Russia-Ukraine war: Zelenskyy asks world to respond to Russia’s use of chemical

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to the world Tuesday to respond to Russia’s use of a poisonous substance in Mariupol.

“Given the repeated threats by Russian propagandists to use chemical weapons against the Mariupol defenders and given the repeated use by the Russian army, for example, of phosphorus munitions in Ukraine, the world must react now,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to the nation.

Phosphorus munitions cause horrendous burns but are not classed as chemical weapons. Zelenskyy said experts were still trying to determine what had been used in Mariupol. Zelenskyy said in addition to the killings in Bucha, more evidence was appearing of the “inhuman cruelty” of Russian soldiers toward women and children in other Kyiv suburbs and other towns in the north and east.

Source: AP

US President Joe Biden has once again reiterated to the reporters that he labelled the atrocities in Ukraine committed by Russian soldiers as "genocide" during a speech in Iowa.

“Yes, I called it genocide because it has become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of being able to be Ukrainian and the evidence is mounting," Biden told reporters before boarding Air Force One in Iowa.  He added: "We'll let the lawyers decide internationally whether or not it qualifies, but it sure seems that way to me."

Members of the US Congress said the Biden administration and its allies will not stand by if chemical weapons were used in the Russian war with Ukraine.  Lawmakers monitoring developments during a trip to Poland said Tuesday that the U.S. is investigating reports that a poisonous substance had been dropped in Mariupol. But they cautioned that determining the nature of the attack in the beleaguered port city could take time.

“We’re taking those reports seriously and I know the United States government and others are trying to determine if that did indeed occur,” said Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo. Crow said the administration “has been very clear that the use of chemical weapons will not be tolerated.”

Credit: British Ministry of Defense

The White House will announce an additional military aid package for Ukraine this week to counter the Russian assaults in the eastern Donbass region,  three senior administration officials have told the NBC news agency. The aid package could be worth $750 million and will likely include unmanned surface vehicles or sea drones or drone ships, Mi-17 helicopters, and weaponry for larger-scale combat. The US is seriously considering sending the short-range anti-ship missiles after Russia appointed a new general to oversee the conflict.

“We want Russia to lose,” a senior administration official reportedly said. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked Russia to swap the detained prisoner of war with the apprehended pro-Kremlin Ukraine politician Viktor Medvedchuk. It is "important for our security forces and military forces to consider such a possibility," he said in a recorded address. 

Ukraine's secret services  (SBU) had earlier detained the fugitive Ukrainian oligarch Medvedchuk, who is both the former leader of a pro-Russian opposition party and a close associate of Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The latter was nabbed in a "special operation" and was pictured handcuffed in a post shared by Zelenskyy. 

US President Joe Biden for the first time referred to Russia’s invasion in Ukraine as a “genocide” Tuesday. Speaking in Iowa at an event about steps his administration is taking to staunch rising fuel costs because of the war, Biden termed the conflict, which has seen Russia carry out atrocities against Ukrainian civilians, as a “genocide.”

Biden said: “Your family budget, your ability to fill up your tank, none of it should hinge on whether a dictator declares war and commits genocide a half a world away.”

Biden has previously stated that he did not believe Russia’s actions amounted to genocide, as Ukrainian government officials have argued, but rather were “war crimes.”

Source: Associated Press

Ukraine has captured Viktor Medvedchuk, a pro-Russian oligarch of Ukrainian descent with ties to Vladimir Putin. 

Ukraine's Azov regiment which is claiming that Russian troops have used the chemical weapon on its defenders in Mariupol has released a video as evidence on Telegram explaining the attack. The allegations and the source of the footage to back the claims remain unverified. 

Denys Prokopenko, Azov regiment commander said,  "Yesterday, the [Russian] occupiers used the unknown toxic substance against troops and civilians in Mariupol. The epicentre of the action of this substance was some distance from the place where people were located. Because of this, there was minimal contact with the substance and this may have saved their life. However, there are consequences."

He continued, "We cannot conduct analysis and to clarify which substance was used to poison people because we are under siege. The epicentre of the attack is under Russian fire, including in order to destroy the evidence of their crime."

Bringing the evidence from the military hospital, the regiment quoted an anaesthesiologist as saying: "We have admitted victims with symptoms of the possible attack of chemical weapons. Such symptoms include: hematoma on the face, raised blood pressure, dryness and burning in the mouth and the throat, mucosal area of the eyes."

The regiment quoted a resident that it says was the victim of the attack as saying: "I heard a noise in the ears, tachycardia, the heart, and weakness, you feel as if you were falling." Another serviceman also described as the victim of the attack said "The command was to shelter. When we entered, we felt short of breath. I could not breathe in. My thinking got muddled straight away, my legs felt weak, they felt like cotton. The command was to put on gas masks. That was it. We put on gas masks, but I felt very bad."

Sky News translation/ Denys Prokopenko/Azov regiment commander

Russia will not halt its so-called 'special military operation' in Ukraine until its goals are fulfilled, President Vladimir Putin said in an address from Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia's Far East. Russia's  "military operation will continue until its full completion and the fulfillment of the tasks that have been set," he asserted. Putin also iterated that his invasion plan is going in accordance with the plan and is in no way moving faster. This is strategized to "minimize the casualties," he said. 

Putin condemned the West for launching sanctions against Belarus and Russia as he spoke after the meeting with Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko. "Any attempts to stall our development or isolate us artificially from the global economy are just useless", he asserted. 

Credit: AP

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Tuesday levelled accusations against the United Kingdom over the massacre in Ukraine's Bucha last week. He called the slayings of civilians in Ukraine's Bucha a "British special operation," Nexta TV reported. Speaking at a news conference after talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Lukashenko claimed that Russia's Federal Service could provide proof regarding the allegation. 

READ FULL STORY HERE

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday addressed a joint press briefing with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko in a joint press briefing agreed to sign an international treaty for the energy market and trading in ruble "which minimizes the effect of foreign activities on our economy." 

"I strongly believe that as we witness a war of sanctions against us, we need to further deepen our integration. We will work to counter any attempts standing in way of our development. It does not make any sense to stop Russia, and with Belarus, we have very close ties. This only makes us stronger. We will not self isolate ourselves from others," said Putin.

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Amidst the relentless military aggression by Kremlin troops in Ukraine, a secret monitoring group of NATO comprising officials of the Romanian PMC has commenced work in Odessa. A source in the Russian law enforcement agency citing informants in the Ukrainian troops confirmed the development to RIA Novosti. This comes at a time when the Russian military action against Ukraine continues for day 48 with visuals of deaths and destruction in the war-torn nation surfaced recently sending jolts across global powers. 

