This was India’s 12th vote at the United Nations where it abstained — 11th since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 — but it was New Delhi’s sharpest message to Moscow so far. For, an abstention — it doesn’t count to calculate the tally — at the United Nations General Assembly on the resolution to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council is, effectively, seen as siding with those who voted “Yes”, essentially the West-led by the US.
More so, when according to a note accessed by Reuters, Russia had warned countries that a Yes vote or abstention will be viewed as an “unfriendly gesture” with consequences for bilateral ties. The Indian Express has learnt that Russian envoy Denis Alipov had reached out to top Indian diplomats to vote in its favour. Yet, New Delhi chose to abstain.
Explained | UNGA vote: Despite Russia’s red flag, why India put foot down in its tightrope walk
The perpetrators of civilian killings in the Ukrainian town of Bucha were guilty of war crimes and must be held accountable, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Saturday. “This is something we cannot forget,” Scholz said, referring to the deaths of civilians in the town to the northwest of Kyiv. “We cannot overlook that this is a crime. These are war crimes we will not accept… those who did this must be held accountable.”
Since Russian troops pulled back from Bucha last week, Ukrainian officials say hundreds of civilians have been found dead. Bucha’s deputy mayor said more than 360 civilians were killed and around 260-280 were buried in a mass grave by other residents. Russia has called the allegations that Russian forces executed civilians in Bucha while they occupied the town a “monstrous forgery” aimed at denigrating the Russian army.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and U.S. President Joe Biden discussed boosting military and economic support to Ukraine on Tuesday as well as the need to end Western reliance on Russian oil and gas, a spokeswoman for Johnson's office said. "The leaders discussed the need to accelerate assistance to Ukraine, including bolstering military and economic support, as the Ukrainian forces prepare for another Russian onslaught in the east of the country," a Downing Street spokeswoman said."
The pair also agreed to continue joint efforts to ratchet up the economic pressure on (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and decisively end Western reliance on Russian oil and gas." (Reuters)
President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday peace talks with Ukraine had hit a dead end, using his first public comments on the conflict in more than a week to vow that his troops would win and to goad the West for failing to bring Moscow to heel. Addressing the war in public for the first time since Russian forces retreated from northern Ukraine after they were halted at the gates of Kyiv, Putin promised that Russia would achieve all of its "noble" aims in Ukraine.
In the strongest signal to date that the war will grind on for longer, Putin said Kyiv had derailed peace talks by staging what he said were fake claims of Russian war crimes and by demanding security guarantees to cover the whole of Ukraine."We have again returned to a dead-end situation for us," Putin, Russia's paramount leader since 1999, told a news briefing during a visit to the Vostochny Cosmodrome 3,450 miles (5,550 km) east of Moscow.
Asked by Russian space agency workers if the operation in Ukraine would achieve its goals, Putin said: "Absolutely. I don't have any doubt at all." Russia, he said, would "rhythmically and calmly" continue its operation. (Reuters)
The mayor of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol said on Tuesday the latest estimate was that about 21,000 civilian residents of the port city had been killed since the start of Russia's invasion. In televised comments, Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko said it had been difficult to calculate the exact number of casualties since street fighting had started. (Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that what was happening in Ukraine was a tragedy but that Russia had no choice but to launch a special military operation, Russian news agencies reported. (Reuters)
Mayor of Ukraine’s Bucha says 403 bodies of those killed by Russia found so far (Reuters)
Russia has enough funds to service its debt in time and to redeem all its debt obligations, the finance ministry said on Tuesday. Facing waves of sanctions over what it calls "a special military operation" in Ukraine, Russia could face its first sovereign external default in over a century after it made arrangements to make an international bond repayment in roubles, even though the payment was due in dollars."
Russia has not declared default on its Eurobond obligations," the finance ministry said." All possible claims of creditors in connection with the current situation should be forwarded to the authorities of states that have illegally created obstacles for Russia to fulfil its debt obligations."
