Vladimir Putin vowed that Russia's bloody offensive in Ukraine would continue until its goals are fulfilled and insisted the campaign was going as planned, despite a major withdrawal in the face of stiff Ukrainian opposition and significant losses.
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The war in Ukraine is now in its seventh week, and taking on a new dimension with growing evidence of human rights atrocities by Russian troops as they retreated from the Kyiv region and other parts of the country.
Despite Moscow's blanket denials, horrific discoveries of civilian murders, torture and other barbaric acts continue coming to light, with Ukrainian authorities claiming tens of thousands of civilian casualties in Mariupol alone.
As Vladimir Putin's forces are expected to begin a new big offensive on eastern Ukraine, Kyiv forces are digging in, while NATO and the EU promise more weapons to Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Western nations keep tightening sanctions against Moscow.
Follow Tuesday's events as they unfold in our blog below, or watch TV coverage in the video player above.
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Tuesday's key points:
Vladimir Putin vows Russia's goals in Ukraine will be achieved as they press on with military action. He said talks were deadlocked.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said it was 'concerned' by an unconfirmed report of chemical weapons use, a spokesperson said.
More than 10,000 civilians have been killed in Mariupol, the southern port city's mayor claimed.
Russia's defence ministry claims dozens of Ukrainian troops were "eliminated" trying to escape the city.
More than 4.6 million refugees have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion.
Meanwhile, 4.8 million of Ukraine’s 7.5 million children have been displaced since 24 February, said UNICEF.
Ukrainian authorities have accused the Kremlin of drafting a bill to fast-track the adoption of children taken from the occupied areas to Russia, including those who have parents and relatives.
The Pentagon said Russia is gearing up for an offensive in the eastern Donbas region, moving troops and material toward that area.
Global chemical weapons watchdog 'concerned' by unconfirmed report of chemical weapons use, spokesperson says
A spokesperson from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said the watchdog was "concerned by the recent unconfirmed report of chemical weapons use in Mariupol."
"This follows reports in the media over the past few weeks of shelling targeted at chemical plants located in Ukraine, together with accusations levelled by both sides around possible misuse of toxic chemicals," the OPCW spokesperson said.
The statement followed Ukrainian official statements that they were investigating claims that a drone dropped an unknown substance in the city. Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of Donetsk's regional military administration, told CNN that three people were given medical assistance.
Ukraine’s Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said officials were investigating, and it was possible phosphorus munitions — which cause horrendous burns but are not classed as chemical weapons — had been used in Mariupol.
Russia and Ukraine are both member states and parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention.
"The use of chemical weapons anywhere by anyone under any circumstances is reprehensible and wholly contrary to the legal norms established by the international community against such use," the spokesperson said.
(Euronews with AP)
Putin has decided he will 'not stop' war in Ukraine, Macron says
Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that Vladimir Putin had "decided that he would not stop" in Ukraine because "he needs a military victory for himself" even if he "realises that Ukraine will not submit to him."
The French President said in an interview published in newspaper Le Point that Mariupol was a point of fixation for Putin.
By concentrating the offensive on the Donbas, the Russian president seeks to "achieve a victory and aim for a glorious military parade on May 9, a very important date for him and for Russia".
"I believe very little in our collective ability get him around a negotiating table in the short term," Macron said.
(AFP)
Ukrainian politician close to Putin detained
Ukrainian officials say fugitive Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, who is both a pro-Russian opposition leader and a close associate of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, has been detained in a special operation carried out by the country’s SBU secret service.
Ivan Bakanov, the head of Ukraine's national security agency, said on the agency's Telegram channel that Medvedchuk had been arrested. The statement came shortly after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted on social media a photo of Medvedchuk sitting in handcuffs and wearing a camouflage uniform with a Ukrainian flag patch.
Medvedchuk leads the pro-Russian party Opposition Platform - For Life. He was being held under house arrest before the war began and disappeared shortly after hostilities broke out.
Putin is the godfather to Medvedchuk’s youngest daughter.