READ FULL REPORT HERE 

British PM Boris Johnson, who recently visited the embattled Kyiv, discussed the war situation with US President Joe Biden on Tuesday. While informing Joe Biden on his visit to the war-torn nation, the UK PM pledged his unwavering support to Ukraine.  Deliberating over his latest discussion with the President of the United States, the UK PM in a tweet reaffirmed that the duo are committed to support Kyiv in the war.

“I've just spoken to @POTUS and updated him on my meeting with President @ZelenskyyUa in Kyiv this weekend. Our joint focus remains on supporting President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people in their fight for freedom. Putin's barbaric venture cannot be allowed to succeed,” Johnson wrote denouncing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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A prominent Russian opposition activist and outspoken critic of Putin's invasion of Ukraine has been sentenced to 15 days in jail on charges of disobeying police orders when leaving his home on Monday night. According to The Guardian, cops accused 40-year-old Vladimir Kara-Murza of "changing his walking pace and trying to escape” when they approached him outside his house on Monday evening. 

Vladimir Putin described the invasion of Ukraine as “inevitable” during a visit to the Vostochny cosmodrome in Russia’s Amur Oblast region. Speaking in the aftermath of meeting Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Putin reiterated his comments on Nazism.  Amidst the western sanctions, he said that his country would not be isolated from the rest of the world. 

Belarus President has accused the UK for the Bucha massacre. Speaking alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin, Lukashenko said, "Today we discussed in detail psy-opin Bucha carried out by the British. If you need addresses, passwords or other information, the FSB can provide them," he said. Notably, Putin previously said that the Bucha massacre was "staged" and amounted to "provocation" which was "done by professionals, probably British".

Ukrainian Post has issued stamps depicting one of the main events of the ongoing war. The sketch on the stamp, created by Boris Groh shows a lone Ukrainian soldier standing in front of a gigantic Russian ship. As per the ministry, the stamp will soon be released by Ukrposhta (Ukraine's National Post)

Russian special services are planning a series of terrorist attacks with mines and bombing residential areas. As well as missile attacks on the city of Belgorod or one of the cities of Crimea," Major General Kyrylo Budanov head of Ukrainian Intelligence said. He added that the attacks would be blamed on Kyiv and labelled as 'atrocities of Ukrainian nationalists'. According to him, the failed implementation of the mobilization plan in Russia has forced the Putin regime to launch "dirty scenarios" to emotionally stir up Russian society and further consolidate it against Ukrainians. 

Russia claims dozens of Ukrainian troops were "eliminated" as they tried to escape Mariupol. This statement comes as the city's mayor Vadym Boychenko confirmed that Russia's pummeling of the strategic port has seen more than 10,000 civilians die. 

Russia was, is & will be a great space power, Roscosmos' Director General Dmitry Rogozin said as the Russian Federation marked its Cosmonautics Day. It was on this day in 1961, when Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin became the world's first person to carry out a human spaceflight and complete an orbit around the Earth. "Colleagues, friends, associates! Dear compatriots! Happy Cosmonautics Day! Russia was, is and will be a great space power! (sic)," Rogozin wrote in his tweet.

The Russian Federation is building Nuclear power plants in Belarus, President Vladimir Putin said. Ealrier in the day, he met his Belarusian counterpart and ally Alexander Lukashenko in Blagoveshchensk in the Amur Oblas. 

Speaking alongside Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow was leading in space exploration and was committed to developing ties in the space sector with Minsk. On Tuesday, Putin met ally Lukashenko in Blagoveshchensk in the Amur Oblast. "We analyzed measures to defend our western borders and discussed the special militaryoperations," he said amidst the ongoing war in Ukraine. 

As the Russia-Ukraine war continued for day 48, 1st Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine said that they were closely monitoring the alliance between Russia and Belarus. "We are closely watching the political, as well as the military alliance that Belarus and Russia have. The regime of Lukashenko and Putin launched this war. These two dictators are quite good at having this alliance. Unfortunately, we saw how the territory of Belarus was used to attack my country," Emine Dzhaparova said, adding that it is an attempt to show the military alliance.

Mariupol's Mayor has accused Russian troops of blocking the entrance of the Russian convoy so as to conceal the carnage they have done in the city. He further accused them of forcefully transferring Mariupol residents to economically deprived regions of Russia or to separatist-held regions in Ukraine. This comes as Russian attacks on eastern Ukraine intensified as the conflict continued for day 48. 

Here are pictures that show destruction in Uktraine

(Images: AP)

In a shocking revelation, Mariupol mayor Vadym Boychenko has said that only those who pass the 'Russian Filteration' camps are allowed to exit the city. He further revealed that those who fail at the filtering are sent to improvised prisons. Speaking to Associated Press, he said that there still are nearly 1,20,000 civilians in the besieged city who are in dire need of food, water and warmth. 

Ukraine's First Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova in an exclusive conversation with Republic Media Network said that Russia presumed that its troops had superiority over their Ukrainian counterparts, however, it has failed to achieve its goals. "Their initial plan was a 3-day blitzkrieg with the control over our capital Kyiv and it has failed. The second-largest army has failed to stick to its goals because of my brave people. We expect a serious military offensive in Donbas," she said. 

European Commission spokesperson Nabila Massrali said that the European Union is keeping a close eye on accusations that Russia may have used chemical weapons in Ukraine, and Moscow has been reminded that doing so constitutes a war crime.

Massrali further said that after the Ukrainian soldiers revealed evidence of chemical poisoning, they saw media reports about Russian troops possibly using chemical weapons in Mariupol and now they are keeping a careful eye on everything. She emphasised that using chemical weapons, including deadly chemicals as weapons, violates the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Major General Kyrylo Budanov, who is the Head of the Chief Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine stated that the Russian special forces intend to carry out terrorist attacks on Russian soil in order to heighten anti-Ukrainian sentiment.

He said that Russian special services plan to mine and blow up residential houses, hospitals, and schools in Russian populated areas, as well as launch missile and bomb strikes on Belgorod or one of the towns in Crimea.

While addressing the Lithuanian Parliament, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy encouraged the European Union to tighten sanctions on Russian banks and Russian oil, claiming that Russian political and military officials believe they can continue the invasion of Ukraine due to signals from some European countries. Talking to the parliamentarians in Lithuania, he said Europe must win this war and that they will win together

Moldova's Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilitsa stated that the state of emergency in Moldova will remain in place as long as the conflict in Ukraine continues, posing hazards to Moldova.

