Washington says intelligence suggests Putin's advisers may not be giving him the full picture about his troops' performance and the damaging effect of Western sanctions.
With Russia's war in Ukraine into its second month, Putin's forces have continued to pound towns and cities from afar as Moscow's military offensive stalls in the face of strong Ukrainian resistance.
Millions have fled their homes, creating Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II. Thousands of civilians and military personnel have been killed, and the Russian bombardments have left widespread devastation.
The Russian invasion has caused political and shockwaves around the world, deepening the rupture between Moscow and the West.
See a summary of Wednesday's updates in our blog below and watch our TV coverage in the video player above.
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Wednesday: Key points to know
- The Pentagon and the White House say intelligence suggests Vladimir Putin may not be getting the "full picture" of the war in Ukraine from his advisers.
- Officials in Ukraine say Russian forces have continued to strike around Kyiv and other cities, including residential areas of Chernihiv -- both areas where Moscow pledged on Tuesday to "drastically" reduce combat operations.
- The Red Cross has confirmed a claim by Ukrainian authorities that one of its centres was hit by Russian bombardment in Mariupol, the besieged port in southeastern Ukraine destroyed by Putin's forces.
- The Kremlin says there was 'no breakthrough' in talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators in Istanbul on Tuesday - and there's been no second day of talks on Wednesday either.
- The US and Ukrainian presidents have spoken by phone, Joe Biden announcing an extra $500 million (€448 million) in aid for Ukraine.
- President Zelensky earlier expressed his scepticism about Russia's pledge to scale back military operations around Kyiv and Chernihiv, saying "Ukrainians are not naïve people".
- The UN says four million people have now fled Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion, seeking refuge in neighbouring countries.
- Poland says it's planning to cut imports of Russian oil and gas, while Germans are urged to save power.
- The World Food Programme says it has already helped a million people in Ukraine, that some are going "for days without finding food."
First person charged in Ukraine for 'cooperating' with Russian forces
Ukraine’s prosecutor's office has charged a first person under a new law banning "collaboration" with Russian forces.
The individual is accused of supporting Moscow and denying the invasion in a TikTok post on March 25, prosecutors say.
The suspect – a resident of the city of Kramatorsk – faces up to 12 years in prison if convicted.
The new law banning “collaboration” with the “enemy” was passed by Ukraine’s parliament earlier this month.
Those found guilty of “cooperating” with Russia’s administration or armed forces will also be banned from holding any Ukrainian government position for up to 15 years. They may have their property confiscated as well.
In the last two weeks, prosecutors say they have already launched 151 criminal proceedings under the new law.
Kyiv has also banned journalists from publishing “illegal” videos and images of Ukrainian troop movements.
(AFP)
White House says Putin also 'misled' on impact of sanctions
The Pentagon and the White House have said U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin is being misinformed by advisers about his military’s poor performance in Ukraine.
Washington also believes Putin is being misled about "how the Russian economy is being crippled by sanctions because again, his senior advisers are too afraid to tell him the truth,” White House communications director Kate Bedingfield said Wednesday.
The war has ground to a bloody stalemate in much of the country, with heavy casualties and Russian troop morale sinking as Ukrainian forces and volunteers put up an unexpectedly stout defence.
Asked about the latest intelligence, Secretary of State Antony Blinken suggested that a dynamic within the Kremlin exists where advisers are unwilling to speak to Putin with candor.
“One of the Achilles’ heels of autocracies is that you don’t have people in those systems that speak truth to power or have the ability to speak truth to power, and I think that’s what we’re seeing in Russia,” Blinken told reporters during a stop in Algeria on Wednesday.
The administration is hopeful that divulging the finding could help prod Putin to reconsider his options in Ukraine, according to a U.S. official speaking anonymously.
The unidentified official did not detail underlying evidence for how U.S. intelligence made its determination.
(with AP)
Pentagon says Russian troops are repositioning
In its most specific description of Russian forces moving away from Kyiv, the Pentagon says “less than 20 percent” of the Russian contingent in the vicinity of the Ukrainian capital are starting to “reposition.”
