Morning mail: claims of forced deportations from Ukraine, plight of 51 asylum seekers, best Bluey episodes

Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called the Mariupol siege ‘a terror that will be remembered for centuries’. Photograph: Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters

Good morning. Ukrainian officials have accused Moscow of forcibly deporting thousands of people from Mariupol to Russia, as Turkey says a peace deal between the two countries is close. In Australia, Peter Malinauskas is due to be sworn in as South Australia’s new premier, and paramedics are set to take industrial action in New South Wales.

Forced civilian deportations from Mariupol to Russia are “disturbing” and “unconscionable” if true, the United States has said, after Ukrainian officials accused Moscow of transporting thousands of people against their will out of the devastated port city. Though Turkey’s foreign minister has claimed a peace deal between the two countries is “close”, skepticism among western countries about Putin’s intentions remains. Meanwhile, Germany has agreed a contract with Qatar for the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) that will help the European country wean itself off its dependency on Russian energy.