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Summary
It is now one month since Russia invaded Ukraine. If you’re just joining us, here is a comprehensive rundown on where the crisis currently stands:
- Russia and Ukraine exchanged prisoners in the first swap of soldiers since Moscow ordered troops into Ukraine one month ago, Ukraine’s vice-prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, said writing the first “full-fledged exchange of prisoners of war took place” where 10 “captured occupiers” were exchanged for 10 Ukrainian servicemen. In a recent update published to her official Telegram channel just before midnight local time, Vereshchuk said the humanitarian hostages taken in Mangush have been released.
- Ukraine accused Moscow of forcibly taking hundreds of thousands of civilians from shattered Ukrainian cities to Russia, where some may be used as “hostages” to pressure Kyiv to give up. Lyudmyla Denisova, Ukraine’s ombudsperson, said 402,000 people, including 84,000 children, have been taken against their will. The United Nations told the BBC that Ukrainians are being arbitrarily detained and subjected to enforced disappearances in Russian-controlled areas.
- Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy delivered a powerful late night nation address, suggesting Russia may not have invaded had it known the war would drag on for more than a month. “The 30th day. It’s been a month. Had Russia known that this was expecting them, I’m sure, they would have been scared to come here,” he said.
- US president Joe Biden heads to Warsaw, Poland, today where he is expected to meet with experts on the humanitarian response and US troops stationed in Poland. On Saturday, he is to meet Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda to discuss “the humanitarian and human rights crisis” resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
- The UK’s ministry of defence said Ukraine is striking “high value targets” that is forcing Russian forces to divert resources to defend their supply lines. It cited the attacks on a landing ship and ammunition storage depots at Berdyansk as examples of valuable targets. “It is likely that the Ukrainians will continue to target logistical assets in Russian-held areas. This will force the Russian military to prioritise the defence of their supply chain” and reduce ability to carry out offensive operations.
- Ukrainian forces have been bolstered by the destruction of the major Russian landing ship as it brought in supplies to its troops. Dramatic pictures showed billowing fire and black smoke as the Orsk, docked in Berdyansk on the Azov Sea, was hit by Ukrainian ballistic missiles.
- The Ukrainian defence ministry said its troops had pushed back Russian forces from some areas around the capital, Kyiv. Russian troops did not have enough resources to push ahead with their offensive in Ukraine, Oleksander Motuzyanyk, Ukraine’s defence ministry spokesperson said.
- These accounts appear to be corroborated by a senior Pentagon official who said Russia is running out of precision guided munitions and it is more likely to rely on so-called dumb bombs and artillery. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl said Russia is suffering high failure rates as high as 60% for some of its precision-guided missiles while its forces have taken heavy casualties and are low on supplies.
- Ukraine’s deputy prime minister said there were 40 buses waiting to take civilians out of Mariupol, but that Russian forces were not letting them through. There were meant to be seven humanitarian corridors open on Thursday – although Mariupol was not included among them.
- Ukraine has accused Moscow of forcibly taking 402,000 civilians, including 84,000 children, from Ukrainian cities to Russia - and raised concerns that they would be used as hostages. Russia corroborated the numbers but said the civilians has been evacuated willingly.
- Nato leaders have agreed to strengthen their defences in the east in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. About 40,000 troops have been placed on its eastern flank along with significant air and naval assets, and four new battlegroups will be sent to Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania.
- The US and its allies announced new sanctions on more than 400 Russian elites and institutions. Among those sanctioned were Russia’s lower house of parliament, the Duma, and 328 of its members. The US treasury department also issued guidance, warning that US authorities may impose sanctions on gold-related transactions involving Russia.
- Biden said China understands the economic consequences that would ensue if it provides help to Russia in its war with Ukraine and understands that its economic future is “much more closely tied to the west than it is to Russia”. The US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl also said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has made it more of a strategic burden on China.
- G7 leaders said they are resolved to impose severe consequences on Russia and stand ready to apply additional measures “as required”. In a joint statement, they condemned Vladimir Putin’s “war of choice” and his “unjustifiable, unprovoked and illegal” aggression in Ukraine.
- The Biden administration and the European Union are expected to announce a major initiative to direct shipments of liquefied natural gas to Europe during the US president’s visit to Brussels this week, the Washington Post reported, citing three US officials familiar with the plan.
- Russia has been hit with 65 new sanctions by the UK, in a move the Foreign Office said was designed to target “key strategic industries and individuals”. Among those hit were six banks and a defence company that produces drones, as well as the Wagner Group, which Britain said had reportedly been tasked with assassinating the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
- The UK and allies will “ramp up” lethal aid to Ukraine, Boris Johnson said following a meeting of G7 leaders. The UK will send an additional 6,000 missiles and provide £25m in funding for Ukraine’s armed forces, he said, with kit provided “in the quantity and with the quality” needed by Ukraine to defend itself against “its bullying neighbour”.
- Asked about the Kremlin’s claim that he was the “most active participant in the race to be anti-Russian”, Boris Johnson said he was not “remotely anti-Russian”. “I think I’m probably the only prime minister in UK history to be called Boris,” he told reporters in Brussels.
- The United Nations general assembly voted overwhelmingly to call on Russia to stop its war on Ukraine immediately and to provide more aid access and civilian protection in Ukraine. The resolution received 140 votes in favour and five votes against - Russia, Syria, North Korea, Eritrea and Belarus - while 38 countries abstained.
As usual, for any tips and feedback please contact me through Twitter or at samantha.lock@theguardian.com
The Guardian keeps you up to the minute on the crisis in Ukraine with a global perspective and from our team around the world and around the clock. Thank you for reading and please do stay tuned.
Updated
Sanctions 'a little late', Zelenskiy tells EU council
In a video message posted to his official Facebook account, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy shared his appearance at the EU summit where he thanked European Council members for putting sanctions on Russia but said it was “a little late.”
Zelenskiy said if the sanctions had been preventative, there was a chance Russia would not have gone to war. He told the council:
You blocked Nord Stream 2. We are grateful to you. And rightly so. But it was also a little late. Because if it had been in time, Russia would not have created a gas crisis. At least there was a chance.
The Russian military does not see what dignity is. They do not know what conscience is. They do not understand why we value our freedom so much. This is what determines how the country will live.”
He said Russia has already destroyed 230 schools, 155 kindergartens and killed 128 children in Ukraine.
Whole cities, villages. Just to ashes. Nothing remains.
The Russian military killed journalists. Although they saw the inscription ‘Press’ on them. They may not have been taught to read. Only to kill.”
Joe Biden heads to Poland
On the heels of leaders’ summits in Brussels that aimed to show a united Western front against Russia’s month-long invasion of its neighbour, Joe Biden goes to Poland today to meet experts involved in the refugee response.
During his visit, the US president will meet with President Andrzej Duda to “thank him for everything the people of Poland are doing” and to discuss a coordinated humanitarian response, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.
Updated
The BBC is reporting that the UN says Ukrainians are being arbitrarily detained and subjected to enforced disappearances in Russian-controlled areas.
“At least 36 cases of civilian detentions were verified by the UN, with families often denied any information about the fate of those being held,” the BBC reports. it goes on:
A spokesperson for the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (UNOHR), whose monitoring mission in Ukraine has been documenting the abductions, told the BBC that those being targeted “are mostly representatives of local communities, journalists and people who were vocal about their pro-Ukrainian positions”.
Here’s a look at how news from Ukraine is being reported by the British newspapers today:
Friday’s GUARDIAN: “Biden’s warning to Putin over chemical weapons” #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/epiRyy7jgV
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) March 24, 2022
Friday’s EDINBURGH News: “Welcome, You Will Be Safe Here” #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/PJQAijEyTy
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) March 24, 2022
Friday’s Daily MAIL: “Kremlin: Boris Is Our No1 Enemy” #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/26GyAf1SuA
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) March 24, 2022
Friday’s TIMES: “Nato will act if chemical weapons used, says Biden” #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/CrTheUCgOV
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) March 24, 2022
The US ambassador to Mexico on Thursday urged Mexican lawmakers to join the United States in supporting Kyiv against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a day after his Russian counterpart encouraged Mexico to defy “Uncle Sam.”
“The Russian ambassador was here yesterday making a lot of noise about how Mexico and Russia are so close. This, sorry, can never happen. It can never happen,” US Ambassador Ken Salazar said in remarks at Mexico’s lower house of Congress on Thursday, as reported by Reuters.
“We have to be in solidarity with Ukraine and against Russia,” he said, before invoking the history of World War II.
“I remember very well that during the Second World War there was no distance between Mexico and the United States, both were united against what Hitler was doing,” he added.
Salazar’s comments came after Russia’s ambassador to Mexico, Viktor Koronelli, addressed lawmakers at a newly inaugurated “Mexico-Russia friendship committee” on Wednesday.
“On the orders of Uncle Sam, Mexico will never answer ‘Yes, Sir’” Koronelli said, drawing applause from some legislators.
Ukraine’s general staff of the armed forces has released its latest intelligence report as of 10pm local time.
Russia’s attempt to encircle the city of Kyiv has not been fulfilled while attempts to block Chernihiv have also been unsuccessful, officials claimed.
“[Russia] will try to resume offensive operations in the direction of the cities of Brovary and Boryspil in order to block the capital of Ukraine, the city of Kyiv, from the east,” the report reads.
Russian troops are also blocking the cities of Sumy and Kharkiv and striking civilian infrastructure, officials said.
The withdrawal of some Russian units is due to “the loss of more than 50% of the personnel” Ukraine’s armed forces claim, adding that Russia continues to replenish losses by training and relocating reserve units.
The military confirmed reports that the large landing ship ‘Saratov’ was destroyed during the attack on the occupied Berdyansk port, adding that large landing ships ‘Caesar Kunikov’ and ‘Novocherkassk’ were also damaged.
Efforts to capture the cities of Popasna, Rubizhne and Mariupol, are “without success” the report concludes.
Updated
Pictures from the besieged city of Mariupol show people apparently queueing for and receiving packages of supplies from pro-Russian and Russian forces.
• This post was amended on 25 March 2022 to provide more detail.
Updated
UK prime minister Boris Johnson has told BBC Newsnight that he’s not optimistic that Russian President Putin wants peace.
I’m not optimistic that Vladimir Putin really wants that [peace].
I think he’s decided to double down and try to Groznify the great cities of Ukraine in the way that he’s always tried to do and I think that’s a tragic mistake.”
“Groznify” is a reference to the Chechen city of Grozny, which Russia bombed and besieged in 1999-2000.
"I'm not optimistic Putin really wants [peace]. I think he’s decided to double down and try to Groznyfy the great cities of Ukraine."
— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) March 24, 2022
Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the prospects for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine
Watch at 2230 on @BBCTwo#Newsnight | @nicholaswatt pic.twitter.com/cO47BN28il
Russian defence minister resurfaces after vanishing from public for 12 days
For just a few seconds on Thursday, Sergei Shoigu was back on Russians’ television screens, sitting in the corner box of a teleconference with Vladimir Putin.
The Russian defence minister, arguably the man most responsible for the floundering war effort in Ukraine, had not been seen in public for 12 days. Nor had the chief of the general staff of Russia’s armed forces, Valery Gerasimov.
Rumours were beginning to circulate that they may have been punished over the bungled invasion, which has failed to capture key Ukrainian cities such as Kharkiv or Kyiv and plunged Russia into economic isolation.
Russians had already watched Putin browbeat and humiliate the head of the country’s foreign intelligence service, Sergei Naryshkin, during a televised meeting over the fate of the Russian-controlled territories in eastern Ukraine.
Journalists have since filed reports on an investigation in the FSB directorate responsible for foreign intelligence, including on Ukraine, and on the arrest of a senior official from Russia’s national guard.
It is unclear if any of those events are related to Russia’s war in Ukraine, an effort that is going according to plan, a Russian foreign ministry official said on Thursday. For many Russians, however, it is apparent that the war is not going to plan, and the expectation among Kremlin watchers is that men such as Shoigu could shoulder the blame.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has made it more of a strategic burden on China, the US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl has said.
I do think that there’s a degree to which what Putin has done in Ukraine makes Russia much more of a strategic burden for Beijing than it was six weeks ago or six months ago.”
In February, China and Russia declared a “no limits” partnership, backing each other over standoffs on Ukraine and Taiwan with a promise to collaborate more against the West.
We have a little more detail on earlier statements made by a senior Pentagon official, claiming Russia will emerge from the conflict in Ukraine weaker and more isolated.
Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl said:
I think with a high degree of certainty that Russia will emerge from Ukraine weaker than it went into the conflict.
Militarily weaker, economically weaker, politically and geopolitically weaker, and more isolated.”
Khal also said an upcoming Pentagon defense strategy document would declare Russia an “acute threat.”
But Russia cannot pose a long-term system challenge to the United States, unlike China, he said.
Russia is running out of precision guided munitions, Pentagon official says
Russia is running out of precision guided munitions and it is more likely to rely on so-called dumb bombs and artillery, a senior Pentagon official said on Thursday, Reuters reports.
Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl speculated that he did not believe President Vladimir Putin wanted to have an all out conflict with Nato.
Earlier, we reported that three US officials claimed Russia is suffering high failure rates as high as 60% for some of its precision-guided missiles while its forces have taken heavy casualties and are low on supplies.
Updated
Mangush hostages released, Mariupol aid blocked: Ukraine's vice PM
More information is coming to light regarding the exchange of Ukrainian and Russian prisoners.
Ukraine’s vice-prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, earlier confirmed that the first “full-fledged exchange of prisoners of war took place” where 10 “captured occupiers” were exchanged for 10 Ukrainian servicemen.
In a recent update published to her official Telegram channel just before midnight local time, Vereshchuk said the humanitarian hostages taken in Mangush have been released.
We managed to release the drivers and rescuers captured by the occupiers 2 days ago in Mangush,” she said.
The vice-prime minister confirmed that seven humanitarian corridors were launched on Thursday, allowing 3,343 people to evacuate.
In the Donetsk region, she said 2,717 residents from Mariupol were able to evacuate to Zaporozhye however Russian forces have continued to block humanitarian aid from entering the city.
For 3 days the occupiers have not given permission for the convoy with humanitarian cargo to enter the city,” she said.
In the Zaporizhia region, Vereshchuk said 117 people were evacuated from the town of Polohy, including 35 orphans from a local boarding school. Humanitarian aid was also delivered to the city.
While it was not possible to evacuate anyone from Melitopol, a convoy with humanitarian aid reached the city and will continue to deliver supplies on Friday.
In the Kyiv region, 509 people from Velyka Dymerka, Bohdanivka and Bervytsia were evacuated to Brovary, she added.
Vereshchuk said officials are continuing to work for the release of Ukrainian citizens, including border guards and civilians from Snake Island, as well as abducted local government employees.
“In recent days, we have received many reports from people who managed to escape from the captivity of the occupiers about mass cases of torture of prisoners,” she alleged.
Updated
Japan will freeze the assets of an additional 25 Russian individuals and prohibit exports to 81 Russian organisations, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday, as reported by Reuters.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Japan will proceed with steps to strip Russia of its most favoured nation trade status and to prevent it from evading financial sanctions using digital assets.
Russia is suffering high failure rates as high as 60% for some of its precision-guided missiles, three US officials have told Reuters, adding its forces have taken heavy casualties and are low on supplies.
In one month of fighting, Ukraine has fended off what many analysts had anticipated would be a quick Russian victory.
Moscow has failed to capture any major city and despite relentless shelling by Russian forces, its armoured columns have barely moved in weeks, stalled near the capital Kyiv and besieging cities in the east.
Ukraine says it is now shifting to the offensive and has pushed back Russian forces, including north of Kyiv and repelling five Russian attacks in the country’s east on Thursday.
Updated
Russia will emerge from the Ukraine conflict militarily and politically weaker, a senior US official has said, according to a Reuters report.
The Pentagon’s new strategy will describe Russia as an “acute threat” but one that cannot pose long term systemic challenge, the official added.
We will have more on this story as it develops.
Here are a few images to come out of Ukraine today, illustrating the devastation that is continued to be ravaged upon the country.
The UK’s ministry of defence has just released its latest intelligence report, claiming Ukraine is striking “high value targets”.
Ukrainian forces have launched strikes against high value targets in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, including a landing ship and ammunition storage depots at Berdyansk.
It is likely that the Ukrainians will continue to target logistical assets in Russian-held areas. This will force the Russian military to prioritise the defence of their supply chain and deprive them of much needed resupply for forces.
This will reduce Russia’s ability to conduct offensive operations, and further damage already dwindling morale.”
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 24 March 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) March 24, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/2O1nVfKz2k
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/gJ1oY9fUqu
China understands that its economic future is “much more closely tied to the west than it is to Russia,” US President Joe Biden has said after warning Chinese leader Xi Jinping that Beijing could regret siding with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Biden briefed reporters of his call on Friday with Xi. Reuters reports he said:
I made no threats but I made it clear to him - made sure he understood the consequences of helping Russia.
I pointed out the number of American and foreign corporations that left Russia as a consequence of their barbaric behaviour.
China understands that its economic future is much more closely tied to the west than it is to Russia.
The Biden administration has been pressuring China to refrain from supporting Russia including by helping it counter western sanctions and providing military assistance.
China has not condemned Russia’s action in Ukraine, though it has expressed deep concern about the war as well as about western sanctions, which it regards as counter-productive and unilateral.
Biden’s comments pointed to the economic interdependence of China and the United States, its largest trading partner.
That is leverage Washington wants to use to nudge China away from Russia after the two countries touted a “no limits” strategic partnership in February.
Zelenskiy also confirmed he spoke to members of the Nato, G7 and EU summits, as well as the Swedish parliament, the president of Lithuania, the prime minister of Israel and the British prime minister.
“This is all for support for our country. We need it for our defence,” he said, adding it was “all for Russia to understand one thing: it needs to seek peace too”.
Hello it’s Samantha Lock with you as my colleague Maanvi Singh signs off. I’ll be bringing you all the latest developments for the next few hours.
Once again, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has delivered a powerful late night nation address, suggesting Russia may not have invaded had it known the war would drag on for more than a month.
We are bringing peace closer, we are bringing the victory closer. This war can’t be without victory. So it will be. We can’t stop even for a minute because every minute is about our fate, our future, and our survival.
The 30th day. It’s been a month. Had Russia known that this was expecting them, I’m sure, they would have been scared to come here. In this month, we have held all main areas of Russian assaults. The world has imposed destructive sanctions. We keep working and making agreements about new ones.”
Latest developments
- Ukrainian forces have been bolstered by the dramatic destruction of a major Russian landing ship as it brought in supplies to its troops. Dramatic pictures showed billowing fire and black smoke as the Orsk, docked in Berdyansk on the Azov Sea, was hit by Ukrainian ballistic missiles.
- The Ukrainian defence ministry said its troops had pushed back Russian forces from some areas around the capital, Kyiv. Russian troops did not have enough resources to push ahead with their offensive in Ukraine, Oleksander Motuzyanyk, Ukraine’s defence ministry spokesperson said, but added that Russian troops have not given up hope of surrounding and seizing Kyiv.
- Ukraine’s deputy prime minister said there were 40 buses waiting to take civilians out of Mariupol, but that Russian forces were not letting them through. There were meant to be seven humanitarian corridors open today – although Mariupol was not included among them.
-
Ukraine has accused Moscow of forcibly taking 402,000 civilians, including 84,000 children, from Ukrainian cities to Russia - and raised concerns that they would be used as hostages. Russia corroborated the numbers but said the civilians has been evacuated willingly.
- The chief prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC), Karim Khan, asked a coalition of countries to back his war crimes investigation in Ukraine. “Things can get worse” if the international community fails to act now, Khan warned.
- The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, appealed to Nato allies to increase military support for his country against Russian forces. Speaking to leaders via video link, Zelenskiy thanked countries for the defensive equipment provided to Ukraine but appealed for offensive weapons. The Ukrainian leader also accused Russia of deploying phosphorus weapons.
- Nato leaders have agreed to strengthen their defences in the east in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. About 40,000 troops have been placed on its eastern flank along with significant air and naval assets, and four new battlegroups will be sent to Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania.
-
The US and its allies announced new sanctions on more than 400 Russian elites and institutions. Among those sanctioned were Russia’s lower house of parliament, the Duma, and 328 of its members. The US treasury department also issued guidance, warning that US authorities may impose sanctions on gold-related transactions involving Russia.
- Biden said China understands the economic consequences that would ensue if it provides help to Russia in its war with Ukraine. Speaking to reporters in Brussels, the US president said the Nato alliance has never been more united than it is today.
- G7 leaders said they are resolved to impose severe consequences on Russia and stand ready to apply additional measures “as required”. In a joint statement, they condemned Vladimir Putin’s “war of choice” and his “unjustifiable, unprovoked and illegal” aggression in Ukraine.
-
The Biden administration and the European Union are expected to announce a major initiative to direct shipments of liquefied natural gas to Europe during the US president’s visit to Brussels this week, the Washington Post reported, citing three US officials familiar with the plan.
- Russia has been hit with 65 new sanctions by the UK, in a move the Foreign Office said was designed to target “key strategic industries and individuals”. Among those hit were six banks and a defence company that produces drones, as well as the Wagner Group, which Britain said had reportedly been tasked with assassinating the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
- The UK and allies will “ramp up” lethal aid to Ukraine, Boris Johnson said following a meeting of G7 leaders. The UK will send an additional 6,000 missiles and provide £25m in funding for Ukraine’s armed forces, he said, with kit provided “in the quantity and with the quality” needed by Ukraine to defend itself against “its bullying neighbour”.
- Asked about the Kremlin’s claim that he was the “most active participant in the race to be anti-Russian”, Boris Johnson said he was not “remotely anti-Russian”. “I think I’m probably the only prime minister in UK history to be called Boris,” he told reporters in Brussels.
- The United Nations general assembly voted overwhelmingly to call on Russia to stop its war on Ukraine immediately and to provide more aid access and civilian protection in Ukraine. The resolution received 140 votes in favour and five votes against - Russia, Syria, North Korea, Eritrea and Belarus - while 38 countries abstained.
- Pope Francis levelled strong criticism against countries for increasing defence spending following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, describing it as “madness”. He said the conflict in Ukraine was a product of “the old logic of power that still dominates so-called geopolitics” and the real answer was not more weapons and more sanctions.
- Alexander Lukashenko, the authoritarian leader of Belarus, has warned that a Polish proposal to deploy a western peacekeeping force in Ukraine could trigger “world war three”. Lukashenko, who has allowed Russia to use Belarus’ territory to send troops into Ukraine, said on Thursday that should Poland’s suggestion be taken up “it will mean World War three”.
– Léonie Chao-Fong, Guardian staff
Updated
US volunteers appear in frontline video footage
US volunteers have surfaced in video footage from the front lines in the Ukraine, suggesting that the international legion fighting alongside the Ukrainian army is playing an increasingly active role.
Two video clips appeared in Twitter on Thursday: one showing an American in combat gear posing in front of the burnt remains of what he said was a Russian tank. Off camera, a Ukrainian shouts “Welcome to America!” and the American repeats the phrase.
In the other, narrated by a different soldier with an American accent, shows a detachment of soldiers taking cover by a wall alongside a road, in a village the narrator claims they have recaptured from the Russians.
The first video was posted by James Vasquez, a US army veteran and building contractor from Connecticut, who according to his Twitter Feed, arrived in Poland on 15 March, crossed into Ukraine the next day, bringing with him several surveillance drones. He was sent to the front lines from Lviv on 18 March.
This village has been Russian occupied for a month, they terrorized the people and took their food. Today we entered, took out 7 tanks and countless Russians thus liberating these people pic.twitter.com/0Fm3qHdepB
— James Vasquez (@jmvasquez1974) March 24, 2022
“I kind of feel like I’m on an awesome very dangerous vacation,” he said. And in another tweet: “When I need to amp myself up for battle, I just think about the most punchable face on the planet… Tucker Carlson.”
He gives an account of patrolling Ukraine going through numerous checkpoints and showing his passport.
“They are ..shocked to see an American passport when I hit checkpoints,” he said. “They let me right through because they think it’s awesome an American soldier is here to fight alongside them.”
In his account of Thursday’s battle for a village he does not name, Vasquez said he was tasked to “find a pack of Russians spotted hiding by civilians” and he used a drone to try to spot them.
A few hours later, he tweeted: “Just went through six straight hours of combat. I have crazy video I’ll post later. 2 men were shot but will be ok. One fatality.”
Initial accounts of the international legion suggested that the foreign volunteers were a mixed bag, many with no experience. The military news website Task&Purpose reported there was “a swarm of Fantasists for every one candidate with experience in combat”.