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby gave no specific troop number on Wednesday. He said those that have begun moving away from Kyiv had been deployed in the vicinity of the Hostomel airport northwest of Kyiv.
Kirby said it appears Russia is pulling troops away from Kyiv in order to resupply and reorganize them for use elsewhere in Ukraine -- not to send them back to Russia.
Moscow officials had said earlier this week that they were significantly reducing military operations in the Kyiv area as a gesture to advance peace talks. But Ukrainian and U.S. officials have expressed skepticism about Russian intentions.
(AP)
Putin 'being misinformed by advisers' — Pentagon
The Pentagon has gone on the record to say it believes the Russian president may be being kept in the dark by his own advisers about what's going on in Ukraine.
Defence department spokesman John Kirby said on Wednesday the US thinks they may not be giving Vladimir Putin the full picture about how his troops are performing in the war.
Kirby warned that this could affect Putin's decision-making in ongoing peace talks with the Ukrainian government.
Earlier reports quoted an anonymous US official as being behind the claim, which is based on intelligence.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity Wednesday to discuss the recently declassified intelligence finding, said that Putin has felt misled by the Russian military and there is now persistent tension between him and senior Russian defence officials.
The official did not detail underlying evidence for how US intelligence made the determination.
But the intel community has concluded that Putin was unaware that the military had been using and losing conscripts in Ukraine. They also have determined Putin is not fully aware of the extent to which the Russian economy is being damaged by economic sanctions imposed by the US and allies.
The findings demonstrate a “clear breakdown in the flow of accurate information” to Putin, and show that Putin’s senior advisers are “afraid to tell him the truth,” the official said.
(with AP)
Red Cross confirms damage to Mariupol warehouse
We reported earlier that Ukrainian authorities had accused Russia of bombing a Red Cross centre in Mariupol, the besieged port in southeastern Ukraine destroyed by Putin's forces. This despite the fact that a large red cross on a white background was visible on the roof.
The strike has been confirmed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in a press release.
It says no staff had been there since 15 March, and the Red Cross did not know how it had been used since.
"Despite the massive humanitarian needs in the city, we have been unable to bring in more supplies due to the intensity of the fighting and the absence of a functional agreement between the parties to allow for the safe passage of humanitarian assistance," the statement says.
"What we are most outraged by is the overall humanitarian situation in Mariupol and the relentless suffering inflicted on civilians living there. People are trapped with no safe way out of the city, and they are running out of the very basics needed for their survival. This must change."
Mayor of Irpin says 200-300 were killed in weeks of fighting
Some 200-300 residents of Irpin have been killed since the start of the Russian invasion, says the mayor of the town in Kyiv's northwestern suburbs which has been the scene of fierce fighting.
“At the height of the hostilities, when there was shelling all day, people were simply buried in the gardens or even in the parks. I think around 200 or 300 people died unfortunately,” Oleksandr Markushin said.
The Ukrainians claimed Monday to have regained control of the town, which had been in the hands of the Russians since the end of February. But the situation "remains dangerous", the mayor says, as it is still bombarded by the Russians from surrounding towns.
"Half the city is destroyed",the mayor said, adding that he thought "many people are still under the rubble".
He estimated at "about 3,500" the number of people still present in the area. Before the war it had 60,000 inhabitants. "At least 50 soldiers were killed and about 100 injured," he said.
Markushin urged people from the town not to return at least for the next month.
Irpin was shelled by the Russian army in the very first days of the war started by Moscow on February 24, and is a key final post before arriving in Kyiv from the west.
In mid-March, an American journalist was shot and wounded there. The city has since been closed to the press.
(AFP)
Putin tells Scholz Europe 'can pay for gas in euros'
The German government said Russian President Vladimir Putin assured Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday that Europe could continue to pay for Russian gas in euros and not in rubles as recently ordered by Moscow.
German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said Putin had assured Scholz that payments from Europe next month "will continue to be in euros and transferred as usual to Gazprom Bank, which does not is not subject to sanctions," and that it would take care of the conversion into rubles.
