News
Ukraine dam hit by Russian missiles in Zelenskyy’s hometown
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says a reservoir dam has been hit by Russian air raids in his hometown as officials urge residents in the area to evacuate.Kryvyi Rih, the largest city in central Ukraine with an estimated pre-war population of 650,000, was hit by eight cruise missiles on Wednesday, officials said.
The strikes hit the Karachunov reservoir dam, Zelenskyy said in a video address released early on Thursday, calling Russia a “terrorist state”. The water system had “no military value” and hundreds of thousands of civilians depend on it daily, he said.
“In order to avoid unnecessary risks, I kindly ask the residents of certain streets to evacuate,” the head of the Kryvyi Rih military administration, Oleksandr Vilkul, said in a statement.
In a post on Telegram, Vilkul said 112 homes were flooded, and works to repair the dam on the Inhulets river were under way and that “flooding was receding”.
Kirill Timoshenko, the deputy head of the president’s office, said in an online post that there had been no civilian casualties in the attack.Reporting from Kyiv, Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo said emergency crews are working in Kryvyi Rih to mitigate the damage. “This was a strike that clearly caused significant damage to the dam,” he said.
“It is unclear exactly why the Russians would want to target the dam. But perhaps it is because it is the hometown of Zelenskyy,” he added.
Russian forces have suffered a stunning reversal this month after Ukrainian troops made a rapid armoured thrust in the Kharkiv region in its northeast, forcing a rushed Russian withdrawal.Ukraine says it has seized some 8,000 square kilometres (4,970 square miles) of territory in the country since the beginning of September.
However, Russia said on Wednesday its forces were hitting back in areas taken back by Ukraine in Kharkiv with “massive strikes”, claiming losses to Ukrainian military servicemen and hardware.Russia also said it had captured dozens of Ukrainian soldiers in the southern Kherson and Zaporizhia regions.The United States, which has provided billions of dollars of weapons and support, said it was likely to announce more military aid for Ukraine in the “coming days”.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are set to discuss Ukraine at a meeting in Uzbekistan on Thursday which the Kremlin said would hold “special significance”.
Also on the diplomatic front, the United Nations General Assembly is on Friday due to consider a proposal for Zelenskyy to address the annual gathering of leaders next week with a pre-recorded video. Russia is opposed to Zelenskyy speaking.
Source: Al Jazeera
A meeting between President Anura Kumara Disanayake and Admiral Samuel J. Paparo, the Commander of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), was held today (21) at the Presidential Secretariat.
During the discussion, Admiral Paparo extended his best wishes to President Disanayake and the new government on their planned initiatives. He also acknowledged Sri Lanka’s continued support in ensuring the security of the Indian Ocean region and maintaining a peaceful maritime environment.
Furthermore, Admiral Paparo reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to strengthening the enduring bilateral ties between the two nations and expressed support for Sri Lanka’s new governmental policies.
President Disanayake conveyed his appreciation for the assistance provided by the United States in enhancing human resources within Sri Lanka’s defence sector. The President also acknowledged the longstanding support extended by the U.S. in this regard.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Vijitha Herath, Senior Additional Secretary to the President Roshan Gamage, U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung, Lieutenant Colonel Anthony C. Nelson of the U.S. Army, and Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to the United States Indo-Pacific Command David Ranz were also present at the meeting.
SriLankan Airlines has announced that SriLankan Airlines flights UL 503 (Colombo to London Heathrow), scheduled to depart at 12:50 hrs and UL 504 (London Heathrow to Colombo), scheduled to depart at 20:40 hrs today [21 March 2025], have been cancelled.
Passengers requiring assistance are encouraged to contact the SriLankan Airlines Customer Centre at 1979 (within Sri Lanka), +94117 77 1979 (international) or +94744 44 1979 (WhatsApp chat) or reach out to their nearest SriLankan Airlines office or their travel agent.
The United Kingdom’s Heathrow airport has closed until midnight on Friday due to a power outage, throwing the plans of tens of thousands of travellers into chaos.
London’s main airport, which is Europe’s busiest gateway, said on Friday that it had suffered a “significant” power failure due to a fire at an electrical substation supplying the facility.
“To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, Heathrow will be closed until 23h59 on 21 March,” Heathrow airport said in a post on X.
“Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport and should contact their airline for further information. We apologise for the inconvenience.”
Flight tracking website FlightRadar24 said the shutdown would affect “at least” 1,351 flights.
“We’re trying to stop passengers from travelling to the airport, and then work with airline partners on flights that are delayed, diverted, or cancelled,” a Heathrow spokesperson told Al Jazeera. “Passengers can reach out to airline partners to work on rebooking.”
Al Jazeera’s Jonah Hull, reporting from London, said the roads leading to the airport were blocked, causing “traffic chaos locally”.
“But local traffic disruption is nothing compared to the air traffic disruptions that will be spreading around the world,” he said.
Heathrow is one of the most globally connected airports and regularly ranks among the top five busiest gateways worldwide.
The airport serves more than 200 destinations in nearly 90 different countries and territories, and last year handled nearly 84 million passengers, the largest number on record.
[Aljazeera]
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