March 10, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

The UK has moved its visa application system for Ukrainian refugees online after receiving criticism for reported delays at application centers.

British Home Secretary Priti Patel told lawmakers in the House of Commons Thursday that Ukrainians with passports no longer need to go to a visa processing center before traveling to the UK, from next week. 

The UK system drew criticism after some refugees managed to reach the French port city of Calais before being told to travel to appointments in Paris or Brussels as part of the administrative procedures. 

"Ukrainians with passports will be able to get permission to come here fully online from wherever they are and will be able to give their biometrics once in Britain," Patel said. 

Security checks on Ukrainians entering the UK will also continue, Patel said. She added that has received "assurances" which enabled the changes, saying that previous Russian poisonings of dissents in Britain, had made clear, "what Putin is willing to do on our soil."  

The home secretary added that she had two key objectives when dealing with this issue: "first to keep the British people safe, second to do all we can to help Ukrainians."

In a video message Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his government was "securing humanitarian corridors again for our cities."

"Buses have already left, cargo vehicles are en route carrying food, water and medications," Zelensky said.

He mentioned corridors for the port city of Mariupol, the besieged city of Volnovaha in the east and the northeastern cities of Izyum and Sumy.

It's unclear whether these corridors have allowed safe passage for civilians and aid on Thursday. As of 3:30 p.m. local time (8:30 a.m. ET), there was no sign that a relief column had reached Mariupol, which saw further bombing Thursday morning.

Zelensky claimed that Russia wants "to humiliate our people so they take bread and water on their knees from the occupants, so they can save lives only by going to the occupied territories or Russia. "

"That's why they are blocking Mariupol, Valnovaha, and other cities," he said.

A ceasefire to the hostilities in Ukraine was never going to be agreed on Thursday during trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and Turkey, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. 

Speaking in a news conference in Antalya after the talks, Lavrov said he had warned his Turkish and Ukrainian counterparts that Russia did not want to create a "parallel track" to talks already taking place alongside the Belarusian border. 

"It is there that all practical issues are discussed, it is there that it was explained in the most detailed way what needs to be done in order to end this crisis. This includes demilitarization and denazification and ensuring the neutral status of Ukraine,” Lavrov said, echoing rhetoric that Russian President Vladimir Putin has invoked to justify his invasion of Ukraine.

During the last round of Belarus talks, Russia presented Belarus with a draft legal document detailing "extremely specific considerations" with the Ukrainian side assuring that they would give answers, he said.  

Russia wants to "have a serious conversation on the Belarusian site," Lavrov said, stressing the country's belief that the issue "should be resolved in the context of a comprehensive settlement of the Ukrainian crisis."

The foreign minister added that he "wasn't surprised" that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said it wasn't possible to reach a ceasefire during Thursdays talks. 

"No one was going to agree on a ceasefire [at this meeting], these proposals and the sequence of steps outlined in these proposals are well known to the Ukrainian side," the Russian foreign minister continued. 

The parties "mainly talked about humanitarian issues at the initiative of our Turkish friends," Lavrov added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned Russian propagandists they “will be held responsible for complicity with war crimes” in a video message Thursday.

It comes after Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova on Wednesday called for a “new model” of investigative efforts to tackle alleged war crimes in Ukraine.  

The prosecutor general said her office also “took action against those who incited war and provoked further atrocities in Ukrainian territory.”  

A warning was reportedly issued to a number of people she called Russian “propagandists,” including several Russian celebrities who Venediktova described as Putin supporters. 

The World Health Organization said Thursday it had recorded 24 verified incidents of attacks on health care in Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion on Feb. 24.

“These attacks have led to at least 12 deaths and 17 injuries. At least 8 of the injured and 2 of the killed were verified to be health workers. The attacks took place between 24 February and 8 March,” the WHO said in an email to CNN. 

A deadly bombing of a maternity and children's hospital in Mariupol, which Ukrainian officials said killed three people, has been widely condemned.

The European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell condemned Russia's bombing of Mariupol hospital as a war crime.

"Mariupol is under siege. Russia’s shelling of maternity hospital is a heinous war crime," Borrell said Thursday on his verified Twitter account.

Read more about the attacks across Ukraine health facilities here:

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Russia condemned over repeated strikes on Ukraine hospitals

US Vice President Kamala Harris stopped short of calling Russia's actions in Ukraine "war crimes" as civilians continue to be killed in the conflict

Speaking alongside Polish President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw Thursday, Harris said: "We are also very clear that any intentional attack on innocent civilians is a violation."

She added: "The UN has set up a process by which there will be a review and investigations and we will of course participate as appropriate and necessary."

Images from Ukraine clearly showed atrocities taking place, Harris said, even before an investigation determines what to call them.

Duda went further, saying war crimes are "obvious" in Ukraine and that refugees coming to his country have evidence of it on their phones.

Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin has expressed dismay at the Russian bombing of a maternity and children's hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine, Vatican News reported Thursday.

Parolin said that the bombing of medical centers for women and children is unacceptable, Vatican News reported.

He reiterated the Vatican’s desire to mediate peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, if requested.

Parolin admitted that the space for negotiations is slight, but expressed hope some agreement could be reached.

Polish President Andrzej Duda has called a Russian strike on a Ukrainian maternity and children's hospital an "act of barbarity and genocide" and called for further sanctions against Moscow.

Speaking in Warsaw following a bilateral meeting with US Vice President Kamala Harris, Duda thanked the US for imposing sanctions on Russia, calling it a "vanguard" while also urging for more help for Ukraine from the international community.

"We need to take a tough stance as representatives of the free world," he said, adding that "we have to rescue Ukraine," and calling for an "all hands onboard" approach. 

Regarding the US rejection of a Polish plan to send Soviet-era fighter jets to Ukraine by way of a US-NATO air base in Germany, he said Poland had been ready to supply the fighter jets to Ukraine but wanted it to be a common decision made by NATO. "We want Poland to remain a credible member of NATO," he said. 

More than 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees have entered Poland, Duda said, adding that he was "proud" of how ordinary Polish families have received them in their "private homes." None of the refugees are being housed in camps, he said.

US Vice President Kamala Harris sought to reinforce cooperative ties between the United States and Poland after an apparent disconnect between the two countries over providing Ukraine with fighter jets.

Still, Harris skirted directly addressing the episode that unfolded earlier this week, when Poland said it would hand over its jets to the US instead of giving them directly to Ukraine.

Harris underscored the military support the United States is already providing Ukraine short of air power, including antitank missiles.

"We're making deliveries every day in terms of what we can do," Harris said.

Asked what more Ukraine could expect, Harris said, "that is an ongoing process and that is not going to stop to the extent there is a need."