The Ukrainian film 20 Days in Mariupol, which was shot inside the besieged port city during the assault by Russian forces, has won the best documentary Oscar at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles.
Odesa came under a barrage of Russian drone attacks over Monday night and Tuesday morning, Ukraine’s military said on Telegram. It reported 10 Shahed-type drones were shot down. “Unfortunately, it was not possible to avoid the hits. In the Odesa district, an infrastructure facility was damaged, administrative buildings were damaged, and the fire was quickly extinguished.” Private houses had their windows smashed by the shock wave and debris damaged commercial buildings, the southern operational command said. No deaths or injuries were reported.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has dismissed as “virtual mediation” from a distance Pope Francis’s call for talks under a “white flag” with Russia. Ukraine’s president made no direct reference to Francis or his comments but mentioned religious figures helping inside Ukraine. “They support us with prayer, with their discussion and with deeds. This is indeed what a church with the people is,” Zelenskiy said. “Not 2,500km away, somewhere, virtual mediation between someone who wants to live and someone who wants to destroy you.”
Francis was criticised after saying Ukraine should have the courage of the “white flag” and negotiate an end to the war with Russia. Some politicians and commentators in Europe reacted with anger after the pontiff appeared to stay silent on Russia’s crimes as aggressor in the invasion, which has killed tens of thousands, and placed the onus on Ukraine to make peace. Ukraine’s minister for foreign affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, wrote: “Our flag is a yellow and blue one. This is the flag by which we live, die and prevail. We shall never raise any other flags.”
Ukraine has “almost certainly” accelerated the construction of defensive positions on several areas of the frontline, according to a UK defence intelligence update. This includes anti-tank dragon’s teeth and ditches, infantry trenches, minefields and fortified defensive positions. The update adds this is indicative of the “attritional character” of the conflict, and attempts to breach “will highly likely be accompanied with high losses”.
UK vehicles that fall foul of London’s ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) rules can from next week be donated to Ukraine rather than being scrapped. Applicants will be able to donate vehicles in return for the same grant payment available to drivers who scrap or retrofit their vehicles – up to £2,000 ($2,600) – the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has announced.
Weapons imports to Europe doubled over the past five years, partly due to the Ukraine war, while exports from Russia halved, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) has said. Ukraine has become the world’s fourth-largest arms importer, while France has replaced Russia as the world’s second-largest exporter behind the US.
Sipri noted that at least 30 countries had supplied major weapons as military aid to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022. Other European nations also increased imports, with a larger share coming from the world’s number one armourer, the US. China was traditionally one of the biggest recipients of Russian arms but has been pushing to develop its domestic production. China still accounted for 21% of Russian exports, while India was the biggest recipient with 34%.
Emmanuel Macron, the French president, should be able to visit Ukraine in the coming weeks, according to officials. Macron was supposed to go in February to sign a bilateral security accord with Zelenskiy but signed it in Paris instead. Two diplomatic sources said the French presidency was considering whether to include other western heads of state in the eventual trip, to show unity among allies and solidarity with Ukraine.
A fire broke out at an oil depot in Russia’s Kursk oblast after a Ukrainian drone was shot down over its grounds, Roman Starovoit, the region’s governor, said on Sunday, according to a report in the Kyiv Independent. The report said it could not verify the information, and Starovoit did not include any information on any casualties or damage to the oil depot.
Russian shelling of towns in eastern Ukraine killed three people on Sunday while a Russian strike on a residential building in the town of Myrnograd wounded a dozen, Kyiv said.
Ukraine also said Russian forces launched missile attacks on the north-eastern Kharkiv region and sent attack drones across the centre and south of the country. Russia, meanwhile, said one woman was killed in Ukrainian shelling of a border village.