(AFP)
Russian shelling continues despite pledge to 'drastically' reduce operations
After Russia pledged to 'drastically reduce combat operations' around Kyiv and Chernihiv... Russian shelling continues.
A senior Ukrainian official says that the Russian military has continued shelling areas around the Ukrainian capital.
Oleksandr Pavliuk, the head of the Kyiv region military administration, said Wednesday that there were 30 Russian shellings of the residential areas and civilian infrastructure in the Bucha, Brovary and Vyshhorod regions around the capital over the previous 24 hours.
The barrage came despite a Russian pledge to reduce military activities around Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv after Tuesday’s talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators in Istanbul.
Olexander Lomako, the secretary of Chernihiv city council, said in a voice message to The Associated Press that military action increased in intensity overnight and “the city was bombed, shelled by artillery and heavy weapons,” with a library and a shopping mall among places that were hit.
(with AP)
Biden and Zelenskyy speak on the phone
The White House has released its account of the latest call between the US and Ukrainian presidents, which took place on Wednesday.
"The leaders discussed how the United States is working around the clock to fulfill the main security assistance requests by Ukraine," its statement says.
Biden told Zelenskyy the US would provide $500 million (€448 million) in direct budgetary aid.
Boris Johnson: Don't lift sanctions until all Russian troops have left Ukraine
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says Western nations shouldn’t lift sanctions on Russia until all Moscow’s troops have left Ukraine.
Johnson said a ceasefire would not be enough, and the G7 should “intensify sanctions with a rolling programme until every single one of (President Vladimir Putin’s) troops is out of Ukraine.”
Speaking to a committee of British lawmakers on Wednesday, Johnson also said Britain was discussing “going up a gear” in support to help Ukraine defend itself. He said sending armoured personnel carriers was something the UK was “looking at.”
The UK has sent anti-tank weapons and other military equipment to Ukraine but wants to avoid anything that could be seen as escalating the conflict.
(AP)
UN appoints Norwegian judge to head Ukraine human rights probe
The U.N.’s top human rights body has chosen a Norwegian former judge at the European Court of Human Rights to head a three-member panel to investigate possible abuses and violations in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion.
Erik Møse, formerly president of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, will be joined by Jasminka Dzumhur, the human rights ombudsperson in Bosnia, and Pablo de Greiff of Colombia, a political theorist who has specialized in justice issues, on the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine.
The U.N.-backed Human Rights Council created the commission earlier this month.
The three panel members will lead a team that has a one-year mandate to “to establish the facts, circumstances and root causes” of any human rights violations and abuses in Ukraine that could eventually contribute to international justice over the war.
(AP)
Slovakia to expel 35 Russian diplomats
Slovakia has decided to expel 35 Russian diplomats, the foreign ministry announced on Wednesday, citing information provided by intelligence services.
The Russian Federation's ambassador was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was given a note announcing the expulsions from among the Russian embassy staff in Bratislava, spokesman Juraj Tomaga told AFP.
Ukraine has 'zero trust' in Russia over its troops pullback pledge
“We have zero reasons for trusting whatever the Russians are saying," Ukraine MP Inna Sovsun told Euronews on Tuesday.
It came after Moscow's delegates at the Istanbul talks pledged to "drastically" reduce combat operations around Kyiv and Chernihiv.
Meanwhile some of Putin's allies are urging him to continue the war.
Watch the interview and read our report here:
Ukraine war spurs German record 7.3% inflation
Inflation in Germany jumped to a 40-year high of 7.3% in March, fueled by the war in Ukraine which is driving up energy and food prices, complicating the government's task and the European Central Bank (ECB).
The last time such a high annual increase was seen was in November 1981, in West Germany. The figure announced on Wednesday by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) is a record since German reunification in 1990.
Over one month, inflation climbed 2.5%, while the harmonised price index, which serves as a benchmark at European level, reached 7.6%, smashing the ECB's medium-term target of 2%.
According to Destatis, the cause of this historic surge lies in "Russia's attack on Ukraine" which dashed hopes of seeing prices calm down after the increases of recent months caused by persistent supply chain tensions.