“Selection apparently follows no discernable process other than separating those that don’t have military experience from those that do. The former are put through a 4-week training course — the latter are given a weapon and sent to the front in ad-hoc units with a Ukrainian officer,” the report from Ukraine said.
Where is fighting happening and how did we get here?
Here is the Guardian’s explainer, in maps, video and pictures:
Ukraine uses facial recognition software to identify Russian soldiers killed in combat
Johana Bhuiyan and agencies report:
Ukraine is using facial recognition software to help identify the bodies of Russian soldiers killed in combat and track down their families to inform them of their deaths, Ukraine’s vice-prime minister told the Reuters news service.
Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s vice-prime minister who also runs the ministry of digital transformation, told Reuters his country had been using software facial recognition provider Clearview AI to find the social media accounts of dead Russian soldiers.
“As a courtesy to the mothers of those soldiers, we are disseminating this information over social media to at least let families know that they’ve lost their sons and to then enable them to come to collect their bodies,” Fedorov said in an interview, speaking via a translator.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense this month began using technology from Clearview, which scrapes images on the web to match with faces featured in uploaded photos. Reuters first reported Ukraine’s use of Clearview earlier this month, but it was not clear at that time how the technology would be used.
Clearview offered its service free of charge to Ukraine after the Russian invasion and has said its search engine includes more than 2bn images from VKontakte, a popular Russian social media service. VKontakte did not respond to a request for comment.
A New York based software company, Clearview AI has sparked criticism over its privacy practices from users and authorities around the world.
Read more:
Ukraine is likely to continue targeting Russian military assets in occupied regions, the UK defence attaché, AVM Mick Smeath, said.
“The Ministry of Defence’s Defence Intelligence say that Ukrainian forces have launched strikes against high-value targets in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, including a landing ship and ammunition storage depots at Berdyansk,” he said. “It is likely that the Ukrainians will continue to target logistical assets in Russian-held areas.”
Targeting Russian supplies will force them to focus on defence and damage morale, Smeath said.
Updated
EU leaders wrangle with issue of oil and gas imports from Russia at summit
European Union leaders have laid bare their differences over whether to stop buying oil and gas from Russia, following a show of transatlantic unity in a series of summits with Joe Biden and an impassioned appeal by the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, for more military aid to defend his country.
In the third summit on a hectic day of diplomacy that began with an emergency meeting of Nato leaders, followed by the G7, EU leaders met the US president to discuss Russia’s war against Ukraine.
“The single most important thing we had to do in the west is be united,” Biden said, arriving at the EU summit, the first time a US president has attended a European Council meeting. Biden said the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, had been trying to break up Nato “from the beginning” and unity would be crucial in stopping him. “It’s the single most important thing to stop this guy, who in our country we believe has already committed war crimes,” he said.
The EU leaders were due to hear a video address from Zelenskiy, four weeks since the war broke out, when he told them in a conference call that they might not see him alive again.
The European Council meeting was heavy with symbolism, but officials dampened talk of further sanctions. Poland and the Baltic states were leading the charge for tougher measures against Russia, including a ban on Russian ships and road vehicles entering the EU. Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, said the EU needed to “crush” Russia with sanctions over the war, which he said had turned into a “massacre”. Referring to the Soviet Union, he said Russia was trying “to re-establish the ‘empire of evil’”.
Latvia’s prime minister, Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš, said energy sanctions were a “serious option” the EU should look at, starting with oil and coal.
“Energy sanctions immediately are a way to stop money flowing into Putin’s coffers,” he said. “Every day that we delay sanctioning Russia’s economy, Russia maintains the ability to feed its military machine.”
Read more:
Alexander Lukashenko, the authoritarian leader of Belarus, has warned that a Polish proposal to deploy a western peacekeeping force in Ukraine could trigger “world war three”.
Lukashenko, who has allowed Russia to use Belarus’ territory to send troops into Ukraine, said on Thursday that should Poland’s suggestion be taken up “it will mean World War three”.
“The situation is very serious and very tense,” Lukashenko said, according to an Associated Press report.
Last week the leader of Poland’s ruling party said an international peacekeeping mission should be sent to Ukraine and be given the means to defend itself. Several western countries have said they will not deploy their troops to Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin warned at the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that any foreign interference with Moscow’s military action would trigger an immediate Russian response that will lead to “the consequences you have never seen in your history”.
Asked about Poland’s proposal on Wednesday Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “It would be a very reckless and extremely dangerous decision.”
Peskov said that any possible contact between Russian and Nato forces “could have clear consequences that would be hard to repair”.
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Emmanuel Macron said France is “stepping up” its efforts to prevent further escalation of the war in Ukraine, as the French president again ruled out committing troops to the country.
“We have decided to step up the work to prevent escalation and organize ourselves in case it happens,” Macron said, according to CNN reporting.
“We are acting on the need to continue adapting our posture to the new strategic circumstances caused by the war in Ukraine and its consequences.”
Macron said France will “continue to stand by the side of the Ukrainian people with military, economic and humanitarian support”, and hailed “unprecedented sanctions”.
“Russia has taken a historic responsibility by starting this war,” Macron said.
“Our strategy is to do everything to stop any escalation and stop as quickly as possible this conflict through our support to Ukraine, our sanctions and the discussions that continue between a few of us and President Putin to find the ways and means to a negotiated solution.”
Ukraine says Russia has taken 400,000 civilians hostage
Ukraine has accused Moscow of forcibly taking hundreds of thousands of civilians from shattered Ukrainian cities to Russia, where some may be used as “hostages” to pressure Kyiv to give up, Associated Press reports:
Lyudmyla Denisova, Ukraine’s ombudsperson, said 402,000 people, including 84,000 children, have been taken against their will.
The Kremlin gave nearly identical numbers for those who have been relocated, but it said they wanted to go to Russia. Ukraine’s rebel-controlled eastern regions are predominantly Russian-speaking, and many people there have supported close ties to Moscow.
Kyiv and Moscow gave conflicting accounts about the people being relocated to Russia and whether they were being moved willingly or were being coerced or lied to.
Russian Col Gen Mikhail Mizintsev on Thursday said that the roughly 400,000 people evacuated to Russia since the start of the military action were from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Moscow separatists have been fighting for control for nearly eight years.
Russian authorities said they are providing accommodations and dispensing payments to the evacuees.
But Donetsk Region Gov Pavlo Kyrylenko said that “people are being forcibly moved into the territory of the aggressor state”. Denisova said those removed by Russian troops included a 92-year-old woman in Mariupol who was forced to go to Taganrog in southern Russia.
Ukrainian officials said that the Russians are taking people’s passports and moving them to “filtration camps” in Ukraine’s separatist-controlled east before sending them to various distant, economically depressed areas in Russia.
Among those taken, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry charged, were 6,000 residents of Mariupol, the devastated port city in the country’s east. Moscow’s troops are confiscating identity documents from an additional 15,000 people in a section of Mariupol under Russian control, the ministry said.
Some could be sent as far as the Pacific island of Sakhalin, Ukrainian intelligence said, and are being offered jobs on condition they don’t leave for two years. The ministry said the Russians intend to “use them as hostages and put more political pressure on Ukraine”.
The German chancellor Olaf Scholz has rebuffed Vladimir Putin’s demand that “unfriendly countries” pay for Russian gas in rubles.
In a press conference Scholz said most gas deals with Russia had stipulations that money be paid in dollars or Euros.
On Wednesday Putin said he had “decided to implement a series of measures to switch payments [...] for our natural gas supplies to so-called unfriendly countries into Russian rubles”.
Scholz suggested this was unlikely to happen.
“We’ve looked at this to try to get an overview. What we have learned so far is that there are fixed contracts everywhere, which include the currency in which payments are made,” Scholz told reporters, according to Politico.
“And most of the time it says euro or dollar ... and that’s what counts then.”
Putin’s attempts to be paid in rubles had been seen as an attempt to prop up Russia’s floundering economy, which has been hit by multiple sanctions.
Joe Biden said he supports removing Russia from the G20 organization of major economies, following the invasion of Ukraine.
The topic was raised during his meetings with world leaders in Brussels on Thursday, Reuters reported.
“My answer is yes, depends on the G20,” Biden said, when asked in a press conference if Russia should be removed from the group.
Biden said if the G20 could not agree on removing Russia, then Ukraine should be allowed to attend the meetings.
The president said the key thing was for Nato countries to remain allied against Vladimir Putin.
“The single most important thing is for us to stay unified and the world to continue to focus on what a brute this guy is and all the innocent people’s lives that will be lost and ruined and what’s going on,” Biden said.
Half of Ukraine’s children displaced by Russia’s war, UN says
One month of war in Ukraine has led to the displacement of more than half of the country’s child population, the United Nations children’s agency said.
Unicef said 4.3 million of an estimated 7.5 million children in Ukraine have now fled their homes, about 1.8 million of them having fled the country and 2.5 milion being internally displaced within Ukraine.
The war has caused “one of the fastest large-scale displacements of children since world war two”, the Unicelf executive director, Catherine Russell, said.
This is a grim milestone that could have lasting consequences for generations to come.
Children’s safety, wellbeing and access to essential services are all under threat from non-stop horrific violence.
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Ocado is redesigning a new logo for its fast-track Zoom service less than a week after it was launched, after drawing comparisons to the Russian battle symbol used on tanks and other military vehicles in Ukraine, Sarah Butler writes.
The online grocer unveiled the logo, featuring a white swishy Z on a pink circular background, last Friday. But on Thursday, the company said it was having a rethink after its design quickly drew comparisons with the “zwastika”.
One campaign group flagged the logo on Twitter alongside a Ukraine flag. It tweeted: “What a time to launch a rebrand using a white ‘Z’.” Another observer said it was “not a great time for Z brands”.
Emily M Austen, the founder and chief executive of of the PR agency Emerge, told the Grocer trade journal, which first reported the logo change: “It’s not usually the longest page in a brand briefing document but ‘avoidance of invasion-based logo likeness’ is usually a given.”
Ocado said on Thursday: “In light of current circumstances we are making a small change to an icon ahead of our upcoming Zoom by Ocado rebrand.”
A spokesperson added: “Our thoughts are with the Ukrainian people and everyone impacted by Russia’s invasion of their country. The human tragedy unfolding in Ukraine, and the refugee crisis along its borders, has shocked the world.
“As an organisation, we have contributed £150,000 to the DEC Ukraine crisis appeal to help provide food, first aid, shelter, medicine, clothes and other aid to those most in need.”
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Russia and Ukraine exchange prisoners, Kyiv says
Russia and Ukraine have exchanged prisoners in the first swap of soldiers since Moscow ordered troops into Ukraine one month ago, Ukraine’s vice-prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, said.
Reuters reports that in a statement posted on Facebook, Vereshchuk said:
Following an order from President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the first fully fledged exchange of prisoners of war has taken place.
In exchange for 10 captured occupiers, we rescued 10 of our servicemen.
Eleven Russian civilian seamen rescued near the Black Sea city of Odesa were also exchanged for 19 Ukrainian civilian ship crew members held by Moscow, Vereshchuk added.
Earlier this week, Russia’s foreign ministry said Moscow had completed two prisoner swaps. Russia’s human rights ombudsman, Tatiana Moskalkov, said nine Russian prisoners were exchanged for the mayor of the south-eastern city of Melitopol.
Vereshchuk yesterday confirmed the Melitopol swap but denied any others had taken place.
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Latest developments
- Ukrainian forces have been bolstered by the dramatic destruction of a major Russian landing ship as it brought in supplies to its troops. Dramatic pictures showed billowing fire and black smoke as the Orsk, docked in Berdyansk on the Azov Sea, was hit by Ukrainian ballistic missiles.
- The Ukrainian defence ministry said its troops had pushed back Russian forces from some areas around the capital, Kyiv, Reuters reports. Russian troops did not have enough resources to push ahead with their offensive in Ukraine, Oleksander Motuzyanyk, Ukraine’s defence ministry spokesperson said, but added that Russian troops have not given up hope of surrounding and seizing Kyiv.
- Ukraine’s deputy prime minister said there were 40 buses waiting to take civilians out of Mariupol, but that Russian forces were not letting them through. There were meant to be seven humanitarian corridors open today – although Mariupol was not included among them.
- The chief prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC), Karim Khan, asked a coalition of countries to back his war crimes investigation in Ukraine. “Things can get worse” if the international community fails to act now, Khan warned.
