World leaders have pledged military aid and support for Ukraine. Earlier, Mariupol's mayor accused Russia of using a chemical agent on the outskirts of the city.
The war in Ukraine is now in its seventh week, as Russian forces are expected to begin a new big offensive in the east of the country after their retreat from the Kyiv region and other parts of the country revealed growing evidence of human rights atrocities.
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.
Kyiv forces continue to prepare for the renewed assault, while Western nations keep tightening sanctions against Moscow and NATO and some EU countries promise to keep delivering more weapons to Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Follow Wednesday's events as they unfold in our blog below, or watch TV coverage in the video player above.
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Wednesday's key points:
Russia has been accused of dropping a chemical agent on the outskirts of Mariupol on 11 April by the city's mayor.
Biden has approved $800m in military aid for Ukraine, including helicopters and artillery, after accusing Vladimir Putin of committing "genocide" in the country.
Finland and Sweden are both mulling NATO membership.
Polish and Baltic presidents met Zelenskyy in Kyiv, with some pledging more military support.
The UK has slapped more sanctions on Russia, saying it will target those who 'aid and abet Putin's war.'
The German government has defended their president after he was told he wasn't welcome at Wednesday's meeting in Kyiv.
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.
More than 4.6 million refugees have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion, with millions being displaced internally, mostly in the western parts of the country.
Additionally, 4.8 million of Ukraine’s 7.5 million children have been displaced since 24 February, said UNICEF.
Closing up
That's the end of our live updates today, please join us for more coverage from 6am on Thursday.
Russia irked by oligarch's detention in Ukraine
The detention of the fugitive Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk has been met with irritation in Moscow.
Medvedchuk is a close associate of Russian leader Vladimir Putin and once led a pro-Russian opposition party in Ukraine.
Analysts believe Medvedchuk will become a valuable bargaining chip if Russia and Ukraine enter talks to bring about an end to the bloody conflict.
The 67-year-old oligarch had been on the run for several days before he was caught in a special operation by Ukraine's security services.
He faces between 15 years and life in prison on charges of treason and aiding a terrorist organisation.
(AP)
Biden ticks off $800m in military aid to Ukraine
US President Joe Biden has approved $800 million (€735 million) in new military assistance for Ukraine to bolster its defences against Russia.
Artillery and helicopters are among the items being given to Ukraine as it faces an intensified Russian offensive in the east.
Biden made the announcement after a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, where the two coordinated the delivery of the aid, which includes artillery systems, artillery rounds, armoured personnel carriers and helicopters.
"The steady supply of weapons the United States and its Allies and partners have provided to Ukraine has been critical in sustaining its fight against the Russian invasion,” Biden said in a statement. “It has helped ensure that Putin failed in his initial war aims to conquer and control Ukraine.
"We cannot rest now,” he added.
(AP)
WHO chief slams world for 'singular focus' on Ukraine
The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has criticised the global community for its almost singular focus on the war in Ukraine, arguing there are crises elsewhere deserving attention.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus claimed that other world problems were not receiving equal consideration because those suffering aren't white.
In a press briefing on Wednesday, he said he didn’t know “if the world really gives equal attention to black and white lives,” since the ongoing emergencies in Ethiopia, Yemen, Afghanistan and Syria have caught only a “fraction” of the global concern for Ukraine.
Tedros acknowledged that the situation in Ukraine was globally significant, but questioned if other crises were receiving enough attention.
He pointed to the siege of the Tigray region in Ethiopia by Eritrean and Ethiopian forces, noting that a recent truce had still not allowed significant amounts of much-needed humanitarian aid.
"I need to be blunt and honest that the world is not treating the human race the same way," he said. "Some are more equal than others."
(AP)
$7 billion Abramovich-linked assets frozen
Assets connected to the Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich have been frozen in the Channel Island of Jersey.
They are estimated to be worth more than $7 billion (€6.4 billion).
The Law Offices Department of Jersey, a self-governing British crown dependency, said on Wednesday that the assets being targeted were either located in Jersey, or owned by Jersey-incorporated entities.
