Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:
– 30 killed at train station –
More than 30 people are killed and 100 wounded in a reported rocket attack on a train station in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk that is being used for civilian evacuations, according to the Ukrainian railways chief.
– Eastern evacuation –
Civilians in eastern Ukraine struggle 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 statelets of Donetsk and Lugansk in Donbas.
– Record food prices –
World food prices hit their “highest levels ever” in March as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has disrupted wheat and coarse grain exports, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization says.
The FAO’s food price index surged by 12.6 percent between February and March, “making a giant leap to a new highest level since its inception in 1990”, the FAO says.
– Ukraine controls border region –
Ukrainian forces are in control of the northeast region of Sumy along the border with Russia, governor Dmytro Zhyvytsky says on social media.
He warns: “the region is not safe. There are many areas that have been mined and are still not cleared.”
– EU chief to Kyiv –
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says that she is en route to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, along with the bloc’s diplomatic chief Josep Borrell.
They are to meet with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.
– New EU, G7 sanctions –
The European Union approves an embargo on Russian coal — the first time the bloc has targeted the energy sector, on which they are heavily dependent — and the closing of its ports to Russian vessels.
Leaders of the G7 biggest economies also agree to ban “new investments in key sectors of the Russian economy, including the energy sector”, alongside widening export bans on certain goods and tightening the screws on Russian banks and state-owned companies.
They also pledge to “elevate our campaign against the elites and their family members who support President (Vladimir) Putin in his war effort”.
The US Congress also votes to end normal trade relations with Moscow and codify the ban on Russian oil.
– UN rights body suspension –
The UN General Assembly votes to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council as punishment for the invasion of Ukraine.
It is only the second ever suspension of a country from the council, after Libya in 2011.
Russia rejects the suspension as “illegal”, while Ukraine says it is “grateful”.
– Borodianka ‘horrific’ –
The destruction left by Russian troops in the town of Borodianka outside of Kyiv is “much more horrific” than the situation uncovered in the nearby town of Bucha, Zelensky says.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General says 26 bodies have been recovered from underneath two destroyed apartment buildings there.
– Mariupol deaths –
The new “mayor” of Mariupol, put in place by pro-Russian forces, announces that around 5,000 civilians have died in the besieged southeastern Ukrainian city.
Ukrainian authorities had put forward a “conservative” estimate of 5,000 dead, while indicating that there could be “tens of thousands of civilian casualties” in the city.
– Health services attacked –
The World Health Organization (WHO) says it has confirmed over 100 attacks on health services in Ukraine as it calls for humanitarian access to Mariupol.
“As of now, WHO has verified 103 incidents of attacks on health care, with 73 people killed and 51 injured, including health workers and patients,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says.
burs-jmy/yad