- The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, appealed to Nato allies to increase military support for his country against Russian forces. Speaking to leaders via video link, Zelenskiy thanked countries for the defensive equipment provided to Ukraine but appealed for offensive weapons. The Ukrainian leader also accused Russia of deploying phosphorus weapons.
- Nato leaders have agreed to strengthen their defences in the east in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. About 40,000 troops have been placed on its eastern flank along with significant air and naval assets, and four new battlegroups will be sent to Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania.
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The US and its allies announced new sanctions on more than 400 Russian elites and institutions. Among those sanctioned were Russia’s lower house of parliament, the Duma, and 328 of its members. The US treasury department also issued guidance, warning that US authorities may impose sanctions on gold-related transactions involving Russia.
- Biden said China understands the economic consequences that would ensue if it provides help to Russia in its war with Ukraine. Speaking to reporters in Brussels, the US president said the Nato alliance has never been more united than it is today.
- G7 leaders said they are resolved to impose severe consequences on Russia and stand ready to apply additional measures “as required”. In a joint statement, they condemned Vladimir Putin’s “war of choice” and his “unjustifiable, unprovoked and illegal” aggression in Ukraine.
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The Biden administration and the European Union are expected to announce a major initiative to direct shipments of liquefied natural gas to Europe during the US president’s visit to Brussels this week, the Washington Post reported, citing three US officials familiar with the plan.
- Russia has been hit with 65 new sanctions by the UK, in a move the Foreign Office said was designed to target “key strategic industries and individuals”. Among those hit were six banks and a defence company that produces drones, as well as the Wagner Group, which Britain said had reportedly been tasked with assassinating the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
- The UK and allies will “ramp up” lethal aid to Ukraine, Boris Johnson said following a meeting of G7 leaders. The UK will send an additional 6,000 missiles and provide £25m in funding for Ukraine’s armed forces, he said, with kit provided “in the quantity and with the quality” needed by Ukraine to defend itself against “its bullying neighbour”.
- Asked about the Kremlin’s claim that he was the “most active participant in the race to be anti-Russian”, Boris Johnson said he was not “remotely anti-Russian”. “I think I’m probably the only prime minister in UK history to be called Boris,” he told reporters in Brussels.
- The United Nations general assembly voted overwhelmingly to call on Russia to stop its war on Ukraine immediately and to provide more aid access and civilian protection in Ukraine. The resolution received 140 votes in favour and five votes against - Russia, Syria, North Korea, Eritrea and Belarus - while 38 countries abstained.
- Pope Francis levelled strong criticism against countries for increasing defence spending following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, describing it as “madness”. He said the conflict in Ukraine was a product of “the old logic of power that still dominates so-called geopolitics” and the real answer was not more weapons and more sanctions.
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Here’s more from the UK’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, when he was speaking to reporters earlier this afternoon following an emergency Nato summit in Brussels.
Asked about the Kremlin’s claim that he was the “most active participant in the race to be anti-Russian”, Johnson replied that he was not “remotely anti-Russian”.
Absolutely not, least of all me.
I think I’m probably the only prime minister in UK history to be called Boris, I think I have that distinction, and I’m not remotely anti-Russian.
He added:
But I think what we all agree is that what Vladimir Putin is doing, the way he’s leading Russia at the moment, is utterly catastrophic, that his invasion of Ukraine is inhuman and barbaric.
And the conduct of that invasion is now moving into the type of behaviour that, as I said before, we haven’t seen in the continent of Europe for 80 years, and it’s horrific.
So you can be sympathetic towards ordinary Russians, who are being so badly led, but you can be deeply hostile to the decisions of Vladimir Putin.
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China 'understands' consequences of aiding Russia, Biden says
Asked about the threat of chemical weapons, Biden says the US would respond if the Russian leader used them but the “nature of the response would depend on the nature of the use”.
In response to a question about his conversation with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, last Friday, Biden says:
I made it clear to him [Xi]. I made no threats, but I made it clear to him to make sure he understood the consequences of him helping Russia.
Biden says he “pointed out the number of American and foreign corporations that left Russia as a consequence of their barbaric behaviour”.
“I indicated that he (Xi) would be putting himself in significant jeopardy,” Biden says.
I think that China understands that its economic futures are much more closely tied to the west than it is to Russia.
So I’m hopeful that he does not get engaged.
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The Nato alliance has never been more united than it is today, Biden says.
Putin is getting exactly the opposite of what he intended to have as a consequence of going into Ukraine.
The US president, Joe Biden, is now speaking in a news conference following a meeting of G7 leaders in Brussels.
The US has committed to providing over $2bn (£1.52bn) in military equipment to Ukraine and more than $1bn in humanitarian assistance to millions of Ukrainians affected by the war, Biden says.
Nato and European allies are united in supporting Ukraine with military and humanitarian assistance, he said, as well as in imposing “the most significant economic sanction regime ever” to “cripple” Vladimir Putin’s economy.
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There is not a western democracy that is currently contemplating putting boots on the ground, Boris Johnson continues.
He said western leaders felt “agony” in their inability to do more to help Ukraine “given the constraints we face”.
We’ve got to be clear about that. Nor is there a country that is willing to enforce a no-fly zone.
That is not something any country here is contemplating.
What we are doing is steadily racheting up the movement of lethal but defensive weaponry to Ukraine.
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UK will 'ramp up lethal aid' to Ukraine, Johnson says
Boris Johnson said the UK and allies would “ramp up lethal aid to Ukraine”, in a news conference in Brussels.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting of G7 leaders, he said he had rarely seen nations more united in recent years than they are now.
Vladimir Putin’s “barbaric” invasion of Ukraine has galvanised the international community into collective action, Johnson said.
We will not stand by while Putin vents his fury on Ukraine.
Johnson said kit would be provided “in the quantity and with the quality” needed by Ukraine to defend itself against “its bullying neighbour”.
This is just the beginning.
We must support a free and democratic Ukraine in the long term. This is a fellow European democracy, fighting a war of national defence.
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The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, is speaking to reporters after a meeting of G7 leaders in Brussels.
The UK will send an additional 6,000 missiles and provide £25m in funding for Ukraine’s armed forces, he says.
Johnson says:
We’re bolstering our support for the Nato countries on the frontline by sending a new deployment of UK troops to Bulgaria, on top of doubling our troops both in Poland and in Estonia.
Ukraine is not alone, the PM says.
We stand with the people. As President Zelenskiy has said himself, the people of Ukraine will prevail. Putin must fail, and he will fail.
G7 ready to apply 'additional sanctions as required' against Russia
G7 leaders said they are resolved to impose severe consequences on Russia and stand ready to apply additional measures “as required”.
In a joint statement, they condemned Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s “war of choice” and his “unjustifiable, unprovoked and illegal” aggression in Ukraine.
Russia must immediately and “without delay” comply with the order of the International Court of Justice to suspend the military operations, they said.
G7 leaders called on Belarus to “avoid further escalation and to refrain from using their military forces against Ukraine”, whilst urging “all countries not to give military or other assistance to Russia”.
We will spare no efforts to hold President Putin and the architects and supporters of this aggression, including the Lukashenko regime in Belarus, accountable for their actions.
They also warned against any threat of the use of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, adding:
We categorically denounce Russia’s malicious and completely unfounded disinformation campaign against Ukraine, a state in full compliance with international non-proliferation agreements.
They added:
The people of Russia must know that we hold no grievances against them.
It is President Putin, his government and supporters, including the Lukashenko regime in Belarus, who are imposing this war and its consequences on Russians and it is their decision that besmirches the history of the Russian people.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said western powers were ready to ramp up sanctions against Russia if necessary.
Speaking at a news conference after a Nato and G7 leaders summit, Macron said:
These sanctions have an impact and are tangible and we must continue them for their dissuasive effect.
He also warned that the world was entering into an “unprecedented” food crisis, adding that some countries, including some of those in the Middle East and north Africa, are particularly dependent on Ukrainian and Russian exports.
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The United Nations general assembly has voted overwhelmingly to call on Russia to stop its war on Ukraine immediately and to provide more aid access and civilian protection in Ukraine.
The resolution, drafted by Ukraine and allies, received 140 votes in favour and five votes against - Russia, Syria, North Korean, Eritrea and Belarus - while 38 countries abstained.
It follows a resolution on 2 March condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, backed by 141 countries.
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Ukraine says Russian forces have been pushed back in some areas around Kyiv
The Ukrainian defence ministry said its troops had pushed back Russian forces from some areas around the capital, Kyiv, Reuters reports.
Oleksander Motuzyanyk, Ukraine’s defence ministry spokesperson, spoke at a televised briefing:
In some sectors the enemy was driven back by more than 70km (44 miles), in some sectors the enemy is at a distance of 35km.
Russian troops did not have enough resources to push ahead with their offensive in Ukraine, leading to a slowdown in hostilities, Motuzyanyk added.
The frontline is practically frozen. The enemy in very many areas does not have the resources to continue the offensive.
However, Russia had not given up hope of surrounding and seizing Kyiv, Motuzyanyk said.
Without citing evidence, he said the Kremlin had been sending additional military equipment to Belarus to reinforce its troops attacking the Ukrainian capital.
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Rocketing global food prices as a result of the war in Ukraine could trigger riots from those going hungry in poor countries, the head of the World Trade Organization has said, Larry Elliott reports.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala warned food-producing countries against hoarding supplies and said it was vital to avoid a repeat of the Covid pandemic, when rich countries were able to secure for themselves the bulk of vaccines.
In an interview with the Guardian, the WTO director general expressed concern about the knock-on effects of Russia’s invasion – stressing the dependence of many African countries on food supplies from the Black Sea region.
“I think we should be very worried. The impact on food prices and hunger this year and next could be substantial. Food and energy are the two biggest items in the consumption baskets of poor people all over the world,” Okonjo-Iweala said.
It is poor countries and poor people within poor countries that will suffer the most.
Okonjo-Iweala, a former Nigerian finance minister, said 35 African countries were dependent on food imported from the Black Sea region, adding that Russia and Ukraine were responsible for 24% of global supplies of wheat.
Pope 'embarrassed' by west's increased military spending
Pope Francis has levelled strong criticism against countries for increasing defence spending following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, describing it as “madness”, Reuters reports.
Speaking to a coalition of women’s groups in Rome today, the pope said the conflict in Ukraine was a product of “the old logic of power that still dominates so-called geopolitics”.
It is now clear that good politics cannot come from the culture of power understood as domination and oppression, but only from a culture of care, care for the person and their dignity, and care for our common home.
The real answer was not more weapons, more sanctions and more political-military alliances, he said.
What was needed was “a different way of governing the globalised world, not by showing your teeth, as is done now, but a different way to frame international relations”, he argued.
I was embarrassed when I read that a group of states have committed to spending 2% … of GDP in acquiring weapons as a response to what is happening now. Madness.
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Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg has confirmed earlier reports that he will extend his term as head of the alliance by another year due to the war in Ukraine.
Honoured by the decision of #NATO Heads of State and Government to extend my term as Secretary General until 30 September 2023. As we face the biggest security crisis in a generation, we stand united to keep our Alliance strong and our people safe. https://t.co/06YkRkmX8J
— Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) March 24, 2022
China has denied it had prior knowledge of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in a statement by the Chinese defence ministry.
Claims that China ignored warnings by the United States that Russia would attack Ukraine were completely false and made up to “shirk responsibility and smear China”, it said.
Chinese officials have previously denied reports that Beijing asked Moscow to delay its invasion of Ukraine until after the Winter Olympics.
Ukraine’s navy claims to have destroyed a large Russian landing ship near the city of Berdyansk.
A short statement on Facebook was accompanied by photos and videos of fire and thick plumes of smoke in the port. Other videos circulating on social media purport to show the ship’s destruction.
Canada has barred its soldiers from joining Ukraine’s “international brigade” of foreign fighters, amid growing concern that captured troops could be used as a Russian propaganda tool.
Speaking to Canadian parliament’s defence committee on Wednesday, Lt Gen Frances Allen, the vice-chief of the defence staff, said top brass had issued an order preventing full-time service members and part-time reservists from travelling to join Ukraine’s newly formed foreign legion.
The rule, which also applies to soldiers on leave, follows a call last month from the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, for volunteers to defend his country from Russia’s invasion.
Thousands are believed to have answered, including enough Canadians who were given their own battalion – the Canadian Ukrainian Brigade. While some veterans have used their skills for humanitarian work, others have picked up arms.
