Russia-Ukraine war Highlights: Ex-ICC prosecutor says 'Putin is a war criminal'
As the war between Russia and Ukraine enters its sixth week, another round of peace talks resumed on Friday after multiple failed attempts. The latest negotiations took place via video conference. At an earlier round of talks held earlier this week, Ukraine said it would be willing to abandon a bid to join NATO and declare itself neutral — one of Moscow’s chief demands — in return for security guarantees from several other countries....Read More
Meanwhile, Moscow pulled back some of its ground forces from areas around Kyiv after announcing that it would reduce military activity near the Ukrainian capital and the northern city of Chernihiv to promote trust at the bargaining table.
A rescue attempt to evacuate civilians from Mariupol --the shattered and besieged southern port city – has failed and the Kremlin accused the Ukrainians of launching a helicopter attack on a fuel depot on Russian soil.
The full-scale invasion attempt – which began on February 24 after Russia announced “special military operations” in Ukraine – has left thousands dead and driven more than 4 million refugees from the East European country.
Lithuania becomes first EU country to ban Russian gas: Ukraine media
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said that starting in April, the country will not import Russian gas, Ukrainian media outlet, The Kyiv Independent reported. He added that other European countries should follow the Lithuanian example.
Almost 300 people buried in 'mass grave' in Bucha outside Kyiv: mayor
Almost 300 people have been buried in a mass grave in Bucha, a commuter town outside Ukraine's capital Kyiv, its mayor told AFP Saturday after the Ukrainian army retook control of the key town from Russia.
"In Bucha, we have already buried 280 people in mass graves," mayor Anatoly Fedoruk told AFP by phone. He said the heavily destroyed town's streets are littered with corpses.
Zelenskyy: Mines in wake of Russian retreat keep Kyiv unsafe
As Russian forces pull back from Ukraine’s capital region, retreating troops are creating a “catastrophic" situation for civilians by leaving mines around homes, abandoned equipment and “even the bodies of those killed," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned Saturday.
Ukraine and its Western allies reported mounting evidence of Russia withdrawing its forces from around Kyiv and building its troop strength in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian fighters reclaimed several areas near the capital after forcing the Russians out or moving in after them, officials said.
Ukraine accuses Russia of firing on protesters
A Ukrainian official on Saturday accused Russian forces of opening fire on peaceful demonstrators, injuring four with "severe burns", in the southern city of Enerhodar occupied by Moscow's forces, AFP reported.
Russian troops took control of Enerhodar, the site of Europe's largest nuclear power plant, in early March.
"Today in Enerhodar, city residents gathered again for a rally in support of Ukraine, singing the anthem," Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Lyudmyla Denisova said on Telegram.
Providing Ukraine with supplies if Russia deploys chemical weapons, says US
The US is sending another $300 million in military and medical assistance to Ukraine, including Switchblade dive-bombing drones. President Joe Biden’s administration will help allies move Soviet-made tanks to Ukraine to support its defenses, the New York Times reported.
UNESCO: 53 Ukrainian historic, religious sites damaged since start of Russia’s war
The UN’s cultural agency used satellite images and witness reports to confirm damage inflicted upon 29 religious sites, 16 historic buildings, four museums, and four monuments, Ukrainian media reported.
Ex-ICC prosecutor says 'Putin is a war criminal'
The former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has called for an international arrest warrant to be issued for Russian President Vladimir Putin, news agency AP reported.
“Putin is a war criminal,” Carla Del Ponte told Swiss newspaper Le Temps in an interview published Saturday.
In interviews given to Swiss media to mark the release of her latest book, the Swiss lawyer who oversaw ICC war crimes investigations in Rwanda, Syria and the former Yugoslavia, said there were clear war crimes being committed in Ukraine.
About 620,000 Ukrainians have returned to Ukraine since the war
“In the first weeks of the war, most Ukrainians returning home were men, but now we see increasing numbers of women and children coming back,” The Kyiv Independent quoted State Border Guard Service spokesman as saying.
Death toll from Mykolaiv strike keeps growing
At least 33 people have been killed and 34 injured in a Russian rocket strike on the regional government building in the southern Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv, news agency AP reported.
Ukrainian officials gave the latest death toll in a statement Saturday, updating the numbers of the deadly strike that hit Mykolaiv on Tuesday.
Red Cross trying again to escort evacuation convoy out of Ukraine's Mariupol
The Red Cross was renewing efforts to evacuate civilians in a convoy from the besieged port of Mariupol on Saturday as Russian forces looked to be regrouping for fresh attacks in southeast Ukraine, Reuters reported.
Encircled since the early days of Russia's five-week old invasion, Mariupol has been Moscow's main target in Ukraine's southeastern region of Donbas. Tens of thousands of civilians are trapped there with scant access to food and water.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) sent a team on Friday to lead a convoy of about 54 Ukrainian buses and other private vehicles out of the city, but they turned back, saying they were unable to proceed.
