They come in addition to the more than 2.3 million who have fled the country since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24.
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An estimated 1.9 million people are displaced within Ukraine, according to UN officials, adding to the more than 2.3 million who have fled the country following Russia's invasion.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Thursday that most of the internally displaced people are moving away from the front lines and heading west toward Lviv. The humanitarian situation “continues to deteriorate at an alarming pace,” he said.
Meanwhile, the EU's chief diplomat has echoed Ukraine's president in accusing Russia of carrying out a "war crime" by attacking a Mariupol children's hospital. The local authority has said three people including a girl were killed.
Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers failed to see eye to eye when they met in Turkey, their first encounter since Putin's invasion.
Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich has been added to the UK government's sanctions list.
Here is how Thursday unfolded.
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Thursday's key points:
- More than 1.9 million people have now been internally displaced in Ukraine, the UN said Thursday. They come in addition to the more than 2.3 million who have left the country.
- Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has lamented "no progress" towards a ceasefire after meeting his Russian counterpart in Antalya. Sergei Lavrov suggested Vladimir Putin may be open to meeting Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss "specific" issues.
- Ukraine's president accused Russia of war crimes and genocide after Russia attacked a children's hospital in Mariupol, despite a ceasefire deal. The local authority said on Thursday that three people including a girl were killed.
- Moscow said on Thursday it would create daily humanitarian corridors to allow Ukrainian civilians to evacuate to Russia, an idea branded "absurb" by Washington on Wednesday.
- The White House says Russia could be planning to launch a chemical or biological attack in Ukraine, after Moscow accused Kyiv of developing non-conventional weapons.
- The Pentagon has rejected providing MiG fighter jets to Ukraine, calling the idea "high risk" and ineffective.
- The UK has moved to seize the assets of Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich, PM Boris Johnson saying "there can be no safe havens for those who have supported Putin’s vicious assault on Ukraine".
- Thursday marks two weeks since Vladimir Putin's forces invaded Ukraine. Thousands have been killed as towns and cities have been pounded, two million have fled abroad, while Russia has been hit by Western sanctions and a business exodus.
1.9 million Ukrainians internally displaced: UN
In addition to the more than 2.3 million people who have fled the war in Ukraine, an estimated 1.9 million people are displaced within the country, according to UN officials.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Thursday that most of the internally displaced people are moving away from the front lines and heading west toward Lviv. The humanitarian situation “continues to deteriorate at an alarming pace,” he said.
“Humanitarian organisations are deploying additional staff across the country and are working to move supplies to warehouses in different hubs within Ukraine and outside,” Dujarric said. “So far, we — along with our partners — have reached more than 500,000 people with some form of humanitarian assistance in Ukraine, including life-saving food, shelter, blankets, and medical supplies.”
Ukraine to withdraw troops deployed with UN
The United Nations has received official notification from Ukraine that it intends to withdraw all 308 military and police personnel serving in six UN peacekeeping missions, along with eight Russian-built Mi-8 helicopters currently in Congo.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric made the announcement Thursday, saying this includes about 250 troops from Congo whose withdrawal was announced Wednesday as well as 36 staff officers and experts, and 22 police officers.
In addition to Congo, the Ukrainians are serving in five other peacekeeping operations in Mali, Cyprus, Abyei and South Sudan and Kosovo.
The Ukrainian request appears to be aimed at beefing up its military and helicopters in the war against Russia.
Dujarric again stressed that every country has a right to withdraw military forces contributed to peacekeeping operations and thanked Ukrainian personnel “for their longstanding contribution to peace operations.”
He said the UN is in the process of taking action on the Ukrainian request and will be contacting other countries to replace the troops, police and equipment.
IAEA provides update on Ukrainian nuclear power plants
- Ukrainian authorities lost today all communications with the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), the day after the Russian-controlled site lost all external power supplies;
- it is aware of reports that power has now been restored to Chornobyl and that it is looking for confirmation;
- without power, systems important for safety had Chornobyl have been powered by diesel generators but that the Ukrianian nuclear operator was not able to maintain some functions such as radiation monitoring, ventilation systems and normal lighting;
- at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, also under the control of Russian forces, it's not currently possible to deliver the necessary spare parts, equipment and specialised personnel to carry out planned repairs; maintenance activities at Unit 1 had been reduced to minimum levels.
Meet the Ukrainian orphan returning home from Italy to fight against Russia
Giuseppe Misuraca was not even old enough to recall the last time he was in Ukraine but he is returning to his country of birth to fight.
Giuseppe was only three years old when he left an orphanage in the Donbas region following the deaths of his parents.
He was adopted by a Sicilian family and has lived in Italy his whole life, but says that he still feels "100% Ukrainian" and has always wanted to visit his home country.
Now, he is returning to Ukraine for the first time in 25 years to fight alongside fellow Ukrainians against Russian forces.
