Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:
– Ukraine ‘still ready’ for talks –
Ukraine is “still ready” to continue negotiations with Moscow, which have stalled since the discovery of atrocities in Bucha and other areas near Kyiv, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says.
“We are ready to fight and to look in parallel to end this war through diplomacy,” Zelensky says at a press conference with the Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, who is visiting the capital and Bucha.
– 4.4 million flee Ukraine war –
More than 4.4 million Ukrainian refugees have fled their country since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion on February 24, the UN refugee agency says.
Ninety percent of those who have fled Ukraine are women and children, as the Ukrainian authorities do not allow men of military age to leave.
– Evacuations from Kramatorsk resume –
Evacuations resume from the town in eastern Ukraine where a missile strike killed 52 people at a railway station as civilians fled a feared Russian offensive.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky describes Russia as an “evil with no limits” after the attack and calls for a “firm global response”.
US President Joe Biden accuses Russia of being behind the attack, calling it a “horrific atrocity”, while French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian deems it a “crime against humanity”.
Russia’s defence ministry accuses Kyiv of carrying out the attack, saying it wanted to use fleeing residents “as a ‘human shield’ to defend the positions of Ukraine’s Armed Forces”.
– Russia warns of YouTube reprisals –
Russian officials warn of reprisals after US video hosting service YouTube blocks the channel of the lower house of parliament due to US sanctions.
Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker at lower house of parliament, the State Duma, says Washington is breaching the rights of Russians.
– EU in talks with ICC prosecutor –
The EU is to discuss its support for war crimes probes in Ukraine in meetings over the next two days with the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, the European Commission says.
Karim Khan, of The Hague-based court, is to meet EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Sunday in Luxembourg, then take part in a meeting of EU foreign ministers in the city on Monday.
– EU sanctions Putin’s daughters –
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s two adult daughters and more than 200 other people are blacklisted by the EU.
Those on the list, which additionally includes 18 companies, face asset seizures and travel bans in the 27-nation European Union.
The United States and Britain had already sanctioned Putin’s daughters, as well as the daughter of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
– Odessa curfew –
A curfew is to start in Ukraine’s southern city of Odessa on Saturday evening to Monday evening over a “missile strike threat” from Russia, and after the shelling of the train station in Kramatorsk.
– Germany: ‘Limit’ in arms to Ukraine –
Germany has almost exhausted its ability to supply Ukraine with weapons from its army reserves, but is working on direct deliveries from the arms industry, German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht says.
“For deliveries coming from the Bundeswehr’s stocks, I have to say honestly that we have reached a limit,” she tells German daily Augsburger Allgemeine.
– Eastern evacuation –
Civilians in eastern Ukraine are struggling to evacuate, after officials tell them they have a “last chance” to avoid a major Russian offensive expected in the Donbas region.
Russia has redeployed its troops towards the east and south, aiming to create a land link between occupied Crimea and the Moscow-backed separatist regions of Donetsk and Lugansk in Donbas.
