Russia-Ukraine war latest: No casualty toll yet after Russian bombardment of Mariupol theatre, says official – live

Railways ground to a halt in many places across Poland on Thursday, hit by a widespread traffic control system outage, operator PKP PLK said, disrupting an important means of transport for refugees fleeing Ukraine.

Infrastructure Minister Andrzej Adamczyk said that railway workers were dealing with the situation and normal service would be resumed as soon as possible.

Almost two million people have fled to Poland from Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion on 24 February. Poland has offered free rail tickets to refugees, allowing them to travel to stay with friends and family around the country.

“Regarding the transport of refugees, which has been the key task of the railway over the past few days, we are in full coordination of the process together with the ministry of infrastructure … so that the process is not halted and can be carried out to the extent possible,” PKP PLK deputy chief executive Miroslaw Skubiszynski told reporters.

The traffic control outage was nearly nationwide, affecting 820 km (510 miles) of track, he added to Reuters.

Ukraine is asking Japan for high-quality satellite imagery to help it fend off Russian troops, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Thursday.

Japanese governments and private companies operate satellites that have the ability to capture detailed images day and night, and through clouds and other obstructions in the atmosphere.

The Japanese government will carefully consider whether providing such data to Ukraine is politically acceptable or allowed under the current legal framework, the report said without citing sources.

It comes as Japan’s military says it spotted four large Russian amphibious warfare ships sailing close to its islands as they traveled west, possibly towards Europe, Reuters reported.

Pictures of the amphibious transports, typically used for landing expeditionary forces ashore, published by Japan’s defence ministry showed what appeared to be military trucks loaded onto the deck of one of the vessels.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said the world must officially recognise that Russia has become a terrorist state.

During his daily video address, the Ukrainian president once again called on western leaders for the implementation of a no-fly zone and new sanctions packages against Russia.

An official in the Mariupol mayor’s office said on Thursday the city authorities did not yet have a casualty toll after what they said was a Russian bombardment of a theatre in the besieged Ukrainian city.

Russia’s defence ministry on Wednesday denied it had carried out an air strike against a theatre in Mariupol, RIA news agency said.

Russian government websites are facing unprecedented cyber-attacks and technical efforts are being made to filter foreign web traffic, the Tass news agency cited the digital ministry as saying on Thursday.

Russian government entities and state-owned companies have been targeted over events in Ukraine, with the websites of the Kremlin, flagship carrier Aeroflot and major lender Sberbank among those to have seen outages or temporary access issues in recent weeks.

The ministry was working to adjust to the new conditions, it said, as cyber attacks ratchet up.

“If previously their power at peak moments reached 500 gigabytes, then now it is at 1 terabyte,” the ministry said. “That is two to three times more powerful than the most serious incidents of this kind that have been previously reported.”

As Russia becomes increasingly isolated from global financial systems and supply chains, the government has proposed a raft of measures to support the IT sector, among others.

Technology firms will have access to preferential tax and lending conditions and the digital ministry has previously suggested Russian IT companies discuss a phased transfer of technical support components with foreign firms.

Citing draft government documents, Interfax reported late on Wednesday that the digital ministry had proposed allocating 14 billion roubles ($134.30m) to support IT companies in the form of grants.

Reuters could not immediately verify that report.

Russia has the might to put enemies led by the United States in their place and Moscow will foil the west’s Russophobic plot to tear Russia apart, one of Vladimir Putin’s closest allies said on Thursday.

Dmitry Medvedev, who served as president from 2008 to 2012 and is now deputy secretary of Russia’s security council, said the United States had stoked “disgusting” Russophobia in an attempt to force Russia on its knees and then rip it apart.

“It will not work – Russia has the might to put all of our brash enemies in their place,” Medvedev said.

Losses are mounting in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, with 53 people killed by Russian forces on Wednesday alone, the regional governor said on Thursday.

“We are suffering heavy losses – 53 citizens were killed yesterday,” Governor Viacheslav Chaus said.

The information could not immediately be verified. Russia denies targeting civilians, Reuters reported.

It comes as Russia’s armed forces said they had hit a military depot in the Rivne region in western Ukraine on Wednesday.

High-precision missiles hit a depot in Sarny, Rivne region, destroying storage facilities for missiles and ammunition, the ministry said.

I’m Tom Ambrose and I’ll be bringing you all the latest news throughout the morning.

Before I hand over to my colleague Tom Ambrose here is a rundown of the latest developments. For a more detailed summary, please refer to our earlier update.

