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LAST UPDATE | 10 Mar 2022
TODAY MARKED THE 15th day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and fighting continued around a number of key cities, including Kyiv.
Here are the latest developments:
Good morning, Michelle Hennessy here to bring you through the latest updates on the war in Ukraine.
Here are some of the main points to know this morning:
The UK’s Ministry of Defence has released a new intelligence update this morning, which states that Russia has deployed conscript troops to Ukraine, despite assurances by President Putin that this would not happen.
There has also been a notable decrease in overall Russian air activity over Ukraine in recent days, likely due to the unexpected effectiveness and endurance of Ukraine’s air defence forces, it said:
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 10 March 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) March 10, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/uGIai2vjg2
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/kUN8pCzuT4
The United States estimates as many as 6,000 Russian troops have died in the conflict.
Russia’s own official estimates are significantly lower. Last week the governemnt said 500 of its soldiers had been killed in Ukraine.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence has also this morning said Russia has confirmed the use of thermobaric rockets, also known as vacuum bombs, in Ukraine.
It comes as the UK government said the Russian state “almost certainly maintains extensive links” with Russian private military companies and is “likely deploying” their mercenaries to Ukraine.
Twitter has launched a privacy-protected version of its site to bypass surveillance and censorship after Russia restricted access to its service in the country.
Known as an “onion” service, users can access this version of Twitter if they download the Tor browser, which allows people to access sites on what is also referred to as the “dark web”. Instead of .com, onion sites have a .onion suffix.
Russia has blocked access to Facebook and has limited Twitter in an attempt to try to restrict the flow of information about its war in Ukraine.
Both companies have said they are working on restoring access to people inside Russia, though they are blocking the country’s state media from their services.
Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, HSE Chief Clinical Officer Dr Colm Henry said the HSE is working with government departments to ensure refugees arriving from Ukraine have access to medical care when they arrive.
He said most of those arriving are in good health.
Dr Henry acknowledged it would be challenging for an already strained health service to cope if large numbers of people come into the country. However he said the troubles of the people of Ukraine put Ireland’s own challenges into perspective.
“It’s very difficult but there’s a long tradition – not just in this country – of providing, providing assistance or offering the hand of friendship and offering support to people,” he said.
“Even if you’ve have your own troubles, the troubles of the people of Ukraine certainly put our own challenges into perspective.”
Just in: Local officials in Mariupol have said at least three people were killed in the attack on the maternity and children’s hospital in the city.
“Three people were killed, including a female child, in yesterday’s attack on a children’s and maternity hospital in Ukraine’s besieged Mariupol, according to updated figures this morning,” the city council said on its Telegram channel.
Officials had previously given a toll of 17 injured, including doctors, in the attack.
You may have seen a photo in recent days of the bodies of a family in Irpin, near Kyiv, who were killed in a mortar blast as they tried to flee.
The New York Times has an interview with the husband and father of the woman and children who were killed.
Tetiana Perebyinis and her two children were killed trying to dash to safety, a moment captured by a New York Times photographer. Her husband describes their lives, and their final hours. https://t.co/PiRanGZcUv pic.twitter.com/kBQsWxfok2
— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 10, 2022
He said realised they had been killed when he saw a photograph of the scene on social media and recognised the luggage.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba have begun talks in Turkey in the first such high-level contact since Moscow invaded.
Talks between the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Turkey and the Russian Federation on ending Russian aggression against Ukraine have commenced in Antaliya. pic.twitter.com/LUDCClMNaQ
— Oleg Nikolenko (@OlegNikolenko_) March 10, 2022
JUST IN: Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has been added to the UK sanction list, Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries announced this morning.
1/ 4🧵Putin’s attack on Ukraine continues & we are witnessing new levels of evil by the hour. Today the Government has announced further sanctions against individuals linked to the Russian Government. This list includes Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea Football Club.
— Nadine Dorries (@NadineDorries) March 10, 2022
“Our priority is to hold those who have enabled the Putin regime to account,” she said. “Today’s sanctions obviously have a direct impact on Chlesea and its fans. We have been working hard to ensure the club and the national game are not unnecessarily harmed by these important sanctions.”
More from UK Foreign Secretary Lizz Truss on the sanctions against Roman Abramovich and six other oligarchs:
I have announced a full asset freeze and travel ban on seven more of Russia's wealthiest and most influential oligarchs, including Roman Abramovich and Oleg Deripaska. We will not stop in this mission to ramp up pressure on the Putin regime. 👇https://t.co/MfWvFtnNuo pic.twitter.com/xASSX8WG22
— Liz Truss (@trussliz) March 10, 2022
Abramovich will see his assets frozen, a prohibition on transactions with UK individuals and businesses, a travel ban and transport sanctions imposed.
His one-time business partner, leading industrialist Oleg Deripaska, was also sanctioned with the same measures.
Putin’s right-hand man Igor Sechin and four more of Putin’s inner circle have also been targeted with asset freeze and a travel ban.
The UK government said these individuals have a collective net worth of around £15 billion (€17.8bn).
Commenting on the additions to the sanction list today, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:
“There can be no safe havens for those who have supported Putin’s vicious assault on Ukraine.
“Today’s sanctions are the latest step in the UK’s unwavering support for the Ukrainian people. We will be ruthless in pursuing those who enable the killing of civilians, destruction of hospitals and illegal occupation of sovereign allies.”
The Kremlin has said it will approach the Russian military for details of a strike on the maternity and children’s hospital in the city of Mariupol yesterday.
A terrifying photo from #Mariupol, #Ukraine. A pregnant woman is being evacuated after the Russian airstrike at the maternity hospital. pic.twitter.com/pQ2uQGfMHp
— Ostap Yarysh (@OstapYarysh) March 9, 2022
“We will certainly ask our military about this, since we don’t have clear information about what happened there. Without fail, the military will provide some kind of information,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Ukraine and Russia made no progress towards agreeing a 24-hour ceasefire at tense talks in Turkey, the Ukrainian foreign minister has said.
