On the 49th day of war, tensions have not eased in the country, especially in the east, where Ukrainians are awaiting an imminent attack by the Russian army.
12:52 p.m.
Seven people were shot on Tuesday in a house in a village in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine by Russian soldiers, the Ukrainian general prosecutor’s office announced on Wednesday.
“According to the investigation, the Russian soldiers shot six men and a woman in the village of Pravdyné. Intending to cover up the crime, the occupants blew up the house where the bodies of the shot people were,” the official said. floor in a press release.
11:53
Seven people have been killed in Russian strikes in the Ukrainian region of Kharkiv (northeast) in the past 24 hours, the regional governor said on Wednesday.
“Seven people were killed” and 22 others injured, Governor Oleg Synegoubov said on Telegram, adding that a two-year-old boy injured two days ago in a bombardment succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday in hospital.
11:19 a.m.
Finland has published a key report on its strategic situation after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, a prelude to a debate on a now probable historic candidacy for NATO by the summer.
09:27
Polish and Baltic heads of state will travel to Kyiv by train on Wednesday to “support” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the face of Russia’s offensive, the presidencies of these countries said.
“Our goal is to support President Zelensky and the defenders of Ukraine at a decisive moment for this country,” Jakub Kumoch, an adviser to the Polish president, told PAP news agency.
Details of the visit are not known for security reasons, he said adding only that the presidents could visit “the most symbolically important places”.
09:10
More than a thousand Ukrainian troops have surrendered to Russian forces in the besieged city of Mariupol for weeks, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.
“In the city of Mariupol, in the area of the Ilyich metallurgical plant (…) 1,026 Ukrainian soldiers from the 36th Marine Brigade voluntarily laid down their arms and surrendered,” the ministry said in a statement.
08:47
Ukraine will not open any humanitarian corridors on Wednesday, a government official said, accusing the Russians of “violating the norms of international law” which makes the situation “dangerous”.
“Unfortunately, we will not be opening humanitarian corridors today. In the Zaporizhia region (south) the occupiers have blocked buses and in the Lugansk region (east) they are violating the ceasefire,” he said. Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.
“Not only do the occupiers fail to respect the standards of international humanitarian law, but they also cannot properly control their men on the ground. All of this creates such a level of danger on the roads that we are forced to abstain today’ today to open humanitarian corridors,” she continued.
00:58
Joe Biden has confirmed accusing his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin of “genocide” in Ukraine, a few hours after using this word for the first time to describe the situation in the country invaded by Moscow.
“Yes, I called it a genocide,” replied the American president to journalists during a trip to Iowa.
“It is increasingly clear that Putin is simply trying to erase the very idea of being able to be a Ukrainian,” he added.
Until then, the American administration had not pronounced this word, used by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Joe Biden said that if “the lawyers, at the international level”, would decide on the qualification of genocide, “for me, it looks like it”.
00:38
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky offered Tuesday night in Moscow to “exchange” Ukrainian MP and businessman Viktor Medvedchuk, close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and recently arrested, for Ukrainians in captivity in Russia.
“I propose to the Russian Federation to exchange this man for our boys and girls who are currently in captivity in Russia. That is why it is important that our law enforcement and our military also consider this possibility,” he said in a video address posted on Telegram.