• One person has been killed by a Russian missile attack in Kyiv this morning, Ukraine’s emergency services are reporting. Rescue services said they received a report of a residential building on fire in the Darnytsky district at 5.02am on Thursday.
• An educational institution in the city of Merefa in the Kharkiv region was also reportedly struck by Russian missiles overnight, Ukraine’s state emergency services said.
• The UK defence ministry released its latest intelligence report, claiming the Russian invasion of Ukraine has “largely stalled on all fronts”.
• The Ukrainian military also released its morning operational report, claiming Russia has been unsuccessful in carrying out its ground operation and continues to launch rocket-bomb strikes on Ukrainian cities. Officials said Russian troops are launching cyberattacks and destroying TV and radio signals in order to discredit Ukraine’s leadership.
• An educational institution in the city of Merefa in the Kharkiv region was reportedly struck by Russian missiles overnight, Ukraine’s state emergency services is reporting.
• The exodus of refugees fleeing Ukraine continues with most seeking refuge in neighbouring Poland. According to UN estimates, more than three million people have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded on 24 February.
• The comedy satire in which Volodymyr Zelenskiy unexpectedly becomes Ukraine’s president will be aired again on Netflix in the US. The resurrection of the TV series Servant of the People comes amid a global outpouring of praise for the former comedian who is now leading his country’s fight against the Russian invasion. “You asked and it’s back,” Netflix announced.

Russian government websites are facing unprecedented cyber attacks and efforts are being made to filter foreign web traffic, Russia’s state news agency TASS cited the digital ministry as saying on Thursday.

Russian government entities and state-owned companies have been targeted over events in Ukraine, with the websites of the Kremlin, flagship carrier Aeroflot and major lender Sberbank among those to have seen outages or temporary access issues in recent weeks.

According to UN estimates, more than three million people have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded on 24 February.

Most have sought refuge in neighbouring Poland, arriving to the border by train or bus.

United Nation secretary-general António Guterres gave an update on the number of refugees late on Wednesday, saying: “The people of Ukraine desperately need peace. And the people around the world demand it. Russia must stop this war now.”

Here’s a quick take on the markets, according to a recent Reuters report.

Hong Kong led strong gains in Asian stock markets on Thursday, buoyed by signs of progress in peace talks between Russia and Ukraine and by expectations of more support for China’s wobbly economy.

Pan-European stock futures also looked set for a firmer open, pointing 0.21% higher.

US stock futures indicated a slightly lower restart, but followed a 2.2% surge for the S&P 500 overnight.

Investors took in stride the long expected start of monetary tightening in the United States.

Treasury yields eased a little after spiking to nearly three-year highs overnight – with shorter-end yields rising more to flatten the curve – after the Fed on Wednesday raised the policy rate for the first time since 2018.

The Fed increased rates by a quarter point, as expected, and telegraphed equivalent hikes at every meeting for the remainder of this year to aggressively curb inflation.

The dollar, though, remained on the back foot and oil stabilised well south of recent multi-year highs amid signs of material progress in talks between Russia and Ukraine to end the war.

In some lighter news, the comedy satire in which Volodymyr Zelenskiy unexpectedly becomes Ukraine’s president will be aired again on Netflix in the US.

The resurrection of the TV series Servant of the People comes amid a global outpouring of praise for the former comedian who is now leading his country’s fight against the Russian invasion. “You asked and it’s back,” Netflix announced.

On Tuesday, Zelenskiy received a standing ovation as he addressed the US Congress via video link with an impassioned plea for more weaponry and the establishment of a no-fly zone to help Ukraine survive the Russian invasion, which began on 24 February.

Before politics, Zelenskiy wrote and produced standup comedy shows, TV series and films, and sold tickets to live concerts.

Servant of the People sees Zelenskiy, who is now 44, play a teacher who unexpectedly becomes president after a video of him complaining about corruption goes viral.

Once elected, Zelenskiy’s character faces a difficult task to reform Ukraine, fight corruption and unify the nation despite resistance from politicians serving the interests of oligarchs. The show resonated with Ukrainians and audiences in other former Soviet countries

The UK defence ministry has released its latest intelligence report, claiming the Russian invasion of Ukraine has “largely stalled on all fronts”.

The report reads:

Russian forces have made minimal progress on land, sea or air in recent days and they continue to suffer heavy losses.

Ukrainian resistance remains staunch and well-coordinated. The vast majority of Ukrainian territory, including all major cities, remains in Ukrainian hands.”