Pope Francis hints at possible trip to Kyiv
Pope Francis says he is studying a possible visit to Kyiv and he blasted Russian President Vladimir Putin for launching a “savage” war, as he arrived in Malta and delivered his most pointed and personalized denunciation yet of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Pope didn’t cite Putin by name, but the reference was clear when he said that “some potentate” had unleashed the threat of nuclear war on the world in an “infantile and destructive aggression” under the guise of “anachronist claims of nationalistic interests.”
Kyrgyz police arrest activists at rally against Putin
Police in Kyrgyzstan detained around 20 activists who defied court bans on rallies related to Russia's invasion of Ukraine by protesting against Russian leader Vladimir Putin, an AFP correspondent saw Saturday.
The arrests in the capital Bishkek come as the gruelling conflict fuels pro- and anti-Moscow sentiment in ex-Soviet Central Asia, a five-country region tightly-tied to Russia.
Ukrainian photographer Maks Levin found dead in Kyiv Oblast
Ukrainian photographer Maks Levin was found dead in Kyiv Oblast, Ukrainian media outlet Kyiv Independent reported. Levin went missing on March 13 when he traveled to Kyiv Oblast's Vyshgorod district to document hostilities there. Levin worked with Reuters, BBC, and AP. He left behind 4 children and his wife.
Russian forces in 'rapid retreat' from northern areas, says Ukraine
Kyiv warns Russia is adding troops in Moldova
Russian troops are slowly leaving parts of Ukraine’s north, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address. At the same time, Ukraine’s military said Russia is deploying more forces to Moldova’s Transnistria region, close to the Black Sea city of Odesa, Bloomberg reported.
Russia says cooperation in space only possible once sanctions are lifted
Russia's space director said on Saturday that the restoration of normal ties between partners at the International Space Station (ISS) and other joint space projects would be possible only once Western sanctions against Moscow are lifted, news agency Reuters reported.
Dmitry Rogozin, head of Roscosmos, said in a social media post that the aim of the sanctions is to "kill Russian economy and plunge our people into despair and hunger, to get our country on its knees". He added, "they won't succeed in it, but the intentions are clear".
"That's why I believe that the restoration of normal relations between the partners at the International Space Station (ISS) and other projects is possible only with full and unconditional removal of illegal sanctions," Rogozin said.
Ukraine's economy could contract 40% in 2022, reports Reuters, citing ministry
Ukraine's economy shrank 16% year-on-year in the first quarter of this year and could contract 40% in 2022 as a result of Russia's invasion, the economy ministry said in a statement on Saturday, citing preliminary estimates. "Areas in which remote work is impossible have suffered the most," it said.
Seven humanitarian corridors planned for evacuation today: Ukraine
Seven humanitarian corridors to evacuate people from Ukraine's besieged regions are planned for Saturday, Reuters quoted Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk as saying. The planned corridors include one for people evacuating by private transport from the city of Mariupol and by buses for Mariupol residents out of the city of Berdyansk, Vereshchuk added.
Ukraine continue to advance against Russian forces near Kyiv, UK says
British military intelligence said on Saturday that Ukrainian forces continue to advance against withdrawing Russian forces in the vicinity of Kyiv, reported Reuters.
Russian forces are also reported to have withdrawn from Hostomel airport near the capital, which has been subject to fighting since the first day of the conflict, Britain's Ministry of Defence said in a regular bulletin.
"In the east of Ukraine, Ukrainian forces have secured a key route in eastern Kharkiv after heavy fighting," the ministry added.
Buses carrying Mariupol residents arrive in Zaporizhzhia
Dozens of buses tightly packed with exhausted evacuees from Mariupol and other Russian-occupied cities in southeast Ukraine arrived in Zaporizhzhia on Friday, according to an AFP reporter on the scene.
Biden blames Putin for spike in gas, food prices
US President Joe Biden on Friday (local time) blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for rising gas and food price due to his invasion of Ukraine.
"Putin's invasion of Ukraine has driven up gas prices and food prices all over the world. To help deal with that, yesterday I authorized the release of 1 million barrels per day for the next six months from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve," tweeted Biden.
China tells EU it will pursue Ukraine peace in its own way
China offered the European Union assurances on Friday that it would seek peace in Ukraine but said this would be on its own terms, deflecting pressure for a tougher stance towards Russia. Read more
Russia headed for recession, closed economy despite rouble rebound: US
Punishing sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies on Moscow for invading Ukraine are pushing Russia into recession and starting to turn it back into a closed economy, a senior US Treasury official said on Friday. Read more
Pentagon commits extra $300 mn in security aid to Ukraine
The US Defense Department announced Friday it is setting aside $300 million in "security assistance" for Ukraine to bolster the country's defense capabilities, adding to the $1.6 billion Washington has committed since Russia invaded in late February, reports AFP.
Russian missiles fired at Odesa region
A Ukrainian official said there were casualties after at least three Russian ballistic missiles were fired late Friday at the Odesa region on the Black Sea, but he did not give specifics, reported AP.