Earlier in April, S&P lowered Russia's foreign currency ratings to "selective default" on increased risks that Moscow will not be able and willing to honour its commitments to foreign debtholders. (Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Moscow's military operation in Ukraine would undoubtedly achieve what he said were its "noble" objectives. Speaking at an awards ceremony at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East, Putin was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies that said Moscow had no other choice but to launch a military operation to protect Russia and that a clash with Ukraine's anti-Russian forces had been inevitable.
"Its goals are absolutely clear and noble," Putin said of Russia's military campaign. Putin said the main objective of Moscow's military intervention in Ukraine was to save people in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, where Russian-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces since 2014."On the one hand, we are helping and saving people, and on the other, we are simply taking measures to ensure the security of Russia itself," Putin said. "It's clear that we didn't have a choice. It was the right decision." (Reuters)
Civilians were fleeing from areas of eastern Ukraine on Tuesday ahead of an anticipated Russian offensive, while Kyiv said it was checking reports that Russian forces had used chemical weapons in the besieged port city of Mariupol.
The battle for Mariupol was reaching a decisive phase, with Ukrainian marines holed up in the Azovstal industrial district. Should the Russians seize Azovstal, they would be in full control of Mariupol, the lynchpin between Russian-held areas to the west and east. The city has already been laid waste by weeks of Russian bombardments that have killed possibly thousands of civilians.
Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar said the government was checking unverified information that Russia may have used chemical weapons while besieging Mariupol."There is a theory that these could be phosphorous munitions," Malyar said in televised comments. (Reuters)
Civilians were fleeing from areas of eastern Ukraine ahead of an anticipated Russian offensive, while Kyiv said it was checking unconfirmed reports that Russian forces had used chemical weapons in the besieged port city of Mariupol.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Moscow's military operation in Ukraine would undoubtedly achieve what he said were its "noble" objectives. Speaking at an awards ceremony in the Russian Far East, Putin was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies that said Moscow had no other choice but to launch a military operation to protect Russia and that a clash with Ukraine's anti-Russian forces had been inevitable.
* Russian-backed separatist forces did not use chemical weapons in their attempts to take full control of Mariupol despite Ukrainian allegations to the contrary, Eduard Basurin, a separatist commander, told the Interfax news agency.* Fighting in eastern Ukraine will intensify over the next two to three weeks as Russia continues to refocus its efforts there, the UK's Ministry of Defence tweeted in a regular bulletin on Tuesday.
* Putin flew into Russia's far east Amur region for talks with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko expected to focus on Ukraine and Russian-Belarusian integration.
* All options would be on the table in how the West responds to any use of chemical weapons in Ukraine by Russia, British armed forces minister James Heappey said on Tuesday.
* Tens of thousands of people have likely been killed in Russia's assault on Mariupol, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told South Korea's parliament.
* Russia's economy is on track to contract by more than 10% in 2022, the biggest fall in gross domestic product since the years following the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, former finance minister Alexei Kudrin said on Tuesday. Russia is facing soaring inflation and capital flight while grappling with a possible debt default after the West imposed crippling sanctions to punish Putin for sending tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine on Feb. 24.
* Russian state-owned gas producer Gazprom continued to supply natural gas to Europe via Ukraine on Tuesday at the pace of 74.6 million cubic metres per day, in accordance with requests from European consumers, the company said. (Reuters)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the European Union on Tuesday to impose sanctions on all Russian banks and Russian oil and to set a deadline for ending imports of Russian gas.
'We cannot wait...We need powerful decisions, and the EU must take them now. They must sanction oil and all Russian banks...Each EU state must set terms for when they will refuse or limit (Russian) energy sources such as gas', he said.' Only then will the Russian government understand they need to seek peace, that the war is turning into a catastrophe for them,' he told the Lithuanian parliament in a video address.