(with AFP)
Austria follows Germany in activating gas supply emergency plan
Austria activated on Wednesday, like Germany, the first level of its emergency plan to guarantee the supply of natural gas in the face of the threat of a stoppage of Russian deliveries, the country's Chancellor said.
“The early warning level guarantees a rapid reaction” to “ensure the gas supply for Austrian households and businesses,” Karl Nehammer said in a press release.
(AFP)
UN office to investigate forced evacuation claims
The U.N. human rights chief says her office is looking into allegations that some residents of the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol have been forcibly evacuated to areas controlled by Russian forces or to Russia itself.
Speaking to the U.N.'s Human Rights Council on Wednesday, Michelle Bachelet decried life of “sheer terror” for people in the southeastern port city since Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24.
Ukraine has charged that Russian forces were forcibly taking people from Mariupol and other areas to Russia. Moscow has denied the claims, saying about 500,000 Ukrainians left for Russia voluntarily.
Bachelet said her office also is reviewing “credible allegations” that Russian forces have used cluster munitions 24 times and allegations that Ukrainian forces also have done so.
She says the office also received allegations that two civilians affiliated with Russian armed forces, or backing pro-Russian views, had been killed. She criticized “widespread” detention of civilians who openly support Ukraine in areas under Russian control.
(AP)
Photo shows long queue outside Mariupol grocery store
Another satellite image from Maxar Technologies captured on Tuesday shows long lines of people queueing outside a grocery store in Mariupol.
The head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has said an estimated 18 million people in Ukraine will need humanitarian aid.
A spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross warned that time was "running out” for civilians in Mariupol and other frontline areas.
Mariupol photos: Before and after Russian onslaught
Satellite images captured on Tuesday, released by Maxar Technologies, show damaged buildings, homes and apartment blocks in the southern city which has been systematically pounded by Russian forces.
Some 90% of apartment blocks in what was a city of 400,000 are said to have been flattened.
Finland resumes freight trains with Russia but passenger services still suspended
Finland's national railway operator has said it will resume freight services between Helsinki and St Petersburg on Wednesday after suspending traffic. Passenger services to Russia are still suspended however, VR Group said in a statement.
On Monday, the operator had initially halted all train services after the UK placed sanctions against Russian Railways (RZD).
But VR Group said they had now clarified that UK sanctions did not apply to their operations.
"Therefore, we can continue with the important railway export, import and transit traffic while keeping the Finnish export industry running," said Lauri Sipponen, President and CEO of VR Group.
Ukraine accuses Russia of attacking Red Cross building
Ukrainian authorities on Wednesday accused Russia of bombing a Red Cross centre in Mariupol, the besieged port in southeastern Ukraine destroyed by Putin's forces.
Russian forces "bombed a building of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Mariupol," Lyudmyla Denisova, the Ukrainian parliament's human rights ombudswoman, said in a Facebook post.
"Enemy aircraft and artillery fired on a building marked with a red cross on a white background, indicating the presence of wounded people or civilian or humanitarian cargo," she said, adding that she had no information on victims.
Denisova described the attack as "another war crime by the Russian army", in contravention of international law and the Geneva Conventions.
Ukraine says peace deal vote requires troop withdrawal
An adviser to Ukraine’s president says that a vote sealing a prospective agreement with Russia could only be held after Russian troops pull back.
Mykhailo Podolyak said Wednesday that the Russian forces must withdraw to their positions before the Feb. 24 invasion to pave the way for any peace deal to be put on a nationwide referendum.
In an online briefing, he voiced hope for a meeting soon between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin but wouldn’t say when exactly it could happen.
Podolyak took part in Tuesday’s talks with Russian negotiators in Istanbul. He said a deal on multilateral security guarantees for Ukraine will be a key part of the package to be discussed.
(AP)
Film shot in Ukraine takes aim at Russian homophobia
‘The Revenge of the Glitter Shrimps,’ is set in Russia but was largely filmed in neighbouring Ukraine and takes aim at Russian homophobia.
The cast and crew did not imagine a Russian invasion. Today, many have been caught up in the war...