“We also talked on the ceasefire but no progress was accomplished on that,” Dmytro Kuleba told reporters after his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Antalya.
He described the meeting as “difficult” and accusing his counterpart of bringing “traditional narratives” to the table.
Speaking after talks in Turkey, Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov claimed his country “did not attack Ukraine”:
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov says "we are not planning to attack other countries" and claims that Russia "did not attack Ukraine" but acted upon a "direct threat to the Russian Federation".https://t.co/X3flQUBL0r
— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 10, 2022
📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/n2oXbIWjA9
He accused the European Union and other countries of ”dangerously” backing the supply of arms to Ukraine, as it resists an incursion by thousands of Russian troops.
Lavrov also claimed that a maternity and children’s hospital which was attacked in Mariupol had been serving as a military base for nationalists.
“This maternity hospital has long been occupied by the Azov Battalion and other radicals,” he said.
“They drove out the women in labour, nurses and general staff. It was the base of the ultra-radical Azov Battalion.”
In his latest address, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of genocide over the air strike on the maternity hospital in Mariupol:
“What kind of country is this, the Russian Federation, which is afraid of hospitals, afraid of maternity hospitals, and destroys them?” he asked.
This morning Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov claimed the hospital had been serving as a military base for nationalists. However images and video footage from the scene show a number of injured pregnant women, as well as some children, exiting the building after the attack.
Sky News is reporting a government source has indicated that while the new sanctions on Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich technically mean it cannot be sold, an arrangement to sell it may be made.
It is reported that a new bespoke licence may enable the sale, but it would be conditional on the fact that none of the proceeds could go to Abramovich.
Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron had a call this morning with Russian President Vladimir Putin to continue diplomacy attempts over the war in Ukraine.
“Germany and France demanded an immediate ceasefire from Russia” and “insisted that any solution to this crisis must come through negotiations between Ukraine and Russia”, German government sources said.
Russian forces are edging closer in their attempts to encircle Kyiv, today rolling their armoured vehicles up to the northeastern edge of the Ukrainian capital.
An AFP team saw plumes of smoke rise over the village of Skybyn, just a few hundred metres past the last checkpoint marking Kyiv’s northeastern city limits.
Ukrainian soldiers described a night of heavy battles for control of the main highway leading into the city.
“There are ongoing military operations in Skybyn,” said a soldier, adding that one Russian column of armoured vehicles had been partially destroyed.
An AFP team also witnessed Grad missile strikes in Velyka Dymerka, a neighbouring village five kilometres outside Kyiv’s city limits.
Russian forces have been slowly encircling Kyiv, reaching its northwestern edge on the first day of their assault on February 24.
Kyiv’s northwest suburbs such as Irpin and Bucha have endured shellfire and bombardments for more than a week, prompting a mass evacuation effort.
US Vice President Kamala Harris and Polish President Andrzej Duda are holding a joint press conference.
Harris said the two countries are united in what they have done and are prepared to do to help Ukraine.
Half of Kyiv’s population has fled since the Russian invasion began, city mayor Vitali Klitschko has said as Moscow’s forces press ever closer to the Ukrainian capital.
“From our information, one in two Kyiv residents has left the city,” he told Ukraine television.
A little less than two million people have currently left. However, Kyiv has been transformed into a fortress. Every street, every building, every checkpoint has been fortified.
Former Ukrainian prime minister Volodymyr Groysman, who lost much of his family in the Holocaust, has compared Russia’s invasion of his country to Nazism and said the West and Israel needed to do more in response.
Groysman, Ukraine’s first openly Jewish prime minister, was in office from 2016 to 2019.
“What’s happening now, I’m not exaggerating, is a continuation of the Nazi policy on a national basis,” rather than religious, he told AFP.
“Hitler was not stopped by economic sanctions… We need more weapons, we need to close the sky,” he said, echoing calls from the Kyiv government to enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine, something Nato has so far ruled out for fear of starting a world war.
Our reporter Niall O’Connor is at Prezmysl train station in Poland, where Ukrainian refugees have been arriving from Kyiv and Lviv:
The scene at Prezmysl Train station. Refugees arrive here from Kyiv and Lviv by train. They are then taken by bus to other centres for processing. It is -3 Celsius here and lightly snowing. @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/UBYUsbrXVY
— Niall O’Connor (@NiallJournal_ie) March 10, 2022
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has condemned Russia’s bombing of a maternity hospital in Ukraine’s Mariupol and demanded Moscow allow aid into the besieged city.
“Russia’s shelling of maternity hospital is a heinous war crime. Strikes of residential areas from the air and blocks of access of aid convoys by the Russian forces must immediately stop. Safe passage is needed, now,” Borrell wrote in a tweet.
#Mariupol is under siege.
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) March 10, 2022
Russia’s shelling of maternity hospital is a heinous war crime.
Strikes of residential areas from the air and blocks of access of aid convoys by the Russian forces must immediately stop.
Safe passage is needed, now.#PutinsWar #Accountability
At least 71 children have been killed in Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on 24 February, a Ukrainian parliament official said on Thursday.
“From the start of the Russian invasion and up to 11am on 10 March, 71 children have been killed and more than 100 wounded,” Lyudmyla Denisova, parliament’s point person on human rights, wrote in a Telegram message.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has held further talks with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron:
Continued dialogue with the leaders of the UK & France. Informed about new crimes of Russia against 🇺🇦 people. Further support for 🇺🇦 was discussed with 🇬🇧 PM @BorisJohnson. We also focused on peace talks with 🇫🇷 President @EmmanuelMacron. We must stop the war. #StopRussia
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 10, 2022
The Journal‘s Niall O’Connor arrived at Przemyśl, Poland, close to the Ukraine border, earlier today.
He has now travelled to the border town of Medyka, 10km from Przemyśl.
He says refugees, mostly women and children, are arriving on foot from Ukraine into the border town. NGOs are present, handing out food to those arriving.
The atmosphere is calm, he says, but people appear quietly anxious to keep moving.
