March 13, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Sunday is coming to a close in Ukraine as the Russian invasion is nearing its third week.

Sunday saw Russia expanding its offensive to western Ukraine, firing missiles near the city of Lviv and hitting a large military base close to the Polish border, reportedly killing dozens of people as the war draws closer to NATO's front line.

If you're just reading in, here are the latest headlines from the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Ukrainian Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak on Sunday confirmed talks will take place with Russia Monday via video link.

A tweet from Podoliak’s verified Twitter page said, “Again. Negotiations go non-stop in the format of video conferences. Working groups are constantly functioning. A large number of issues require constant attention. On Monday, March 14, a negotiating session will be held to sum up the preliminary results…”

Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said nine of the 14 humanitarian corridors it declared on Sunday had allowed civilians to escape fighting.

Vereshchuk said 3,950 people were rescued in the Kyiv region and 1,600 were able to escape from the Luhansk region in the east of the country.

More than 850 people were detained in anti-war protests across 37 Russian cities on Sunday, according to OVD-Info, an independent human rights protest-monitoring group.

Russian security forces are no longer detaining just protesters, but are also trying to identify "unreliable" people among passers-by in places where anti-war protests were announced, the group says.

According to the group, the total number of people detained for disagreeing with Russian aggression since its invasion of Ukraine is approaching 15,000.

TIME released a statement Sunday on the death of American journalist Brent Renaud in Ukraine.

The statement added, “In recent weeks, Brent was in the region working on a TIME Studios project focused on the global refugee crisis. Our hearts are with all of Brent’s loved ones. It is essential that journalists are able to safely cover this ongoing invasion and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.”

Read the full TIME statement here.

Renaud, an award-winning American journalist, was killed by Russian forces in the Ukrainian city of Irpin, police in Kyiv said in social media posts on Sunday. Another American journalist was reported wounded.

A school in the village of Zelenogai, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) east of Mykolaiv, has been demolished by a Russian military strike, Mykolaiv regional administrator Vitali Kim said.

Video and photos from the scene, which have been geolocated and their authenticity verified, show much of the school has been reduced to rubble. Kim confirmed that a school in the Mykolaiv region was hit and posted the video and photos online.

"Some people got under the rubble and we are evacuating them," Kim said. 

Firefighters and rescue services are seen in the video. 

Later on Saturday evening, Kim said that the military strike left several people either dead or in critical condition.

US Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, said Sunday that the US should supply Ukraine with military equipment, including planes, as it defends itself against Russia.

“Means of air defense, such as planes, drones, anti-aircraft, batteries and missiles, all means of air defense, should be considered. And my personal feeling is we should provide those planes because they are potentially very important to the Ukrainian defense,” Blumenthal, who sits on the Senate Armed Forces Committee, told CNN’s Fredricka Whitfield on “Newsroom.”

He continued: “Not with American pilots, but with the training that Ukrainians need to fly those planes and make them effective as a deterrent as well as a force to protect the Ukrainian people against the air superiority of the Russian jet fighters.”

The Pentagon said last week the US was opposed to a Polish plan to transfer fighter jets to Ukraine through the US and a German air base “at this time.” CNN previously reported that NATO members have expressed concerns that providing fighter jets to Ukraine -- even if done bilaterally -- could be perceived by Russia as the alliance becoming directly involved in the war. National security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN earlier Sunday that the US is focused on providing other anti-air systems that could help Ukrainians make progress.

Mariupol's city administration confirmed Sunday night that a large convoy of humanitarian aid destined for the besieged city had not arrived, and was still stuck in Berdyansk, some 50 miles to the west.

Berdyansk is held by the Russians as are the approaches to Mariupol.

In a Telegram post, the Mariupol city administration said: "A little more left. The humanitarian caravan almost reached Mariupol."

"With all the agreements in place, a green corridor is to open tomorrow morning and the humanitarian caravan will continue to Mariupol, where 400,000 people are waiting for help," they said.

Ihor Kolykhaiev, the mayor of Russian-occupied Kherson, has said that mass protests show that “Kherson is Ukraine” and insisted that he retains administrative control of the city.

Speaking in a video posted on Facebook on Sunday, Kolykhaiev said, “the city is living in a normal mode, the City Council is working, all the deputies are at work, all the utility establishments are up and running. Kherson mayor’s office has a flag waving in the front. Kherson is Ukraine.”

Kherson has been occupied by Russian forces since March 3. In recent days, at least one Kherson regional council official warned that occupation forces were laying the groundwork for the “Kherson People’s Republic.”

Earlier on Sunday, hundreds of demonstrators flocked the streets of the Russian-occupied city to protest against the suspected Russian plans. The mayor said that it was a "peaceful protest to show that citizens' position is that Kherson is Ukraine.”

In reference to reports of Russian coercion, Kolykhaiev warned that there “seem to be behind the scenes talks held and the people who want to change the political structure of our country and the south of Ukraine are trying to influence this situation.”

The mayor also said that the city had been cut off from humanitarian aid and was running out of resources.

He said that the city “can’t receive a humanitarian cargo here, food is finishing in the stores, we are running out of gas, we only have diesel oil left at the gas stations. We are running out of the medications and insulin.”

“Our main weapon is unity,” he added.