⏳ Thursday Fix: More Than A Million
Morning all,
This day last week we all woke up to the news that after months of concern and speculation, Russia had launched its invasion of Ukraine.
This morning, we woke up to the news that more than a million people have now fled the country.
Until tomorrow,
Your Fixers
GOOD LISTENER?
Click the screenshot below to access the podcast version of today's NewsFix.
UKRAINE - WHAT'S THE LATEST?
- More than a million people have fled Ukraine since the invasion began, which is approximately 2% of the country's population. TIME Magazine described it as "an exodus without precedent in this century for its speed". The UN warned there could be as many as four million people that flee, most of them to neighbouring countries in Europe.
- The Russian government is now acknowledging there have been casualties on their side in the last week, stating 498 of their soldiers have been killed and a further 1,500 injured.
- Russia oligarch Roman Abramovich is to sell Chelsea Football Club. His statement on Wednesday also revealed a charitable foundation would be set up, where all proceeds "will be for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine". As BBC Sport noted, Abramovich has loaned the club more than £1.5 billion since buying it in 2003. He will not ask "for any loans to be repaid".
*Correction: In our original version of today's NewsFix we mistakenly wrote Abramovich bought Chelsea in 2013 rather than in 2003.
- Russian and Belarusian athletes will now no longer be allowed to participate in the Paralympic Winter Games. Sky News described it as a "stunning u-turn". The Paralympic committee was heavily criticised for initially saying the athletes could participate as neutrals.
- US officials claim Chinese authorities asked their Russian counterparts in early February to ensure an invasion did not occur until after the Beijing Winter Olympics. President Putin was with President Xi Jinping in China on the day of the opening ceremony of the games.
ON TODAY'S AGENDA...
A second round of talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations will take place in Belarus today. As CNN noted, they met on Monday for five hours of talks, but there was no breakthrough - just a commitment to meet again.
IF YOU READ ONE THING TODAY...
Or even this week, please let it be this profile piece - Vladimir Putin, Russia's resentful leader, takes the world to war.
It was actually published by The Financial Times last Friday, but makes for such an insightful read about Putin that they made it free to non-subscribers. In fact, they announced Wednesday they would be making "key Ukraine coverage free to read to keep everyone informed as events unfold".
"Growing up in a communal apartment in Leningrad, a young Vladimir Putin liked to chase rats across stairwell with sticks. One day, he spotted a particularly huge rat and drove it into a corner. Suddenly, it threw itself at him, trying to leap onto Putin's head in its bid to escape. The incident taught Russia's president a lesson he carried for decades. 'Everyone should keep this in mind. You should never drive anyone into a corner', he said." - The Financial Times
A PICTURE TELLS A THOUSAND WORDS
The photo below was uploaded by BBC News to their Instagram account, and shows two brothers making Lego guns while sheltering in a bunker in Kyiv.
KEEPING AN EYE...
Melinda French Gates sat down for her first interview about her split with her husband of 27 years, Bill Gates, last May.
In the interview - which airs on CBS at 12pm Irish/UK time today - Melinda says she "couldn't trust what we had", following Bill's previous infidelities. In May last year, the wealthy couple made the surprise announcement they were ending their marriage.
"After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage... we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple." - the separation statement last May
Click 👇🏽 to watch a teaser of the interview.
CLIMATE COVERAGE
Ongoing floods in Sydney have led to the deaths of at least thirteen people, and caused at least 200,000 to flee their homes.
According to Reuters, authorities have described it as a "one-in-a-one thousand-year event". The report also stated the city of Brisbane experienced "around 80% of its annual rainfall" in just three days.
TODAY MARKS...
One year since Sarah Everard was kidnapped by former police officer Wayne Couzens while walking home in southwest London.
Her body was found a week later, and the murder sparked a reckoning with gender-based violence. Couzens was ultimately given a "whole-life sentence", meaning he will never be released from jail.
MOST READ
- BBC News: Russian troops take control of key Ukrainian city
- The Guardian: Live/Russia-Ukraine war latest news: Advance on Kyiv 'has made little progress'; Russian controls imposed in Kherson, says mayor - live
- The Financial Times: Biden declares Putin 'isolated from the world' and hints at more sanctions
- Al Jazeera: Russia seizes key Ukraine port city; 1 million refugees flee
- The Irish Times: Miriam Lord: Emotions run high as Labour assassins decommission AK-47
BROUGHT TO YOU BY...
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ON A LIGHTER NOTE...
Irish weather in 30 seconds. So painfully accurate.