Gavrilitsa also stated that the administration aims to keep the country under martial law. She warned that because of the aggravation of the crisis in Ukraine, a fresh wave of refugees may arrive in Moldova.

Russian President Vladimir Putin while speaking with cosmonauts and personnel at the Vostochny cosmodrome stated that there was no other option than to execute a special military operation in Ukraine. 

The Russian President further expressed confidence that the special operation's objectives will be met. He said that there's no denying that they will meet their objectives.

Telecom company, Nokia has announced that it will stop doing business in Russia amid war and soon will withdraw from the Russian market. The company has already discontinued shipping and all new commercial arrangements, and it will now relocate its minimal R&D operations out of the nation as well.

Other networking suppliers, including Huawei, have also announced the same move.

Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the sixth package of sanctions which is now being developed by the European Union must include a restriction on Russian energy imports.

He said that they can't anticipate the seventh, eighth, tenth, or twentieth sanctions packages to develop; instead, the sixth sanctions package must make truly powerful judgments. He stated that the EU must include Russian oil in the sanctions.

Russia is importing weapons and military equipment from Iraq via Iranian smuggling networks, which have been handed over by local Shiite militants. By water, grenade launchers, anti-tank missiles, and even Brazilian-made multiple rocket launchers are trafficked from Iran to Russia, where they are still utilised by pro-Iranian Shiite insurgents Hashid Shaabi in Iraq.

According to the Guardian, three cargo ships carrying weaponry and military equipment arrived in Russia's Astrakhan in recent weeks from the Iranian port of Bandar Anzali in the Caspian Sea.

In the city of Kharkiv, a parking lot has been destroyed by a Russian missile. However, it is unknown if that was the intended target but it cause devastation in the area. A visual was released showing a missile destroying the parking lot in Ukraine.

Kharkiv is under attack since the war started on February 24.

After it was announced that France has expelled six Russian diplomats from the country, the Russian Embassy in Paris said in a statement that the Russian side raised a strong complaint in connection with the unfriendly action of the French authorities, to which a proportional response will certainly follow.

Russian Defence Ministry has stated that on the night of April 11, the remains of Ukrainian troops units made an unsuccessful attempt to break out of Mariupol, surrounded by the "Ilyich" factory.

The Ministry stated that a squad of Ukrainian soldiers, numbering up to 100 persons and riding armoured vehicles, attempted to break through the factory territory and flee the city in the direction of the north but aviation and artillery strike thwarted the breakthrough effort. Three Ukrainian tanks were destroyed, along with five infantry combat vehicles, seven cars, and up to 50 persons. Another 42 Ukrainian soldiers voluntarily surrendered their guns and accepted captivity.

During the month of April, Hesburger, a Finnish fast-food chain, will close all of its restaurants in Russia as the war in Ukraine continues. The organisation stated that it had sent out notifications to local companies advising them to immediately close their establishments, according to local media.

Concerns over employee safety as well as legal challenges have slowed the pace of restaurant closures. Kyiv also has seven of the Finnish chain's restaurants. The company stated that all of their Ukrainian employees are alive, as far as they know and during the conflict, the eateries were also attacked. It also said that they will not operate any restaurants until personnel and clients are entirely safe

The Defence Ministry of Ukraine suggests that the Russian forces' have lost roughly 19,600 personnel from February 24 until today,

Furthermore, the Russian Army has also lost 732 tanks, 1,946 armoured combat vehicles, 349 artillery systems, 111 MLRS, 63 air defence units, 157 aircraft, 140 helicopters, 1406 vehicles, 7 ships/boats, 76 fuel tanks, 124 operational and tactical UAVs, 4 OTRK / TRK / mobile SRBM system, and 25 special equipment.

The President's Office of Ukraine emphasises that European Union countries have accelerated the delivery of weaponry to Ukraine, but it is important to move even faster to win the conflict with Russia. Andriy Yermak, who is the Head of the President's Office stated that the EU is progressing, but they need to work faster

Josep Borrell, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy stated that following a meeting of EU foreign ministers, all 27 European Union countries endorsed the sale of weaponry to Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Blagoveshchensk for his meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to address the situation in Ukraine and Western sanctions. Belarus has been blamed for helping Russia in carrying out the military operations in Ukraine.

On February 24, Russia dispatched tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine from both Russian and Belarusian territory in a special military operation aimed at demilitarizing and "denazifying" its neighbour.

The development of nine humanitarian corridors for evacuating individuals from risky places was agreed upon on Tuesday, April 12. The evacuation of the routes from Mariupol to Zaporizhia by own transport, from Berdyansk to Zaporizhia by own transport, with buses departing from Zaporizhia waiting to pass at the checkpoint in the city of Vasylivka, and from Tokmak to Zaporizhia by own transport, with buses departing from Zaporizhia waiting to pass at the checkpoint in the city St. Shevchenko, has been agreed upon.

Some 47 days after Vladimir Putin's troops launched their incursion into Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron said he would only visit Kyiv if it triggers something, not for an embassy visit. 

Earlier UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson met with Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv just days before his visit to the Ukrainian capital.

Russian Defence Ministry has claimed that the crew of a Black Sea Fleet frigate destroyed an unmanned aircraft named "Bayraktar" off the Crimean Peninsula's western coast. It went on to say that the target was destroyed by the launch of two missiles of the ship's Zenit missile complex "Stil".

In the six weeks since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, nearly two-thirds of all Ukrainian children have fled their homes, as the UN suggests. The UN has also confirmed the deaths of 142 children, but the figure is likely certainly far higher.

Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF's emergency programmes director stated that the fact that 4.8 million of Ukraine's 7.5 million children have been relocated in such a short period of time is "very astonishing." In his 31 years of humanitarian work, he claimed he had never seen anything happen so quickly.

UK Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss stated that Britain is working to confirm accusations that Russia used chemical weapons in an attack on the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol. She said that Russian soldiers are suspected of using chemical weapons on the residents of Mariupol, and they are working with partners to double-check details as quickly as possible.

She also said that any deployment of these weapons would be a callous escalation in this confrontation and that they will hold Putin and his dictatorship responsible.

Russia issues a warning to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), stating that the OSCE monitoring mission must cease operations in Donetsk territory until April 30th, implying that it may go all-out in its attack. Russia's aim is to 'liberate' the Donetsk region in Ukraine.

Alexei Chernyak, a State Duma deputy from the Crimean peninsula, proposed blocking access to YouTube video hosting in Russia for at least ten years. Google, which owns YouTube, has previously restricted the "Duma TV" channel from video hosting. Roskomnadzor asked that the company restore access to the channel as soon as possible.