The Journal’s Niall O’Connor says the NGOs based at the border town of Medyka are feeding the refugees arriving on foot from Ukraine with barbecue food and fruit.
Russia’s war on Ukraine has “substantially” increased the risks to the eurozone economy and will have a negative impact on growth, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde has warned.
“The Russian invasion of Ukraine will negatively affect the euro area economy and has significantly increased uncertainty,” she told reporters, warning that supply chain upsets and higher energy costs could drag down consumption and investment.
“The risks to the economic outlook have increased substantially,” she added.
The latest from The Journal’s Niall O’Connor in Poland:
This is Medyka - the border. A makeshift aid village has been set up for the refugees. NGOs with food & clothing stalls. They arrive on foot or by car. They are then taken by bus 10kms to Prezmysl. The atmosphere is calm but they are quietly anxious to keep moving. @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/LkvnCW6T29
— Niall O’Connor (@NiallJournal_ie) March 10, 2022
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Moscow is continuing to export oil and gas, including through Ukraine, where the Kremlin sent troops three weeks ago spurring a wave of costly Western sanctions.
“We are respecting all of our obligations in terms of energy supplies,” Putin said during a televised government meeting on the sanctions fallout.
He added that “even the gas transportation system in Ukraine is 100% filled as per contracts”.
Ukraine’s President is telling Russian leaders that their country’s invasion of Ukraine will backfire, by landing them in court and making their people hate them.
“You will definitely be prosecuted for complicity in war crimes,” Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video released today.
The West has slapped harsh financial and economic sanctions on Russia because of the invasion, and the Ukrainian leader said the consequences will be felt by all Russians.
“And then, it will definitely happen, you will be hated by Russian citizens — everyone you have been deceiving constantly, daily, for many years in a row, when they feel the consequences of your lies in their wallets, in their shrinking possibilities, in the stolen future of Russian children.”
Hi all, Lauren Boland here, I’ll be taking you through the latest developlements for the next while.
Here’s a quick recap of what’s happened so far today:
Goldman Sachs, a major international investment bank, has decided to pull out of Russia – the first Wall Street Bank to do so in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
A spokesperson said it is is “winding down its business in Russia in compliance with regulatory and licensing requirements”.
Bloomberg has the full story.
Russia’s ministry of foreign affairs is accusing the EU and Nato of posing an “enormous risk to international civilian aviation and other means of transport in Europe and beyond” by sending weapons to Ukraine.
In a statement, it claimed that “lessons have not been learned” by the West from sending weapons to countries in conflict in the past.
With Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and other Russian oligarchs now on the UK’s sanctions list, here’s what British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had to say today:
“We’ve got to be very careful in the way that we approach these things… you’ve got to go through due process.
“There is enough connection, enough of a link between the Putin regime and the individuals in question to justify the action.”
Across the Atlantic, the US is likely to impose another round of sanctions on Russia, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said today.
Yellen said that the “atrocities” Russia is “committing against civilians seem to be intensifying, so it’s certainly appropriate for us to be working with our allies to consider further sanctions”.
In a conversation with Washington Post Live, she said: “We have isolated Russia financially.”
The ruble has been in a freefall, the Russian stock market is closed.
“Russia has been effectively shut out of the international financial system.”
Lithuania is temporarily banning all Russian and Belarusian state TV broadcasts and any public events supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Its parliament adopted the ban as it extended a state of emergency that was first imposed last month when Putin ordered troops into Ukraine.
Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said it is “not restricting the rights of citizens, but the rights of propagandists to spread lies in Lithuania about the war that Putin started in Ukraine”.
Our reporter Gráinne Ní Aodha is in Versailles where leaders from around Europe are attending an informal European Council summit.
Arriving in Versailles, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said there is “huge anger at the atrocities being visited on people in their towns” in Ukraine as Russia continues to launch attacks.
Also in Versailles, Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte said there is “no such thing as a fast track” to joining the EU.
“I want to focus on what can we do for Volodymyr Zelensky tonight, tomorrow, and EU accession of Ukraine is something for the long term, if at all,” Rutte told reporters.
Ukraine submitted an application to become an EU member last weeks in the days after Russia invaded.
Presidents of eight eastern European countries signed a letter to the EU urging members states to take steps to grant Ukraine candidate status.
The EU has joined Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in describing an attack on a maternity hospital and children’s ward in Mariupol as a war crime.
European Commission leader Ursula von der Leyen called it an “inhumane, cruel and tragic” act.
“I am convinced that this can be a war crime. We need a full investigation,” she said.
Meanwhile the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that “Russia’s shelling of a maternity hospital is a heinous war crime”.
“Strikes of residential areas from the air and blocks of access of aid convoys by the Russian forces must immediately stop. Safe passage is needed, now.”
At least 17 women were injured in the attack and three people, including a young girl, were killed.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio One’s DriveTime this afternoon, Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney was asked whether Ireland would use its influence on UN Security Council if Russia was found to be using chemical weapons in Ukraine.
“What we don’t want here is an escalation of this war, where more people will be killed, where we will turn a totally unacceptable, illegal war that is completely inconsistent with the UN Charter and that Russia has to bear full responsibility for, into an even bigger global conflict,” Coveney said.
On sanctions, he said that “the West isn’t sitting back”.
“Yesterday in Washington, there was a $13.6 billion package agreed and signed off to support Ukraine. The EU is spending half a billion euro supporting the Ukraine military, and has signed off on another €1.2 billion in terms of economic supports for Ukraine.
“Ireland is using every tool at its disposal to raise issues of of illegality here and to hold Russia to account and we will continue to do that.”
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation says healthcare workers in Ireland are horrified by the attack on the maternity hospital in Mariupol.
“Irish nurses and midwives have looked on in horror at photos and videos of the attack on a maternity hospital in Mariupol,” INMO General Secretary, Phil Ní Sheaghdha said in a statement.
Ní Sheaghdha said: “Our members stand in full solidarity with the nurses, midwives and other medical professionals who are working despite the war raging in Ukraine.”