“I can't just wait at home and watch television and do nothing to help my fellow citizens," he told Euronews.
Red Cross warns that attacks against its workers, facilities are war crimes
EU gas reserves should be at 90% before winter each year: Commission
Russia focusing on key cities, slowing progress: UK
Moscow announces daily humanitarian corridors to Russia
"We officially announce that humanitarian corridors for the Russian Federation will now be opened unilaterally, without coordination, every day from 10am," the Russian defence ministry was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying.
Russia denies shelling Mariupol hospital
The Russian Defense Ministry denied responsibility Thursday for striking a maternity hospital in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol and claimed that the explosions that hit the building were staged to smear Russia.
Ukrainian officials said that Wednesday’s Russian airstrike on the hospital killed three people, including a child, and wounded 17 others. The attack has caused global outrage.
Russia’s Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov denied that the Russian military struck the hospital. He claimed that the two explosions that ravaged the building were caused by explosive devices planted nearby in what he described as a “staged provocation to incite anti-Russian agitation in the West.”
Lithuania bans rallies and media supporting Russian invasion
Under the decisions adopted by parliament, it will also be forbidden to take photos or videos showing strategic energy companies and national and allied military forces on the move.
The Baltic country, a Nato member, extended the state of emergency imposed last month when President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops to launch the assault on Ukraine.
The government says the new rules are necessary to ensure public order and resilience.
"We are not restricting the rights of citizens, but the rights of propagandists to spread lies about Putin's war in Ukraine in Lithuania," Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said.
The new rules will remain in force until 20 April.
Mariupol residents without food, water or electricity: ICRC
Twitter launch new 'onion' version to bypass Russian censorship
The move comes after the Kremlin announced a restriction of the social media platform in an effort to control the flow of information about the war in Ukraine.
Internet security expert and software engineer Alec Muffett, announced Twitter's new service on his own account.
“This is possibly the most important and long-awaited tweet that I’ve ever composed", he wrote.
How Moscow's war in Ukraine sparked a seismic shift in Finland
With a 1,300-kilometre shared border -- the longest in the European Union -- more than a hundred years as part of the Russian Empire, and two bloody wars in the 20th century (not to mention a couple of decades of Finlandisation, when the Kremlin had the final say on any major political decisions), the Finns like to think they know a thing or two about dealing with Russia.
Even the canny Finns, though, were caught by surprise at the speed of developments that unfolded since 24 February, when Russia invaded Ukraine.
In just two weeks there's already been a seismic shift for politics, business and society in the Nordic nation. And the question of an application to join NATO, long since put on the back burner of public debate, has become the number one subject of political discourse from Hanko in the south to Utsjoki in the north, and all points in between.
Hard times lie ahead but 'freedom is priceless,' says Estonian PM
European leaders have to be "honest" with their citizens about the negative effects that EU sanctions against Russia might bring upon people's daily life, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said in an interview with Euronews, warning that "hard times lie ahead."
"One could say that gas might be expensive, but freedom is priceless," the prime minister said.
"I'm coming from a country where we didn't have freedom. I was born in Soviet Union. I know very well what it means. It is said that you understand the value of freedom [until] it's taken from you," she added.
Read more about the interview here.
G7 calls on oil and gas producing countries to 'increase deliveries'
G7 energy ministers said they would look into effective measures to stop the increase in gas prices in a joint statement following an extraordinary meeting on Ukraine.
US VP Harris embraces call for Russia war crimes probe
US Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday embraced calls for an international war crimes investigation of Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, citing the “atrocities” of bombing civilians, including a maternity hospital.
Speaking alongside Polish President Andrzej Duda at a press conference in Warsaw, where she is demonstrating U.S. support for NATO's eastern flank allies, Harris expressed outrage over the bombing on Wednesday of the maternity hospital and scenes of bloodied pregnant women being evacuated, as well as other attacks on civilians. She stopped short of directly accusing Russia of having committed war crimes.
“Absolutely there should be an investigation, and we should all be watching,” said Harris, noting that the United Nations has already started a process to review allegations. “I have no question the eyes of the world are on this war and what Russia has done in terms of this aggression and these atrocities.”
(AP)
Macron and Putin to speak again on Saturday
Ukraine war to 'completely redefine the architecture of our Europe': Macron
European leaders arrive for Versailles summit
EU leaders are meeting in the Palace of Versailles, France, to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and plans to strengthen the bloc’s energy independence and defence capabilities.
The two-day meeting starts on Thursday evening and is hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, whose country currently holds the EU Council’s rotating presidency.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said upon arrival that "we will rethink energy because we have to get rid of the dependency on Russian fossil fuels" and that they will also "discuss Ukraine as part of our European family. We want a free and democratic Ukraine with whom we share a common destiny."