"Russian shelling has continued in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, with Ukrainian forces repulsing several assaults resulting in the destruction of Russian tanks, vehicles, and artillery equipment", UK's Defence Ministry informed. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on South Korea and requested weapons aid that might turn the tide in Ukraine's defense against Russia's invasion.

Noting the estimate that at least 323 million people could face acute food insecurity, UN chief Antonio Guterres said, "People caught up in crisis around the world cannot pay the price for the war in Ukraine. All countries must keep markets open, resist unjustified & unnecessary export restrictions & make reserves available to countries at risk of hunger. This is not the time for protectionism."

Japan approved a ban on new investments in Russia from April 19. It also imposed additional sanctions against 398 people and 28 organizations from Russia. The sanctions include freezing the assets of Sberbank and AlfaBank, stated Nexta.

EU foreign ministers on Monday held a crucial meeting to discuss Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine, war crimes, and sixth round of sanctions with a tougher 'oil embargo', although a consensus proved to be increasingly difficult. The  27 member states agreed to draft and approve sanctions against Russia at the end of this week. "Discussing about Ukraine means certainly discussing the effectiveness of our sanctions," Josep Borrell, the European Union's top diplomat, told reporters in Luxembourg. 

“Russian aggression against Ukraine can be qualified in two words. The first is failure. It's a big failure of the Russian army. The second is horror,” Josep Borrell, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said. 

“What the Russian army left behind is civilians killed, cities destroyed, indiscriminate bombing. The coming Russian offensive in the east makes us even more determined to continue supporting Ukraine.”

Finland says that a shipment of art works from Russian museums has been returned to Russia after it was seized under European Union sanctions against Moscow.

Finland's customs service said late Saturday that the Foreign Ministry granted a special permit to return the consignment with a total insured value of around 42 million euros ($46 million). It said that trucks carrying the art works from the Hermitage Museum and the Pavlovsk State Museum in St Petersburg, among others, left Finnish territory on Saturday afternoon.

The shipment was seized at the Vaalimaa border crossing at the beginning of April. The works were en route to Russia after loan to museums in Europe and Japan. Experts say that artworks loaned from Russia typically travel overland via Finland.

Russia has demanded the return of all works on loan to “unfriendly” nations that imposed sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine.

(AP)

In the United States Security Council (UNSC) meeting on the situation of women and children in war-torn Ukraine, India's permanent ambassador at the US TS Tirumurti reiterated calls for peace, dialogue and diplomacy. He said that women and children invariably suffer the most in any armed conflicts or military confrontation.

"From reports coming out of Ukraine, women and children have been disproportionately impacted and form the bulk of the refugees and internally displaced persons. More than 4.4 million people have moved to neighbouring countries and another 7.1 million are displaced inside Ukraine," Tirumurti said.

He also commended Ukraine's neighbouring countries which have welcome refugees from the war-hit country. "We call for a victim-centred approach to preventing and responding to sexual violence in armed conflicts," the ambassador added.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has warned that Russian forces "may have used chemical agents in an attack on the people of Mariupol." "We are working urgently with partners to verify details. Any use of such weapons would be a callous escalation in this conflict and we will hold Putin and his regime to account," she wrote on Twitter.

President of Ukrainian rights group La Strada-Ukraine Kateryna Cherepakha said that the agency's emergency hotlines have received calls from 12 women and girls accusing at least 9 Russian soldiers of rape. 

“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” she told the UN’s Security Council via video. “We know and see – and we want you to hear our voices – that violence and rape is used now as a weapon of war by Russian invaders in Ukraine.”

Authorities in the northeastern city of Kharkiv are clearing dangerous PTM-1M mines which can detonate using timers and were left by Russian troops. The mines were widely used by Soviet forces in Afghanistan, said Lieutenant Colonel Nikolay Ovcharuk, head of the demining unit of the state emergency service. Civilians have been warned not to go near the mines.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed shock at the unverified reports of the use of chemical weaponry by the Russian troops in Mariupol. “We treat this with the utmost seriousness,” Zelenskyy said in his recorded video address. The reports of the use of such substance have still not been confirmed, including by the Pentagon, but the Ukraine Army claims that Russia dropped chemical weapons on the port city of Mariupol. 

“I would like to remind world leaders that the possible use of chemical weapons by the Russian military has already been discussed. And already at that time it meant that it was necessary to react to the Russian aggression much harsher and faster,” Zelenskyy said. 

“These reports, if true, are deeply concerning and reflective of concerns that we have had about Russia’s potential to use a variety of riot control agents, including tear gas mixed with chemical agents, in Ukraine,” press secretary John Kirby said in a statement. 

Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said “Russian troops left behind tens if not hundreds of thousands of dangerous objects”. “These are shells that did not explode, mines, tripwire mines. At least several thousand such items are disposed of daily,” Zelenskyy said in a recorded video address. Furthermore, he stressed that there are mines “everywhere" in his country which has made it "the most contaminated by mines in the world."

Russia has illegally taken more than 121,000 children out of Ukraine. the authorities also drafted a bill to enable those kids' adoption despite that their parents and other relatives were very much still present, Ukraine’s UN ambassador, Sergiy Kyslytsya, said in a statement. Children were mostly evacuated unlawfully from heavily shelled Mariupol port city and were relocated to the eastern Donetsk region. They were later taken to Taganrog city in Moscow. 

President Zelenskyy in a call with Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte once again renewed his concerns about acquiring jets, and enough armoured vehicles to fight Russian forces.  “When it comes to the necessary weapons, we still depend on the supply, on our partners. Unfortunately, we are not getting as much as we need to end this war sooner,” he said in a speech. “If we got jets and enough heavy armoured vehicles, the necessary artillery, we would be able to do it.” Zeelsnkyy also said that Ukraine will punish those guilty of war crimes. 

Pentagon has said that Russia’s use of chemical weapons in Mariupol are "deeply concerning” if true. US defense body reiterated  that it had previously warned about Russia’s potential to use “riot control agents, including tear gas mixed chemical agents in Ukraine.” Pentagon stressed that it will continue to closely monitor the situation closely. Ukraine Army has claimed that Russian troops used a "toxic substance whose origin is not known" in Mariupol. 

“Russian occupation forces used a poisonous substance of unknown origin against Ukrainian military and civilians in the city of Mariupol, which was dropped from an enemy [unmanned aerial vehicle],” the Azoz Regiment, a unit of the National Guard of Ukraine, posted to Telegram on Monday. “The victims have respiratory failure, vestibulo-atactic syndrome.” 