Read our story here:
Film shot in Ukraine takes aim at Russian homophobia
The first film, 'The Spangled Shrimps', higlighted homophobia in sport but now directors are taking aim at Putin's homophobia, as their Ukrainian cast and crew take up arms.
Zelenskyy urges Norway to provide more energy to EU and Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to Norway to provide more energy for his country and the European Union.
Norway is Europe's second-largest natural gas supplier behind Russia.
Zelenskyy made the call during a speech to the Norwegian parliament the Storting, the latest in his addresses to parliaments around the world seeking support for Ukraine in the war with Russia.
"You can make a decisive contribution to the energy security of Europe by providing the necessary resources to the countries of the European Union and to Ukraine", he told the deputies and members of the Norwegian government who then applauded, giving him a standing ovation.
“We have already spoken about the supply of around 5 billion cubic meters of gas for the next cold season,” he added.
Before the conflict in Ukraine, Norway covered between 20 and 25% of the gas needs of the EU and the United Kingdom compared to between 45 and 50% for gas from Russia.
European countries are now seeking to rapidly reduce their dependence on Russian supplies.
Oslo, for its part, has taken measures to maintain its gas production at its maximum level during the summer, in general a low period partly used for the maintenance of offshore platforms.
"We deliver as much as possible," repeated Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre on Wednesday in comments to public broadcaster NRK.
President Zelenskyy addresses Norway's parliament
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivers a statement to Norway’s parliament, as part of a series of addresses to lawmakers around the world in light of the Russian invasion.
Watch live here:
Kremlin says 'no breakthrough' after Istanbul talks
The Kremlin says there was no breakthrough in the latest round of talks with Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday it was a “positive factor” that Ukraine submitted its written proposals, but added that “we can’t say there has been something promising or any breakthroughs.”
He emphasized in a call with reporters that there is still a lot of work ahead following Tuesday’s talks in Istanbul.
On Tuesday, Ukraine set out a detailed framework for a peace deal under which the country would remain neutral but its security would be guaranteed by a group of third countries, including the U.S., Britain, France, Turkey, China and Poland. It said it would also be willing to hold talks over a 15-year period on the future of the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.
Peskov said Russia’s chief delegate in the talks, Vladimir Medinsky, has reported their results to President Vladimir Putin.
The Kremlin spokesman didn’t discuss details of the negotiations. Asked about the Ukrainian offer of talks over the status of Crimea, he said there is nothing to discuss because Crimea is part of Russia under the country’s constitution.
Norway sends more weapons to Ukraine
Norway says it has donated a further 2,000 anti-tank weapons to Ukraine to help the country defend itself against the Russian invasion, adding to protective equipment and about 2,000 anti-tank weapons that were sent previously.
Norwegian Defense Minister Odd Roger Enoksen said that if Ukraine succeeds in repelling Russia's attack, "it will both ensure Ukrainian sovereignty and help maintain the norm of peaceful conflict resolution and respect for borders in Europe.”
UN appoints Norwegian judge to lead Russia Russia war violations probe
The UN Human Rights Council has appointed a Norwegian judge who has served on several international tribunals to lead the investigation into Russian violations during the war in Ukraine.
Erik Mose, a former judge at Norway's Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights, who also presided over the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, has been appointed chairman of the newly created independent international commission of enquiry.
The President of the Human Rights Council, Federico Villegas, also named the other two members of the team.
They are Jasminka Dzumhur, Human Rights Ombudsman of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Pablo de Greiff of Colombia, who has been the UN's lead expert on promoting truth, justice and reparation.
The UN Human Rights Council approved a resolution on 4 March in favour of an international commission of enquiry into human rights and humanitarian law violations in Ukraine after the Russian invasion.
The text presented by Kiev condemns "the violations and abuses of human rights resulting from the aggression of the Russian Federation" and calls for a rapid withdrawal of the Russian army.
It calls for the urgent establishment for an initial period of one year of "an independent international commission of enquiry", the highest level of investigation of the Council.
The three investigators will be tasked with "collecting, collating and analysing evidence of violations" of human rights and international humanitarian law resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with a view to future trials, and identifying those responsible for these violations "so that they can be held accountable".