“We have heard through the International Confederation of Midwives and the International Confederation of Nurses how difficult it is on the ground for nurses and midwives in Ukraine.
The latest attack on a maternity hospital is truly shocking and our thoughts are with the brave midwives and nurses who were under attack, their families, and the patients they were caring for yesterday.
The protection and safety of our nurses and health systems are paramount and enshrined in international law.
“We call on all parties involved in the conflict and the international community to do everything in their power to protect the safety of our nurses and midwives who often put themselves in mortal danger to care for others.
“Access to healthcare and the delivery of humanitarian assistance must remain a priority for all concerned as we see cities under attack and tens of thousands of people being displaced.”
There are “big concerns” about taking care of the huge number of children who have fled Ukraine, according to EU home affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson.
“It is extremely important now that we focus on giving these children some kind of normality, to make them go to school, or to childcare, this is also an opportunity for parents to be able to work and be part of society,” Johansson told reporters today.
She raised the risk posed to unaccompanied minors by trafficking gangs and said the EU is activating a network to counter the threat.
Over 2 million refugees have entered the EU from Ukraine in the last two weeks since Russian invaded the country.
The bloc triggered a temporary protection directive that will grant temporary residence to refugees, allowing them to live, work, study and access healthcare in EU countries.
Here are some photos coming out of Mariupol today after the attack on the city:
Hi everyone, Tadgh McNally here to take over the Liveblog for the next little while.
We’re getting some new information on the number of people who have been evacuated from both Kyiv and Sumy in the last two days now.
According to the Ukrainian government, there have been 80,000 people evacuated from the two cities.
In Sumy, there were 60,000 people evacuated from the city and surrounding areas, while 20,000 people have been evacuated from Kyiv.
Irish student Racheal Diyaolu, who reached an EU border yesterday, was one of the 60,000 people evacuated after she became stuck in the city when the war broke out on 24 February.
Leaders say no fast track to EU membership for Ukraine
At the summit in Versailles this evening, Ukraine’s hopes for a quick accession to the EU appear to have been dashed by multiple European leaders.
Speaking to the media, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said “there is no such thing as a fast track” to allow Ukraine join the EU in a speedier manner.
Luxembourg’s PM Xavier Bettel said that Europe should not give Kyiv the impression that “everything can happen overnight”.
It’s likely to be a disappointing blow to Zelenskyy, who had rallied for an accelerated process to join the EU following the Russian invasion.
Chelsea manager says he’s not concerned by Abramovich sanctions
Following the sanctions announced by the UK Government on Russian oligarch and Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich, the club’s manager says that he isn’t concerned about it.
Speaking to the media before Chelsea’s game against Norwich, Thomas Tuchel said that he is aware of the situation, but not concerned.
Actually, I’m not sure I am concerned but I am aware of it. It changes almost every day.
Moscow says humanitarian corridors to Russia will be opened
In an announcement this evening, Moscow has said that it will be opening daily humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians into Russia, despite calls from Kyiv that no evacuation corridors should lead east.
According to AFP, Russian Defence Ministry official Mikhail Mizintsev said:
Humanitarian corridors towards the Russian Federation will now be opened, without any agreements, every day from 10:00 am.
However, there were no unilateral humanitarian corridors granted towards other countries, with Mizintsev saying that they would be opened “in agreement with the Ukrainian side”.
Some very striking images here of destroyed Russian tanks on a road near Brovary, a suburb to the north of Kyiv.
Red Cross says situation in Mariupol is deteriorating
The International Committee of the Red Cross has said that some residents in Mariupol have resorted to fighting one another for food during Russia’s siege of the city.
According to ICRC representative Sasha Volkov, people have attacked one another for food, while supplies of water are running low.
“People started to attack each other for food. People started to ruin someone’s car to take the gasoline out,” said Volkov.
Many have no water at all for drinking. All the shops and pharmacies were looted four to five days ago.
Some people still have food but I’m not sure for how long it will last. Many people report having no food for children.
Volkov has said that a black market for goods has begun to emerge in the city, as there is no longer running water, electricity or heating.
According to Volkov, people are beginning to get sick due to the cold weather.
“People are getting sick already because of the cold. They have nowhere to go,” he said.
On the current state of the global economy, the International Monetary Fund has said that they expect to cut global growth estimates due to the impacts of the Russian invasion on economies.
Managing Director of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva said that sanctions placed on Russia would cause a “sharp contraction” of the Russian economy.
She added that Russia defaulting on its debts is no longer “an improbable event”.
Russia and Ukraine to engage with nuclear watchdog
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said that both Ukraine and Russia are prepared to work with the watchdog after Russia captured the biggest nuclear power plant in Europe.
Rafael Grossi said that he spoke with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in separate meetings in Turkey today.
“We had good meetings, not easy ones, but serious meetings,” Grossi said.
Both sides agree… that something needs to be done. They are both ready to work and to engage with the IAEA.
It comes after there were concerns raised when Russia captured the Zaporizhzhia plant as well as Chernobyl during their invasion of Ukraine.
The IAEA has said that there is no “critical impact on safety” following power being cut to the Chernobyl plant, the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster.
In the Latvian capital of Riga, the street on which the Russian embassy is located is set to have it’s name changed to ‘Street of Ukrainian Independence’.
In a tweet this evening, the Latvian Foreign Affairs Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs said that the Riga city council had made the decision to change the street name this evening.
From now on the official address of the Russian embassy in Riga will be - 2 Street of Ukrainian Independence, Riga. Riga City Council so decided this afternoon
— Edgars Rinkēvičs (@edgarsrinkevics) March 10, 2022
UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has said that Russia has become a “global pariah” following it’s invasion of Ukraine over two weeks ago.
Speaking at an event in Washington, Truss said that the West was now paying the price for “years of complacency” on Russia.
We knew what Putin was doing. We had the intelligence… but actually we didn’t need it, because Putin announced his designs on Ukraine in public.
He set his plans down in black and white and put them up on the Kremlin’s website. But still we didn’t want to believe it.