Sanctions against Russia will increase food prices worldwide: Putin
'I aged ten years': Ukrainians on stress of war and leaving loved ones behind
Yelyzaveta Pulvas, 23, begged her grandmothers to leave Kyiv in the days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but to no avail.
She said her 86 and 88-year-old grandmas did not want to travel west, arguing Kyiv was their home and they wouldn’t leave.
"I was shaking them and saying oh my God, you don't understand you will die here. You know the missile will hit your house and there will be no grandma for me, and I love you. Don't do this to me, but they said no," Pulvas said.
"You leave everything, you leave your house, you leave your life, you leave everything,” she added of her decision to flee the country with her mother.
The communications specialist is now safe in Romania and one of more than two million Ukrainians who have left the country since the war began.
READ MORE ABOUT YELYZAVETA AND OTHER REFUGEES' STORIES HERE.
Power supply to Chornobyl cut: Ukraine
Sweden asks citizens to report unusual underwater activity
Sweden’s navy is asking the public to report anything suspicious underwater along the country’s Baltic coast, saying “we are very interested in tips.”
The request came amid heightened awareness around the Baltic Sea region after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Skärgården, a newspaper covering Stockholm’s vast archipelago, said that Naval Security Chief Anders Engqvist asked residents to keep an eye out for things such as unnatural-looking waves or periscopes.
He also asked people to alert authorities if they see anyone moor or go ashore near military installations or if someone drops anchor in a prohibited area.
Sweden’s Baltic Sea island of Gotland sits a little more than 300 kilometres from the Russian Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad.
'You will be prosecuted for war crimes': Zelenskyy tells Russian leaders
Ukraine's president is telling Russian leaders that their country’s invasion of Ukraine will backfire, by landing them in court and making their people hate them.
“You will definitely be prosecuted for complicity in war crimes,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video released Thursday.
The West has slapped harsh financial and economic sanctions on Russia because of the invasion, and the Ukrainian leader said the consequences will be felt by all Russians.
“And then, it will definitely happen, you will be hated by Russian citizens — everyone you have been deceiving constantly, daily, for many years in a row, when they feel the consequences of your lies in their wallets, in their shrinking possibilities, in the stolen future of Russian children.”
'Progress being made' on Ukrainian nuclear safety: IAEA chief
Russia doubles down on claims Ukraine has US-sponsored chemical weapons facilities
"Detailed information about the implementation of a project by the United States on the territory of Ukraine to study the transfer of pathogens by wild birds migrating between Ukraine and Russia and other neighboring countries was of particular interest."
"According to the documents, the American side planned to organize work on pathogens of birds, bats and reptiles in Ukraine in 2022. And further study of the possibility to transfer of African swine fever and anthrax by them," it added.
Half of Kyiv residents have left: Mayor
"According to our information, every second inhabitant of Kyiv has left the city. Today, just under two million people are there," he told Ukrainian television.
"However, Kyiv has turned into a fortress," Klitschko insisted, on the 15th day of the Russian invasion: "Every street, every building, every checkpoint has been fortified."
Kyiv had a population of 3.5 million before the conflict with Russia began.
Scholz and Macron urge Russian President Putin to continue with diplomacy
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that any solution to the crisis must be negotiated between Russia and Ukraine in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
They also called for an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine, according to a statement from the Elysée.
The three leaders agreed to stay in close contact in the coming days, the statement said.
It came as talks between the top diplomats of Moscow and Kyiv produced no breakthrough on ending the war in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion.
(AP, AFP)
Sony and Nintendo suspend shipments to Russia
"Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) joins the global community in calling for peace in Ukraine," Sony tweeted. “We have suspended all software and hardware shipments, the launch of Gran Turismo 7 and operations of the PlayStation Store in Russia."
Nintendo will also suspend shipments to Russia for the moment because its online store is unavailable and there are logistical concerns, the company told AFP.
EU leaders meet in Versailles to discuss the Ukraine war and energy independence
EU leaders are meeting in the Palace of Versailles in France to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and plans to strengthen the bloc’s energy independence and defence capabilities.
The two-day meeting starts on Thursday evening and will be hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, whose country currently holds the EU Council’s rotating presidency.
Macron has defined the Ukraine war as a "change of era" for the continent that requires a geopolitical rethinking.
"We cannot depend on others to defend us, whether on land, at sea, under the sea, in the air, in space or in cyberspace," the president said last week.
"In this respect, our European defence must take a new step."
Read the full story here.
Finnish president to call Putin at the request of France and Germany
"Despite everything, it is still important to try and keep in touch with Russia," Sauli Niinisto said at a press conference.
The Finnish president has long maintained a regular dialogue with the Russian president.
Niinisto warned against an escalation of the conflict and repeated that Finland, a neutral country neighbouring Russia, must decide "without hesitation but with discernment" on the question of its possible membership in NATO. He said parliament would make a conclusion after receiving a report on the risks and benefits of joining the alliance.