The only Canadian soldiers permitted to enter Ukraine are those with formal approval from Wayne Eyre, the chief of defence staff, said Allen. Canada had previously sent 250 military trainers to Ukraine, but those troops were moved to Poland before Russia invaded.
Read more of Leyland Cecco’s report from Toronto here: Canada bars its soldiers from joining Ukraine’s foreign legion
Two short snaps from Reuters here, which we will hopefully have more details on shortly. First off, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister has said that there are forty buses waiting to take civilians out of Mariupol, but that Russian forces are not letting them through. There were meant to be seven humanitarian corridors open today – although Mariupol was not included among them.
Secondly, Mark Rutte has just dampened expectations that the European Union will decide or announce new sanctions against Russia at today’s summit.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has appealed to Nato leaders to increase military support for his country in a pre-recorded video address to the alliance’s summit. He also suggested Russia would next target Nato members in eastern Europe including Poland. Here is a clip from the address.
Russia blocks Google News after ad ban
Russia has blocked Google News, accusing it of promoting “inauthentic information” about the invasion of Ukraine. The ban came just hours after Google announced it would not allow users worldwide to monetise content that “exploits, dismisses, or condones” the war.
Google’s new policy affects any website, app or YouTube channel that earns revenue from advertising managed by the search engine. It has long had a policy that bars adverts from appearing next to any content that “incites violence” and says the new policy clarifies and expands those rules.
“We can confirm that we’re taking additional steps to clarify, and in some instances expand, our monetisation guidelines as they relate to the war in Ukraine,” a Google spokesperson said.
The company had already taken action against Russian state-funded media in late February, and paused all adverts for Russian users earlier this month. The latest ban could cut off funding to western media outlets supportive of Russia, even if ithey have no clear financial tie to the state itself.
Within hours of Google’s new policy, the Russian internet regulator, Roskomnadzor, announced its own ban, blocking Google News in its entirety from internet users. “Based on a request from the Russian prosecutor general’s office, Roskomnadzor has restricted access to the internet service news.google in the country,” the body said in a statement
Read more of Alex Hern’s report here: Russia blocks Google News for its ‘inauthentic information’ on Ukraine
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Former US secretary of labor Robert Reich writes for us today that he believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions in Ukraine are having a huge effect in. Washington: It’s the beginning of a new era – and Putin is responsible
With bipartisan support, Ukraine is receiving unprecedented military and humanitarian aid to fight Putin’s war, including anti-aircraft systems that many experts say can defend against bombs and missiles from Russia’s land-based weaponry.
I came to Washington in 1974, in the Ford administration, and then worked in the Carter administration. The cold war was raging during those years, serving as a kind of silent backdrop for everything else. Democrats and Republicans had different views on a host of issues, but we worked together because it was assumed that we had to. We faced a common threat.
Looking back, I can’t help wonder if the cold war had held America together – gave us common purpose, reminded us of our interdependence. With its end, perhaps we had nowhere to turn except on each other. Putin has brought a fractured Nato together. Maybe he’s bringing America back together too. It’s the thinnest of silver linings to the human disaster he’s creating, but perhaps he’ll have the same effect on the US as the old Soviet Union did on America’s sense of who we are.
Read more here: Robert Reich – It’s the beginning of a new era in Washington – and Putin is responsible
US Department of State announces sanctions on every member of Russian State Duma
The US Department of State has issued a statement about new sanctions being applied to Russian entities. They state:
President Putin’s war continues to inflict horror and widespread suffering on the people of Ukraine. At the same time, in Russia, the State Duma continues to use its legislative power to target domestic dissenters and political opponents, disrupt the free flow of information, and restrict the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the citizens of Russia.
As a result, they say, they are designating all 328 members of the Russian State Duma, stating that:
These members supported the Kremlin’s violations of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, including through treaties recognizing the self-proclaimed independence of Russian-proxy controlled areas of eastern Ukraine, the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR).
The statement goes on to say:
With our partners and allies, the United States aims to strike the heart of Russia’s ability to engage in warfare and carry out aggression against other countries, including Ukraine. We will continue to impose costs until Putin ends this unprovoked war against Ukraine. We call on those closest to Putin to cease and publicly condemn this cold-blooded war, which has caused the unconscionable death of hundreds of civilians, including children, and the largest humanitarian catastrophe in Europe since the Second World War.
ICC chief prosecutor: 'things can get worse' in Ukraine if international community does not stand firm
Away from Brussels for a moment, in The Hague the chief prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC) has asked a coalition of countries to back his war crimes investigation in Ukraine, saying “things can get worse” if the international community fails to act now.
Karim Khan was speaking to a meeting including prosecutors and justice ministers from dozens of countries who have offered the Hague court financial, military and legal assistance.
Khan opened a formal inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine on 28 February.
Reuters reports he called on nations to come together to hold accountable those responsible for atrocities, saying: “If we seize this moment collectively, if we can fortify the rule of law … it is to the benefit not only of this office, or to the ICC, but to the whole international legal order.
“If we do not collectively step up … things can get worse and history will not judge us well and victims around the world will not judge us well.”
Earlier today, the British prime minister, Boris Johnson, told listeners to LBC Radio in the UK that “there’s no question that what they [the Russians] are doing are war crimes. And we must make sure we steadily collate all the evidence about the use of thermobaric weapons, the deliberate targeting of civilians – everything we need to eventually bring prosecutions.”
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US President Joe Biden said the Nato alliance has agreed to establish four new battle groups in Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary.
In a statement following the Nato summit of leaders, Biden said the establishment of new battle groups is “a strong signal that we will collectively defend and protect every inch of Nato territory”.
Between now and the Nato summit in June, we will develop plans for additional forces and capabilities to strengthen Nato’s defences.
Biden said the US will continue to support President Zelenskiy and his government with “significant, and increasing, amounts of security assistance to fight Russian aggression and uphold their right to self-defence”.
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Boris Johnson told world leaders that there must be a significant increase in lethal aid to Ukraine from across the alliance, saying “we have the means and they have the need”, Jessica Elgot reports.
In a private meeting of Nato leaders, Johnson said the west could not count on any possible retreat by Russia – and said history would judge them if they did not do enough to help.
A No 10 source said Johnson told the assembled leaders they all wanted Putin to “come to his senses and put his tanks in reverse” but said it would not happen. “He’s going to grind on … he only has forward gears.”
Johnson said the resistance of Ukraine had “fundamentally changed the geopolitics of Europe” and that it required a reassessment of the support the west was offering.
“People will ask – did we do enough?” he told them, saying leaders could not “deny them in their moment of agony”.
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Nato leaders agree to strengthen eastern defences
Nato leaders have agreed to strengthen their defences in the east in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In a joint statement following a meeting in Brussels, they said:
In response to Russia’s actions, we have activated Nato’s defence plans, deployed elements of the Nato Response Force, and placed 40,000 troops on our eastern flank, along with significant air and naval assets, under direct Nato command supported by allies’ national deployments.
Nato’s actions remain “preventive, proportionate, and non-escalatory” in preparation for “a more dangerous strategic reality”.
We will also significantly strengthen our longer term deterrence and defence posture, and will further develop the full range of ready forces and capabilities necessary to maintain credible deterrence and defence.
These steps will be supported by enhanced exercises with an increased focus on collective defence and interoperability.
The alliance will also enhance its readiness for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats, the statement said, with further decisions to be discussed in Madrid.
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US announces new sanctions against more than 300 Russian elites and defence companies
The US has announced fresh Russia-related sanctions against dozens of defence companies, 328 members of the Duma legislative body and the chief executive of Sberbank, Russia’s largest financial institution.
In a statement, the US treasury department said:
Today, in its latest action to impose severe costs on the Russian Federation for its illegal, unwarranted, and baseless war against Ukraine, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating key enablers of the invasion.
It said sanctions on companies that produce weapons used in Russia’s assault against Ukraine will have a “deep and long-lasting effect on Russia’s defence-industrial base and its supply chain”.
Janet Yellen, secretary of the treasury, said:
The United States, with our partners and allies, is striking at the heart of Russia’s ability to finance and carry out its warfare and atrocities against Ukraine.
The Russian state Duma continues to support Putin’s invasion, stifle the free flow of information, and infringe on the basic rights of the citizens of Russia. We call on those closest to Putin to cease and condemn this cold-blooded war.
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Here’s more on Nato leaders calling on China to abstain from supporting Russia’s war effort.
In a joint statement following the Nato summit:
We call on all states, including the People’s Republic of China (PRC), to uphold the international order including the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity, as enshrined in the UN Charter, to abstain from supporting Russia’s war effort in any way, and to refrain from any action that helps Russia circumvent sanctions.
We are concerned by recent public comments by PRC officials and call on China to cease amplifying the Kremlin’s false narratives, in particular on the war and on Nato, and to promote a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
Nato to provide further military supplies to Ukraine
Nato leaders have agreed to provide further support by equipping Ukraine with significant military supplies, including anti-tank and air defence systems and drones, Stoltenberg says.
However, he reiterated that Nato allies will not deploy troops on the ground in Ukraine.
Because the only way to do that is to be prepared to engage in full conflict with Russian troops.
Updated
Nato urges China to refrain from supporting Russia’s war effort
The Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said China should use its “significant influence” on Russia.
Allied leaders called on China to refrain from supporting Russia’s war effort.
China must not provide economic or military support for the Russian invasion.
Instead, Beijing should use its significant influence on Russia and promote an immediate peaceful resolution.
Updated
The Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, is speaking to reporters after a meeting of Nato leaders, where he praised the people of Ukraine for their “courage and determination” in “fighting for freedom and for their future”.
The Nato alliance will continue to impose “unprecedented costs” on Russia and will reinforce allied deterrence, he said.
Defence leaders have approved four new battle groups in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, Stoltenberg said, which are in addition to four other battle groups in the Baltic countries and Poland.
Updated
A huge Ukrainian flag has been draped down the wall of the city hall of the Russian-occupied city of Kherson, according to reports.
The Ukrainian MP Roman Hryshchuk shared an image of workers on a crane mounting the flag:
But that's all. Temporarily occupied cities do not surrender, people do not accept Russian occupation, protest, wage a guerrilla war. In occupied Kherson, we see the Ukrainian flag on the city administration building. Russian can't establish their government in these cities. pic.twitter.com/EeHa438tAv
— Roman Hryshchuk 🇺🇦 (@grishchukroma) March 24, 2022
Updated
Thousands of residents from the besieged city of Mariupol have been “forcibly deported” to Russia, according to Ukraine’s foreign ministry.
Oleg Nikolenko, a spokesperson for the ministry, accused Russian of moving “to the next level of terror”.
By forcibly deporting Mariupol citizens to its territory, Russia moves to the next level of terror. 6k Ukrainians already now in Russian camps where they may be used as hostages. Humanitarian convoys fleeing to non-occupied parts of 🇺🇦 still being shelled. This barbarity must end
— Oleg Nikolenko (@OlegNikolenko_) March 24, 2022
Updated
The Biden administration and European Union are expected to announce a major initiative to direct shipments of liquefied natural gas to Europe during the US president’s visit to Brussels this week, the Washington Post reported, citing three US officials familiar with the plan.
The announcement would come as European officials have asked the US to do more to help them cut their dependence on Russian energy sources.
President Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said an agreement would be announced as soon as Friday. According to one US official, it is intended to ensure supplies of American natural gas and hydrogen for Europe.
Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One on Wednesday:
A major priority for both the president and his European allies is to reduce the dependence of Europe on Russian gas, full stop, and the practical road map for how to do that – what steps have to be taken, what the United States can contribute, what Europe has to do itself.
Speaking to EU lawmakers in Brussels on Wednesday, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said all EU members “can contribute in reducing our dependency on Russian gas”.
Energy policy is also security policy.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) March 23, 2022
With REPowerEU we have set the way forward.
Tomorrow I will discuss with @POTUS how to prioritize LNG deliveries from 🇺🇸 to 🇪🇺 in the coming months.
We are aiming to have a commitment for additional supplies for the next two winters. pic.twitter.com/xK8DnWHPxT
Updated
Here’s more from President Zelenskiy’s address to Nato leaders today. Speaking via video link, the Ukrainian leader compared Russia’s advantage in the sky to the use of weapons of mass destruction.
Ukraine did not have powerful anti-missile weapons, and had a much smaller aircraft fleet than Russia, he said.
Therefore, their advantage in the sky is like the use of weapons of mass destruction. And you see the consequences today – how many people were killed, how many peaceful cities were destroyed.