Well, we believe it now. The world has woken up. The era of complacency is over. We must rise to this moment.
Truss said that while there has been a united effort to sanction Russia, more must now be done to put further pressure on Vladimir Putin’s regime.
She compared the invasion of Ukraine to 9/11, saying that they were of similar scale and will change things into the future.
How we respond today will set the pattern for this new era.
Our reporter, Niall O’Connor is in Poland this week reporting on the thousands of refugees that are crossing the border every day.
He’s reporting from the town of Przemysl, just ten kilometres from the Polish/Ukrainian border, where a makeshift transport hub has sprung up in the last two weeks to deal with the massive influx of Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s invasion.
You can read his full report here, but here’s a short extract:
The town of Przemysl, located ten kilometres from the Ukrainian/Polish frontier, is now the centre of the European aid effort as thousands of refugees throng the train platforms and bus queues each day.
More than two million people have fled to the EU in the two weeks since Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine.
This is where many of them are crossing the border as the local train station connects directly with the city of Lviv, and then on to the besieged capital Kyiv.
Among the weary crowds arriving, crossing the threshold from war-torn Ukraine into the safety of Poland, there is a calm, determined anxiousness to keep moving.
The town is just under 100kms from Lviv. The main border road crossing is Medyka, a short distance from the town. In the last two weeks the entire area has been transformed with makeshift refugee villages and aid stations dotted all around.
At Medyka those who enter country on foot gather, waiting for a bus to bring them to Przemysl – a mid-size town with a normal, peace-time population of some 60,000. That figure has swollen considerably since the war began.
The town is being used as a processing centre. Those that don’t have family to stay with in Poland or elsewhere have their details processed by officials in Przemysl before being sent to other cities to be temporarily housed.
- With reporting from PA and AFP.
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Came in, made a fortune, didn’t fix any of the problems and leaves with a tidy pension. And the next one won’t do any better and will probably be paid more.
@FliepFlap: The lady is correct with her summary. You need to calm down.
@Ailbhe: would you do his job
@Mary Garry: for €420k per annum?
Of course she would!
@Mary Garry: she is giving her opinion. I happen to think it is very accurate.
@Mary Garry: I wouldn’t, because I’m not qualified, I don’t have the experience and I wouldn’t be capable of resolving the long standing issues. €420k per year wouldn’t change that. People who have previously held the role had more experience and we’re more qualified and still managed to make it worse. The money should be €100k per year and should go to someone not in it for the money, but with the desire and abilities to fix a broken system.
@Mary Garry: If she was qualified and professional, why not. Mr. Reid on the other hand is a journey-man súçkiñg the honey !
@Ailbhe:
So you want someone who spent their whole life building their reputation to take over a role CEO of an Organistion of 117,000 employees and a budget of about €21bn and basically do it for charity…
How about we actually pay the market rate for the job and get somone who is highly qualified…
A CEO to do the job above costs millions, yet we want to do it on the cheap… We have been decades at this,..
https://chiefexecutive.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/CEO_CompReport_ExecSummary_2014.pdf
Running the HSE is a very difficult job with a CEO ( and management team) that would have to be highly experienced and understand the huge challenges the role takes… There is far easier money other places for a person who has those skills…
€420k for this role to the right person with the risk involved is career suicide… I know people will say but it is huge, good CEOs are like soccer players, there are only certain amount that are really good enough. There are loads that will give you a best effort. We are looking for person to head this massive organisation for less than the average English championship soccer player makes..
@Cowboy Paddy: you think €100k a year is CHARITY?! Thanks for the laugh
@Ailbhe: that job is a poison chalice. It needs someone who has fixed the same problems in a health system elsewhere. And to get a person like that you need to pay top dollar.
@Ailbhe: 100k, are joking? Nobody qualified would take the job for 100k, or even 400k. Anyone in private industry in charge of a similar sized organisation would be getting 20 to 50 times his current salary. Maybe far more.
People need to be realistic here. Altruism doesn’t exist at that level.
@Ailbhe: It is at that level, just knowing the type of skills needed for the job (to do it right). It would be like trying to sign Messi for Finn Harps…
Do you understand the role? The level of experience, the investment into there reputation… You think they should work for less than Contract Software Developer in the private business…
Do you expect to pay a few grand for a Ferrari as well… This job entails a 70+ hour week, severely high pressure, huge family support (i.e. your partner might not be able to work full time),…
Sorry but work close to these roles and you know the amount of effort and sacrifice it takes to do the role right and it becomes far clearer…
@Ian McDonald: I think the biggest thing about the job is making the right appointment. Reid never struck me as someone who was commited to change and just seemed to go through the motions to appease people. I think a lot of the appointments are made on the basis that the person wont make to much noise and upset the wrong people.
@Cowboy Paddy: your comment reminds me of the time we paid bankers loads of dosh. They still managed to screw us all up in bankrupting the country and charge us higher interest rates than the European norm. The tracker debacle is another diasster, where people lost their family homes.
Overall, highly paid professionals does not always equal / guarantee a highly efficient health service.
From recent personal experience, the health professionals, doctors/nurses are absolutely brilliant and caring, but most public administration across not just the health service is very, very poor / un-caring in this country. I do wonder why ?
@Cowboy Paddy: We paid the market rate to bank CEOS and they did an excellent job in bankrupting the country.
@Ailbhe: where are you going to find someone with those abilities for €100k per year ? If they have those kinds of abilities it’s guaranteed they are already employed and likely making 3x or more that amount. Easy to say ” someone not in it for the money”, but seriously, someone willing to take a 65% or more pay cut to take on a thankless job where they will be accused of all sorts by the loon squad should another pandemic arise ? Ain’t happening !!
@Ailbhe: neither did he – not even a health care profession .. he had no healthcare experience but was CEO — joke – but the person waiting on poor healthcare is not laughing .
