain of the Russians decides when to start shooting and at whom,“ Mr. Gerashchenko said on Telegram. [A woman fleeing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine carries a child at the train station in Zahony, Hungary on March 6, 2022. ] The news dashed hopes of progress in easing, nevertheless ending [the war in Ukraine, which is now in its 11th day]( and has caused 1.5 million people to flee the country. The head of the U.N. refugee agency on Sunday called the exodus “the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II”. The presidents of Turkey and France, as well as Pope Francis, appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate to end the conflict. Separately, Ukraine’s national security service says Russian forces fired rockets at a physics institute in the city of Kharkiv that contains nuclear material and a reactor. Russian troops already took control of the Zaporizhzhia plant in Ukraine, as well as Chernobyl, the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster. The security service said a strike on the nuclear facility in Kharkiv could lead to “large-scale ecological disaster.” The service said on Facebook on Sunday that the Russians were firing from Grad launchers. Those missiles do not have precise targeting, raising concern that one would go astray. Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelenskyy reiterated a request for foreign protectors to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine, which NATO so far has ruled out because of concerns such an action would draw the West into the war. “The world is strong enough to close our skies,” Mr. Zelenskyy said in a video address on Sunday. Mr. Putin warned Saturday that Moscow would consider a third-party declaration to close Ukrainian airspace to be a hostile act. Five BSF personnel killed in Amritsar camp [Five Border Security Force (BSF) personnel were killed]( on Sunday when one of the jawans allegedly opened fire at the force’s camp in Punjab’s Amritsar. Constable Satteppa S.K, who opened the fire, was also killed in the incident. A sixth jawan is said to be critically injured. A BSF statement said five personnel were injured due to the fratricide committed by constable Satteppa. “Out of the six injured, five troops including Ct. Satteppa, have lost their lives. One of the injured is critical. A court of inquiry has been ordered,” the statement added. A senior BSF official said the incident was reported around 9.45 a.m. at the battalion headquarters at Khasa near Amritsar. The official added that the force would not release the names of the deceased to protect the privacy of the family members. The police were also investigating the case. “We do not want to speculate about the reasons that may have led to the incident. We will wait for the inquiry to conclude before making any further statement,” a BSF spokesperson said. PM inaugurates Pune Metro, claims projects never saw light of day during erstwhile Governments     Taking jibes at the ‘inefficacy’ of erstwhile non-BJP Governments in Maharashtra, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, [after inaugurating the Pune Metro Rail]( on Sunday, said while foundation stones of projects were used to be laid before in Pune, no one could know when they would be operational. Mr. Modi’s day-long visit, ahead of the crucial Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad civic body polls likely next month, commenced with the PM unveiling a 9.5-foot-tall statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji at the Pune Municipal Corporation premises, thereby being only the second Indian premier after Jawaharlal Nehru to visit the PMC since 1961. [Prime Minister Narendra Modi travels in a metro train during the inauguration of the Pune Metro Rail Project in Pune on March 6, 2022. Photo: PIB via PTI ] He then inaugurated a 12-km stretch of the 32.2-km Pune Metro Rail Project, which is being built at a projected cost of ₹11,400 crore and travelled 5 km on one of the lines. Jadeja’s all-round brilliance helps India to innings and 222-run win against Sri Lanka inside three days   [India completed a comprehensive innings and 222-run victory over Sri Lanka]( inside three days in the first Test to go 1-0 up in the two-match series in Mohali on Sunday.Ravindra Jadeja stood tall with his all-round brilliance as he complemented his unbeaten 175 with nine wickets in India’s innings and 222-run win against a Sri Lankan team that looked anything but Test class in a match that ended inside three days. After being bowled out for 174 in the first innings, Sri Lanka, who lost 16 wickets on the day, were dismissed for 178 in their second essay. In the first innings, they were one short of Jadeja’s individual score and in the second they were three more, which speaks about their plight. India lead the two-match series 1-0, and will like to gain full 24 points from the rubber by winning the Pink Ball Test in Bengaluru, starting March 12. The match as a contest was over on the first day when India scored 357 and then piled on Sri Lanka’s misery with Jadeja toying with a depleted bowling attack. It is after 60 years that an Indian has scored 150 runs and taken five wickets in an innings. Vinoo Mankad, in 1952 against England at Lord’s, and Polly Umrigarh in 1962 versus West Indies at Delhi, are the other owners of this rare feat. If that wasn’t enough, India got as many as 16 wickets on the third day to wrap up the match with a cumulative bowling effort of 125 overs across two innings. Jadeja (175 not out, 5/41 and 4/46) made the match his own while Ravichandran Ashwin (4/47 in 21 overs) also had a satisfying run, [replacing Kapil Dev (434 in 131 games) as India’s second highest wicket-taker with 436 victims](. He is now only behind Anil Kumble’s 619 scalps. One of the contemporary greats, Ashwin achieved the feat in his 85th Test match compared to Kapil’s 131 games. U.S. rivalry drives China’s Ukraine calculus If China’s policymakers are facing a tightrope walk as they calibrate their response to the Ukraine crisis, caught between close ties with Russia and concerns that their stand will aggravate already fraught relations with the West, one abiding Chinese foreign policy concern is likely to tilt the balance. One consistent theme in China’s messaging since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been highlighting U.S. responsibility for the crisis. “When the U.S. drove five waves of NATO expansion eastward all the way to Russia’s doorstep,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said on February 23, “and deployed advanced offensive strategic weapons in breach of its assurances to Russia, did it ever think about the consequences of pushing a big country to the wall?” Beijing has since expressed its support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, although like India, it has abstained on UN Security Council resolutions condemning Russia. It is, also like India, primarily focused about the safety of its citizens and has been engaged in a similar evacuation effort to help Chinese students. That aside, the broader context for Beijing’s dual-track approach of highlighting Russia’s “legitimate security concerns” while blaming the U.S. and NATO is what China’s leaders have been highlighting, over the past few years, as a geopolitical moment with “changes unseen in a century”. Read the analysis by our China correspondent Ananth Krishnan [here](. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The [number of reported coronavirus cases from India]( stood at 4,29,62,781 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 5,15,082.  Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. Today‘s Top Picks [[With three of our men in Portugal’s government, there’s much to be said about Goa’s relationship with its former coloniser] With three of our men in Portugal’s government, there’s much to be said about Goa’s relationship with its former coloniser]( [[Explained | Why do Indians go abroad for medical studies?] Explained | Why do Indians go abroad for medical studies?]( [[Explained | Why did NATO accept former Warsaw Pact states into the alliance?] Explained | Why did NATO accept former Warsaw Pact states into the alliance?]( [[Explained | Will sanctions against Russia impact long-term supply of wheat, oil, metals and other goods?] Explained | Will sanctions against Russia impact long-term supply of wheat, oil, metals and other goods?]( Copyright @ 2021, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. 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