In a televised internview the prosecutor general of Ukraine said that that her office is investigating 5,800 cases of Russian war crimes.  Iryna Venediktova told American broadcaster CNN that at least 500 suspects have been so far identified by Kyiv, that includes Russian politicians, military personnel and propaganda personnel. 

Germany is supplying up to 50 Leopard 1 tanks and at least 60 Marder-type armoured personnel carriers to Ukraine to arm its soldiers to counter the incoming Russian assault inside the Ukrainian territories. German manufacturer of military equipment, Rheinmetall will supply Marder infantry fighting vehicles to Ukrainian Armed Forces by the end of 2022, Berlin’s newspaper Bild reported. Marder vehicles of the German infantry are operated by the German Army. They are the main weapon of the Panzergrenadiere (mechanized infantry) since the 1970s in Berlin. 

“The sealed hull is welded from the different kinds of up 30 mm thick armor-clad sheets, capable of protecting the front from 20 mm and 25 mm bullets from a distance of 200 m, and from the sides – from shrapnel, small 7.62 mm arms,” Blid reports. 

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In a harrowing sight, the task of exhuming the bodies of Ukrainian victims from mass graves in Bucha on the outskirts of Kyiv was underway as trucks filled with body bags of the dead transported them to sites for forensic analysis. Among them was a Ukrainian soldier wearing camouflage, his shriveled hand raised; many others of the hundreds killed were civilians, including young children.

Elsewhere on the edges of the capital, mounds of destroyed and burned vehicles were piled on top of each other. Local residents climbed atop an abandoned and damaged Russian tank. A boy walked by unexploded Russian shells in the village of Andriyivka, on the outskirts of Kyiv.

Associated Press Report

Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr. who was detained by Moscow was twice sickened in incidents he suspected were poisonings.  Ilya Yashin said on Twitter that Kara-Murza was detained near his Moscow residence by the Russian police. It was unclear whether he had been charged.

White House has said that Russia's "promotion of a new commander" to take centralized control of the next phase of its battle in Ukraine will not make a big difference in Russia's prospects. Speaking to reporters at the White House briefing, press secretary Jen Psaki said, "a changeover in personnel or leadership at the top is not going to to erase the fact that this is a strategic failure for Russia," Associated Press reported. 

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.

Psaki said while the move might not help Russia succeed, it will likely ensure a continuation of the types of attrocities Russia has already committed in Ukraine.

"This is a general who was already responsible for overseeing atrocities in Syria and that we would expect that it would be a continuation of the type of atrocities we've already seen take place," she said. "We expect this stage of the conflict could last a long time, and we should have no illusions that Russia is going to adjust their tactics and make them less brutal," Psaki added.

Under Dvornikov's command, Russian forces in Syria were known for crushing dissent in part by destroying cities, lobbing artillery and dropping what were often crudely made barrel bombs in sustained attacks that have displaced millions of Syrian civilians. The United Nations says the more than decade-long war has killed more than 350,000 people.

World Bank says Ukraine’s economy will shrink by 45% this year because of Russia’s invasion, which has shut down half of the country’s businesses, choked off imports and exports, and damaged a vast amount of critical infrastructure. Unprecedented sanctions imposed by Western allies in response to the war, meanwhile, are plunging Russia into a deep recession, lopping off more than a tenth of its economic growth, the Washington-based lender said in a report Sunday.

The report said economic activity is impossible in “large swathes of areas” in Ukraine because productive infrastructure like roads, bridges, ports and train tracks have been destroyed. Ukraine plays a major role as a global supplier of agricultural exports like wheat but that’s in question now because planting and harvesting have been disrupted by the war, the report said. The war has cut off access to the Black Sea, a key route for exports, including 90% of Ukraine’s grain shipments.

Source: AP

Relatives of the victims of the genocide in Srebrenica are worried that history is repeating itself in the war in Ukraine. Hundreds of women who lost their sons, husbands, and other relatives in the 1995 massacre of some 8,000 people in the eastern Bosnian town demanded that all those who committed war crimes to be brought to justice.

An association of the relatives of the Srebrenica victims, the Mothers of Srebrenica, has been active in keeping the memory alive of the Bosnian Serb execution of the Bosniak men and boys — who are mostly Muslim — in the late months of the 1992-95 War in Bosnia, according to Associated Press. 

Sehida Abdurahmanovic says “we spent all these years working to prevent this Srebrenica (killings) from happening to anyone else.” But, she adds, “we are really sad to say, but in today’s Europe its happening again - Srebrenica is happening again.”

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.

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.

“They have been forced to leave everything behind — their homes, their schools and, often, their family members,” he told the UN Security Council. “I have heard stories of the desperate steps parents are taking to get their children to safety, and children saddened that they are unable to get back to school.”

Ukraine’s UN ambassador, Sergiy Kyslytsya, claimed Russia has taken more than 121,000 children out of Ukraine and reportedly drafted a bill to simplify and accelerate adoption procedures for orphans and even those who have parents and other relatives. He said most of the children were removed from the besieged southern port city of Mariupol and taken to eastern Donetsk and then to the Russian city of Taganrog, he said.

He said that of Ukraine's refugee children, 2.8 million are displaced within Ukraine and 2 million more are in other countries. At the same time, he said, nearly half the estimated 3.2 million children still in their homes in Ukraine “may be at risk of not having enough food,” with those in besieged cities like Mariupol facing the most dire situation.

Fontaine said school closings are affecting the education of 5.7 million younger children and 1.5 million students in higher education.

“Hundreds of schools and educational facilities have been attacked or used for military purposes,” he said. “Others are serving as shelters for civilians.”

Source: AP

Pentagon’s latest assessment is that Russia is gearing up for, but has not yet begun, an intensified offensive in the Donbas. A senior US defense official said the Russians are moving more troops and materiel toward that area and are focusing many of their missile strikes there, according to AP report. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal US military assessments.

The official said a lengthy convoy of vehicles that is headed south toward the eastern city of Izyum contains artillery as well as aviation and infantry support, plus battlefield command-and-control elements and other materials. The official said the convoy appeared to originate from the Belgorod and Valuyki areas in Russia, which are shaping up as key staging and marshalling grounds for the Russian buildup in the Donbas.

The official said the Russians also are bolstering their presence in the Donbas by deploying in recent days more artillery southwest of the city of Donetsk.

The mayor of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol tells The Associated Press that more than 10,000 civilians have died in the southeastern city since the Russian invasion in February. Mayor Vadym Boychenko told The Associated Press by telephone Monday that corpses were “carpeted through the streets of our city” and that the death toll could be more than 20,000.

