This blog is closing now. We’ll be back in a few hours with more rolling coverage of the war in Ukraine.
In the meantime, you can find all our coverage of the conflict here and this is a full report on the key developments of the last 24 hours.
Summary
It’s 2am in Kyiv. Here’s where things stand:
- 14 million Ukrainians have been forced to flee their homes, the majority women and children, said the United Nations Crisis Coordinator for Ukraine Amin Awad on Friday. In a statement released on the 100th day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Awad spoke of displaced Ukrainians, describing the “scale and speed of [their] displacement not witnessed in history.”
- Moscow will help restore and rebuild Luhansk and Donetsk, Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced on Friday after a visit to Luhansk. Approximately 1,500 specialists from various departments of the Moscow municipal economy complex and 500 pieces of equipment have arrived in Luhansk, said the mayor.
- Ukraine’s ambassador to Ankara, Vasyl Bodna, accused Russia of “stealing” and sending Ukrainian grain abroad to countries including Turkey. “Russia shamelessly steals Ukrainian grain and sends it overseas from Crimea, including to Turkey,” Bodna said in a tweet on Friday.
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that Ukraine must meet all the necessary standards and conditions for accession. The president went on to call on the EU to help Ukraine achieve its goals.
- Macky Sall, the African Union head and Senegalese president, said he was “reassured” after meeting with Putin regarding global food shortages caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In addition to global food shortages, other issues discussed between the two leaders included grain supplies that are stuck in Ukrainian ports.
- “Victory shall be ours,” Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video featuring the same key ministers and advisers who appeared with him in a defiant broadcast on 24 February, the day his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, launched his unprovoked assault. “The armed forces of Ukraine are here. Most importantly, our people, the people of our country, are here. We have been defending Ukraine for 100 days already … Glory to Ukraine,” he added.
- Ukrainian forces have recaptured around 20% of the territory they lost in Sievierodonetsk since Russia’s invasion, according to Ukrainian officials. “Whereas before the situation was difficult, the percentage (held by Russia) was somewhere around 70%, now we have already pushed them back by approximately 20%,” Serhiy Gaidai, the head of the eastern region of Luhansk, announced on national television on Friday.
- French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday said his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had committed a “historic and fundamental error” by invading Ukraine and was now “isolated”. “I think, and I told him, that he made a historic and fundamental error for his people, for himself and for history,” he said in an interview with French regional media.
- Switzerland’s government on Friday rejected a request by Denmark to send nearly two-dozen Swiss-made armored personnel carriers to Ukraine. Switzerland’s executive Federal Council confirmed the decision on Friday after Denmark requested Switzerland transfer 22 Swiss-made Piranha III wheeled armored personnel carriers, which Denmark had obtained and stored in Germany, to Ukraine.
Updated