Russian President Vladimir Putin sent his troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24 on what he calls a special military operation to demilitarise and 'denazify' Ukraine. (Reuters)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said during his talk with US President Joe Biden, he offered to supply India's food stock to the world if the World Trade Organisation (WTO) accords permission.
Food stock in different parts of the world is dwindling due to the war (in Ukraine), Modi said after inaugurating a boys' hostel and education complex of Shree Annapurna Dham Trust in Adalaj near Ahmedabad in Gujarat via video link.
"The world is facing a new problem now; the food stock of the world is getting empty, I was talking to the US President, and he also raised this issue. I suggested that if WTO gives permission, India is ready to supply food stock to the world from tomorrow," he said. (PTI)
Russia and Belarus will cooperate on infrastructure projects in space, RIA news agency quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin as saying Tuesday during a meeting with Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said clashes with "anti-Russian forces" in Ukraine were inevitable and it was only a question of time, reported TASS agency.
He added that Russia does not plan to isolate itself from the rest of the world. (Reuters)
Ukraine is checking unverified information that Russia may have used chemical weapons while besieging the southern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, Ukraine's Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar said on Tuesday.
"There is a theory that these could be phosphorous munitions," Malyar said in televised comments, adding: "Official information will come later." Russia's defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Reuters)
Telecoms equipment maker Nokia is pulling out of the Russian market, its CEO told Reuters, going a step further than rival Ericsson, which said Monday it was indefinitely suspending its business in the country.
While several sectors, including telecoms, have been exempted from some sanctions on humanitarian or related grounds, Nokia said it had decided that quitting Russia was the only option.
"We just simply do not see any possibilities to continue in the country under the current circumstances," CEO Pekka Lundmark said in an interview. He added Nokia would continue to support customers during its exit, and it was not possible to say at this stage how long the withdrawal would take. (Reuters)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday said that global food stock is dwindling due to the war in Ukraine.
In my meeting with President Biden, I said if the World Trade Organisation will allow some relaxation in rules so that we can start providing Indian food stock to the world, said Modi.
All options would be on the table in how the West responds to any use of chemical weapons in Ukraine by Russia, British armed forces minister James Heappey said on Tuesday.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said on Monday Britain was working with its partners to verify the details of reports that Russian forces may have used chemical agents in an attack on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, where thousands are believed to have died during a near-seven week siege.
"There are some things that are beyond the pale, and the use of chemical weapons will get a response and all options are on the table for what that response could be," Heappey told Sky News, adding that British defence intelligence so far had been unable to verify the reports.
Asked on LBC Radio whether he could rule out this including deploying British or NATO troops on Ukrainian soil, Heappey said: "No, all options are on the table." (Reuters)
Corpses are now "carpeted through the streets" of Mariupol after Russian troops killed more than 10,000 civilians over the past six weeks in their unsuccessful fight to capture the strategic southern port, the mayor said, while Western powers warned a convoy was on the move for a suspected Russian assault in Ukraine's east. Mariupol has been the site of some of the heaviest attacks and civilian suffering in the 6-week-old war, but the land, sea and air assaults by Russian forces fighting to capture it have increasingly limited information on circumstances inside the city.
Speaking by phone Monday with The Associated Press, Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko accused Russian forces of having blocked weeks of attempted humanitarian convoys into the city in part to conceal the carnage. Boychenko said the death toll in Mariupol alone could surpass 20,000.
Residents who returned to their homes in Irpin, near Kyiv, were shocked at the state of their homes. Bombed and gutted, the residential structures now resemble piles of bricks.
Fighting in eastern Ukraine will intensify over the next two to three weeks as Russia continues to refocus its efforts there, the UK's Ministry of Defence tweeted in a regular bulletin on Tuesday.