Boychenko also said Russian forces have brought mobile crematoria to the city to dispose of the bodies and accused Russian forces of refusing to allow humanitarian convoys into the city in an attempt to disguise the carnage. The mayor had previously claimed 5,000 dead. He explained that these data were on March 21, but “thousands more people were lying on the streets, it was just impossible for us to collect them.”

Credit: AP

Societe Generale has announced it is ending its Russian activities -- making it the first big Western bank to announce it’s quitting Russia. SocGen is also selling its entire stake in Rosbank to a company linked to a Russian oligarch, costing the French bank some 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion). Rosbank is a heavyweight in the Russian banking sector, and Societe Generale was the majority shareholder.

“After several weeks of intensive work,” the bank said in a statement, it had signed an agreement with Russian investment fund Interros Capital to sell all of its stake in Rosbank as well as its insurance subsidiaries in Russia.

Interros is one of the largest funds in the country, which holds assets in heavy industry and metallurgy.

Source: AP

US is planning to train more Ukrainian soldiers in Washington, an official told ABC. "There's been no policy decision that I'm aware of that would prevent them from coming to the United States," the official said. "As for additional training on systems like the Switchblade, we are reviewing and thinking about and considering a number of different options for how we could manage to get more Ukrainians trained on that system," he added. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer held talks about the situation in Ukraine and natural gas deliveries. The two counterparts started negotiations in the Russian presidential residence, Russia's semi-official Interfax reported, referencing a statement from Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

Ukrainian Armed Forces have said that Russian troops are still continuing to attack Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine and have blocked the northeast city of Kharkiv. Russian soldiers are launching rockets, artillery, and mortars on Ukrainian Army in an attempt to gain control of the administrative borders. 

[Credit: AP]

About four million chickens have been killed at Chornobayivska poultry farm in Kherson region, #Ukrainian human rights commissioner Lyudmyla Denysova said. As a result of Russian shelling, the power supply was interrupted, leaving the farm without the ability to feed its poultry.

Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby on Monday iterated that the Ukraine Russian conflict and the emerging brutality "is not a new thing, and we can expect that they will use the same tactics." Kirby added, "I wouldn't pretend that how bloody [this war]  is going to be but i must tell that we are turning the same page from past that Mr Putin have many options to deal this diplomatically but he is keep on ignoring it time and again." 

Russia claimed Monday that it destroyed several Ukrainian air-defense systems in what appeared to be a renewed push to gain air superiority and take out weapons Kyiv has described as crucial ahead of an expected broad new offensive in the east.

In one strike, Moscow said it hit four S-300 launchers near the central city of Dnipro that had been provided by a European country it did not name.
 

Slovakia gave Ukraine just such a system last week but denied it had been destroyed. Russia previously reported two strikes on similar systems in other places.
 

The mayor of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol tells The Associated Press that more than 10,000 civilians have died in the southeastern city since the Russian invasion in February.

Mayor Vadym Boychenko told The Associated Press by telephone Monday that corpses were “carpeted through the streets of our city” and that the death toll could be more than 20,000. 

Boychenko also said Russian forces have brought mobile crematoria to the city to dispose of the bodies and accused Russian forces of refusing to allow humanitarian convoys into the city in an attempt to disguise the carnage

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer says his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow was “very direct, open and tough.”

In a statement released by his office after the meeting, Nehammer said Monday his primary message to Putin was “that this war needs to end, because in war both sides can only lose.”

Nehammer was the first European leader to meet Putin in Moscow since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February.
The Austrian leader stressed that the Monday trip was “not a friendly visit,” but rather his “duty” to exhaust every possibility for ending the violence in Ukraine.

Nehammer’s Moscow visit comes after a trip on Saturday to Kyiv, where he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

In his conversation with Putin, Nehammer said he raised the issue of “serious war crimes” committed by the Russian military in the Ukrainian city of Bucha and others. “All those who are responsible will be held to account,” he added.

Austria is a member of the European Union and has backed the 27-nation bloc’s sanctions against Russia, though it so far has opposed cutting off deliveries of Russian gas. The country is militarily neutral and is not a member of NATO.
 

"The United States and India are going to continue our close consultation and how to manage the stabilising effects of this Russian war. Our continued consultation and dialogue are key to ensuring the US-Indian relationship continues to grow deep and stronger," US President Joe Biden said in a virtual interaction with PM Modi.

"Recent news of the killing of innocent citizens in Bucha city was very concerning. We immediately condemned it and also demanded an impartial probe. We hope that through the talks between Russia and Ukraine, a path for peace would come out," PM Modi in virtual interaction with US President Joe Biden.

"I have spoken with Presidents of both Ukraine and Russia over the telephone, several times. I not only appealed to them for peace but also suggested President Putin hold direct talks with the Ukrainian President. Detailed discussions were held over Ukraine, in our Parliament," PM Modi told US President Joe Biden.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that he would absolutely not acknowledge Crimea as Russian territory. He further said that there would have been no war if they had been willing to give up their territory.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Vladimir Putin had ordered military activities to be suspended until the first round of discussions between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators during an appearance on Russian state television. However, he said that Moscow's stance has shifted since then, claiming that he saw no reason to stop negotiations with Ukraine. He further stated that Moscow will not stop its military action when they will meet again for the peace talks.

France has sent a team of forensic experts to Ukraine to assist in war crime as hundreds of civilian remains were discovered in cities near Kyiv. It was announced that French police officers and forensic experts arrived in Ukraine on Monday. Following the executions that outraged the world, the French interior and justice ministries said that the team had been dispatched to prevent the impunity of acts constituting war crimes. The experts would offer concrete help to Ukrainian and foreign jurisdictions in the investigation of the murders.

Mykhailo Podoliak, who is the advisor of the Ukrainian President has asked European leaders to take responsibility for the future and refuse oil and gas from Russia. Earlier, today Podoliak shared a tweet stating, "Sometimes one Man can change everything by doing the right choice. Not listening to experts, but listening to own heart. It’s not too late to make this choice for politicians. It’s time to take responsibility for the future and refuse oil and gas from Russia."

At the presidential mansion in Novo-Ogaryovo, near Moscow, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Russian President Vladimir Putin began talks, according to Russian media. Nehammer is the first European leader to hold face-to-face talks with Putin since Moscow invaded Ukraine.

Rheinmetall, a German military equipment manufacturer is planning to send Ukraine with up to 50 used Leopard 1 combat tanks, according to the German newspaper. Chief Executive Officer of Rheinmetall, Armin Papperger stated that if the German government gives the go-ahead, Rheinmetall's affiliate Rheinmetall Italia could deploy the first tanks in six weeks and the remainder in three months.