(AFP)
Nordic newspapers bid to counter 'Russian propaganda'
"Our goal is to give Russians access to non-partisan and reliable coverage", write the editors of the newspapers Politiken (Denmark), Dagens Nyheter (Sweden) and Helsingin Sanomat (Finland)
"The Ukrainian tragedy must not be communicated to the Russian public through propaganda channels", they plead, denouncing the recent closure "of the last independent audiovisual media in Russia, the Echo radio station in Moscow and the opposition television channel Dojd.
'No progress' says Kuleba as foreign ministers talk in Turkey
Chelsea FC owner Abramovich on UK sanctions list
UK sanctions Chelsea owner Abramovich over Russia's war in Ukraine
"There can be no safe havens for those who have supported Putin’s vicious assault on Ukraine," said UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.'Beyond atrocity': Zelenskyy calls on Europe to act after Russia's hospital attack
UK says Russia guilty of 'war crime' over Mariupol hospital attack
How one woman survived and escaped Russia's bombardment of Kharkiv
How one woman survived and escaped Russia's bombardment of Kharkiv
"The next night was just hell. It felt as if they were hitting us with all the guns that exist."'3 dead including a girl' killed in Mariupol hospital strike — city hall
Lavrov and Kuleba to meet in Turkey
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says that a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers in Turkey on Thursday aims pave the way for a meeting between the leaders of the two countries.
Russia’s Sergey Lavrov and Dmytro Kuleba of Ukraine are scheduled to hold talks on the sidelines of a diplomacy forum near the Turkish Mediterranean city of Antalya. It would be the first high-level meeting between Moscow and Kyiv since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Cavusoglu said he would also participate in the meeting.
“Our main goal is to bring the three leaders together," Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper quoted Cavusoglu as saying, in reference to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
NATO-member Turkey, which has cultivated close ties with both Russia and Ukraine, is trying to balance relations with both nations. It has positioned itself as a neutral party, seeking to facilitate negotiations between the warring sides.
(AP)
Russian forces stalled by Ukrainian resistance — UK intelligence
'Two hospitals hit' in Russian strikes in Zhytomyr — mayor
Zelenskyy condemns Russian 'war crime' over Mariupol hospital attack
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the West to impose even tougher sanctions on Russia after the airstrike on the maternity hospital in Mariupol, which he described as a "war crime".
“A genocide of Ukrainians is taking place,” Zelenskyy said Wednesday in his daily late evening video address to the nation. Wearing his now traditional wartime army green, he said the West should strengthen the sanctions so Russia “no longer has any possibility to continue this genocide.”
"What kind of country is this, the Russian Federation, which is afraid of hospitals, is afraid of maternity hospitals, and destroys them?" Zelenskyy said in a televised address late on Wednesday.
He said 17 people were injured in the attack, including pregnant women. The city council said the hospital suffered "colossal" damage.
The White House condemned the hospital bombing as a "barbaric use of military force to go after innocent civilians".
Mariupol has been blockaded by Russian troops for nine days. City officials said Wednesday that about 1,200 residents have been killed.
Zelenskyy again called on Western leaders to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine, something NATO members have refused to do for fear of provoking a wider war with Russia. Short of that, Zelenskyy called for the delivery of more fighter jets to Ukraine, a proposal the Pentagon rejected on Wednesday.
Zelenskyy said about 35,000 civilians have used humanitarian corridors to flee to western Ukraine to escape the fighting.
(AP, AFP, Reuters)
Read AP's account of the attack here:
Airstrike hits Ukraine maternity hospital, 17 reported hurt
euronewsPolice and soldiers rushed to the scene to evacuate victims, carrying out a heavily pregnant and bleeding woman on a stretcher.US warns Russia could launch chemical or biological attack in Ukraine
The US government publicly warned that Russia might launch a chemical or biological attack in Ukraine, after Russia, without evidence, accused Ukraine of developing non-conventional weapons.
In a series of tweets, White House press secretary Jen Psaki called Russia’s claim “preposterous” and said it could be part of an attempt by Russia to lay the groundwork for using such weapons of mass destruction against Ukraine itself.
“This is all an obvious ploy by Russia to try to try to justify its further premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified attack on Ukraine,” said Psaki.
“Now that Russia has made these false claims, and China has seemingly endorsed this propaganda, we should all be on the lookout for Russia to possibly use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, or to create a false flag operation using them.”
The Russian embassy in London has tweeted accusations, without giving evidence, that Ukrainian laboratories funded by the US have been developing biological weapons and that Ukrainian nationalists have been planning a chemical attack.
Russia has used chemical weapons before in carrying out assassination attempts against Putin enemies like Alexey Navalny and former spy Sergei Skripal. It also supports the Assad government in Syria which has used chemical weapons against its people in a decade-long civil war.
(with AP)