Russian attacks remain focused on Ukrainian positions near Donetsk and Luhansk with further fighting around Kherson and Mykolaiv and a renewed push towards Kramatorsk, British military intelligence said. The report also said that Russian forces continue to withdraw from Belarus in order to redeploy in support of operations in eastern Ukraine. (Reuters)
A bird is seen next to a missile from a previous Russian military attack as the damaged Kharkiv Regional State Administration building is seen in the background, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, April 11, 2022.
??Russia has nearly completed its buildup for a renewed assault on Ukraine's eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Ukraine's defence ministry said. The governor of Luhansk said Russia was moving military vehicles closer to the front lines in the region.
?? Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said his meeting with Vladimir Putin in Moscow did not leave him optimistic. "The offensive is evidently being prepared on a massive scale," he said.
?? Putin will meet Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Tuesday to discuss the situation in Ukraine and Western sanctions, news agencies in Russia and Belarus reported.
?? EU foreign ministers plan to intensify the delivery of weapons to Ukraine, Germany's foreign minister said.
?? Russia will not pause its military operation for subsequent rounds of negotiations, its foreign minister said.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin will meet Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Tuesday to discuss the situation in Ukraine and Western sanctions, news agencies in Russia and Belarus reported.
Welcoming India’s humanitarian support for the people of Ukraine and calling the Russian invasion a “horrific assault”, US President Joe Biden Monday said the US and India are going to continue “close consultation on how to manage the destabilizing effects of this Russian war”.
In his virtual meeting with Biden ahead of the 2+2 talks between their Defence and Foreign Ministers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who did not name Russia, called the “killings of innocent civilians” in Ukraine’s Bucha city “very worrying”, and said India immediately condemned the killings and called for an independent probe.
This is the first time the Prime Minister has spoken on the Bucha killings — External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and T S Tirumurti, India’s envoy at the UN, have condemned it unequivocally in recent days. (Read more)
With the United States imposing sanctions on Russian state-owned rough diamond mining company Al Rosa, a major source of rough diamonds for the industry in Surat and Mumbai, the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) Gujarat chairman Dinesh Navadia sees a payment crisis looming on the industry.
“The US market consumes 70 per cent of polished diamonds and diamond-studded jewellery of India. The diamond industry will be badly affected by such sanctions and it will not only affect the diamond and jewellery businessmen but also the artisans,” Navadia told The Indian Express.
The rough diamonds from the Al Rosa mines of Russia are cut and polished in Surat and are exported to the world. Due to the sanctions, there is a shortage of supply of rough diamonds which will eventually result in rising prices of rough diamonds. (Read more)
India's total purchase of oil from Russia in a month is probably less than what Europe does in an afternoon, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Monday.
'I noticed you refer to oil purchases. If you are looking at energy purchases from Russia, I would suggest that your attention should be focused on Europe. We do buy some energy, which is necessary for our energy security. But I suspect looking at the figures, probably our total purchases for the month would be less than what Europe does in an afternoon,' Jaishankar told a reporter when asked about India's oil purchase from Russia. (PTI)
Nearly two-thirds of all Ukrainian children have fled their homes in the six weeks since Russia's invasion, and the United Nations has verified the deaths of 142 youngsters, though the number is almost certainly much higher, the UN children's agency said Monday.
Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF's emergency programs director who just returned from Ukraine, said having 4.8 million of Ukraine's 7.5 million children displaced in such a short time is "quite incredible." He said it is something he hadn't before seen happen so quickly in 31 years of humanitarian work. (AP)
Russia will take legal action if the West tries to force it to default on its sovereign debt, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told the pro-Kremlin Izvestia newspaper on Monday, sharpening Moscow's tone in its financial wrestle with the West.Russia faces its first external sovereign default in more than a century after it made arrangements to make an international bond repayment in roubles last week, even though the payment was due in U.S. dollars.’
It had been due on April 4 to make a payment of $649 million to holders of two of its sovereign bonds, but the U.S. Treasury blocked the transfer, preventing Russia from using any of its frozen foreign currency reserves to service its debt."Of course we will sue, because we have taken all the necessary steps to ensure that investors receive their payments," Siluanov told the newspaper in an interview.
