President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky will address the Japanese Parliament on Wednesday, Japanese Deputy Prime Minister of Defense Kono Taro said.
“Ukrainian President Zelensky will address Parliament today at 18:00 [11:00 Kyiv time],” Taro wrote on Twitter.
The Times of Israel reports that Zelensky “is set to virtually deliver an address to the Japanese parliament to rally international support for his country’s [Ukraine] fight against Russian invasion.”
“Zelensky’s speech, expected to be about 10 minutes, will be shown in a meeting room at the lower house – the more powerful of Japan’s two-chamber parliament which Prime Minister Fumio Kishida belongs to,” The Federal notes.
As reported, Zelensky made virtual appeals to the U.S. Congress, as well as to the parliaments of European countries, Canada and Israel.
As of March 22, 2022, Ukrposhta delivered almost 80% of pensions (UAH 8.4 billion), delivery is carried out in all regions.
As the press service of the national postal operator reported on Wednesday, in most regions the rate of pension payments fluctuates between 93-99%. So far, it has not been possible to fully pay pensions in zones where active hostilities are taking place.
So, in Chernihiv region 16% was paid, in Zaporizhia region – 48%, Kharkiv region – 50%, in Kherson region – 57%, in Sumy region – 60% of pensions.
Ukrposhta noted that as soon as green corridors to cities temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation or under shelling are formed, the company will immediately deliver payments. In addition, the percentage of pension payments is lower than usual at present, partly due to the fact that many Ukrainians have changed their place of residence due to hostilities and have not yet completed the redirection.
“For three weeks in a row, together with our colleagues, we have been constantly in touch with the Ukrainian military, rebuilding routes, looking for strong-willed and creative solutions to bypass enemy checkpoints, find cash in a surrounded city or region, and provide people with basic necessities. Unfortunately, there are still separate areas where we cannot reach, but our defenders are doing their job every day, retaking our cities and villages from the invaders, and we at Ukrposhta are already starting cars to quickly do our job after,” the Ukrposhta general director Igor Smelyansky said.
The national postal operator notes that the majority of Ukrainians who received pensions for February received them locally – at Ukrposhta offices in the city or by targeted delivery. Also, Ukrposhta received about 22,000 applications for redirecting payments.
Nine humanitarian corridors have been agreed on Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories Iryna Vereschuk said.
“Nine humanitarian corridors have been agreed, Donetsk region from Mariupol to Zaporizhia… Berdiansk – Zaporizhia. Some 24 buses are now at the entrance to Berdiansk. From 10 o’clock they will be brought to start the evacuation,” Vereschuk said at a briefing on Wednesday.
According to her, humanitarian corridors are also planned in Zaporizhia region: Polohy – Zaporizhia, Huliaipole – Zaporizhia;
in Kyiv region: Velyka Dymerka – Brovary, Bohdanivka – Brovary, Borodianka – Bila Tserkva, Svitylnia- Brovary;
in Luhansk region: Rubizhne – Bakhmut, Nyzhnie – Bakhmut.
“These routes will also pass through other cities, where stops will be made to collect people, Lysychansk, Severodonetsk…,” Vereschuk said.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has accepted an invitation from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to visit the country on the condition that Kyiv makes significant progress in ceasefire talks with Russia, Israel’s Ynet news reported.
According to the publication, Bennett has already asked the country’s security service to begin preparations for his possible visit to Kyiv.
“In order to advance the negotiations, it is clear that in-person meetings are necessary. And they may happen down the road if negotiations reach a tipping point,” a source involved in the talks with the Ukrainians told Ynet.
“However, some security officials have expressed their misgivings about the risks entailed in the prime minister going into an active war zone, especially after a Russian bombing of the city killed at least eight people on Monday,” the report says.
“According to sources familiar with the matter, Zelensky and Ukrainian government officials have been pursuing a Bennett visit to Kyiv for the past ten days as they believe the visit would help expedite ceasefire talks with Moscow,” according to the edition.
Earlier this month, the Israeli prime minister visited Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin.
SkyUp Airlines (Kyiv), in cooperation with The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, operated 8 flights from Moldova to Israel from March 6 to March 17, which allowed 1,248 Ukrainians to evacuate to Israel under the repatriation program.
According to the company’s website, 83 pets went to Israel with the passengers.
SkyUp noted that in active cooperation with The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews the company will continue to organize evacuation flights. In particular, flights are already planned for another 1,500 Ukrainians.
“As a conscientious company, we understand that we must continue our operations for the good of the country – in order for Ukraine to have a bright future. I express my deep gratitude to The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, the Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Moldova, the esteemed Ambassador Mark Oleksandrovych Shevchenko and personally to Serhiy Mykhailovych Humeniuk, who worked tirelessly to help our compatriots, as well as all those thanks to whom these flights take place. We are honored that our company can become a kind of bridge between Ukrainians and friendly countries, where people can feel security,” SkyUp Airlines CEO Dmytro Seroukhov said.
More than 3.5 million people have left Ukraine since the start of the Russian special operation, the United Nations Refugee Agency reported on its web page.
Over 2 million people have crossed into Poland, over 542,000 into Romania, nearly 368,000 into Moldova, over 317,000 into Hungary, and over 253,000 into Slovakia.
Russia has absorbed 252,000 and Belarus about 4,000 refugees from Ukraine, it said.
