Russia-Ukraine crisis: 10 key developments about the conflict

Its been Day 5 of the Ukraine-Russia war but still Ukraine is responding firmly to Russian forces. Ukraine has made it clear on Sunday that it would not succumb to pressure in any way during talks with Russia over its aggression. It has also condemned the move of the Russian President Vladimir Putin's order on nuclear forces to be on high alert. 

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba said on Sunday that not an inch of the country's land would be given to the rival. Kuleba said in a virtually broadcast press conference that they will not surrender under any circumstances. "We will not surrender, we will not leave even an inch of our territory."

Read | UNSC's rare Emergency General Assembly session today, India abstains from voting

10 Key developments

1. Ukraine said it would hold unconditional talks with Russia along the Belarusian border after Moscow had previously asked Kiev's military to lay down arms before talks could begin. Earlier, the President of Ukraine had said that his country was ready to hold talks in any place other than Belarus.

2. Meanwhile, on the fourth day of the attack on Ukraine, Russia bombed many cities of Ukraine. Russia has intensified its attack on Ukraine and the way Ukraine is responding to Russia in the war has raised a wave of shock around the world.

3. Ukraine's army fought back Russian troops and the troubled country claimed that it had inflicted heavy casualties on the Russian army. Hours after Russian troops entered the northeastern city on Sunday, Ukrainian forces took back full control of Kharkiv, the country's second largest city, which was rocked by machine gun firing and explosions early on Sunday.

4. Russian flights face a near-total blockade of airspace on the western side of the country with Canada, on Sunday, joining the long list of European countries closing their airspace to ramp up pressure on President Vladimir Putin. European Union members including, Austria, Estonia, Bulgaria, France, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Italy, Lithuania, Slovenia, Germany, Poland, Romania, Finland, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, Denmark, and Sweden have closed their airspace for Russian airlines or have announced to do so. The United Kingdom, which is not longer part of European Union, along with Iceland have also announced a ban on Russian flights to support of Ukraine and severely limiting Russia’s options for routes taken by its west-bound flights.

5. Sweden will send military aid to Ukraine, including anti-tank weapons, helmets and body armour, Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said on Sunday. "Sweden is now proposing direct support for Ukraine's armed forces. It includes 135,000 field rations, 5,000 helmets, 5,000 body shields and 5,000 anti-tank weapons," Andersson told a news conference. 

6. Bulgaria joins 25 donor states from the EU and NATO after the Bulgarian government decided to send humanitarian and military logistical aid to Ukraine. Earlier on Sunday, Romania's government said that it will send fuel, ammunition and food worth 3 million euro (USD 3.4 million) to Ukraine.

7. The United Nations Security Council has called for a rare emergency special session of the 193-member General Assembly to be held today. The resolution was adopted with 11 votes in favour. India, China and the UAE abstained, while Russia voted against the resolution. This will be only the 11th such emergency session of the General Assembly since 1950. 

8. Turkey will implement provisions of the Montreux Convention regarding the Regime of Straits and the passage of warships through the Bosporus and the Dardanelles. The implementation will be in a transparent manner as the situation in Ukraine constitutes a 'war', Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Sunday. The convention dating back to 1936 gives Turkey control of its straits and authority to regulate the transit of naval warships. Turkey is authorized to close the Straits to all foreign warships in wartime or when it was threatened by aggression.

9. Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a high-level meeting on the Ukraine crisis on Sunday. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar attended the meeting along with top government officials. A large number of Indians, mostly students, are stranded in Ukraine following Russia's attack on the country. India has begun evacuating them, and over 900 people have been brought back since Saturday.

10. Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russian nuclear deterrent forces put on high alert amid tensions with the West over his invasion of Ukraine. Putin ordered the Russian Defence Minister and the chief of the military's General Staff to put the nuclear deterrent forces in a 'special regime of combat duty'.