"We will present in court our bills confirming our efforts to pay both in foreign currency and in roubles. It will not be an easy process. We will have to very actively prove our case, despite all the difficulties." (Reuters)
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer had tough face-to-face talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, Nehammer said after the first meeting between Putin and a European Union leader since the invasion of Ukraine." This is not a friendly meeting," Nehammer was quoted as saying in a statement issued by his office, reiterating that he had hoped to help bring an end to the war or improve conditions for civilians." The conversation with President Putin was very direct, open and tough." (Reuters)
The United States believes that Russia has started reinforcing and resupplying its troops in Donbas in eastern Ukraine, a senior U.S. defense official said on Monday.
The United States did not however believe this was the start of a new offensive in the region, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The official said the United States did not have evidence that any S-300 missile defense system had been destroyed by Russia. (Reuters)
Austria's Chancellor Karl Nehammer on Monday became the first European Union leader to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin since the invasion of Ukraine, as various Austrian media including newspaper Kronen Zeitung said the meeting had started.
As news of Nehammer's visit aimed at helping end the war emerged on Sunday, reactions ranged from surprise to dismay. Nehammer's own coalition partner the Greens condemned the trip as a public relations coup for Putin, although German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he welcomed it. (Reuters)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that Moscow will not pause its military operation in Ukraine before the next round of peace talks. (Reuters)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday asked Seoul for any military aid it could provide as he said Russia could only be forced to make peace. Speaking in a video address to South Korean lawmakers, Zelenskyy said his country needed more help, including weapons, if it is to survive the war. "You have something that can be indispensable for us ... armoured vehicles, anti-aircraft, anti-tank, anti-ship weapons," he said.
Zelenskyy said South Korea had many weapons that could not only help save the lives of ordinary Ukrainians but help prevent Russia from attacking other nations. "There is and cannot be a hope that Russia will stop on its own," Zelenskyy said. "Russia can only be forced to do this, can only be forced to seek peace."
He said tens of thousands of people had likely been killed in Russia's assault on the southeastern city of Mariupol alone. Reuters could not verify the accuracy of his estimate. Russia, which calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation,” invaded Ukraine in late February. (Reuters)
Croatia on Monday told 24 Russian embassy staff to leave over Russia's invasion of Ukraine and "brutal aggression", the foreign ministry said in a statement, following similar moves by other EU countries.
The 24 included 18 diplomats, it said. The ministry said that the Russian ambassador was summoned in a protest over the "brutal aggression on Ukraine and numerous crimes committed (there)"."The Russian party was informed about the reduction of administrative-technical staff of the Russian Federation's embassy in Zagreb," the statement said. (Reuters)
Ukrainian forces say they are getting ready for a “last battle” to control Mariupol, AFP reports.
In a statement on Facebook, the 36th marine brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces said: Today will probably be the last battle, as the ammunition is running out. It’s death for some of us, and captivity for the rest. The mountain of wounded makes up almost half of the brigade. Those whose limbs are not torn off return to battle. The infantry was all killed and the shooting battles are now conducted by artillerymen, anti-aircraft gunners, radio operators, drivers and cooks. Even the orchestra.”
Russia has destroyed S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems which had been supplied to Ukraine by a European country, Russia's defence ministry said on Monday.
The ministry said that Russian sea-launched Kalibr missiles on Sunday destroyed four S-300 launchers which were concealed in a hangar on the outskirts of the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Russia said 25 Ukrainian troops were hit in the attack. Russia did not say which European country had supplied the S-300 systems.