Russia had been deploying “its entire arsenal” without restrictions in Ukraine, Zelenskiy said.
Destroys all living things. Any objects – from houses to churches, from food warehouses to universities, from bridges to hospitals.
He urged Nato countries to provide Ukraine with tanks to “unblock our cities that are now dying: Mariupol, Berdyansk, Melitopol, others”.
You have at least 20,000 tanks! Ukraine asked for a percent, 1% of all your tanks to be given or sold to us! But we do not have a clear answer yet.
The worst thing during the war is not having clear answers to requests for help.
Updated
The United States plans to accept up to 100,000 Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion, two sources familiar with the forthcoming announcement told Reuters.
It was not immediately clear how the effort would work, including travel and immigration logistics.
Not all of the accepted Ukrainians would come through the US refugee programme, one Biden administration official said. Others would come on family-based visas or another process known as humanitarian parole.
Updated
The UK prime minister Boris Johnson is “the most active” anti-Russian leader, the Kremlin has said, the Russian state-owned news agency Ria reports.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was quoted by the Russian news agency as saying:
As for Mr Johnson, we see him as the most active participant in the race to be anti-Russian.
It will lead to a foreign policy dead end.
Speaking before Nato and G7 summits in Brussels today, Johnson said the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, had already “crossed a red line”.
Allies must send new weapons to Ukraine, expand curbs on international payments and target Russia’s gold reserves, the PM said.
Updated
Zelenskiy calls for Nato military aid 'without restrictions'
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has been addressing the Nato summit where he appealed to leaders to increase military support for his country against Russian forces.
Speaking to leaders via video link today, Zelenskiy said:
To save people and our cities, Ukraine needs military assistance without restrictions.
In the same way that Russia is using its full arsenal without restrictions against us.
He thanked Nato members for the defensive equipment provided to Ukraine so far, but appealed for offensive weapons.
You can give us 1% of all your planes. One per cent of your tanks. One per cent!
The Ukrainian leader also accused Russia of deploying phosphorus weapons, without providing evidence or details.
This morning, by the way, phosphorus bombs were used. Russian phosphorus bombs. Adults were killed again and children were killed again.
The alliance can once more prevent the death of Ukrainians from Russian strikes, from Russian occupation, by giving us all the weapons we need.
Updated
Nato has yet to show it can save people, Zelenskiy says
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has been addressing the Nato summit in a pre-recorded video address, where he appealed to leaders to increase military support for his country against Russian forces.
Zelenskiy warned Russia would next target alliance members in eastern Europe including Poland, Reuters reports.
I am sure you understand that Russia has no intention of stopping in Ukraine.
It wants to go further. Against eastern members of Nato. The Baltic states. Poland for sure.
The Ukrainian leader said he was grateful for the support Ukraine had received from individual member states.
But Nato has yet to show what the alliance can do to save people.
It feels like we’re in the grey zone between the west and Russia, but we’re protecting all our and your shared values.
The alliance can still prevent the deaths of Ukrainians from Russian strikes, from Russian occupation by giving us all the weapons we need.
Updated
Around 5.75bn Swiss francs (£4.68bn) worth of Russian assets in Switzerland, the world’s biggest centre for offshore wealth, have been frozen as a result of sanctions, a Swiss government official said.
That figure is likely to rise further, Erwin Hollinger, a senior official at the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) agency overseeing sanctions, told a news conference today, as cited by Reuters:
Today, for the first time, I can give you an indication of the amount of frozen funds.
To date, SECO has been notified of funds and assets totalling around 5.750 billion Swiss francs.
Until now, the SECO had declined to provide an estimate of the extent of assets frozen or potentially subject to sanctions.
Bollinger added:
The cited number of far over 5 billion francs relates to a snapshot in time.
With further reports coming in and potential additions to EU sanctions lists, which Switzerland would also assume, it is likely this number will rise further.
Switzerland’s secretive banks hold up to $213bn (£161.42bn) of Russian wealth, the country’s financial industry association has estimated.
Hello, it’s Léonie Chao-Fong with you as we unpack all the latest developments on the war in Ukraine. Feel free to drop me a message if you have anything to flag, you can reach me on Twitter or via email.
Gruelling scenes in the Nato press room as the assembled hacks analyse footage of world leaders at the Nato summit, including watching Macron sneak his way in between Biden and a permanently
— Dan Sabbagh (@dansabbagh) March 24, 2022
dishevelled Johnson...
Today so far …
- Western nations will warn the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, on Thursday that his country will pay “ruinous” costs for invading Ukraine during an unprecedented one-day trio of Nato, G7 and EU summits that will be attended by the US president, Joe Biden, in Brussels.
- Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he hoped for “meaningful steps” at the round of summits, noting they would reveal “who is a friend, who is a partner, and who betrayed us for money”.
- Zelenskiy has addressed the Swedish parliament, and told them that Ukraine deserves to be a full member of the European Union.
- Seven humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians from Ukrainian towns and cities have been agreed for Thursday, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk has said.
- Ukraine appears to have struck against the large Russian landing ship Orsk which was unloading supplies at the port of Berdyansk, about 75km away from Mariupol. Video footage appears to show a large fire in the port.
- Russian forces have been accused of taking hostage the people of the besieged Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, as local officials imposed drinking water rationing on trapped civilians.
- The UK government has announced that it is applying 65 new sanctions against Russia “targeting strategic industries, banks and business elites” including the Wagner Group – sometimes described as Vladimir Putin’s private army – and Polina Kovaleva, the Russian foreign minister’s stepdaughter.
- UK prime minister Boris Johnson has said Putin has already “crossed a red line” that merits ramping up the west’s response, and that the West could target Russia’s gold reserves.
- Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has said that paying for Russian oil and gas in roubles, as Putin is demanding, would be ‘helping Russians kill Ukrainians’.
- Norwegian media is reporting that Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is set to extend his term as head of the alliance by another year due to the war in Ukraine.
- Russia has confirmed that at one point sanctioned Roman Abramovich did play a part in peace talks, but that now “the negotiations are between the two teams”.
- Russia’s ambassador to Warsaw has said that Poland has blocked the embassy’s bank accounts for allegedly financing “terrorist activity”. Bulgaria is recalling its ambassador from Russia “for consultations”.
- Our Today in Focus podcast today features the stories of people who have escaped from the besieged port city of Mariupol.
I am now handing over to Léonie Chao-Fong to take you through the next few hours of developments.
Bulgaria’s prime minister Kiril Petkov has announced that the country is recalling its ambassador to Russia for consultations, according to a snap report from Reuters.
Zelenskiy: Ukraine 'deserves to be fully-fledged member of EU'
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has addressed the Swedish parliament this morning, and told them that Ukraine deserves to be a full member of the European Union.
He told lawmakers via videolink “We are not fighting just for the people of Ukraine, but for Europe’s security and we have shown that we deserve to be a fully-fledged member of the EU.”
One month after Russias invasion Pres #Zelensky adresses the Swedish Parliament.Grateful for #Swedens support to #Ukraine both hum and military. #Zelenskyj asks #Sweden to increase sanctions.After the war Zelenskiy hopes for support in the reconstruction of UKR. @Sverigesriksdag pic.twitter.com/FuIdBrKDd8
— Amb Veronika Wand-Danielsson (@AmbVWD) March 24, 2022
The official account of Swedish prmie minister Magdalena Andersson tweeted it has an honour to have hosted Zelenskiy, saying that Swedish assistance to Ukraine was “increasing by the day”.
Honoured to have 🇺🇦President @ZelenskyyUa speaking to the Swedish Parliament today. Powerful words from a courageous leader. 🇸🇪 assistance to Ukraine increasing by the day. We stand in full solidarity with Ukraine and against Russian aggression.
— SwedishPM (@SwedishPM) March 24, 2022
Later today Zelenskiy will also address the emergency Nato meeting in Brussels via video.
Russia: most Nato states have hysterical and inadequate understanding of Ukraine
At the regular press briefing in Moscow, the Kremlin has said that moves to expel US diplomats from Russia was a forced measure, after last month the US expelled 12 Russians from the country’s UN mission in New York over national security concerns.
The United States Embassy in Moscow on Wednesday received a list of its diplomats that were declared “persona non grata”.
Russian spokesperson Dmitry Peskov also confirmed to reporters that sanctioned Roman Abramovich played an early role in peace talks. Peskov said “He did take part at the initial stage. Now the negotiations are between the two teams, the Russians and Ukrainians.”
Questioned as to why defence minister Sergei Shoigu had not been seen in public for some time, reporters were told that he was busy with Ukraine, and now was not the time for media activity.
Peskov also said that most Nato member states suffer from a hysterical and inadequate understanding of what is going on in Ukraine.
For weeks the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol has been under constant bombardment from Russian artillery. Recently released aerial footage shows the city in ruins.
Our political correspondent Aubrey Allegretti has some more detail on those new sanctions being applied by the UK government on Russian entities today:
Among those hit were six banks and a defence company that produces drones, as well as the Wagner Group, which Britain said had reportedly been been tasked with assassinating the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
The “mayor” of Melitopol, a region in south-eastern Ukraine currently under Russian military occupation, also faced sanctions for “collaboration” with the invading forces, in the first announcement of its kind.
Other individuals who had their UK assets frozen included the billionaire oil tycoon Eugene Shvidler, who has close links to Roman Abramovich; Herman Gref, the chief executive of Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank; and Polina Kovaleva, the Russian foreign minister’s stepdaughter, who reportedly owns a £4m house in London.
We’ve just had pictures through of the Nato leaders posing for a photograph together in Brussels.
Belgium is the latest European country to commit to further funding of its armed forces, according to reports in the newspaper l’Echo.
They will spend an extra €1bn on top of a previously agreed €10bn boost.
Reuters note that Prime Minister Alexander De Croo confirmed the new investment ahead of today’s Nato summit, telling reporters “We will announce additional investment in our operational ability of our defence.”
He gave no further details, but the Belgian army is known to be looking to recruit 2,500 soldiers in 2022 to reinforce its military, currently standing at around 25,000.
The newspaper said the new Belgian investments were aimed developing a cybersecurity unit in the army, replenishing stocks of fuel and munitions, equipment and supplies and improving intelligence and communication systems.
The diplomatic showdown between Poland and Russia shows no sign of slowing down today, with Reuters reporting that Russia’s ambassador to Warsaw has said that Poland has blocked the embassy’s bank accounts for allegedly financing “terrorist activity”.
Yesterday Poland said it was expelling 45 Russian diplomats suspected of working for Russian intelligence, a claim that Russia denies.
UK government announces sanctions on 65 further Russian entities
The UK government has just issued a statement announcing that it has applying 65 new sanctions against Russia “targeting strategic industries, banks and business elites.”
They include the Wagner Group, which has been described as Vladimir Putin’s private army.
Today’s sanctions target key industries supporting Russia’s illegal invasion, including Russian Railways and defence company Kronshtadt, the main producer of Russian drones. The Wagner Group – the organisation Russian mercenaries reportedly tasked with assassinating President Zelenskiy - has also been sanctioned.
Six more banks are targeted, including Alfa Bank whose cofounders include previously sanctioned oligarchs Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven and German Khan. The world’s largest diamond producer Alrosa is also sanctioned.
Updated
If you’ve missed it, today’s episode of our podcast Today in Focus is a special edition about the siege of Mariupol.
As Isobel Koshiw tells Hannah Moore, the story of the city in the past month has been one of siege, bombardment and almost unimaginable hardship. Residents tell of having to drink water from their radiators and cook over fires in the street, as electricity, gas and water supplies have all been cut off. And with the internet and phone lines down, the city has become not only unreachable but also uncontactable, for the most part.
You can listen to it here: Today in Focus – The siege of Mariupol, as told by residents who escaped
Our Emma Graham-Harrison has just highlighted on Twitter the toll the war is taking on Ukraine’s children. Ukrainian sources claim that 128 children have died so far in the war, and Unicef have suggested that more than half of the children in the country have already been displaced from home.
More than half of Ukraine’s children have been displaced after just a month of war UNICEF says today
— Emma Graham-Harrison (@_EmmaGH) March 24, 2022
For those that stay, an uncertain future.
A school and playground damaged by shelling, one of hundreds hit in the war pic.twitter.com/VWrgJBbMlV
Unicef have warned that more than 500 unaccompanied children were identified crossing from Ukraine into Romania from 24 February to 17 March, with the true number likely to be higher. They state that separated children are more vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation.