It also said that police executed a search warrant on Tuesday at an address suspected to be connected to Abramovich's business activities.
No further details were provided.
Abramovich, the former owner of Chelsea FC, has been sanctioned by the UK and EU due to his close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
(AP)
UK slaps new sanctions on Russia
The UK has announced more sanctions on Russia related to the country's war in Ukraine.
Some 178 individuals, who are key figures in the Kremlin-backed breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, have been targeted by the sanctions.
Among those sanctioned are Alexander Ananchenko, prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, and Sergey Kozlov, chair of government in the Luhansk People’s Republic.
UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the sanctions were being coordinated with the EU, and come after rocket attacks struck civilians in eastern Ukraine.
Truss says the UK was sanctioning "those who prop up the illegal breakaway regions and are complicit in atrocities against the Ukrainian people.
"We will continue to target all those who aid and abet Putin’s war," she added.
(AP)
Latvia to give drone training to Ukrainians
Latvia says it will train Ukrainian soldiers to use drones against Russia.
"We must do everything we can to promote Ukraine's victory and to defend its principles of self-determination and sovereignty," said the country's Defence Minister Artis Pabriks.
Unmanned aerial vehicles were delivered by two Latvian companies he added.
Latvia has already given Ukraine powerful Stinger anti-air systems, alongside personal equipment, food supplies, ammunition, and anti-tank weaponry, totalling more than €200 million ($216 million).
(AP)
Mariupol mayor makes chemical attack claim
Vadym Boichenko, mayor of Mariupol, has claimed Russian planes dropped a chemical agent in towns and villages on the outskirts of the besieged city.
Speaking at an online press conference, he said the attack occurred on 11 April.
"They sensed a sweet taste in their mouths in the towns and villages around Mariupol," said Boichenko, referring to the locals affected. "They started fleeing because they sensed danger."
Boichenko also claimed Russia was carrying out a genocide of Mariupol's Ukrainian population.
Euronews cannot independently verify these claims.
Click to listen to Boichenko's press conference in full.
Polish and Baltic presidents arrive in Kyiv
A top aide to Poland’s President Andrzej Duda says Duda and the presidents of the three Baltic nations have arrived in Ukraine, ahead of talks about material aid for the country.
Pawel Szrot, chief of Duda’s staff, said Wednesday that Duda, “together with the presidents of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, is currently on the territory of Ukraine. They are travelling to Kyiv to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.”
For security reasons, he gave no details.
Duda brings "symbolic support, with political support and for talks on material support,“ Szrot said, adding that all four countries are “extending support to Ukraine that is of humanitarian nature and not necessarily of humanitarian nature."
These countries, all of which border Russia or its exclave of Kaliningrad, have been providing Ukraine with weapons that they call “defensive”.
Pictures of the four presidents getting on a train have been posted on their social media.
In a Twitter post, Estonian President Alar Karis said: "We are visiting Ukraine to show strong support to the Ukrainian people, will meet dear friend President Zelenskyy.“
(AP)
Finland to make NATO decision in 'weeks rather than months'
Finland will make a decision on whether to apply for NATO membership in "weeks rather than months", its prime minister has said.
Sanna Marin, speaking on Wednesday lunchtime, said she was keen to build a consensus within the Finnish parliament.
She emphasised there was no fixed timetable but that "everything had changed with Russia's invasion of Ukraine".
Read more here.
Germany would face recession if it gave up on Russian gas now, experts say
Germany would plunge into recession in 2023 if Russian gas supplies were to be cut off immediately in the wake of the war in Ukraine, Germany's leading economic forecasting institutes said on Wednesday.
In 2023, the GDP of Europe's largest economy would fall by 2.2% if gas supplies were stopped, on which Germany is particularly dependent, six influential organisations (DIW, IFO, IfW, IWH and RWI) concluded.
The cumulative GDP loss over 2022 and 2023 would amount to about 220 billion euros, they said.