Slovakia, which had donated such a missile system to Ukraine, denied on Sunday that the one it supplied had been hit. It said such reports were Russian lies.Russian forces also shot down two Ukrainian Su-25 aircraft near the city of Izium and destroyed two ammunition depots, one of which was near the southern city of Mykolaiv, the Russian defence ministry said. (Reuters)
Beneath the ancient beech forests of the Carpathian Mountains, a quiet monastery in the western Ukrainian village of Hoshiv has transformed itself into a giant playground for a dozen children who have been displaced by the war with their families.
Nuns at the Greek Catholic Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family, 100 kilometres from Lviv, have granted refuge to some 40 people fleeing fighting with Russian forces in eastern and central Ukraine.
The monastery is in itself a symbol of resilience, built after Ukraine's independence in the early 1990s. The previous monastery in the village had been closed by communist authorities while the area was part of the Soviet Union, and the nuns sent to Siberia. "All our prayers are now focused on peace in Ukraine, for our soldiers, for those innocent people who died, who were murdered," said Sister Dominica, the head nun. (AP)
Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged the foreign media and politicians to not fall for Russia’s disinformation campaign intended to undermine arms supplies for Ukraine.
UK military intelligence said Russian shelling has continued in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The use of phosphorous munitions in Donetsk Oblast by Russian forces raises the possibility of its future use in Mariupol, intelligence further suggested.
Ukraine's armed forces braced on Monday for a new Russian offensive as powerful explosions rocked cities in the south and east, while Austria's leader planned to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and call for an end to the conflict.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy kept up his tireless campaign to generate international support and rally his countrymen, warning the coming week would be important and tense. "Russia will be even more afraid. It will be afraid to lose. It will fear that the truth will have to be acknowledged," Zelenskiy said in a late night video address.
"Russian troops will move to even larger operations in the east of our state. They may use even more missiles against us, even more air bombs. But we are preparing for their actions. We will answer."
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said he would meet Putin on Monday in Moscow for the Russian leader's first face-to-face meeting with a European Union counterpart since Russia's invasion began on Feb. 24. (Reuters)
Ramzan Kadyrov, the powerful head of Russia's republic of Chechnya, said that there will be an offensive by Russian forces not only on the besieged port of Mariupol, but also on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. "There will be an offensive ... not only on Mariupol, but also on other places, cities and villages," Kadyrov said in a video posted on his Telegram channel.
"Luhansk and Donetsk - we will fully liberate in the first place ... and then take Kyiv and all other cities. "Kadyrov, who has often described himself as Russian President Vladimir Putin's "foot soldier," said there should be no doubt about Kyiv.
"I assure you: not one step will be taken back," Kadyrov said.Kadyrov has been repeatedly accused by the United States and European Union of rights abuses, which he denies. (Reuters)
Ukraine's economic output will likely contract by a staggering 45.1% this year as Russia's invasion has shuttered businesses, slashed exports and rendered economic activity impossible in large swaths of the country, the World Bank said in a new report.
The World Bank also forecast Russia's 2022 GDP output to fall 11.2% due to punishing financial sanctions imposed by the United States and its Western allies on Russia's banks, state-owned enterprises and other institutions.
The World Bank's "War in the Region" economic update said the Eastern Europe region, comprising Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, is forecast to show a GDP contraction of 30.7% this year, due to shocks from the war and disruption of trade. (Reuters)
It's almost Easter in Ukraine, where a trio of churches on the far edges of the capital considered faith, hope and charity on Sunday.
In Bucha, shocked into silence by atrocities that left bodies in the streets, about two dozen of the faithful gathered for the service while the exhumation of bodies continued from a mass grave in the churchyard.
In Makarov, a handful of members visited a badly damaged riverside church, at times moved to tears. Small golden crosses for rosaries lay scattered on the floor with the shattered glass.
And in Borodyanka, where Russian attacks ripped a blackened hole in a high-rise apartment building, volunteers and donations filled an almost untouched church a short walk away, while residents lined up at the door for food and other assistance. Many were elderly people who stayed behind while others fled. (AP)
Russia has tapped a new Ukraine war commander to take centralized control of the next phase of battle after its costly failures in the opening campaign and carnage for Ukrainian civilians. US officials don't see one man making a difference in Moscow's prospects.