This is not substantiated yet, but Norwegian broadcaster TV2 and daily newspaper Dagens Naeringsliv are reporting that Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is set to extend his term as head of the alliance by another year due to the war in Ukraine.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the UK is sanctioning the Wagner Group, a paramilitary organisation seen as Vladimir Putin’s private army.
PA Media report Johnson told broadcasters in Brussels: “We’ve got to step up, we’ve got to increase our support, we’ve got to tighten the economic vice around Putin, sanctioning more people today as we are, sanctioning the Wagner Group.”
After landing in Brussels where he will attend a Nato summit, Johnson said: “Vladimir Putin is plainly determined to double down on his path of violence and aggression, absolutely brutal the way he’s treating the Ukrainian people.
“We’ve got to step up, we’ve got to increase our support, we’ve got to tighten the economic vice around Putin, sanctioning more people today as we are.”
Updated
Here are some of the latest images from Ukraine and around the world which have appeared on the newswires today.
Here are my colleagues Jessica Elgot and Dan Sabbagh in Brussels with a write-up of what UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said this morning ahead of the emergency Nato meeting in Brussels:
Boris Johnson has said Vladimir Putin has already “crossed a red line” that merits ramping up the west’s response, suggesting allies must send new weapons to Ukraine, expand curbs on international payments and target Russia’s gold reserves.
Overnight, Johnson said the UK would double the number of British missiles sent to Ukraine by sending an additional 6,000, and send an extra £25m to Ukraine’s military, and officials suggested he would entreat European leaders to rapidly increase lethal aid.
Speaking before a Nato and G7 summit in Brussels on Thursday, Johnson said there were a number of options to further squeeze the Russian economy and aid Ukraine’s defences.
“We need to do more, and so we need to do more economically. Can we do more to stop him [Putin] using his gold reserves, for instance, in addition to his cash reserves?” he told LBC. “The more pressure we apply now, particularly on things like gold, I believe the more we can shorten the war … And then we need to do more to give the Ukrainians military support.”
Read more from Jessica Elgot and Dan Sabbagh here: West could target Russia’s gold reserves over Ukraine, says Boris Johnson
EU diplomat Borrell: Russia wants to 'isolate Ukraine from the sea'
The Russian government has no interest in negotiating a ceasefire in Ukraine for now as its army has not reached its military goals, European Union’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said on Thursday.
“Right now, Russia doesn’t want to sit and negotiate anything: what it wants is to occupy the ground,” Borrell said in an interview with Spanish TVE channel.
“It wants to surround the coast to the border with Moldova and isolate Ukraine from the sea. It wants to negotiate in earnest only when it has secured a position of strength.”
Reuters report that Borrell said the European Union and its allies will keep on delivering military aid to the Ukrainian army.
“It is important because everything will be decided in the next 15 days,” he said. “What will make history is the capacity of Ukrainians to resist.”
Russian energy giant Gazprom on Thursday said that it was continuing to supply natural gas to Europe via Ukraine in line with requests from European consumers.
Reuters report the company said requests stood at 104 million cubic metres for 24 March, down from 106.5 million cubic metres the previous day.
Ukraine foreign minister: paying for oil and gas in roubles would be 'helping Russians kill Ukrainians'
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has tweeted this morning urging European Union nations to refuse to engage with President Vladimir Putin’s demand that Russian oil and gas needs to be paid for in roubles.
He said “If any EU country bows to Putin’s humiliating demands to pay for oil and gas in rubles, it will be like helping Ukraine with one hand and helping Russians kill Ukrainians with the other. I urge relevant countries to make a wise and responsible choice.”
If any EU country bows to Putin’s humiliating demands to pay for oil and gas in rubles, it will be like helping Ukraine with one hand and helping Russians kill Ukrainians with the other. I urge relevant countries to make a wise and responsible choice.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) March 24, 2022
Yesterday in an interview with the Economist, Kuleba said “What we saw in the beginning of the war was the rise of the European Union as a powerful player that can bring change. What I see in the last ten days in the European Union is backsliding back to its normality where it cannot decide on strong and swift action.”
Very scant details but Reuters are reporting that Ukraine’s agriculture minister Roman Leshchenko has resigned. No reason has yet been given. He had been in the job since December 2020, and yesterday had said that Ukraine’s spring crop sowing area may more than halve this year because of the war. That has the potential to cause food supply problems in other parts of the world, as Ukraine is a significant exporter of grain. Parliament would have to vote on accepting the resignation, possibly as soon as today.
Updated
Here are some more quotes from UK prime minister Boris Johnson on LBC this morning ahead of his trip to Brussels. Asked how united the West was against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Johnson said:
I think everybody wants to go into this trying to get peace. That we all want to see some solution in Ukraine.
Everybody is hoping that Putin will pull back and stop this incredible barbaric slaughter that he’s engaged in.
But the only way to do that, we think – there’s a huge amount of unity – is to keep going with the pressure that we’ve applied and and to increase it.
Seven humanitarian corridors agreed for Thursday
Seven humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians from Ukrainian towns and cities have been agreed for Thursday, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk has said.
However, Reuters report that she made it clear that there had been no safe passage agreed from Mariupol. She said civilians trying to leave the besieged city would find transport at nearby Berdyansk, making clear Russia was not allowing a safe corridor to be created to or from the centre of the southern port city.
Berdyansk is the port city where there are unconfirmed reports that Ukraine’s forces have destroyed the Russian landing ship Orsk while it was docked in the Black Sea port.
UK PM Johnson: Putin has already crossed 'red line'
UK prime minister Boris Johnson has appeared on LBC radio in the UK ahead of his arrival at today’s Nato emergency summit. He raised the possibility of taking action over Russia’s gold reserves. He said:
The huge fact the world now knows is that the Ukrainian people will fight for their country. They believe in their country. They love their country, and they’re going to defend it.
That was something we didn’t really know a month ago. It’s now absolutely clear. That’s changed geopolitics
It means that we have a duty to help them. We have a duty to help them protect themselves and their loved ones. And so the UK is stepping up again. We’ve already sent about 4,000 anti-tank weapons. We’re going to send a lot more in the course of the next few days, 6,000 more missiles, and much else besides.
And the point I’m going to make today is he’s already crossed a threshold of barbarism in the way he’s behaving.
People talk about new red lines for chemical, biological, tactical nuclear weapons or whatever.
For me, the red line already has been crossed. He’s bombing, indiscriminately, civilian centres.
He’s causing huge numbers of casualties in wholly innocent populations.
We need to do more. And so we need to do more economically. Can we do more to stop him using his gold reserves for instance, in addition to his cash reserves?
The more pressure we apply now, particularly on things like gold, that I believe the more we can shorten the war.
Johnson has departed the UK for Brussels.
Hello, it is Martin Belam in London here taking over from Samantha Lock in Sydney. Details are still unclear but in the last few minutes it appears that Ukraine’s military are claiming credit for destroying a Russian ship – Orsk – in the port of Berdyansk.
Ukraine’s defence ministry saying it has destroyed the Orsk, a Russian landing ship, in Berdyansk. pic.twitter.com/lsWCqkK7tn
— Oliver Carroll (@olliecarroll) March 24, 2022
Berdyansk is about 80km (50 miles) west of the besieged city of Mariupol, and has been used to deliver Russian supplies to forces there.
Summary
Before I hand this blog over to my colleague, Martin Belam, here is a quick catchup.
- The port of Berdyansk, a city in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast of south-east Ukraine, is reportedly on fire, according to local Ukrainian media outlets and a senior advisor to Ukraine’s interior ministry. The city is located about 75km north-west of Mariupol. Videos purporting to show thick plumes of smoke billowing from the port have circulated online.
- Western nations will warn the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, on Thursday that his country will pay “ruinous” costs for invading Ukraine during an unprecedented one-day trio of Nato, G7 and EU summits that will be attended by the US president, Joe Biden, in Brussels.
- Zelenskiy said he hoped for “meaningful steps” at the round of summits, noting they would reveal “who is a friend, who is a partner, and who betrayed us for money”.
- The Ukrainian president also called for a global rally to protest Russia’s war on Ukraine, urging citizens of the world to publicly stand against the war.
- Russian forces have been accused of taking hostage the people of the besieged Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, as local officials imposed drinking water rationing on trapped civilians. About 150,000 people are stuck in the northern city with little hope of aid after Russia cut them off from the capital, Kyiv, when a key bridge was bombed on Wednesday.
- Ukraine is increasing pressure on Russian forces north-east of Kyiv while carrying out successful counterattacks against Russian positions in towns on the outskirts of the capital, the UK defence ministry has said.
- Nato announced it will double its troops along the alliance’s eastern flank. “The first step is the deployment of four new Nato battlegroups in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, along with our existing forces in the Baltic countries and Poland,” said the alliance’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg.
- Nato countries are also expected to agree at Thursday’s meeting to provide special kit to help protect Ukraine against chemical, biological or nuclear attacks launched by Russia.
- The White House has quietly assembled a team of national security officials to sketch out scenarios of how the United States and its allies should respond if Russian President Vladimir Putin unleashes his stockpiles of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, the New York Times reports.
- Britain will provide 6,000 defensive missiles and extra funds to support the Ukrainian military, as well as BBC journalists providing news coverage in the region.
- The US government has said it believes war crimes have been committed in Ukraine based on its assessment of evidence that civilians have been deliberately targeted.
- Between 7,000 and 15,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since the beginning of the war, Nato estimates. By way of comparison, Russia lost about 15,000 troops over 10 years in Afghanistan, the Associated Press has reported.
Some more details are emerging regarding the fire reported earlier at the port of Berdyansk, a city in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast of south-east Ukraine.
Advisor to Ukraine’s interior ministry, Anton Gerashchenko, said a large Russian ship ‘Orsk’ of the Black Sea Fleet was destroyed, citing the Ukrainian navy in an update to his Telegram channel early this morning.
Ukrainian media outlet Ukrinform also cited the statement from Ukraine’s navy, adding that one Russian ship sank while two others were “smoking heavily and trying to escape”.
Ahead of US president Joe Biden’s scheduled meetings with world leaders in Europe, the White House has quietly assembled a team of national security officials to sketch out scenarios of how the United States and its allies should respond if Russian President Vladimir Putin unleashes his stockpiles of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.
The group, known as the Tiger Team, is also examining responses if Putin reaches into Nato territory to attack convoys bringing weapons and aid to Ukraine, according to several officials involved in the process, according to a recent New York Times report.
The team is also looking at responses if Russia seeks to extend the war to neighbouring nations, including Moldova and Georgia, and how to prepare European countries for the refugees flowing in on a scale not seen in decades, the Times reports.
These plans are expected to be discussed in Brussels on Thursday, when US President Biden meets leaders of the 29 other Nato nations.
As Biden flew to Europe on Wednesday, both he and Stoltenberg warned of growing evidence that Russia was in fact preparing to use chemical weapons in Ukraine.
One major issue the Tiger Team is reportedly looking at is the threshold that could prompt the alliance to use military force in Ukraine. Biden has made clear that he is reluctant to to do so, fearing that direct confrontation with Russia could escalate the conflict beyond control. “That’s World War Three,” he said recently.
Recently released images show the destruction inflicted upon Ukraine’s cities and civilians,
Women and child refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine to Poland are being targeted by suspected pimps and sex traffickers operating alone and in gangs, according to charities working on the border.
“We’ve registered the first cases of [suspected] pimps preying on Ukrainian women near refugee shelter points in Lublin; accosting them, sometimes aggressively, under the guise of offering transport, work or accommodation,” said Karolina Wierzbińska, a coordinator at Homo Faber, a human rights organisation based in the Polish city of Lublin.
“These are not only men,” she said. “There are also women attempting to procure female refugees at bus stations.”
Wierzbińska said there had also been teams of people working together to try to lure women into unidentified cars.
“[We see teams] waiting for people arriving from Ukraine and pretending to offer rides or lodging to women distressed and exhausted from their journey,” she said.
US formally accuses Russia of committing war crimes
In case you missed our earlier report, Guardian world affairs editor Julian Borger explains how the situation is unfolding between the US and Russia after the US formally accused Russian forces of committing war crimes in Ukraine and said it would pursue accountability “using every tool available”.
The announcement came as Joe Biden left for a trip to Europe to bolster western unity in the face of an increasingly brutal invasion. The secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said that the US had come to its conclusion using both public and intelligence sources.