No humanitarian corridors on Wednesday, Ukrainian authorities say
The authorities in Ukraine decided not to operate the humanitarian corridors on Wednesday due to concerns for the safety of civilians, Minister of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories Iryna Vereshchuk said on Telegram.
The decision was made after the Russian troops "blocked evacuation buses in the Zaporizhzhia region and have broken the ceasefire agreement in the Luhansk region," she explained.
She added that the Moscow forces "not only ignore international humanitarian laws, but are also incapable of controlling their own personnel on the ground."
"We will continue working on ensuring the re-opening of humanitarian corridors as soon as possible," Vereshchuk stated.
Poland, Baltic states leaders to meet with Zelenskyy in Kyiv
The presidents of Poland and the three Baltic states -- Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania -- are travelling to Kyiv on Wednesday in order to meet with their Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“We are visiting Ukraine to show strong support to the Ukrainian people, will meet dear friend President Zelenskyy,“ Estonian President Alar Karis said in a post on Twitter.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said in a tweet that he is coming to the Ukrainian capital with “a strong message of political support and military assistance”.
"Lithuania will continue backing Ukraine's fight for its sovereignty and freedom," he stated.
Zelenskyy: evidence of 'inhumane cruelty' keeps appearing, 'world must react' to chemical weapons use
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that evidence of further war crimes continues to come in after the Russian troops' retreat.
In addition to the killings in Bucha, more evidence was appearing of the “inhuman cruelty” of Russian soldiers toward women and children in other Kyiv suburbs and other towns in the north and east.
He also made an appeal asking the international community to respond to Russia’s use of a poisonous substance in Mariupol.
“Given the repeated threats by Russian propagandists to use chemical weapons against the Mariupol defenders and given the repeated use by the Russian army, for example, of phosphorus munitions in Ukraine, the world must react now,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to the nation Tuesday.
Phosphorus munitions cause horrendous burns but are not classed as chemical weapons.
Zelenskyy said experts were still trying to determine what had been used in Mariupol.
Biden labels Russian invasion of Ukraine as 'genocide'
President Joe Biden on Tuesday said that Russia's war in Ukraine amounted to a "genocide," accusing President Vladimir Putin of trying to "wipe out the idea of even being a Ukrainian".
Speaking in Iowa shortly before boarding Air Force One to return to Washington, Biden said he meant it when he said that Putin was carrying out a genocide against Ukraine at an earlier event.
"Yes, I called it genocide," he told reporters. "It's become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of even being a Ukrainian."
Biden added that it would be up to lawyers to decide if Russia's conduct met the international standard for genocide but said, "it sure seems that way to me".
"More evidence is coming out literally of the horrible things that the Russians have done in Ukraine and we're only going to learn more and more about the devastation and let the lawyers decide internationally whether or not it qualifies," Biden said.
Putin's ally Medvedchuk captured in Ukraine
Ukrainian officials say fugitive Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk -- both the former leader of a pro-Russian opposition party 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.
In his nightly video address to the nation Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed that Russia could win Medvedchuk's freedom by trading Ukrainians now held in Russian prisons.
Earlier on Tuesday, Zelenskyy posted on social media a photo of Medvedchuk sitting in handcuffs and wearing a camouflage uniform with a Ukrainian flag patch.
Medvedchuk was the former leader of the pro-Russian party Opposition Platform - For Life. He was held under house arrest before the war began and disappeared shortly after hostilities broke out.
Putin is the godfather to Medvedchuk's youngest daughter.
Kyiv suburbs death toll keeps rising after Russian retreat
More than 720 people have been killed in Bucha and other Kyiv suburbs that were occupied by Russian troops and more than 200 are considered missing, the Interior Ministry said on early Wednesday.
Mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk said 403 bodies had been found in Bucha so far, while the toll could rise as the search for mines and other undetonated devices continues.
Ukraine’s prosecutor-general's office said on Tuesday it was also looking into events in the Brovary district, which lies to the northeast.
Authorities said the bodies of six civilians were found with gunshot wounds in a basement in the village of Shevchenkove and Russian forces are believed to be responsible.