War in Ukraine to slow global growth, says IMF

Russian rocket strikes destroyed a railway station in Ukraine's Dnipro region on Tuesday. One person died in the strike. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his UK counterpart Boris Johnson had a discussion over the escalating situation in Ukraine. 

Twenty lawmakers in the United States urged president Joe Biden to reach out to countries like India, Brazil, Egypt and the UAE to hire pilots for the delivery of humanitarian aid to Ukraine, pointing out that Russia considers these nations as non-hostile. 

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted that the ongoing war in Ukraine will slow global economic growth. The IMF said that some countries that are still struggling with Covid-19 face risk of recession because of shocks from higher food and energy prices, and tighter financial conditions due to interest rate hikes in developed countries.

Amid a fresh attempt by Ukrainian authorities to rescue civilians from Mariupol, the city was hit by two super powerful bombs, news agency AFP reported. There is no confirmation yet regarding casualties.

One person died in drone attacks at the Kyiv science institute in Ukraine, news agency AFP reported on Tuesday. A defence ministry intelligence official said at the scene that three people had died, but the toll has not been confirmed.

The European Union will soon set up a Ukraine post-war reconstruction fund and destruction of the country's main cities by Russian forces will require enormous funds to rebuild after the war.

Ukraine's foreign ministry has said that 300,000 people in Russian occupied city of Kherson are running out of food and medical supplies. The ministry accused Russian forces of preventing civilians evacuating to Ukraine-controlled territory.

United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres  said on Tuesday that Russia's absurd war on Ukraine should end, adding that Ukrainians are enduring a living hell. 

"Continuing the war in Ukraine is morally unacceptable, politically indefensible and militarily nonsensical," Guterres told reporters. 

The Serbian government has said that it will not impose sanctions on Moscow or join the Western “hysteria” against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

“Serbia will never be part of the anti-Russian hysteria in which the property of Russian citizens and the property of the Russian Federation is stolen, just as we will not ban Russian media," Serbian interior minister Aleksandar Vulin said on Tuesday. 

The Russian government approved a legislation imposing jail term of up to 15 years for the publication of false information about Moscow's actions oversees. The legislation comes as Russian forces continue invading Ukraine for almost a month. 

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday called Pope Francis to mediate in the ongoing conflict with Russia. 

"Told His Holiness about the difficult humanitarian situation and the blocking of rescue corridors by Russian troops," Zelensky said on Tuesday

Ukrainian health minister Viktor Lyashko said on Tuesday that a total of ten hospitals in the country have been destroyed by Russian forces since they launched a full-scale attack. 

The WHO also said on Tuesday that 500,000 refugees from Ukraine are suffering from mental health issues. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday that 15 people were killed and 37 others were wounded in attacks on health facilities in Ukraine

United States President Joe Biden said that Russian President Vladimir Putin could use biological and chemical weapons in Ukraine. "Now he's (Putin) talking about new false flags he's setting up including, asserting that we in America have biological as well as chemical weapons in Europe, simply not true," Biden said. 

The United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday that more than 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion on February 24. 

Boryspil's mayor Volodymyr Borysenko on Tuesday urged the city's residents to flee if they can in view of fighting nearby. 

"There is no need to be in the city now as there is already fighting going on in the area around it. I call on the civilian population to be smart, reach out to our call centre and leave town as soon as an opportunity arises," Borysenko said in a video address. 

Ukraine said on Tuesday its efforts to evacuate civilians from besieged towns and cities were focused on the city of Mariupol but did not announce any new agreement with Russia to allow safe passage for trapped residents.

"We are focusing on evacuations from Mariupol," Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.

She listed a number of places from where buses would try to evacuate civilians but Mariupol was not among them. She also made no mention of any new agreements with Russia on establishing "humanitarian corridors" to evacuate civilians.

The emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) will resume on Wednesday to discuss the war in Ukraine, which is in its fourth week now. This comes after 22 member states including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Poland, Turkey, Ukraine, the UK and the US wrote to Abdulla Shahid - President of the 193-member UN body - to convene an emergency meeting. Read more

US President Joe Biden has publicly called Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal, but legal experts said a prosecution of Putin or other Russian leaders would face high hurdles and could take years. Click here to read how could Russia's Putin be prosecuted for war crimes in Ukraine.

Russian artillery continues to pound the eastern cities of Kharkhiv, Sumy and Chernihiv. In the capital Kyiv, shells hit a shopping centre on Sunday evening, killing at least eight people, reports Reuters.

The Ukrainian army said it forced Russian troops out of Makariv, a strategically important Kyiv suburb, after a fierce battle. That prevents Russian forces from encircling the capital from the northwest, the Defence Ministry said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Monday he was prepared to discuss a commitment from Ukraine not to seek NATO membership in exchange for a cease-fire, the withdrawal of Russian troops and a guarantee of Ukraine's security.

“It's a compromise for everyone: for the West, which doesn't know what to do with us with regard to NATO, for Ukraine, which wants security guarantees, and for Russia, which doesn't want further NATO expansion,” Zelenskyy said late Monday in an interview with Ukrainian television channels.