Russia turned to Gen. Alexander Dvornikov, 60, one of Russia's most experienced military officers and - according to US officials - a general with a record of brutality against civilians in Syria and other war theaters. Up to now, Russia had no central war commander on the ground.
But the White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said, "No appointment of any general can erase the fact that Russia has already faced a strategic failure in Ukraine." (AP)
Ukraine's president warned his nation that the coming week would be as crucial as any in the war. "Russian troops will move to even larger operations in the east of our state," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address.
He accused Russia of trying to evade responsibility for war crimes. "When people lack the courage to admit their mistakes, apologize, adapt to reality and learn, they turn into monsters. And when the world ignores it, the monsters decide that it is the world that has to adapt to them. Ukraine will stop all this," Zelenskyy said.
"The day will come when they will have to admit everything. Accept the truth," he said. (AP)
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday, news agency AFP repoted quoting United Nations.
The UN nuclear watchdog said Ukraine said the staff at the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear plant has been rotated for the first time in three weeks after Russian troops left the area. The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency has expressed concern about the well-being of the workers since the Russian military took control of the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster at the beginning of the war.
The agency said Ukraine informed it on Sunday that it has now rotated the staff, but the situation remains far from normal. They had to be transported to and from the site by water, with the Pripyat River being the only way for people living in the city of Slavutych to currently reach the plant.
The IAEA said Ukraine has informed it that analytical laboratories for radiation monitoring at the site were destroyed, with analytical instruments “stolen, broken or otherwise disabled.” The automated transmission of radiation monitoring data has been disabled. (AP)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a virtual meeting with US President Joe Biden on Monday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Sunday.
White House spokesperson said that US President Biden will continue “close consultations on the consequences of Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine and mitigating its destabilizing impact on global food supply and commodity markets”.
?? Subscribe Now: Get Express Premium to access the best Election reporting and analysis ??
“The two Leaders will review ongoing bilateral cooperation and exchange views on recent developments in South Asia, the Indo-Pacific region and global issues of mutual interest. The virtual meeting will enable both sides to continue their regular and high-level engagement aimed at further strengthening the bilateral Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership,” the MEA said, in a statement. (Read more)
Russia on Sunday appointed a new Ukraine war commander, a US official said. One of Russia’s most experienced military officers, Gen. Alexander Dvornikov has a record of brutality against civilians in Syria, according to U.S. officials.
Russia artillery attack on Dnipro airport on Sunday left no infrastructure and destroyed the area around the airport, Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko.
"Such a shame, as the airport was completely renovated just last year. All the investments and all the efforts completely wrecked," Vasylenko said in a tweet.
The Ministry of Defence in a regular bulletin on Russia-Ukraine war said that the Russian armed forces was seeking to strengthen troop numbers with personnel discharged from military service a decade ago.
Russian forces are also trying to recruit from the unrecognised Transnistria region of Moldova, the bulletin added.
Around 600 pro-Russian protesters in a 350-car motorcade set off on a demonstration in Hanover in the north of Germany on Sunday, where there was also a counter-demonstration of around 700 people supporting Ukraine in the city centre, local police said. The motorcade, flying Russian and also a few German flags, is protesting against discrimination in Germany towards Russians following the Ukraine invasion.
Police said fences had been put up to separate the pro-Russian protesters from the counter-demonstration and they added that the protests had been peaceful so far. Around 235,000 Russian citizens live in Germany, according to government statistics from late 2020. About 135,000 Ukrainians lived in Germany before Russia's invasion, based on the statistics, but around an additional 300,000 have arrived since the invasion.
In Frankfurt, pro-Russian protesters gathered for a march through the city centre after local authorities refused to allow a motorcade, local media reports said. (Reuters)
As of April 10, nine humanitarian corridors have been agreed upon in Ukraine to evacuate people from settlements affected by the fighting in Zaporizhia, Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.