@Paul Crowley:
You know banks are private companies and the Irish tax payer doesn’t control what they get paid…
Are you proposing that the Irish people now control the salaries of people in private companies? So how does this work? Do we dictate what bank clerk or a bar man can make too…
How do we know how much people should make? Who do we think will decide? Anyone we think is making too much we can go in and cut there salary… So we would get a salary list from a Google , Intel, Kerry Group…. and out with the Red Pen, we will say how much they are getting…
@Dublin sunrise:
Old Boss told me once ‘Pay Peanuts…’
What do we expect… One of the toughest management jobs in the world and you want a person to come in at about 1/10th of the market rate..
We were lucky anyone applied and beggers can’t be choosers..
@Dublin sunrise: Why would the CEO need to be a healthcare professional or even have healthcare experience ? They are not performing medical procedures, they are managing the entire organisation. People with relevant experience are managing the clinical side.
@Caoimhghin Whyte:
Irish Banks salaries actually are good bit less than in London… That is one of the reasons, better salary and conditions in UK with less hassle.
I totally agree that high pay doesn’t mean high quality but low pay usually guarantees poor quality.. Why would someone work for less than their market value… What we are saying to the person from the start is we think you are worse than you actually are… Sorry I don’t work like that and I am in the change management business, you just can’t start with that level of expectation…
I also agree with you on the public administration… I have for years advocated a far more IT focused approach… I was actually in the Dail in 2007 and said to two senators at the time, if you went into a bank and asked for €200 and they asked for you bank book and they updated by hand and then they opened a big ledger in front of you and changed your account there. You would close your account right there and then, but we accept that in our health service. We have not moved much from there since then but there are other reasons for that..
@Tommy Roche: it would help if he had an idea Re working in the system before becoming CEO . Whatever qualification if any got him this job — he didn’t improve anything – now the hse is just as bad if not worse .I was patient and I would prefer to die than be admitted to a dublin hospital again.
@Ailbhe: No one qualified to do the job with relevant experience would take it for that salary.
@Ailbhe: For that level of responsibility, the experience, qualifications and expertise to do the job right absolutely no one would do it for 100k. That’s a reality and it’s an unrealistic expectation to think otherwise. We need to pay a proper salary and get someone who is actually good at their job.
@Cowboy Paddy: except that during his whole tenure Reid appeared to be even more lost than a Finn Harps reserve team player would be on a match day at Camp Nou playing Real Madrid.
@Ailbhe: how can anyone fix a political potato.
@Alex Marquis:
Slightly unfair there… He did manage COVID response better than most countries…
But the rest makes my point… We expected Mr Reid to save the HSE… Are we serious… His CV was not of a high flying CEO… The guy was a underground cable jointer in 2005.. Think about that… We expected him to save the CV…
Paul Reid previous job was Fingal Chief Executive, I think…
Honestly this Paul looks like one they got for the money, not targeting of a A lister to come in… That is not Paul’s fault, look at the people that complained what he made…
Imagine if we found the best guy for the job but he cost €4.2m a year?
@Cowboy Paddy: they are called unions
@Ailbhe: it’s not a lot to be fair to do a job like that. I fully believe you underestimate the job, sure bricklayers and plumbers are on 150k a year now
@Cowboy Paddy: paying the ‘market rate’ means nothing in terms of calibre of person. We used to do that in the banks, remember, and look where that got us ? Linking pay and ability is a fools errand.
@John Moylan:
Can please tell me which Bank CEO the Irish taxpayer was paying before the crash.
What you are saying is… Because a private company in Ireland might have not got their money’s worth 15 years ago in a different industry, we should grossly underpay for a role that we really need done well today…
BTW, running a bank is way easier than running a health service..
Resenting some people making money who do a good job will nearly always work against you… We say it in business in Ireland all the time, they are so worried what the other guy is making they fail to look at how much we are making or saving…
@Ailbhe: So basically you are contradicting your first statement . Emmmmm …..
@Barry Sorensen: You can’t make comparisons with the private sector. In the private sector, if the company results are poor, and the share price drops, you wouldn’t be long, shown the door. Assigned to the bin, never to take up a similar role again. If Paul had delivered a 1st class health system with the huge budget given to him, the Irish public would happily pay millions for his salary. Public sector needs performance based pay.
@Ailbhe: think ur a way out there pay peanuts & u get monkeys
@Barry Ryan:
If we were paying like that, I say Paul wouldn’t have got the job…
Look at his experience coming into the job… He was Chief exec of Fingal County Council, budget about 1% of the HSE, far less complex…
@David Corrigan: Calm down? Snowflakes like you and The Journal deemed it necessary to remove my comment? You and all the other w ankers haven’t got a clue what it entails to fix something that’s been broken for decades.
Blame the government, if you want to point fingers. But hey, you all would do a stunning job yourselves I bet.
@Cowboy Paddy: the head of the NHS is paid £260k (about 300k Euro) the NHS has 1.5 million staff. perhaps that’s a better comparison than soccer players.
@Mick Wall: president of the United States $400,000. Mr. Reid salary is too high for someone who isn’t suitably experienced.
@Ailbhe: so do true
@Ailbhe: tbf 100k is peanuts i know cars sales men making that
Get out before all the attention shifts from Covid to the children’s hospital.
@⚡ Seánie ⚡: get out before you are asked to leave!!
This has to be a good thing, hes been a disaster, I wonder is he jumping before hes pushed.
@Patricia O’Brien: he,s certainly running away
@Patricia O’Brien: I’d imagine the people working around the clock would appreciate paid time to spend with their families. I don’t know where he’s coming from with the heavy heart. They can’t be that bad.
@Patricia O’Brien: as useless_as a chocolate teapot… he should_return his pot o gold to Darby O’Gill…!!
Waiting for all the keyboard warriors to knock Paul Reid. Thankless job and I think we did pretty well through the pandemic.
@Kevin Conway: really ? Have u seen Limerick Hospital lately?
@Kevin Conway: we have an overwhelmingly poor health service and he’s paid 420,000 a year. I think anyone who’s had a loved on sitting on a trolley for 8 hours or can’t get an appointment with a consultant is well within their rights to criticise
@Kevin Conway: He’s a great man for sure,will be sadly missed.
