UPDATE: Senior Russian General Killed Near Kharkiv, Russia Announces Conditions For Ending War

NEW YORK (VINnews) — Here are a few of the latest developments as the Russia-Ukraine war enters its 13th day:

• Ukraine’s military intelligence said Tuesday that Ukrainian forces have killed a Russian general near the besieged city of Kharkiv, the second Russian senior commander to die in the invasion. Major General Vitaly Gerasimov, chief of staff and first deputy commander of Russia’s 41st army, was killed on Monday, the Chief Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine’s defence ministry said in a statement. The Ukrainians claimed that other senior Russian Army officers “were also killed or wounded” near Kharkiv. They also stated that data obtained related to his death “show significant problems with communication” in Russia’s army, “and with the evacuation of their defeated units.”
• At least nine people, including two children, have died in an air strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy, some 350 kilometres east of Kiev, Ukrainian rescue services said Tuesday.”Enemy planes insidiously attacked apartment buildings” on Monday night, the rescue services said on Telegram after arriving on the scene at 11 pm. Sumy, near the Russian border, has been the scene of heavy fighting for days.
• The World Bank has approved a $723 million emergency financing package of loans and grants for Ukraine as it fights Russia’s invasion, it said in a statement Monday.The package includes a $350 million loan supplement to a prior World Bank loan.

  The bank also promised to work on creating another $3 billion dollar support package for Ukraine to be rolled out “in the coming months.” In its statement, it said it would provide additional support for Ukraine’s neighbours as they take in more than 1.7 million refugees,.

  “The World Bank Group stands with the people of Ukraine and the region,” said World Bank President David Malpass in the statement. “This is the first of many steps we are taking to help address the far-reaching human and economic impacts of this crisis.”

• The third round of talks between Russia and Ukraine were focused on opening a safe passage for civilians who are trying to flee the violence. Following the talks, Russian negotiators said they did not have positive developments to report, while Ukraine’s negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak said some small progress had been made on agreeing logistics for the evacuation of civilians. However, no agreement was reached that could significantly improve the broader situation, he added.
• Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said that Russia will carry out a cease-fire on Tuesday morning at 10am Moscow time and open humanitarian corridors to evacuate citizens from Kiev, Chernigov, Sumy and Mariupol.
• The Kremlin has announced its demands for ending the war in Ukraine:1) Ukraine must change its constitution to guarantee it won’t join any “blocs”, i.e. NATO + EU.

  2) Must recognise Crimea as part of Russia.

  3) Must recognise the eastern separatist regions as independent.

  Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow was demanding that Ukraine cease military action, change its constitution to enshrine neutrality, acknowledge Crimea as Russian territory, and recognise the separatist republics of Donetsk and Lugansk as independent states. These demands are significantly different from Putin’s original declaration that he plans to “denazify” and “demilitarize” Ukraine.

• There was no immediate reaction from Ukraine but President Zelensky is continuing negotiations to immediately bring his country into the EU.