The head of Russia's Orthodox Church called on people on Sunday to rally around the authorities as Moscow pursues its military intervention in Ukraine. Patriarch Kirill has previously made statements defending Moscow's actions in Ukraine and views the war as a bulwark against a Western liberal culture that he considers decadent.
"Let the Lord help us unite during this difficult time for our Fatherland, including around the authorities," the Interfax news agency quoted Kirill, 75, as saying at a sermon in Moscow.
"May the authorities to be filled with responsibility for their people, humility and the readiness to serve them even if it costs them their life," added the patriarch, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin. The patriarch's support for Russia's military campaign, in which thousands of soldiers and Ukrainian civilians have been killed, has angered some within the Orthodox Church at home as well as in churches abroad linked to the Moscow Patriarchate. (Reuters)
Pope Francis called for an Easter truce in Ukraine and condemned the "folly of war" as he led Palm Sunday services in St. Peter's Square before an audience of tens of thousands of people. He also urged negotiations to find a solution to the conflict. In an apparent reference to Russia, he said: "What kind of victory would be one that plants a flag on a heap of rubble?"
Francis spoke at the end of a Palm Sunday service, the first since 2019 in which the public had been allowed back in the square following two years of scaled-back services because of COVID-19 restrictions.
Some in the crowd put small Ukrainian flags at the tip of olive branches and a woman who read one of the prayers near the altar was dressed in the flag's blue and yellow colours. "Put the weapons down! Let An Easter truce start. But not to rearm and resume combat but a truce to reach peace through real negotiations open to some sacrifices for the good of the people," Francis said. (Reuters)
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday he had held spoken on the phone with German chancellor Olaf Scholz on the possibility of additional sanctions on Russia, as well as fresh defence and financial support for his country. He made the statement on Twitter.
Separately, Zelenskiy's office said in a statement the president had held a conference call with Ukrainian officials during which Kyiv's proposals for a sixth package of European Union sanctions had been developed. (Reuters)
Two people were killed and several injured on Sunday in the Ukrainian town of Derhachy in the northeastern Kharkiv region, regional governor Oleh Synyehubov said in a Facebook post.
Russian forces had carried out 66 artillery attacks across several regions the governor said, adding: "Two people were killed, there are casualties. As you can see, the Russian army continues to 'fight' with the civilian population, because it has no victories at the front," Synyehubov said. (Reuters)
Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk on Sunday said that Kyiv had agreed the use of nine humanitarian corridors to help people to escape heavy fighting in the east of the country, including in private cars from Mariupol, Reuters reported.
."All the routes for the humanitarian corridors in the Luhansk region will work as long as there is a ceasefire by the occupying Russian troops," Vereshchuk said in a statement on her Telegram channel, referring to separatist-controlled Luhansk.
A grave with dozens of civilians has been found in Buzova village near Kyiv, a Ukrainian official said, the latest reported mass grave to be discovered after Russian forces withdrew from areas north of the capital to focus their assault on the east. Taras Didych, head of the Dmytrivka community that includes Buzova, said the bodies were found in a ditch near a petrol station. He said the number of dead had yet to be confirmed.
'Now we are returning to life but during the occupation we had our 'hotspots', many civilians died,' Didych told Ukrainian television late on Saturday. Reuters was not immediately able to confirm the report. Mounting civilian casualties have triggered widespread international condemnation and new sanctions, in particular over hundreds of deaths in the town of Bucha, to the northwest of Kyiv that until just over a week ago was occupied by Russian forces. (Reuters)
Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatiana Moskalkova confirmed on Sunday that Russia and Ukraine carried out a prisoner exchange on Saturday. Moskalkova said that among those exchanged to Russia, there were four employees of the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom and soldiers."Early this morning they landed on the Russian soil," Moskalkova said in an online post. (Reuters)