@Gary Carr: yes I have… leading onwards to a death of my mother. It’s not funny but our system is a lot better that most other countries. Its not perfect. I wouldn’t take on his job for twice the money he was on.
@Kevin Conway: You don’t get thanks for taking huge wages and being incompetent, this is the nearest to an Irish sacking we get. Be grateful for it. Watt must go also.
@Kevin Conway: regardless, you referring to anyone who rightly criticises someone who’s on 420k a year of taxpayer money as “keyboard warriors” is absolute nonsense.
@Kevin Conway: Are you for real? Our system isn’t better than a lot of third world countries. By all key indicators we fall well short. This has been highlighted by ECDC and others putting us at the bottom of most lists in EU.
@Kevin Conway: well he did well, earning in excess of €850k.
@Toon Army:
You mean 13th… That has been the general area for a while…
https://www.joe.ie/fitness-health/ireland-placed-pretty-high-new-global-healthcare-system-ranking-588830
I don’t think we are that high but we are a lot better than some make out…
@Gary Carr: I spent 15 hours on a trolley on 2 different occasions in the Lourdes hospital in Drogheda, and I’m dying with terminal cancer, says it all really!!
@Kevin Conway: I’m waiting for all the Stockholm Syndrome victims to talk him up on how amazing he is..
@Kevin Conway: praise for the pandemic is great but is that what he is getting well paid to do ? That’s his job.
So did he leave or was he pushed? Is there a clue in weekend news about telling the minister that Navan hospital A&E is closing no matter what he said?!!
Sidebar – if you want to see a parallel story to the closure look back at what happened to Roscommon A&E.
@Niall Sheridan: Health is a poison chalice. The system is unworkable and unfixable. Not Reid’s fault. He’s a working class boy from Finglas who worked his way to the top. Good luck to him.
He was paid a fortune did ok in covid by spending a fortune, but has he actually improved the HSE, I think not. Low staffing levels to much middle management that dont contribute anything, infrastructure of hospitals a disaster, child care services a disgrace. Ques for procedures growing. Emergency departments a joke. Our trained Doctors emigrating due to being overworked. The list goes on and on. Nothing has got any better.
@The Observer: have to ask, you say “did ok in covid”. Can you please genuinely asking, list the things he did ok on with covid??
When I think about it more actually no I can’t:)
@The Observer: HA!!
@The Observer: the junior doctors aren’t emigrating because of overwork. they are emigrating because of poor postgraduate training. and training structures.
@Sarah Lou: funny then we done very well in covid compered to a lot of countries & thats not me saying that its a fact so go get your info before making coments
@Sheila McNulty: Are you sure its me who doesnt have my facts!! Why is tony gone and Mr Reid leaving too…. cos we did so well!! We had some of the harshest lockdowns in the world. We failed our elderly and our medically vulnerable. The finance staff working from home were given the vaccine before those who were literally dying from covid. The elderly were discharged with covid from acute hospitals causing mass outbreaks and deaths. We have yet in 2022 over 2 years since the first case, built a new hospital. They havent even broken the covid v non covid patients correctly in my local hospital. What fact is it that I have missed Sheila? Oh sorry you are right, I have not even brought in the state of the current health service, the people on lists upon lists to see consultants. The fact people are dying of their condition while on a waiting list for review for several years. I mean I am waiting to hear the facts ive missed but Mr Reid is the boss of ALL of that above there, go on hit me with them…
I am sure there will be a pile on with people talking about his salary and perks but he led an historically dysfunctional organisation through a pandemic. I hope he enjoys retirement.
@Phil O’ Meara: The article doesn’t say how old he is?
@Phil O’ Meara: He isn’t retiring.
@Una Dunphy: No future car÷r plans at present. Read he is burnt out.
Remind me again, what qualifications/ experience did Reid have for the HSE job? Nice salary and perks though!
@Seamus Maye: He has corporate experience. He doesn’t need to be a medic.
@Seamus Maye: he did well for a working class lad from Finglas who, as you, say left school at 16 with no qualifications. Maybe its time for a management guru with an MBA!
@Ciaran O’Mara: highly educated does not necessarily mean better qualified. I know plenty of PHd educated people who lack common sense. What’s needed is transformational leadership. Not cuts to services. A leader who is good at working with others and inspires people to embrace change. Our health service is a weird hybrid between corporatised healthcare and a public system. The goal should be national universal healthcare. I wouldn’t mind increasing my wages and neither would anyone else who comments on here. People begrudging someone success is so Irish.
I doubt he is quitting
God bless The Journal Comments section and all who sail in her
The overall response to the pandemic from the health service was fantastic, thousands of lives were saved and in fairness to Reid, he stood up to the plate. But the HSE is a broken model. An enormous budget, too many admin and middle management staff, a union paralysed organisation. The CEO job and Minister for Health portfolio are both poisoned chalices. There’s no winning the war without root and branch reform and that isn’t going to happen with unions calling the shots. Unions don’t do change.
@GrumpyAulFella:
I think you re right there… This job is close to impossible in the way it is set up… It is vast and presented with numerous challenges…
Look at the Children’s hospital alone… Paul Reid is in charge of a €21 billion a year organisation… The Hospital will cost 1/10th of an annual budget spread over about 10 years.. That is 1% a year, yet it has to dominate his time in media and other issues…
Without being closer it is hard to tell where the HSE is having its problems but it definitely has Information Technology issues, which makes trying to see other issues very hard..
@GrumpyAulFella: No the response to the pandemic was not fantastic and the long term effects of neglecting every other illness to deal with covid is yet to be discovered and dealt with. Trumped up figures about hospitalisations and deaths (and this has been proven) to cover over HSE shortfalls and endemic overcrowding is hardly fantastic handling. Yes the frontline staff were amazing as they always were and are but HSE upper management are an unqualified unmitigated disaster ably assisted by an inept minister and civil service
@Cowboy Paddy: Thinking that cost of children’s hospital is somehow ok because it just 1/10th of the annual budget is nonsense.
