Amid claims that Moscow has been urged to annex the Ukrainian city of Kherson, the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, on Wednesday night warned that peace talks would be at risk with such “pseudo referendums”. "These marginal people, who the Russian state has found to act as collaborators,” were making statements of "cosmic stupidity", the 44-year-old leader was quoted as saying by news agency Reuters. "But no matter what the occupiers do, it doesn't mean anything - they have no chance. I am confident that we will liberate our land and our people." Kherson was one of the first regions to be besieged when the conflict began in February.
Here are ten points on the Ukraine war:
1. "The war will end when Russia returns our right to live,” Zelensky said at a video address.
2. On Wednesday, Russia's TASS news agency reported that the Russian-occupied region of Kherson in Ukraine plans to ask president Vladimir Putin to incorporate it into the country by the end of this year. The report cited the local military-civilian administration. This could be the first region set to be annexed since Moscow began its offensive on February 24.
3. "This war will not last forever. There will be a time when peace negotiations will take place. I do not see that in the immediate future. But I can say one thing. We will never give up," U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said in his latest remarks on the conflict.
4. Putin doesn’t want to escalate the war into a “full-blown conflict” with NATO, US defense secretary Lloyd Austin was reported as saying as Russia’s deputy foreign minister held a meeting with the US ambassador in Moscow.
{{/usCountry}}4. Putin doesn’t want to escalate the war into a “full-blown conflict” with NATO, US defense secretary Lloyd Austin was reported as saying as Russia’s deputy foreign minister held a meeting with the US ambassador in Moscow.
{{/usCountry}}5. A captured Russian soldier is said to be at the centre of Ukraine’s plans to target Moscow over the first war crimes trials.
6. Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova said her office charged Sgt. Vadin Shyshimarin, 21, in the killing of an unarmed 62-year-old civilian who was gunned down while riding a bicycle in February, four days into the war, news agency AP reported.
7. Kyiv has blocked a route of natural gas supplies sent by Russia to Europe in the latest escalation. Prices were reported to have jumped in Europe.
8. Zelensky held talks with German chancellor Olaf Scholz and discussed defensive aid, energy sector cooperation and increasing sanctions on Russia. "We appreciate the high level of dialogue with Germany and support in our struggle!" he said in a tweet.
9. "The Chancellor and the Ukrainian President also exchanged views on very concrete, practical ways of continuing to support Ukraine and agreed to remain in close contact," the spokesperson said in a statement, giving no further details.
10. Ukraine's National Guard, which falls under the interior ministry, in a rare statement, said Wednesday that 561 of its members have been killed and nearly 1,700 wounded since the invasion began, neews agency AFP reported.
(With inputs from AP, AFP, Reuters)