“Today, I can announce that, based on information currently available, the US government assesses that members of Russia’s forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine,” Blinken said.
“As with any alleged crime, a court of law with jurisdiction over the crime is ultimately responsible for determining criminal guilt in specific cases,” he added, saying the US would continue its efforts to gather evidence and share it with international institutions.
“We are committed to pursuing accountability using every tool available, including criminal prosecutions,” Blinken said.
The risk of coup by Russia’s federal security service (FSB) against President Putin is growing every week that the war in Ukraine continues, a whistleblower at the heart of Russian intelligence has said.
The whistleblower claims that chaos and discontent have engulfed the security services after Russia’s botched invasion of Ukraine.
Letters written by an anonymous Russian intelligence analyst to Vladimir Osechkin, an exiled Russian activist and founder of the human rights group Gulagu.net, have since been published online.
Osechkin told The Times that the risk taken by intelligence agents in speaking out was a sign of their growing anger towards Putin and discontent from the effect that sanctions have had on FSB officers who will no longer be able to “go on holidays to their villas in Italy and take their kids to Disneyland Paris”.
Speaking from his home in France, where he has lived in exile since 2015, Osechkin told the newspaper:
For 20 years Putin created stability in Russia. FSB officers, policemen, state prosecutors — those people inside the system — were able to live good lives.
But now that has all gone. They recognise that this war is a catastrophe for the economy, for humanity. They don’t want to go back to the Soviet Union.
For every week and every month that this war continues, the possibility of a rebellion by those in the security services increases.”
Updated
Russia likely looking to mobilise reservists and conscripts to replace losses: UK defence
Meanwhile, the UK’s defence ministry has just released its morning intelligence report, claiming Russian forces have “almost certainly suffered thousands of casualties” during their invasion of Ukraine.
The ministry added:
Russia is likely now looking to mobilise its reservist and conscript manpower, as well as private military companies and foreign mercenaries, to replace these considerable losses.
It is unclear how these groups will integrate into the Russian ground forces in Ukraine and the impact this will have on combat effectiveness.”
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 24 March 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) March 24, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/Pbtd58bPbQ
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/YIN7Z9muvJ
Updated
According to Michael Horowitz, a geopolitical and security analyst at the Le Beck institute, Russia had recently begun using the port of Berdyansk to unload military equipment.
Horowitz suggested a ship may be on fire but was unable to confirm.
Other unconfirmed reports claim that an ammunition depot as well as multiple Russian naval ships were struck by a missile attack.
Another picture from Berdyansk
— Michael A. Horowitz (@michaelh992) March 24, 2022
Geolocation (which could point to the possibility that a ship is on fire on the other side of the platform)https://t.co/QufHnt6jiQ pic.twitter.com/6z0QUxPk6W
Port of Berdyansk on fire - reports
The port of Berdyansk, a city in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast of south-east Ukraine, is reportedly on fire, according to local Ukrainian media outlets and a senior advisor to Ukraine’s interior ministry.
The city is located about 75km north-west of Mariupol.
Senior advisor to Ukraine’s interior ministry, Anton Gerashchenko, uploaded a photo purporting to show thick plumes of smoke billowing from the port on his official Telegram account.
“A warehouse of rocket and artillery weapons in Russian-occupied Berdyansk,” he wrote alongside the image.
Ukrainian media outlet NEXTA TV said it was told that Russian ships were hit but was waiting for confirmation.
We are told that #Russian ships have been hit in the port of #Berdyansk. We are waiting for official confirmation or denial. pic.twitter.com/9mRmkm2FNu
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) March 24, 2022
⚡️ The port of #Berdyansk is on fire
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) March 24, 2022
Presumably, the #Russian occupiers blew up fuel tanks. pic.twitter.com/r6OzC00cmM
Updated
US president Joe Biden has arrived in Brussels for a four-day trip in Europe with the aim of keeping up pressure on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, amid sanctions fatigue and splits over energy sanctions among US allies.
Biden will take part in an emergency Nato summit, a G7 summit and a meeting of the European Council in Brussels on Thursday.
UK doubles number of missiles sent to Ukraine
Jessica Elgot, the UK’s chief political correspondent, brings us more detail on Boris Johnson’s announcement Britain will provide of 6,000 weapons and £25m for Ukraine’s military.
The UK will double the number of missiles it sends to Ukraine and urge western allies to step up provisions of lethal aid to the country, as the Russian invasion turns into a prolonged war of attrition.
Boris Johnson will tell world leaders at the Nato summit on Thursday that the conflict is entering a new phase of aggression and humanitarian catastrophe with the siege of Mariupol and the indiscriminate attacks on civilians.
Western officials have said that both the Ukrainians and the Russians are running short of weapons as the conflict grinds on due to Ukrainian defence that was far better than expected – and that they had anticipated they would be supporting a smaller Ukrainian insurgency by this stage.
Ahead of the summit, Johnson said the UK would provide 6,000 new defensive missiles, including high-explosive weapons, and £25m from Foreign Office funds to help Ukraine pay its military and police forces. Not all of the missiles are expected to be next-generation light anti-tank weapons (NLAWs) – of which the UK has already provided more than 4,200.
The additional weaponry means that the UK has now provided more than 10,000 missiles. It will be supplying Starstreak high-velocity anti-air missiles to help Ukrainians defend themselves against aerial bombings, as well as body armour, helmets and combat boots.
United Nations current estimates put the number of refugees forced to flee Ukraine at 3,626,546 as of 22 March.
Many travel for days on buses, spending nights at makeshift camps before travelling onwards to countries such as Poland.
Zelenskiy calls for global protests 'in the name of peace'
Ukraine’s president has called for a global rally to protest Russia’s war on Ukraine, urging citizens of the world to publicly stand against the war.
I ask you to stand against the war! Starting from March 24 – exactly one month after the Russian invasion… From this day and after then.
Show your standing! Come from your offices, your homes, your schools and universities. Come in the name of peace. Come with Ukrainian symbols to support Ukraine, to support freedom, to support life.
Come to your squares, your streets. Make yourselves visible and heard. Say that people matter. Freedom matters. Peace matters. Ukraine matters.
From March 24.
In downtowns of your cities.
All as one together who want to stop the war.”
Updated
Russian death toll could be as high as 15,000 - Nato
Between 7,000 and 15,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in four weeks of war in Ukraine, Nato estimates.
By way of comparison, Russia lost about 15,000 troops over 10 years in Afghanistan.
A senior Nato military official said the alliance’s estimate was based on information from Ukrainian authorities, what Russia has released — intentionally or not — and intelligence gathered from open sources. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.
Ukraine has released little information about its own military losses, and the west has not given an estimate, but Ukraine’s armed forces said they believe 15,600 Russian personnel have died in the war as of March 23.
The Ukrainian military has released its latest operational report as of 6am this morning local time.
In it, officials say Russian forces continue to focus on Kyiv, Chernihiv and Kharkiv regions.
In Kherson, Russian troops “terrorise the local population” and use Rosguardia units (Russia’s national guard) to prevent civil disobedience against Russian occupying authorities, the report reads.
Zelenskiy expects ‘meaningful steps’ at Nato, EU and G7 summits
Referencing the Nato, EU and G7 summits that will take place in Brussels on Thursday, Zelenskiy urged for “meaningful steps” while noting the talks will reveal “who is a friend, who is a partner, and who betrayed us for money.”
Politicians must also support freedom. All of them. They must support the struggle for life.
We are waiting for meaningful steps. From Nato, the EU and the G7.
We know that the Russians have already begun to lobby their interests. These are the interests of war. We know that they are working with some partners. We know that they want to put this issue out. The struggle against war. But this is the war that needs to be put out.
Our firm position will be represented at these three summits. At these three summits we will see: Who is a friend, who is a partner, and who betrayed us for money.”
Zelenskiy continued to say Ukrainian sky has not been made safe from Russian missiles and bombs, urging for more support in weapons.
We have not received aircraft and modern anti-missile weapons. We have not received tanks, anti-ship equipment. Russian forces can keep killing thousands of our citizens, destroying our cities. Just because there are too many invaders. Just because Russia has been preparing for such a war for decades.
We asked to close our sky. And we asked for assistance from Nato to be effective and without limits. Any support in weapons that we need. We asked the Alliance to say it will fully help Ukraine win this war, clear our territories of the invaders and restore peace in Ukraine.”
The Japanese government is considering extending additional humanitarian aid of $100m to Ukraine and neighbouring countries, on top of the $100m in assistance Japan has already announced, public broadcaster NHK said on Thursday.
The government is also looking into doubling emergency loans to Ukraine to $200m and dispatching self-defence force medical officers to support Ukrainian refugees in Poland and other neighbouring nations, NHK said.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said he plans to unveil Japan’s new support measures for Ukraine at a G7 summit meeting scheduled to take place in Brussels on Thursday.
Summary
Hello it’s Samantha Lock with you and we unpack all the latest developments in Ukraine.
It is now one one month since Russia invaded Ukraine. Casualties are in the thousands and millions have fled the country seeking refuge abroad. Latest Nato estimates place Russian deaths at up to 15,000.
Here is a comprehensive rundown on where the crisis currently stands:
- Western nations will warn the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, on Thursday that his country will pay “ruinous” costs for invading Ukraine during an unprecedented one-day trio of Nato, G7 and EU summits that will be attended by the US president, Joe Biden, in Brussels.
- Zelenskiy said he hoped for “meaningful steps” at the round of summits, noting they would reveal “who is a friend, who is a partner, and who betrayed us for money”.
- The Ukrainian president also called for a global rally to protest Russia’s war on Ukraine, urging citizens of the world to publicly stand against the war.
- Russian forces have been accused of taking hostage the people of the besieged Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, as local officials imposed drinking water rationing on trapped civilians. About 150,000 people are stuck in the northern city with little hope of aid after Russia cut them off from the capital, Kyiv, when a key bridge was bombed on Wednesday.
- Ukraine is increasing pressure on Russian forces north-east of Kyiv while carrying out successful counterattacks against Russian positions in towns on the outskirts of the capital, the UK defence ministry has said.
- Nato announced it will double its troops along the alliance’s eastern flank. “The first step is the deployment of four new Nato battlegroups in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, along with our existing forces in the Baltic countries and Poland,” said the alliance’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg.
- Nato countries are also expected to agree at Thursday’s meeting to provide special kit to help protect Ukraine against chemical, biological or nuclear attacks launched by Russia.
- The UN General Assembly will vote on Thursday on a resolution backed by over 90 countries that blames Russia for the escalating humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and demands an immediate halt to hostilities.
- The White House has quietly assembled a team of national security officials to sketch out scenarios of how the United States and its allies should respond if Russian President Vladimir Putin unleashes his stockpiles of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, the New York Times reports.
- Britain will provide 6,000 defensive missiles and extra funds to support the Ukrainian military, as well as BBC journalists providing news coverage in the region.
- The US government has said it believes war crimes have been committed in Ukraine based on its assessment of evidence that civilians have been deliberately targeted.
- Between 7,000 and 15,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since the beginning of the war, Nato estimates. By way of comparison, Russia lost about 15,000 troops over 10 years in Afghanistan, the Associated Press has reported.
- Ukraine is using facial recognition software to identify the bodies of Russian soldiers killed in combat and to trace their families to inform them of their deaths, Ukraine’s vice prime minister said.
- The Russian climate envoy Anatoly Chubais has stepped down and left the country in protest against Putin’s war in Ukraine. He is the highest-level official to break with the Kremlin over the invasion.
- Israel has blocked Ukraine from buying Pegasus spyware, fearing Russia’s anger. The revelation, after a joint investigation by the Guardian and Washington Post, offers new insight into the way Israel’s relationship with Russia has at times undermined Ukraine’s offensive capabilities – and contradicted US priorities.
- Putin has said Russia plans to demand payment in roubles for its gas sales to “unfriendly” countries. The announcement sent European futures soaring over concerns the switch would exacerbate a looming energy crisis by jamming up deals that run to hundreds of millions of dollars every day.
- The risk of coup by Russia’s federal security service (FSB) against President Putin is growing every week that the war in Ukraine continues, a whistleblower at the heart of Russian intelligence has said, according to a report from The Times.
As usual, for any tips and feedback please contact me through Twitter or at samantha.lock@theguardian.com
The Guardian keeps you up to the minute on the crisis in Ukraine with a global perspective and from our team around the world and around the clock. Thank you for reading and please do stay tuned.