(AP)
Ukraine deserves EU membership because 'we are fighting for Europe', says Zelenskyy advisor
Ukraine has earned its right to EU membership due to its defence of Europe against Russia, said a top advisor to the country's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The president's deputy head of office, Ihor Zhovkva, told Euronews that his country needs its application to join the 27 member bloc to be processed as quickly as possible and that it cannot wait years for it.
"We can't afford ourselves years or tens of thousands of years to review Ukraine's application," Zhovkva said. "We need it swiftly. We need it very, very swiftly. We deserve it because we are fighting now not only for Ukraine but for all European nations."
Read the full story here.
Ukrainians struggling to exchange national currency in EU countries
People fleeing the war in Ukraine are reported to be finding it difficult to convert their Ukrainian money into the currency of the EU countries they have made their new home.
Mbogné Saah Jules Bokade is just one of many refugees coming from the embattled country due to the Russian invasion, who is finding out that nowhere will accept his hryvnia - Ukraine's national currency.
"In Belgium, we can't find banks that accept Ukrainian money. I have been to lots of banks and I have not found a solution," Bokade told Euronews.
Read the full story here.
Preliminary estimates suggest up to 22,000 have died in Mariupol, Donetsk military administration tells CNN
Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of Donetsk's regional military administration, told CNN that while it's difficult to comment on the number of casualties, the current estimates are between 20,000 to 22,000.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had previously said that tens of thousands had died in the besieged southern port city that has been subject to constant shelling.
Ukrainian troops in Mariupol 'have issues with supplies'
An advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian troops in Mariupol "remain blocked and have issues with supplies".
Ukraine is aware of the problem and is monitoring the situation in "real-time", tweeted Mikhailo Podolyak, who added that the president and armed forces were doing what they could "to find a solution and help our guys".
German president says he's not wanted in Kyiv
Germany’s president says his Polish counterpart suggested that they travel to Ukraine together with other leaders to show solidarity, but “that apparently wasn’t wanted in Kyiv.”
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s comments Tuesday, during a visit to Poland, came after German newspaper Bild quoted an unidentified Ukrainian diplomat as saying that he’s not welcome in Kyiv at the moment because he had close relations with Russia in the past.
Steinmeier said Polish President Andrzej Duda had suggested that they travel to the Ukrainian capital with the presidents of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to send “a strong signal of joint European solidarity with Ukraine.” He said he had been prepared to do so.
Steinmeier last week admitted mistakes in policy toward Russia in his previous job as foreign minister.
Steinmeier served twice as ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel’s foreign minister, most recently from 2013 to 2017, and before that as ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s chief of staff. In that time, Germany pursued dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin and cultivated close energy ties.
(AP)
Zelenskyy thanks Lithuania for weapons and support
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Lithuania for "being the first to give (Ukraine) real help, to give us weapons" in an address to MPs.
"It was a historic manifestation of leadership," he said. "This is exactly the kind of leadership the whole continent needs now to truly save and uphold common values that are undoubtedly important to Europe."
He commended Lithuania for ending imports of Russian gas and encouraged other European states to do so.
"Specific deadlines must finally be set for each EU state in order to really abandon or at least significantly limit the consumption of Russian gas, oil, etc."
"Only then will the Russian leadership come to the conclusion that real peace must be sought."
More than 870,000 Ukrainians have returned home since the start of the war
More than 870,000 Ukrainians have returned home since the start of the war, including women and children, the Ukrainian border guard service announced on Tuesday.
"Currently, 25,000 to 30,000 Ukrainians a day are returning to their country. Unlike in the early days when it was mostly men, now there are also women, children and the elderly," said Ukrainian border guard spokesman Andriy Demchenko.
On April 3, the Interior Ministry reported 537,000 Ukrainians returned home citing data from the State Border Guard Service.
"They say they see that the situation is safer, especially in the western regions and they can no longer stay abroad, they are ready to return to the country and stay here," the spokesperson added.
More than 4.6 million Ukrainian refugees have fled their country since the invasion ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, according to the UN's refugee agency.
