Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, has ordered his forces not to storm the last remaining Ukrainian stronghold in the besieged city of Mariupol, after his defence minister admitted the Russian army was still fighting thousands of Ukrainian troops there. Putin called instead for Russian troops to blockade the area of the Azovstal steelworks “so that a fly can’t get through”.
The mayor of Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, has said it is under intense bombardment. Oleg Synegubov, the head of the Kharkiv regional state administration, said Russian forces shelled areas of Kharkiv with multiple systems. He claimed there were about 15 attacks and that five civilians were injured.
The bodies of 1,020 civilians are being stored in morgues in and around Kyiv after Russian troops withdrew from areas around the capital, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Olga Stefanishyna told AFP. Her comments came after police said they discovered the remains of nine civilians in the town of Borodianka, 34 miles from the capital, buried in communal graves and showing signs of torture.
The parliaments of Estonia and Latvia have recognised Russia’s actions in Ukraine as “genocide”. In a statement, the Estonian parliament said Russian troops in temporarily occupied territories had committed “acts of genocide” against the civilian population including “murders, enforced disappearances, deportations, imprisonment, torture, rape and desecration of corpses”.
The US president, Joe Biden, announced that the US will provide another $800m military assistance package to Ukraine to “to further augment Ukraine’s ability to fight in the east, in the Donbas region”. The package will include heavy artillery weapons, dozens of Howitzers and 144,000 rounds of ammunition and tactical drones. Biden also announced that the US will accept up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees under a new programme.
Biden said it is “questionable” whether Putin controlled Mariupol and there was “no evidence yet” that the port city had completely fallen. The US president described the battle of Kyiv as a “historic victory” for the Ukrainians and said the war is now at a “critical window”.
Spain has sent a new batch of 200 tonnes of military equipment to Ukraine, including heavy transport vehicles and ammunition, the country’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said during a visit to Kyiv. His Danish counterpart, Mette Frederiksen, said her country would increase its contribution of weapons to Ukraine by 600m Danish krone (£67m).
Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, said Moscow was giving the “necessary assistance” to British fighters who had been captured by Russian forces in Ukraine. Two British nationals, Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, are now prisoners of war in Donetsk after being captured by Russian forces while defending Mariupol.
The UK has added 26 new designations to its list of sanctions against Russia, including on military figures who have committed “atrocities” on the frontline in Ukraine. Among those sanctioned are Lt Col Azatbek Omurbekov, the commanding officer of the unit that occupied the Ukrainian town of Bucha, where there have been reports of war crimes, with the death toll reaching almost 350.
The multibillionaire Russian oligarch Vagit Alekperov has stepped down as the president of the London-listed firm Lukoil, after sanctions were imposed on him by the UK and EU. In a statement, Russia’s second largest oil company said Alekperov, who is on good terms with Vladimir Putin, had formally notified the company of his decision to resign on Thursday.
