Situation on the ground, international reactions, sanctions: update on the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
The head of the American diplomacy Antony Blinken estimated Thursday that the Russian attacks once morest civilians in Ukraine constituted “war crimes”.
G7 foreign ministers have warned that perpetrators of war crimes in Ukraine should be “accountable”, stressing that “evidence gathering” is ongoing.
Mr Blinken also judged that Moscow was not making “a significant effort” in its talks with kyiv and indicated that US President Joe Biden would threaten China with reprisals if it sent military aid to Russia during the his meeting on Friday with his counterpart Xi Jinping.
- A “thousand” of Chechen volunteers on their way to Ukraine
The leader of the Russian republic of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov, a loyal supporter of Vladimir Putin, assured Thursday that a “thousand” Chechen volunteers were on their way to fight in Ukraine.
This information might not be independently verified and has been questioned by Ukrainian officials. The forces under Mr. Kadyrov’s control are accused of numerous abuses in Chechnya.
- Moscow rejects ICJ decision
The Kremlin on Thursday rejected the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the highest court of the UN, which the day before ordered Russia to immediately suspend its military operations in Ukraine.
The Kremlin stressed that both sides had to agree for such a decision to be implemented and that was not the case.
The NGO Human Rights Watch has also asked Ukraine to stop staging Russian prisoners of war because it violates the Geneva Conventions.
- More than three million refugees
More than 100,000 refugees have been added in 24 hours to the three million people who have already fled Ukraine since the invasion of the Russian army on February 24, according to the UN, which also lists around two million displaced people in the country. interior of the country.
The Council of Europe, for its part, warned Thursday once morest the risk for Ukrainian refugees of falling into human trafficking networks.
- Mariupol: 30,000 people evacuated in one week
The authorities of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, besieged by Russian forces, announced Thursday the evacuation of 30,000 people in one week, adding that they did not yet know the toll of the bombardment the day before of a theater where civilians were sheltering.
Moscow has denied the bombardment, attributing it to the Ukrainian nationalist Azov battalion.
Some 350,000 people are still in the city and “continue to hide in shelters and cellars”, said the town hall, according to which “50 to 100 bombs” are dropped by Russian planes on average every day.
- Deadly strike near Kharkiv
Russian artillery fire killed at least 21 people on Thursday and injured 25 in the town of Merefa, near the besieged city of Kharkiv (east), the regional prosecutor’s office said.