(AFP)
Putin says Russia's economy has resisted western sanctions
Russian President Vladimir Putin says the Russian economy has successfully resisted new Western sanctions over Ukraine on a visit to a space launch facility in the far east
Putin argued that the sanctions will backfire against the West. For example, he said that Western restrictions on fertilizer exports from Russia and ally Belarus will drive up global fertilizer prices, eventually leading to food shortages and increased migration flows.
Putin said that “common sense should prevail” and added that the West should “come back to reason and make well-balanced decisions without losing its face.” He contended that “they won’t be able to shut all the doors and windows.”
He argued that new Western restrictions on high-tech exports will encourage Russia to move faster to develop new technologies, opening a “new window of opportunities.”
(AP)
Ukraine expands war crimes probe around Kyiv
Ukrainian prosecutors are expanding their war crimes investigations in northeastern suburbs of Kyiv after Russian forces withdrew.
Reports of killings of civilians have primarily focused so far on the northwestern suburbs such as Bucha, but the Prosecutor-General’s Office said Tuesday it was also looking into events in the Brovary district, which lies to the northeast.
Russian troops advanced into that area last month before retreating to focus on fighting in eastern Ukraine.
The Prosecutor-General’s Office said the bodies of six civilians had been found with gunshot wounds in a basement in the village of Shevchenkove and that Russian forces were believed to be responsible.
Prosecutors are also investigating an incident in which they allege Russian forces fired on a convoy of civilians trying to leave by car from the village of Peremoha in the Brovary district, killing four people including a 13-year-old boy. In another incident near Bucha, five people were killed, including two children, when a car was fired upon, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors did not say when they believed the incidents occurred.
(AP)
Russian charged with espionage in Poland
Poland has arrested a Russian citizen and charged him with espionage, a spokesperson for the Polish Minister Coordinator of Special Services said on Tuesday.
Relations between Russia and countries once in the Soviet sphere of influence have long been fraught, but the invasion of Ukraine has increased suspicion about Moscow's intentions.
The man had been living in Poland for 18 years and carrying out business activity. He was detained on April 6 and will be held in custody for three months, the spokesperson said in a statement.
"The evidence gathered by the Military Counterintelligence Service indicates that the man, instructed by the Russian special services, collected information concerning the military readiness of the Polish Armed Forces and of NATO troops," he added.
In March, Poland expelled 45 Russian diplomats suspected of working for Russian intelligence, and Moscow retaliated by expelling 45 Polish diplomats this month
(Reuters)
'Six civilians found dead in Kyiv basement'
A probe has been launched after six civilians with gunshot wounds were found dead in a Kyiv basement, the Office of the Attorney General in Ukraine said on Telegram.
It happened in Shevchenkove in Kyiv's suburbs, the statement added.
The office said according to a preliminary investigation, Russian troops had killed them during the occupation.
Germany reveals Ukraine refugee numbers
German authorities say that over 330,000 refugees from Ukraine are known to have entered Germany so far.
The Interior Ministry said Tuesday that German federal police have recorded 335,578 people entering since Russia’s invasion started on Feb. 24. Those who have arrived are overwhelmingly women and children.
The true number of refugees in Germany could be higher, however, since there are no strict controls on the country’s eastern border and Ukrainian citizens can stay up to 90 days in the European Union without a visa. Officials say an unknown number also have moved on to other European countries.
The UN refugee agency on Tuesday put the total number of people who have fled Ukraine at more than 4.6 million, over 2.6 million of whom fled at least initially to Poland.
(AP)
Probe launched over mine death
Ukrainian police say they have launched a war crimes investigation after a 64-year-old man was killed by a mine left behind in an area from which Russian forces recently retreated.
Police said the unidentified local man was driving on Monday near the village of Krasne in northern Ukraine and had pulled over his car to greet acquaintances when he struck an anti-tank mine left at the side of the road.
Ukrainian authorities have issued repeated warnings of mines and explosive traps left in areas where Russian troops have been operating.
(AP)
Putin: 'No doubt we will achieve our goals'
President Vladimir Putin says the Russian military action in Ukraine aims to ensure Russia’s security and is vowing that its goals will be achieved.
