Anadolu Agency's Morning Briefing – March 26, 2022

ANKARA 

Anadolu Agency is here with a rundown of the latest developments around the world.

A month has passed since Russia launched a military operation against Ukraine, sparking the biggest war on a European state since WWII.

The ongoing war has led to a catastrophic effect on civilians in Ukraine as more than 3.7 million fled the country, according to the UN refugee agency.

Russia has been slapped with massive sanctions by the West in response, President Vladimir Putin says the moves against Russians were like the ugly, racist persecution seen under Nazi Germany.

The warring parties report a conflicting number of casualties. Moscow claims to have killed 14,000 Ukrainian soldiers and its losses amounted to 1,351. On the other hand, Ukrainian authorities claim the death toll of Russian forces has topped 15,000.

As the war rages, French President Emmanuel Macron said his country, along with Turkiye and Greece, would conduct a joint evacuation for residents in the besieged city of Mariupol.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said NATO was the cornerstone of European security and his country was an indispensable ally in ensuring regional security.

Erdogan and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy also spoke via telephone and discussed the situation on the ground with regards to the war as well as the "stage reached" in talks to end the conflict.

The war led to a major energy crisis for the EU, which is largely dependent on Russian gas; however, the EU and US announced a new deal to supply extra liquefied natural gas to the European bloc to curb its dependence.

The US confirmed it canceled talks with the Taliban because the hardline group decided to cancel secondary education for Afghan girls.

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen blamed Houthi rebels for attacking an Aramco oil facility in Saudi Arabia's Jeddah.

After five days of intense search operations, no survivor has been found in the crash of a Chinese airplane with 132 people on board.