Russia Ukraine War News Live: Local resident Tamara cries in front of an apartment building destroyed during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 19, 2022. (Reuters)Russia Ukraine War Crisis Live: A top ally of President Vladimir Putin said Russian forces will seize the last main stronghold of resistance in the besieged port city of Mariupol on Thursday, after Ukraine proposed talks on evacuating troops and civilians there. “Before lunchtime, or after lunch, Azovstal will be completely under the control of the forces of the Russian Federation,” Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Russia’s republic of Chechnya, whose forces have been fighting in Ukraine, said of the steel plant.
President Joe Biden is set to announce plans to send additional military aid to help Ukraine fight back against the Russian invasion, according to a US official. The official told AP that Biden will deliver a Thursday morning address at the White House detailing his plans to build on the roughly US $2.6 billion in military assistance the administration has already approved for Ukraine. The new package is expected to be similar in size to the USD 800 million package Biden announced last week. It includes much needed heavy artillery and ammunition for Ukrainian forces in the escalating battle for the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
Based on the data collected by the agency, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on Wednesday said that more than five million people have fled Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion, news agency Reuters reported. Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General António Guterres is calling for a four-day halt in fighting in Ukraine, starting Thursday to coincide with Orthodox Christians’ Holy Week observances. Noting that Orthodox Easter is coming amid an intensifying Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine, the UN chief said Tuesday that the need for a “humanitarian pause” is all the more urgent.
A 91-year-old Holocaust survivor has died in a basement in the besieged Ukrainian port of Mariupol. The Auschwitz Memorial announced the death of Vanda Semyonovna Obiedkova.
The Jewish organization Chabad.org reported that her daughter shared the news after arriving with the rest of her family at a safe location, saying she died April 4, pleading for water in a freezing basement.
She was 10 years old when the Nazis occupied Mariupol and killed thousands of Jews in a single day, including her mother. She survived in a basement then, and died in a basement in the same city 81 years later. (AP)
The Luhansk governor said Russian forces now control 80 per cent of the region, which is one of two regions that make up the Donbas in eastern Ukraine.
Gov. Serhiy Haidai said the Russians, who renewed their offensive this week in eastern and southern Ukraine, have strengthened their attacks in the Luhansk region. After seizing Kreminna, Haidai said the Russians now are threatening the cities of Rubizhne and Popasna and he has urged all residents to evacuate immediately. (AP)
Russian forces tightened the noose around the defenders holed up in a mammoth steel plant that represented the last known Ukrainian stronghold in Mariupol, as a fighter apparently on the inside pleaded on a video for help: "We may have only a few days or hours left".
With the holdouts coming under punishing new bombing attacks, another attempt to evacuate civilians trapped in the pulverized port city failed because of continued fighting. (AP)
President Joe Biden is set to announce plans to send additional military aid to help Ukraine fight back against the Russian invasion, according to a US official.
The official, who was not authorised to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Biden will deliver a Thursday morning address at the White House detailing his plans to build on the roughly USD 2.6 billion in military assistance the administration has already approved for Ukraine.
The new package is expected to be similar in size to the USD 800 million package Biden announced last week. It includes much needed heavy artillery and ammunition for Ukrainian forces in the escalating battle for the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. (AP)
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has separately asked Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to receive him to discuss steps to bring about peace following Moscow's invasion of its neighbor.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said separate letters were handed to the permanent missions of Russia and Ukraine on Tuesday afternoon asking Putin to receive Guterres in Moscow and Zelenskiy to receive him in Kyiv. "The Secretary-General said, at this time of great peril and consequence, he would like to discuss urgent steps to bring about peace in Ukraine and the future of multilateralism based on the Charter of the United Nations and international law," Dujarric said in a statement.
Guterres on Tuesday called for a four-day Orthodox Easter humanitarian pause in fighting in Ukraine to allow for the safe passage of civilians to leave areas of conflict and the delivery of humanitarian aid to hard-hit areas. Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, the biggest attack on a European state since 1945, has killed or wounded thousands. More than 12 million people need humanitarian assistance in the country today, Guterres has said. (Reuters)
Fewer buses than planned were able to reach civilians in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol on Wednesday and not many people were evacuated, the regional governor said.
Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko was speaking after Mariupol's mayor said on Wednesday morning that he hoped 90 buses would be able to enter the city and take out about 6,000 trapped women, children and elderly people.
"People of course gathered at the agreed meeting points, but few of them got onto the buses," he said, providing no figures. (Reuters)
Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States have imposed outright bans on Russian oil purchases following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, but 27 members of the European Union have been unable to agree on the embargo.
Germany, the EU’s largest economy and its biggest oil market, aims to halve its dependence on Russian oil by the summer and entirely end it by the close of this year. (Read more)
Finland inched closer to joining NATO on Wednesday after its major parliamentary groups expressed support for some form of a military alliance as a response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The Finnish Parliament on Wednesday began debating the possibility of Finland, which shares a long border with Russia, joining NATO. Prime Minister Sanna Marin's Social Democrats stopped short of mentioning NATO in their addresses but nevertheless voiced support for an idea of a military alliance.
"It is evident that Russia's actions have brought Finland several steps closer to military alignment being necessary," Social Democrat group leader Antti Lindtman told fellow parliament members. (Reuters)
Russia said on Wednesday it has test-launched its new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, a strategic weapon President Vladimir Putin said had no analogues elsewhere and would provide food for thought for those who try to threaten Russia.
Putin was shown on TV being briefed by the military that the missile had been launched from Plesetsk in the country's northwest and hit targets in the Kamchatka peninsula in the far east. (Reuters)
India was under tremendous pressure from the West in its geopolitical game against Russia and to isolate it following the conflict with Ukraine, a Russian diplomat said here on Wednesday.
Terming the idea by the West as absurd since the world was much more complicated and the plans of Western countries were doomed to be a failure, said Russian Consul General in South India Oleg Avdeev. "They (Western countries) clearly underestimate the irrevocable choice of independent States for just and equal multipolarity based on universal norms and principles of the international law in which there should be no double standards and confrontational attitude," he said.
The official was speaking at the 75th anniversary of Russian-Indian diplomatic relations observed here by the Consulate General of the Russian Federation, South India. It was evident that India and other like-minded countries were not going to yield to the Western pressure and were steadfast in pursuing their legitimate national interests bilaterally as well as multilaterally in the United Nations and its Security Council and in other formats, he said. (PTI)
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that 'illegal' restrictions on Russian companies by Western states ran counter to World Trade Organization rules and told his government to update Russia's strategy in the WTO.
'These measures (sanctions) run counter to WTO principles, to which European colleagues have constantly reiterated their adherence', Putin said. Russia's economy has been battered by Western sanctions designed to force Moscow to withdraw troops it sent into Ukraine on Feb 24. (Reuters)
Russia's lower house of parliament has approved a draft bill that would ban Russian banks from sharing "banking secrets" with foreigners, the State Duma said in a statement on Wednesday, in the latest move to protect the country's financial sector. Authorities have already allowed Russian companies and banks to not disclose information on securities issued and lists of contractors, so as to shield themselves from possible sanctions.
And Russia's central bank has said it will not publish banks' financial statements on its website until October. The Duma's statement said Russian credit institutions will now be forbidden from providing relevant authorities of foreign states with information about customers and their transactions as well as about beneficiaries and beneficial owners.
"The law will minimise the risks associated with the adoption by unfriendly states of changes to national legislative acts aimed at obtaining from foreign banks, under the threat of penalties, confidential information constituting a banking secret," the Duma said, adding that there could be exceptions. (Reuters)
Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau says he's been in close contact with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Canada is very responsive to what Ukraine needs. He says there will be more details on the pledge in the days to come, and that Ukrainians have “fought like heroes.” Canada's government has also hit 14 more Russians with sanctions for their close ties with President Vladimir Putin, including his two adult daughters. (AP)
Ukraine's ambassador to Germany is criticizing Chancellor Olaf Scholz's reluctance to commit to direct deliveries of heavy weapons such as tanks. Scholz faces pressure from parts of his own coalition and Germany's main opposition party to deliver such weapons.