'People had gone for days without finding food'
A spokesman for the World Food Programme (WFP) says it welcomes talk of a possible pullback of Russian forces in parts of Ukraine but the process of negotiating aid access has not improved.
Tomson Phiri told The Associated Press on Wednesday that “we expect faster clearances, faster guarantees of access."
He spoke after a WFP convoy reached the hard-hit city of Kharkiv with supplies for bakeries and emergency food rations.
“People had gone for days without finding food,” he said. “These are people who’ve never experienced hunger in their lives.”
He says WFP has already reached 1 million people with assistance. The goal is to reach 4 million in the coming months.
“Mariupol is top of mind,” he said, as well as Sumy and other partly encircled areas.
Poland says it will halt Russia oil imports by the end of this year
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawicki says his country will take steps to end Russian oil imports by the end of 2022.
Morawiecki told a press conference on Wednesday that his Poland has already largely reduced its dependence on Russian oil, and was now launching the most radical plan among European nations to wean off Russian energy sources.
Yesterday, Poland announced it was banning imports of Russian coal, and Morawiecki said he expects gas imports will be cut in May and called on other European countries to follow suit.
Poland is arguing that money from oil and gas exports are fueling Russia’s war machine and that that should stop.
UN: More than four million people have fled Ukraine
The United Nations refugee agency says more than 4 million people have now fled Ukraine following Russia’s invasion, a new milestone in the largest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees posted Wednesday on a website that tracks refugee flows around the world that 4.01 million people have now fled Ukraine. Of those, 2.3 million have entered Poland.
Aid workers say the flow has eased in recent days as many people await developments in the war. An estimated 6.5 million people have also been displaced from their homes within Ukraine.
No second round of talks in Istanbul today
The Turkish government says there won't be a second round of talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul today, as negotiators have already returned home.
The talks on Tuesday hosted by Turkey sketched out what could end up being a framework for ending the war. The talks had been expected to resume on Wednesday, but Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the two sides were bringing the proposals back to their capitals.
At the conference in Istanbul, Ukraine’s delegation laid a framework under which the country would declare itself neutral and its security would be guaranteed by an array of other nations.
Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said Moscow would in the meantime cut back military activity in the direction of Kyiv and Chernihiv to “increase mutual trust and create conditions for further negotiations.”
Russian delegation head Vladimir Medinsky said negotiators would take Ukraine’s proposals to Russian President Vladimir Putin and then Moscow would provide a response, but he did not say when.
Cavusoglu said he expected a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers at an unspecified time. He said another meeting between the presidents of the two countries is also on the agenda.
Russian state news agency Tass reported that Moscow’s delegates arrived back in Russia late Tuesday.
Going home to war: Why are more Ukrainian refugees now turning back from Poland?
More than ten million Ukrainians have been displaced from their homes during the last six weeks of fighting, with millions making their way to EU for safety.
But some people are now going in the other direction, back home. But why?
Read more in our story here:
Mariupol maternity hospital patients 'forcibly' evacuated to Russia
Mariupol City Hall has denounced Russian troops for 'forcibly' evacuating a maternity hospital in the besieged southern port city, and taking them into Russia.
"More than 70 people, women and medical staff were forcibly taken away by the occupiers of the maternity ward No. 2 in the Left Bank district" the mayor's office wrote on Telegram.
The municipality says in total more than 20,000 Mariupol residents were evacuated "against their will" to Russia, according to the municipality, which claims that the Russians confiscated their papers and redirected them "to distant Russian towns".
This information cannot be independently verified, as Mariupol has been under siege since the end of February with communications failing.
Another maternity hospital and a children's hospital in Mariupol were hit by shelling on 9 March, prompting international outrage. At least three people, including a child, died in the strike.
The head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, justified the bombing by saying that the maternity hospital building was, according to him, a base for a Ukrainian nationalist battalion.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that the Russian attacks on Mariupol were "a crime against humanity".
