March 4, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

As the Russian assault on Kyiv steps up, some of the city's most vulnerable residents can't leave.

For the Ukrainian capital's largest children's hospital, shutting down is not an option, even with the sound of heavy fighting and shelling outside. Children who are too sick to be transferred have been moved to the basement, in case bombardment starts again. There are about 10 patients being treated in the underground hallway, where exhausted staff hover nervously.

One of the patients is 3-month old Milena, who has a brain tumor. Her mother, Sonia, told CNN she had been sleeping on the floor next to Milena for the past seven nights as the bombing gets closer.

She said she has become so stressed that she can't lactate, and is now using formula to feed her daughter.

Resources are stretched tight as hospitals deal with trauma injuries — so some parents have stepped in to help care for other children in the basement. Non-essential procedures are now on hold. When CNN visited the hospital, one 11-year-old boy needs to have his sutures removed — but the risk of infection is too high.

With no clear end in sight, for many families here the only glimmer of hope is evacuation. On Thursday, Ukrainian and Russian delegations met in Belarus for another round of talks, where they agreed to provide humanitarian corridors for civilians and a possible temporary ceasefire in areas where evacuation is happening.

Ukraine's Minister of Energy German Galushchenko had an "urgent" telephone conversation with his US counterpart Jennifer Granholm about the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant early Friday, according to a statement from Ukraine's Ministry of Energy.

The fire at the facility broke out in the early hours of Friday morning, and has since been extinguished with no casualties, according to the Ukrainian State Emergency Service.

"The enemy is not concerned about nuclear and radiation security," Galushchenko said, according to the statement. He added that Russia was "indifferent to the human lives of Ukrainians, Europeans and their own citizens."

"Therefore, we demand not only a professional assessment of what is happening, but also real intervention, taking the toughest measures, including by NATO and the countries that possess nuclear weapons," he added.

Ukrainian authorities said a fire that broke out at a nuclear power plant early Friday amid heavy shelling by Russian forces has now been extinguished.

Here's what happened:

When did the fire start? Ukrainian authorities said about 2:30 a.m. local time Friday that a fire had broken out at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, located in Enerhodar, southeastern Ukraine. The plant is the largest of its kind in Ukraine and contains six of the country's 15 nuclear energy reactors, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

When did the blaze stop? The Ukrainian State Emergency Service said the fire at the plant's training building was extinguished at 6.20 a.m. No deaths or injuries were reported, according to the statement.

Are they still fighting? Fighting has since stopped in the area, a spokesperson for the power plant told CNN. In a Facebook post early Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of intentionally firing at the nuclear plant — and urged European leaders to "wake up now" and stop Russian forces "before this becomes a nuclear disaster." 

How serious is the situation? It's hard to say since there is still a lot we don't know. But the plant has not sustained any "critical" damage, the spokesperson for the facility said. The fire has not affected any "essential" equipment, and staff are taking action to mitigate any damage, the IAEA said, citing Ukrainian authorities.

Are we seeing any radiation spikes? No — nuclear regulators and government bodies in the United States and Ukraine say radiation levels appear normal.

What are the risks? The worst-case scenario would be if a fire or attack reached the reactors, disrupted their cooling system and caused a meltdown, which would release large amounts of radioactivity. However, Graham Allison, professor at the Belfer Center, Harvard University, told CNN early Friday that "not all fires in a power plant, have catastrophic consequences."

A fire that broke out at Ukraine's largest nuclear power plant was extinguished early Friday following heavy shelling by Russian forces, as key cities come under attack from invading troops.

Here's what you need to know:

In a Facebook post early Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of intentionally firing at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, after a fire broke out at the facility following heavy shelling from Russian forces.

Ukrainian authorities say the power plant has not sustained any critical damage, and that radiation levels are currently normal, though the situation remains fluid and firefighters continue to battle the blaze.

“Russian tanks are shooting at the atomic blocks equipped with thermal imagers. They know what they are shooting at. They’ve been preparing for this (attack),” he said in the post.

Zelensky also referred to the Chernobyl tragedy and its victims in the post. "For all Ukrainians, for all Europeans, for all people who know the word 'Chernobyl,' how many victims there were."

The 1986 Chernobyl disaster, which took place in Soviet Ukraine, is considered the worst nuclear accident in history. It was a "global catastrophe that affected the lives of hundreds of thousands of people," and had a lasting impact on the country, Zelensky said.