But he avoided a direct response Tuesday, pledging further weapons deliveries but not specifying any system and saying one possibility is for eastern NATO allies to supply Soviet-era equipment that could be delivered and used quickly.
Ukrainian Ambassador Andriy Melnyk told German news agency dpa in comments published Wednesday that Scholz's comments were greeted in Kyiv “with great disappointment and bitterness.” Scholz said Germany is reaching the limits of its ability to supply Ukraine from its own stock and will finance Ukrainian purchases of equipment from a list drawn up by the German defense industry.
Melnyk, a frequent critic of German politicians in recent weeks, welcomed that readiness but said many questions remained and questioned the assertion that Germany's military can't deliver more. (AP)
The Russian defence ministry has proposed that relatives of soldiers killed in Ukraine should have to apply to military rather than civilian authorities for compensation payments, imposing an extra level of secrecy around its war losses. Russia already classifies military deaths as state secrets even in times of peace and has not updated its official casualty figures in Ukraine for nearly four weeks.
In its proposal, the defence ministry asked that the benefits paid to the families of fallen soldiers no longer be overseen by civilian officials but handled by enlistment offices instead. That move is designed to "limit the circle of people" with information on Russian troops killed in Ukraine, it said.
The proposal appeared on a government legal information website. It was unclear when it would be reviewed by the government. The ministry said on March 25 that 1,351 Russian soldiers had been killed and 3,825 wounded since Moscow launched what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine on Feb. 24. (Reuters)
The Kremlin's spokesman says Russia has presented Ukraine with a draft document outlining its demands as part of peace talks and is now awaiting a response from Kyiv.
Dmitry Peskov told a conference call with reporters Wednesday that Russia has passed on a draft document containing “absolutely clear, elaborate wording” to Ukraine and now “the ball is in their court, we're waiting for a response”.
Peskov didn't give further details. He blamed Ukraine for the slow progress in negotiations, and claimed that Kyiv constantly deviates from previously confirmed agreements. “The dynamic of work on the Ukrainian side leaves much to be desired, the Ukrainians do not show a great inclination to intensify the negotiation process," he said. (AP)
United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on Wednesday said that more than five million people have fled Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion. (Reuters)
Norway is donating about 100 air defense systems to Ukraine with the Scandinavian country's defense minister saying that “the country is depending on international support to resist Russian aggression.” Bjørn Arild Gram said Norway had donated French-made Mistral short-range missile systems which currently are being phased out by the Norwegian Armed Forces, “but it is still a modern and effective weapon that will be of great benefit to Ukraine,” Arild Gram said.
The weapons have already left Norway which previously has donated 4,000 anti-tank missiles, protective equipment and other military equipment to Ukraine, he added. (AP)
President Joe Biden will convene top U.S. military leaders on Wednesday in an annual White House gathering that takes on special significance as the war in Ukraine enters a risky new phase and the United States plans more military aid.
A "variety of topics" will be discussed by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and senior military leaders, a National Security Council spokesperson said. The event includes a formal West Wing meeting as well as a dinner in the president's residence with leaders' spouses afterward.
While the annual military policy meeting rarely makes news, weighty issues are on the agenda this year, topped by a conflict in Ukraine that officials fear could imperil European security for years to come.
Russia has said it has entered a new stage of its operation and is methodically seeking to "liberate" the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. Western allies anticipate Russia's campaign could last many months, grind to a stalemate and test the battlefield capabilities of Ukrainian fighters. (Reuters)
Russia's military presence on Ukraine's eastern border continues to build, a British military update said on Wednesday, adding that fighting in the Donbas region is intensifying as Russian forces seek to break through Ukrainian defences.
"Russian air activity in northern Ukraine is likely to remain low since its withdrawal from north of Kyiv. However, there is still a risk of precision strikes against priority targets throughout Ukrain," the update, which was tweeted, said. "Russian attacks on cities across Ukraine show their intent to try and disrupt the movement of Ukrainian reinforcements and weaponry to the east of the country," it added. (Reuters)