Advisor of Ukrainian President, Mykhailo Podolyak has claimed that the entire world knew that Russia was planning an attack on Ukraine. He said that for months, the world had known that Russia was plotting war and creating "shot lists" for Ukraine. He stated that they were offered evacuation when they demanded weapons and sanctions and when they asked to cut connections with Russia, they were told Kyiv only had three days.

Ukraine's Prime Minister, Denis Shmygal and Ingrida Imonite, the Prime Minister of Lithuania, paid a visit to Borodyanka in Kyiv Region. Shmygal stated that with Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Shimonite, he visited a liberated community Borodyanka in the Kyiv region today, which has been destroyed by the Russian troops.

He further stated that they will bring to justice all those responsible for these crimes and that Lithuania and the European allies stand beside Ukraine as they pursue justice.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with an expert panel to discuss the creation of a special system for judicial review and pre-trial examination of all war crimes committed on Ukrainian territory by Russian aggressors. The President's Office chief, his deputies, key ministers and chairmen of parliamentary committees, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, the Chairman of the Supreme Court, and the chairmen of courts of cassation are all members of this group.

Ukraine's Ministry of Culture and Information Policy suggest that Russian strikes have destroyed 166 cultural sites in Ukraine. Minister of Culture and Information Policy Oleksandr Tkachenko stated that the Russian invasion has already destroyed 166 cultural heritage sites and that some of the things are still unknown to them because they are in occupied territory.

Croatia's foreign ministry announced in a statement on Monday that it has told 24 Russian embassy workers to leave due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine after similar measures by other EU members. The report suggests that among 24 embassy workers, 18 were diplomats.

The Ministry stated that the Russian ambassador was called in protest of the brutal aggression on Ukraine and multiple crimes perpetrated in the country. It stated that Russia was informed about the reduction of administrative-technical employees of the Russian Federation's embassy in Zagreb.

With its newest wave of sanctions in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, Canada has targeted Russia's defence industry. Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly stated that the new sanctions place limitations on 33 Russian defence companies She further stated that the groups have supplied direct or indirect support to the Russian military, making them culpable in the misery and suffering caused by Vladimir Putin's unjustified war in Ukraine.

As Western nations vowed to supply weaponry to Kyiv, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov slammed both American and European approaches. On Monday, Lavrov stressed that Moscow will not bow to international pressure, saying that the operation in Ukraine aims to thwart America's goals for worldwide dominance, according to Russian media. He further stated that their special military operation aims to put an end to the United States' irresponsible expansion and reckless track toward complete dominance of the international stage by the US and, under them, the rest of Western countries.

The European Commission has revised the EU Air Safety List, which is a list of airlines that are prohibited from flying within the European Union because they do not fulfil international safety requirements. As a result of the upgrade, the EU Air Safety List currently includes 21 Russian airlines.

Commissioner for Transport Adina Vălean said that the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency has allowed Russian airlines to operate hundreds of foreign-owned aircraft without a valid Certificate of Airworthiness. 

In the midst of Russia's planned attack in the east of Ukraine, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell urged EU members to equip Ukraine with the weapons it needs as quickly as possible, according to local media. Borrell urged EU ambassadors that the decision should be made in days, not weeks and that the EU should do everything it can to assist Ukraine. The war's outcome will be determined by what happens in the east during the next few weeks.

Germany will contribute 1 million euros to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is investigating Russian army war crimes in Ukraine. The German Foreign Ministry stated that every day the war brings new layers to the conflict and to bring inhumane crimes to justice, all evidence must be presented. The Ministry further stated that with an additional 1 million euros, they support the International Criminal Court.

Dmitry Peskov, who is a spokesperson for the Kremlin said on Monday that sanctions against journalists and media executives are unacceptably harsh and beyond comprehension. According to Russian media, Peskov said that they find sanctions to be too harsh and illegal, and they strongly reject any restrictions placed on journalists, media representatives, or leaders. He said that there is no way to comprehend this.

The EU announced new sanctions against Russia last week in response to Moscow's operation in Ukraine, with the new restrictions affecting more journalists.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the South Korean Parliament on Monday, where he spoke about the atrocities committed by the Russian forces. During his address, the embattled leader requested support from South Korea to assist his country in combating Russian military aggression. As per the reports of Yonhap, he stated that the Republic of Korea can assist Ukraine and that South Korea possesses the military hardware to stop Russian ships and missiles. Zelenskyy further claimed that to date, the Russian forces have destroyed 938 educational establishments and almost 300 hospitals and that they also attacked and destroyed residential structures and cities consciously by using tanks and artillery.

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As many as 1,793 civilians have been killed, and 2,439 others have been injured since Russia launched a military offensive against Ukraine on February 24, the UN said on Sunday, April 10. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in the statement said, "Most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, and missile and airstrikes." The war casualties have been reported by the OHCHR as the Russian military offensive against Ukraine continues for the second month.

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The Russian army opened fire on a train station in eastern Ukraine on the night of April 10-11. Since Kramatorsk, this is the second train station attack. Oleksandr Kamyshin, Head of Ukrzaliznytsia, which is Ukrainian Railways stated on Telegram that Russian troops opened fire on another train station in Ukraine's east last night. He also said that there were no civilians or railway workers killed. However, five trains, as well as train lines and overhead cables, were destroyed.

Armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany, Bundeswehr is preparing a flight to bring war-wounded Ukrainians to German hospitals. In order to accomplish this, a special Airbus A310 MedEvac plane will travel from Cologne to Rzeszow, Poland and then transport children and adults to Germany for treatment. Rzeszow is around 90 kilometres from the Ukrainian border.

Nine humanitarian corridors will be established in Ukraine to transport residents besieged in the combat zone in the east to safety. Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk stated that it will also include private cars from Mariupol. She said that all humanitarian corridor routes in the Luhansk region will work as long as the occupying Russian military observes a ceasefire.

The Russian aggression in Ukraine continues after the 47th day of the conflict and as various countries are sending military assistance to Ukraine to help it fight the aggressor, New Zealand has also joined the bandwagon of global nations to send assist Ukraine. As per RNZ, New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that a C-130 Hercules aircraft will be dispatched to Europe with 50 New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel to assist with the delivery and distribution of donated military aid to Ukraine.

