War in Ukraine: Pro-Russian forces load grenades into an infantry fighting vehicle in Mariupol
New Delhi:
Six weeks after the Russian siege of the strategic port of Mariupol, Ukrainian troops who fought a fierce battle have begun to surrender, Moscow said.
Here are the 10 latest developments in the war between Russia and Ukraine:
The Russian Defense Ministry said today that 1,026 Ukrainian soldiers, including 162 officers, have laid down their weapons in Mariupol. The spokesman for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said he had no information about such a surrender.
Mariupol mayor Vadym Boichenko said more than 100,000 people are still trapped in the city, awaiting evacuation. He previously said that some 21,000 civilians had died during the siege.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a speech to Estonia’s parliament that Russia is using phosphorus bombs in Ukraine, and accused Moscow of using terror tactics against civilians. He provided no proof.
Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared after a rare public silence to say that the invasion was a “noble” cause and that peace talks had reached a dead end.
Putin says the country’s offensive is proceeding “quietly” and according to plan, with the aim of “minimizing losses”.
For the first time, US President Joe Biden accused Russian troops of genocide in Ukraine. “Yes, I called it genocide. It’s becoming increasingly clear that Putin is just trying to stamp out the idea of even being a Ukrainian,” Biden told reporters.
At least seven people have been killed and 22 injured in shelling in the northeastern region of Kharkiv in the past 24 hours, Governor Oleh Synegubov said.
The mayor of the city of Bucha, where dozens of bodies were found after Russia’s withdrawal from northern Ukraine, says more than 400 people have been found dead so far and 25 women have reported being raped.
More than 870,000 Ukrainians who have fled abroad since the start of the war have returned to the country, Ukraine’s border force says.
Zelensky has offered to trade pro-Kremlin tycoon Viktor Medvedchuk, who has been close to Putin for years and who was arrested after escaping house arrest, for Ukrainians imprisoned by Russia.