By the time it’s done, it will be the most expensive hospital ever built in the world and it’s in a bad location. There’s no excuses for what’s happening with that build.
@Michael McGrath: just words though. The stats don’t lie. In relation to most countries our fatality rate was very small, our vaccination programme was one of the swiftest and most efficient in the world. And no, other illnesses weren’t ignored, obviously reprioritisation was required during a health emergency but overall our health service, of which he is head, did an excellent job. Credit where it’s due. That’s not to say that the health service isn’t screwed up in most other areas.
@JedBartlett: in fairness how much of that is down to Reid? That one is on DPER, the OGP and the other civil servants involved in state procurement and supplier contract negotiating process.
@GrumpyAulFella: No there not just words and stats can be made look any way the writer wants them to look. And I never said ignored i said neglected two totally different meanings and the waiting lists and times for treatments and procedures in hospitals even for private patients would prove what I have said is completely accurate.
@Michael McGrath: did you expect that throwing all of the resources that our health service has, as every other country in the world did, to provide critical emergency services to Covid sufferers and the dying as well as servicing the biggest vaccination programme that the state has undertaken, would have a positive effect on queues for other services? This is the inevitable fallout from a once in a generation global health emergency. There isn’t a country in the world that isn’t in the same position re mopping up afterwards now that full services have resumed.
@GrumpyAulFella: 100%. The Unions have the HSE by the short and curlies. He can’t hire and fire as he could in a corporate environment so he was on the road to nowhere unfortunately
@JedBartlett:
Look at it in comparison to his total job. He didn’t pick the site, it was pretty much mandated to him…
This is the thing… Reid should have been running a health service, not in the building trade… This job should have been given to another government dept like Office of Public Works and HSE should have been just a client.. This is just one of those things that are wrong…
Reid is not building the hospital… Politicians had pretty much decided where it was going to be…
There is a difference between Operational management and these types of projects…
A Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael appointment will be made now. The merry go round continues.
How much is the pension?
@Daniel Carry: about 50k added to his pension pot every year
A nice golden handshake on the way
He had not even one days experience of working in healthcare- but was given the job
of CEO – joke – but the
person waiting on our poor / messed up / scary /healthcare is not
laughing. He had the right connections to get the nice job -in this no so fair isle of ours !
@Dublin sunrise: the same as DAA bringing in a failed supermarket Boss to run an airport
I wonder will he get a guard of honour from Dublin to Carrick on Shannon in his chauffeured BMW this time. We are not worthy of this great servant of the people………
So what is coming downing the line that would prompt this decision? Is the HSE a sinking ship or has someone’s past caught up with them?
@Eddie O’Neill: could be fed up trying to fix the impossible, could have been given a better paid opportunity elsewhere, could just want a better work life balance. Could be sick of the public life. Endless reasons.
This should be fun!
Bye Paul thanks for nothing and only there for paycheck.. You’ve managed to make some crazy decisions and closing Navan A&E is one of the worst things you can do. The population in Meath is crazy and now no A&E and your solution is head to Drogheda or any other already over stretched A&E that’s close by.. It’s a Disgrace just like the HSE but make sure you get over paid and get a nice fat pension too..dont let the door hit you on the way out
Polite tributes – nonetheless accompanied to the door marked EXIT.
How does one apply for this role?
@Madra: Applications are futile, position already filled.
He got paid a fortune
H.S.E. spent a fortune
All we got was misfortune
Was he pushed?
Heading for the soon to be vacant CEO role at Dublin Airport Authority.
@David Hanly: Ah stop, what happens when the queues for beds and flights meet?
The HSE would appear to have more snake heads than Medusa. It is time to take away the Pedestals and rebuild the whole organisation, it is peppered with non-performing Managers and bullies.
If the same people who did the hiring the last time do the hiring the next time, the HSE will be in the same boat. The “hirers” should be replaced first.
Get back to work the lot of ye and stop moaning!
Was the HSE not supposed to be dissolved by James Reilly when he was minister?
He has no immediate career plan. Sure he doesn’t – why should he. Enough money made. And the HSE is entering a new era…. Sure. From bad to worse!
Well he has had enough. No he is off. We are left with a health service that is not fit for purpose. What is the measurable difference that can be made to evaluate Mr. Reid’s performance? What has changed? Is the health service better or worse? Did we get value for money? How much money has been spent during Mr. Reid’s period in office. What will it cost to fund the decisions that were taken? Where state is the health service in? Is there an realistic plan to make the health service viable? Do we need to scrap the HSE and return to the regional Health Boards? Does anybody know what they are doing? Do the decision makers have the skillset to run a health system? I dont think so.
He was found out.!!! Was completely out of his depth and so under qualified and over paid but he’s off with a big pay off and no doubt a gold plated pension and to squirm his way into another cushy gig.
Ireland. Who could bother with it
All those lambasting him; 3 years is nothing in a corporate environment to turn things around unless you can be the new broom and sweep out all the detrius. Obviously he cant get rid of legacy staff plus the Unions have the health service tied up. He took over this job when the country faced a pandemic. He is worn out with everything I’d say.
Who would work for the public service and be treated so begrudgingly by the many keyboard warriors who log on to the Journal every day to pick out which target they are going to p•ss on?
He can well afford it now….
How much did he get? He was just waiting for the right offer and is nothin, knows nothing but will get far!
Why is he allowed to break a 5 year contract?
Another one jumping ship.. Is there anyone left on board..!?
Like rats from a sinking ship
How much did he get? He was just waiting for the right offer and is nothing, knows nothing but will get far!
In fairness he has sorted out the HSE so now time for him to take a long well deserved break.
@Aidan Bergin: Give an example of what he has sorted in the HSE, just one. Problems with Recruitment, A&E overcrowding, Building Programme, Staff Salaries, CAMS, Bullying and other critical problems in the HSE remain while Paul Reid walks. Why the sudden decision to go, with some work done and huge amount outstanding ? ?
The comedy continues. He improved fu(k all. Lets he honest.
Who cares
More deadwood getting paid for life
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