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Russia has accused Ukraine of plotting provocations, including a massacre of civilians in the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR), with the help of the West, in order to pin the blame on the Russian armed forces. Mikhail Mizintsev, chief of Russia’s National Defense Management Center, stated that Ukrainian authorities continue to plan barbaric and vicious acts in the Lugansk People's Republic, including mass killings of people, which they would subsequently blame on Russian forces and LPR troops. A provocation is also planned in the Ragovka settlement in the Kyiv region, according to him.

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UK Defence Ministry has issued its latest intelligence update on Monday, April 11. Taking to his official Twitter handle, the UK Defence Ministry in its latest defence update has informed that Russian shelling continues in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

According to the Defence Ministry, Ukrainian forces continue to resist attacks from Russian troops and carried out several assaults on Russian armed forces, which have destroyed Russian tanks, vehicles and artillery equipment. 

"Russian shelling has continued in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, with Ukrainian forces repulsing several assaults resulting in the destruction of Russian tanks, vehicles and artillery equipments," the UK Defence Ministry said in a statement. 

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In Kyiv, the Southern Bridge was opened for traffic - for more than a month it worked only for special vehicles and public transport, said Mayor Klitschko.

Now the connection between the left and right banks in the capital is carried out by three bridges - North, Darnytsya, and South.

"More than 11 thousand munitions have been deactivated in the Kyiv region", the head of the Kyiv regional administration said.

On Sunday, Ukraine had said it found more than 1,200 bodies in the Kyiv region, as residents in the country's east braced or fled ahead of an expected massive offensive.

(NEXTA)

The Prime Minister of Slovakia Eduard Geger denied the information that the S-300 air defense system provided to Ukraine was destroyed as claimed by the Russian side.

Russia had claimed that S-300 provided by Slovak was destroyed in the Mykolaiv area before being deployed.

The United Kingdom (UK) government is set to send sea-skimming Harpoon anti-ship missile systems under its latest military aid dispatch to the war-torn nation. The announcement was made by the UK on Saturday.

According to information accessed by Republic TV, Britain's shipment of new weapons support is aimed to bog down the Russian Black Sea fleet blockading Ukraine's coasts. The announcement of the Harpoon missile systems to Ukraine comes after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson met with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy in embattled Kyiv on Saturday (April 9).

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On Sunday, the local authorities of Ukraine's national capital, Kyiv, claimed to discover more than 1,200 bodies till now, marking the highest number of casualties found in an area since the war began on February 24, this year. The same has also been confirmed by the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Iryna Venediktova. She told the British broadcaster Sky News that the bodies of at least 1,222 civilians had been found in the region around Kyiv alone so far.

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The Russian space agency, Roscosmos, will inform Russian President Vladimir Putin in the near future of its opinion on whether to continue cooperating with Western partners on the International Space Station (ISS), Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin told Sputnik.

"Our stance was recently discussed at the supervisory board of Roscosmos, which includes representatives of key ministries and departments related to the work of Roscosmos, and is headed by the relevant Deputy Prime Minister.
We plan to report our position to the President in the near future," Rogozin said.

(ANI)

After Russian forces withdrew from areas north of the capital, a mass grave containing dozens of bodies of civilians has been found in the village of Buzova near Kyiv.

Taras Didych, head of the Dmytrivka community, said the corpses were discovered in a dozen shelled cars on a major road that goes through Buzova.

Justice Minister Denis Malyuska said, "42 countries have already appealed to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the investigation of war crimes at the international level has begun, the appeal of these countries has simplified and accelerated the procedure for Ukraine". 

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.

The general's appointment was confirmed by a senior US official who not authorised to be identified and spoke on condition of anonymity.

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.

This general will just be another author of crimes and brutality against Ukrainian civilians, Sullivan said.

(ANI)

The Head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov posted a video on his Telegram channel and said that the Russian forces will stage an offensive 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 post. 

As the war in Ukraine rages on, leaders of European countries, notably Germany, have come to realize that they made a serious mistake by becoming so dependent on Russian energy.

Currently, Europe depends on Russia for roughly 40 percent of its natural gas needs, and European leaders have vowed to reduce their dependence by two-thirds.

So, European countries are feverishly trying to secure supplies from the Middle East and the Mediterranean. Energy security has become one of Europe's top priorities, putting on the back burner the fight to contain climate change and global warming.

(ANI)

"Further evidence of alleged Russian war crimes continues to emerge following Russian withdrawal from northern Ukraine. This includes the reported discovery of a makeshift grave containing deceased Ukrainian civilians near Burzova", the UK's Defence Ministry informed.

Russian invaders hit a nitric acid storage tank near the town of Rubizhne in the Luhansk region again on April 9. Russian troops had earlier hit a nitric acid tank in Rubizhne on April 5.

The World Bank on Sunday issued a forecast predicting the economy of the war-hit country Ukraine will collapse by 45.1% in 2022. The Bank further issued a warning stating a possibility of an even bleaker economic outlook, far worse than the 10-35% downturn the IMF projected last month.

The World Bank said that Russia and its neighboring countries are suffering consequences from the ongoing Ukraine war as Putin's country is likely to see a 11.2% decline in GDP. The war which began on February 24 has caused more than four million Ukrainians to flee to Poland, Romania, and Moldova, further causing the prices of grains and energy to soar.

 United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd J Austin III spoke to the Ukrainian troops training in the US. Austin held an interaction with the soldiers on Sunday ahead of their return to Ukraine. Speaking to the soldiers through a video conference, he claimed that the US will continue to provide Ukraine with assistance as the Russian aggression continues.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday accused Russia of a blame game over the all-out war waged in the ex-Soviet nation. Addressing the nation in a late-night video message, Zelenskyy stated that the country is doing all it can to win the war. He added that Russian leaders have 'lost touch with reality' by acting as aggressors but they have continued to pin the blame on Ukraine.

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Putin's former chief economic adviser has predicted that Russia will likely halt the Ukraine war 'within a month or two.' In a televised interview  Andrei Illarionov noted that provided Western nations implemented tighter and a complete embargo on oil and gas exports from Russia, then within a month or two, the Russian military will stop its "operation" in Ukraine. 

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed Germany for supporting his country, as he called on the EU and the West to do more. As he held talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Zelenskyy said he discussed "how to strengthen sanctions against Russia and how to force Russia to seek peace". "I am glad to note that the German position has recently changed in favour of Ukraine. I consider it absolutely logical."

The White House said President Joe Biden will press Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take a hard line against Russia's Ukraine invasion. Press Secretary Jen Psaki says the leaders plan a virtual meeting on Monday. 

India's neutral stance in the war has raised concerns in Washington and earned praise from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who lauded India this month for judging the situation in its entirety, not just in a one-sided way.