Moscow targets base near Polish border, steps up onslaught

In public remarks Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy doubled down on his campaign for a NATO-enforced no-fly zone that could thwart some Russian bombing and help end the 18-day invasion of his country.

Zelenskyy argued that an earlier Russian airstrike on a military base in western Ukraine, about 20 miles from the border with Poland, proves that Russian attacks will inevitably cross into NATO turf that the U.S. and fellow members of the military alliance have promised to defend.

His logic concludes that the U.S. and NATO allies will end up battling Russia in the skies above Ukraine in any case, so their resistance to enforcing a no-fly zone is ultimately pointless.

"If you do not close our sky, it is only a matter of time before Russian missiles fall on your territory," Zelenskyy said on Telegram, according to NBC News' translation.

He continued by emphasizing that it would be a direct attack on U.S. allies and the start of the very war the U.S. is trying to avoid by letting Russia fly: "NATO territory. On the homes of citizens of NATO countries."

But with President Joe Biden ruling out direct military combat with Russia, a no-fly dragnet that would be likely to include direct fire has been ruled out.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said last week: "The only way to impose a no-fly zone in a hostile environment, as we see in Ukraine right now, is to massively attack Russian air defense systems. ... This will significantly escalate the war, the fighting in Ukraine. But also, of course, risk a full-fledged war in Europe."

Brent Renaud had been hired by Time magazine to work on a project "focused on the global refugee crisis" before his death, Time said. 

The State Department confirmed Renaud's death Sunday after Ukrainian authorities reported that he was found dead amid heavy Russian shelling. NBC News was unable to independently verify the circumstances of Renaud's death.

Time CEO Edward Felsenthal and Time Studios President Ian Orefice said in a joint statement that they were "devastated." 

"In recent weeks, Brent was in the region working on a TIME Studios project focused on the global refugee crisis. Our hearts are with all of Brent’s loved ones," the statement said. "It is essential that journalists are able to safely cover this ongoing invasion and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine." 

State Department spokesman Ned Price on Sunday condemned the killing of award-winning documentary filmmaker and journalist Brent Renaud.

"We are horrified that journalists and filmmakers—noncombatants—have been killed and injured in Ukraine by Kremlin forces," Price said on Twitter. "We extend condolences to all those affected by this horrific violence. This is yet another gruesome example of the Kremlin’s indiscriminate actions." 

The New York Times confirmed that while Renaud, who was reported to have been shot dead in Russian shelling in Irpin, was found with an old press badge from previous work with The Times, he was not in the country for the newspaper.

GENEVA — The Red Cross is warning of a “worst-case scenario” for hundreds of thousands of civilians in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol unless the parties agree to ensure their safety and access to humanitarian aid.

The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Peter Maurer, said in a statement said Sunday that residents of Mariupol “have endured a weeks-long life-and-death nightmare.”

The Geneva-based humanitarian agency said hundreds of thousands of people in the city are “facing extreme or total shortages of basic necessities like food, water and medicine.”

“Dead bodies, of civilians and combatants, remain trapped under the rubble or lying in the open where they fell,” the ICRC added. “Life-changing injuries and chronic, debilitating conditions cannot be treated. The human suffering is simply immense.”

The Red Cross called on the parties to agree on the terms of a cease-fire, routes for safe passage, and to ensure the deal is respected. It offered to act as a neutral intermediary in negotiations.

Ukraine says it has restored a broken power line to the Chernobyl power plant, the scene of a nuclear meltdown in 1986, which is held by Russian troops.

Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said that “heroes” from the national power grid company managed to restore the connection. The power is used to run pumps that keep spent nuclear fuel cool to prevent radiation leaks.

Ukraine said Wednesday that power had been cut to the site and that there was enough diesel fuel to run on-site generators for 48 hours. Nearby Belarus said it had set up an emergency power line to Chernobyl.

The good news came with bad as the International Atomic Energy Agency said plant workers were suffering physical and mental fatigue after nearly three weeks solid of work: Equipment crucial to safety was not being repaired or maintained, the IAEA said.

The organization wants to step in with a safety initiative, but it would need Russia's blessing. "We can’t afford to lose more time," Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a statement Sunday.

Award-winning documentary filmmaker and journalist Brent Renaud was shot dead in Irpin, Ukraine, the State Department confirmed Sunday.

Reports of Renaud's death first circulated after Andriy Nebytov, the chief of Ukraine's National Police in Kyiv, posted that he had been killed in Russian shelling. NBC News could not independently verify the circumstances of Renaud's death. 

"We offer our sincerest condolences to his family on their loss and are offering all possible consular assistance," a State Department spokesperson said Sunday. "Out of respect for his family’s privacy, we have no specifics to offer at this time."

Brent and Craig Renaud have been nominated for and won a bevy of journalism awards, including an Edward R. Murrow award and a Peabody Award. The brothers have traveled the world with their cameras, with experience covering war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The New York Times confirmed that although he was found with an old press badge from previous work with the paper, Renaud was not in Ukraine for The Times. 

"We are deeply saddened to hear of Brent Renaud's death. Brent was a talented filmmaker who had contributed to The New York Times over the years," the paper said in a statement. "Though he had contributed to The Times in the past (most recently in 2015), he was not on assignment for any desk at The Times in Ukraine." 

Renaud had also contributed to NBC News broadcasts but was not on assignment for the company, NBC News said Sunday.

"We were deeply saddened to learn about the death of award-winning filmmaker and journalist Brent Renaud," NBC News said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends."

BERLIN — Three U.N. agencies are calling for an immediate end to attacks on health care facilities in Ukraine, calling them “an act of unconscionable cruelty.”

In a joint statement Sunday, the U.N. Children’s Fund, the World Health Organization and the U.N. Population Fund said that “horrific attacks are killing and causing serious injuries to patients and health workers, destroying vital health infrastructure and forcing thousands to forgo accessing health services despite catastrophic needs.”

“To attack the most vulnerable — babies, children, pregnant women, and those already suffering from illness and disease, and health workers risking their own lives to save lives — is an act of unconscionable cruelty,” they said.

Since the start of the war at least 12 people were killed and 34 were injured, while 24 facilities and five ambulances were damaged or destroyed, the agencies said.

They said that some 4,300 children have been born since the conflict began and 80,000 Ukrainian women are expected to give birth in the next three months, with oxygen and other medical supplies running dangerously low.

“The health care system in Ukraine is clearly under significant strain, and its collapse would be a catastrophe. Every effort must be made to prevent this from happening,” they said.