Speaking Tuesday on a visit to the Vostochny space launch facility in Russia’s Far East, Putin charged that Ukraine was turned into an “anti-Russian bridgehead” where “sprouts of nationalism and neo-Nazism were being cultivated.” Ukraine and its Western allies have dismissed such claims as a cover for aggression.
Putin reaffirmed his claim that the Russian “special military operation” was aimed to protect people in areas in eastern Ukraine controlled by Moscow-backed rebels. He also said that the campaign was also aimed to “ensure Russia’s own security.”
Putin argued that “we had no other choice” and said that “there is no doubt that we will achieve our goals.”
(AP)
UK MOD: Fighting in eastern Ukraine to intensify over next 'two to three weeks'
Russia continues to redeploy its forces for a push on eastern Ukraine, and fighting is expected to intensify there over the next two to three weeks, the UK defence ministry said on Tuesday.
It says Russian forces are withdrawing from Belarus in order to redeploy in support of operations in eastern Ukraine.
Meanwhile, a senior UK defence minister says “all possible options are on the table” for the West’s response if Russian forces use chemical weapons in Ukraine.
Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said on Tuesday that neither the UK nor the Ukrainian governments had confirmed reports that a chemical weapon may have been used in the besieged city of Mariupol.
"Let’s be clear, if they are used at all then President [Vladimir] Putin should know that all possible options are on the table in terms of how the West might respond,” Heappey told Sky News.
Two Caritas humanitarian workers among tank attack victims in downtown Mariupol
Two Caritas Ukraine staff were killed when a Russian tank fired a shell at the building hosting their office in the southern port city of Mariupol, the humanitarian organisation said on Monday evening.
Another five civilians who sought shelter at the office were also killed in the attack, Caritas Ukraine stated on Twitter.
Zelenskyy taking chemical weapons threats 'as seriously as possible'
Kyiv is growing increasingly concerned about the threats of chemical weapons use by the Russian forces, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
This comes after the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic's military spokesman Eduard Basurin's statement advocating the use of "chemical troops" against the remaining Ukrainian units in Mariupol "to smoke (them) out of their holes".
"One of the mouthpieces of the occupiers stated that they could use chemical weapons against the defenders of Mariupol. We take this as seriously as possible," Zelenskyy said in his nightly address on Monday.
"I want to remind the world leaders that the possible use of chemical weapons by the Russian military has already been discussed. And already at that time, it meant that it was necessary to react to the Russian aggression much tougher and faster," he added.
Shelling of Kharkiv intensifies, at least eight civilians killed
The bombardment of the northeastern city of Kharkiv intensified on Monday, causing at least eight civilian deaths, including one child, local authorities said.
"The shelling of the regional centre continued this afternoon, in particular near Kholodna Hora. A few hours ago, the aggressors shelled Saltivka again, hitting a 16-storey building," Kharkiv regional administration head Oleh Synyehubov said on Telegram.
Synyehubov also stated that the Russian troops were using delayed-action mines scattered by artillery. The rescue crews found and deactivated at least 80 devices throughout Monday, he claimed.
4.8 million Ukrainian children displaced since Russia invaded Ukraine, UN agency says
Nearly two-thirds of all Ukrainian children have fled their homes in the six weeks since Russia’s invasion.
Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF’s emergency programs director who just returned from Ukraine, said having 4.8 million of Ukraine’s 7.5 million children displaced in such a short time is something he had not seen happen so quickly in 31 years of humanitarian work.
Fontaine said on Monday that of Ukraine’s refugee children, 2.8 million are displaced within Ukraine, and two million more are in other countries.
The UN has verified the deaths of 142 children since 24 February, although the number is almost certainly much higher.
Moscow created bill to speed up adoption of taken Ukrainian children, diplomat claims
Ukraine’s UN ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya claimed Russia has taken more than 121,000 children out of Ukraine and reportedly drafted a bill to simplify and accelerate adoption procedures for orphans and even those who have parents and other relatives.
Most of the children were removed from the besieged southern port city of Mariupol and taken to eastern Donetsk and then to the Russian city of Taganrog, according to Kyslytsya.