New Delhi, March 27: Ukraine claims to have repelled 7 attacks in the directions of Donetsk and Luhansk and destroyed Russian tanks and armoured vehicles. Meanwhile, Ukraine's Deputy PM said that Russia forcibly removed 40,000 Ukrainians "in an unknown direction" using "quasi-humanitarian corridors".

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged the West to give Ukraine tanks, planes and missiles to fend off Russian forces as his government said Moscow’s forces were targeting the country’s fuel and food depots. Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Vadym Denysenko said on Sunday that Russia had started destroying Ukrainian fuel and food storage centres, meaning the government would have to disperse stocks of both in the near future.  Russia-Ukraine War: 12 Journalists Killed in Ukraine Since Beginning of War, Says Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova

Meanwhile, a nuclear research facility in Kharkiv again has come under shelling by Russia, Ukraine’s nuclear watchdog said. The State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate said that the neutron source experimental facility in the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology came under fire Saturday, AP reported.

Ukraine said on Sunday that Russia holding a referendum in occupied Ukrainian territory would have no legal basis and would face a strong response from the international community, deepening its global isolation.  Russia-Ukraine War: US Bans Russian Cyber Company Kaspersky Citing Risk to National Security, Firm Calls Move Political

The Russian-controlled Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine could hold a referendum soon on joining Russia, its local leader was quoted as saying. "All fake referendums in the temporarily occupied territories are null and void and will have no legal validity," Ukraine's foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said in a statement to Reuters. "Instead, Russia will facе an even stronger response from the international community, further deepening its global isolation."

A separatist leader in eastern Ukraine says that his region wants to hold a vote on joining Russia.

Leonid Pasechnik, the head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic, said Sunday that it could hold a referendum “in the nearest time” asking voters whether they support making the region part of Russia.

Russian forces have taken control of Ukraine’s Slavutych, where workers at the defunct Chernobyl nuclear plant live, and three people were killed, Interfax Ukraine news agency quoted the local mayor as saying.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 27, 2022 07:08 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).