What's happening now: Ukrainian authorities say fighting has stopped in the area and about 40 firefighters are working to put out the blaze.

But the very fact Russia launched an attack at the plant is itself an extremely dangerous act and could cause a potential catastrophe, he said. "There are 15 nuclear reactors in Ukraine. If one of them blows, that’s the end for everyone, that’s the end of Europe," he added.

The fire at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been put out, according to a statement from the Ukrainian State Emergency Service on Friday. 

A fire at Ukraine's largest nuclear power plant is still burning following an attack by Russian troops, though a plant spokesman says background radiation levels are normal and fighting has temporarily ceased.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine had not sustained any critical damage in the attack, Andrii Tuz, a spokesman for the plant, told CNN on Friday, adding that when firefighters initially arrived they were blocked by Russian troops.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Ukraine's regulator had told the organization there had been no change in reported radiation levels and that the fire had had not affected "essential" equipment. The White House said it was monitoring the situation.

Attention has focused on the safety of Ukraine's nuclear power facilities as Russia's invasion of the country intensifies. The prospect of the fire causing damage at the nuclear plant has alarmed experts, though they cautioned that it was too early to gauge the full impact.

Graham Allison, Professor at Belfer Center, Harvard University told Anderson Cooper early Friday that "facts are unfolding" but "not all fires in a power plant, have catastrophic consequences."

Ukrainian officials called on Russian troops to cease fighting after reports the plant has been attacked first emerged Friday morning local time

A large number of Russian tanks and infantry "broke through the block-post" to the town of Enerhodar, a few kilometers from the Zaporizhzhia power plant, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said, according to a statement from the watchdog.

The agency was closely monitoring the situation, and Grossi spoke with Ukraine's Prime Minister and the country's nuclear regulator about the fire, the IAEA said on Twitter early Friday.

Read more:

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Fire breaks out at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, mayor says | CNN

New videos posted to social media show the horrific aftermath of Russian military strikes that hit an apartment complex in the northern city of Chernihiv on Thursday. 

CNN has geolocated and verified the authenticity of this and other videos that show the moment of the strikes and the aftermath.

One video shows the strike as it happens, with residential buildings torn apart in a split second. Sirens echo as the camera shows parts of the building’s walls torn open, exposing entire apartment rooms. The walls of one apartment complex were reduced to rubble.

A fire is seen on the ground, with smoke elsewhere still rising from the explosion. 

The person filming the video moves out into the street, which is littered with debris and damaged cars. The video shows an injured woman on the ground, beside two people who appear burned and unmoving. "Kids ... little kids," she can be heard saying.

CNN does not know the condition of the woman seen in the video.

A second before the military strikes, the roar of a projectile is heard on a surveillance video from a nearby house in Chernihiv, which shows at least five explosions. 

Deaths reported: The Ukrainian Emergency Services said on Twitter that as of 6:20 p.m. local time, they had pulled 33 bodies from the rubble of the complex in addition to 18 injured people.

There are no military facilities nearby, only civilian structures like residential buildings and schools, the Chernihiv Regional State Administration told CNN.

Watch:

Will China help Russia cope with the fallout from economic sanctions?

That has been the big question since Russia invaded Ukraine last week. The two nations have forged close ties in recent years, with Chinese leader Xi Jinping calling Russian President Vladimir Putin his "best and bosom friend" in 2019. During Putin's visit to Beijing last month, the two states proclaimed that their friendship has "no limits."

That was before Russia launched its war in Ukraine, and was hit with unprecedented sanctions from Western countries. Now, China's ability to help its neighbor is being sorely tested. Experts say Beijing's options are limited.

Beijing has not rushed to help Russia after its economy was slammed by sanctions from all over the world. On Wednesday, Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, said that the country won't participate in sanctions, but he didn't offer any relief either.

Earlier this week, China's foreign minister spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart, and said that China was "deeply grieved to see the conflict" and that its "fundamental position on the Ukraine issue is open, transparent and consistent."

And the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, a development bank backed by Beijing, said Thursday it was suspending all its activities in Russia as "the war in Ukraine unfolds."

However, "such moves will fall far short of further antagonizing the United States on account of Beijing's desire to avoid a complete breakdown in US-China relations," he added.

Read the full analysis:

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Analysis: China can't do much to help Russia's sanction-hit economy