Germany activates emergency gas supply plan
Germany has activated the first level of its emergency plan to secure natural gas supplies, in case Russia makes good on a threat to stop deliveres.
Economy Minister Robert Haback told a press conference on Wednesday that a crisis unit has now been set up in his ministry to oversee the situation, after the G7 rejected Russia's request for ruble payments for gas supplies.
At this stage the emergency plan includes three levels of alert but Minister Habeck told reporters that "the security of supply" of gas is guaranteed in Germany.
Is Russia's pledge to cut some Ukraine operations genuine, or a cynical move to buy time?
Western leaders have reacted with scepticism to Moscow's pledge to "drastically reduce" combat operations around Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv.
"We'll see," said Joe Biden. "I don't read anything into it until I see what their actions are." The consensus of Western allies, he said, was to "see what they have to offer".
So what do other Western leaders make of this new Russian pledge? Take a closer look in our story here:
Russian troops 'suffer heavy losses, forced to return to resupply' - UK MoD
The latest intelligence update from the British Ministry of Defence says Russian units in Ukraine have been "suffering heavy losses" and "forced to return to Belarus and Russia to reorganise and resupply."
The MoD says this strategy shows the difficulties the Russians have been facing to organise logistics on the frontlines.
Read the whole Twitter thread here:
UN food chief: Ukraine war's food crisis is worst since WWII
The head of the UN's World Food Programme says the war in Ukraine has created “a catastrophe on top of a catastrophe” and will have a global impact “beyond anything we’ve seen since World War II" because many of the Ukrainian farmers who produce a significant amount of the world’s wheat are now fighting Russians.
David Beasley told the UN Security Council that already high food prices are skyrocketing.
His agency was feeding 125 million people around the world before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, and Beasley said it has had to start cutting their rations because of rising food, fuel and shipping costs. He pointed to war-torn Yemen where 8 million people just had their food allotment cut 50%, “and now we’re looking at going to zero rations.”
The war in Ukraine is turning “the breadbasket of the world to breadlines” for millions of its people, while devastating countries like Egypt that normally gets 85% of its grain from Ukraine and Lebanon that got 81% in 2020, Beasley said.
Ukraine and Russia produce 30% of the world's wheat supply, 20% of its corn and 75%-80% of the sunflower seed oil. The World Food Program buys 50% of its grain from Ukraine, he said.
Zelenskyy: "Ukrainians are not naive people"
Russia's pledge to scale back some military operations in Ukraine drew skepticism from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
In his nightly video message he said there was no reason to believe Russia's announcement that it would reduce military activity near the cities of Kyiv and Chernihiv, given what's still happening on the ground.
“We can call those signals that we hear at the negotiations positive,” he said “but those signals don’t silence the explosions of Russian shells.”
Zelenskyy said it was Ukrainian troops who forced Russia’s hand into making some concessions at the talks in Istanbul, but added: "we shouldn’t let down our guard” because the invading army can still carry out attacks.
“Ukrainians are not naïve people," he said. "Ukrainians have already learned during the 34 days of the invasion and during the past eight years of war in the Donbas that you can trust only concrete results.”
Russian foreign minister in China for talks
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has arrived in China for two days of talks on Afghanistan.
This is the first visit to China by the Kremlin's diplomatic chief since his country invaded Ukraine on 24 February. Beijing has since refused to condemn Moscow's intervention but has denounced Western sanctions against Russia.
Mr Lavrov arrived in Tunxi in eastern China, where a meeting of Afghanistan's neighbours is due to take place.
Ukrainian military says Russian pledge "designed to mislead"
Ukrainian military officials said they distrust Russia’s pledge to scale back military operations around the cities of Kyiv and Chernihiv.
The promise came on Tuesday after a new round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul. However the Ukrainian military is sceptical of the promise.
"There are indications that the Russian forces are regrouping to focus their efforts on eastern Ukraine,” the Ukrainian general staff said in a statement late Tuesday.
“At the same time, the so-called ‘withdrawal of troops’ is most likely a rotation of individual units and is aimed at misleading the Ukrainian military leadership” by creating the misconception that the Russians have decided not to try to encircle Kyiv.