A convoy of buses is heading to Mariupol in another attempt to evacuate people from the besieged port city. Teams from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) are on their way to Mariupol with aid supplies and stand ready to evacuate civilians, the organisation has said.
The boss of the British spy agency GCHQ claimed that demoralised Russian soldiers in Ukraine were refusing to carry out orders, sabotaging their equipment and even accidentally shooting down their own aircraft. Sir Jeremy Fleming said Vladimir Putin, “massively misjudged” his chances of a swift military victory in Ukraine and claimed the Russian president’s advisers were “afraid to tell him the truth”.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has told the Australian parliament his country is “undefeatable” against Russia as long as it can count on the support of the global community. Zelenskiy accused Putin of “nuclear blackmail” and said an unchecked Russia was a “threat” to the world, suggesting its actions may inspire other nations to follow suit in a thinly veiled warning about China.
Zelenskiy also appeared in the Netherlands via video link and asked the Dutch parliament for weapons and reconstruction aid and to halt all business with Russia in response to the invasion of his country.
Zelenskiy said in a video address to the people of Ukraine last night he did not believe Russia’s vows to de-escalate its fighting. He said peace talks with Russia continued “but for the moment there are just words, nothing concrete”.
Moscow would not refuse a direct meeting between its foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, and his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, but any talks between them would need to be substantive, the Russian foreign ministry has said.
The UK’s international trade secretary was asked about UK-India relations following India’s refusal to condemn Russian aggression in Ukraine. Anne-Marie Trevelyan said that “we understand why they’ve chosen to sit on the fence at the moment. They have connections in both directions.” The UK foreign minister, Liz Truss, and Russia’s Lavrov are both in India.
Taiwan’s defence ministry has established a working group to study the tactics of the war in Ukraine, including how the country has been able to hold out against Russia. Taiwan, claimed by China as its own territory, has raised its alert level since the invasion of Ukraine.
Oil prices tumbled on reports that the US is considering tapping its reserves to combat a supply crisis prompted by the Ukraine war. The Russian rouble, meanwhile, has recovered to its pre-war value, despite western sanctions on the country’s exports and financial systems.
