Fighting and evacuation efforts
Around 1,300 Ukrainian troops have been killed since the start of the Russian invasion, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. Earlier, he said Russia was sending new forces to Ukraine after suffering what he said were its biggest losses in decades.
The governors of two Ukrainian regions, Kyiv and Donetsk, said Russian attacks were continuing in areas where Ukraine was trying to evacuate people and bring aid through humanitarian corridors.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said people trapped in the besieged southern city of Mariupol were desperate, adding “there are reports of looting and violent confrontations among civilians over what little basic supplies remain in the city”.
Russian forces have shelled a mosque in Mariupol, where more than 80 adults and children, including Turkish citizens, have taken refuge, Ukraine’s foreign ministry said, without saying if there were any deaths or injuries.
Diplomatic efforts
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron called for an immediate ceasefire in the Ukraine conflict during a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a German government spokesperson said. The Kremlin said that Putin had told Macron and Scholz about the state of negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv and responded to their concerns about the humanitarian situation in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Zelenskiy said the West should be more involved in negotiations to end the war but welcomed efforts by Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to mediate between Ukraine and Russia, and said he had suggested to Bennett holding talks in Jerusalem.
Refugees
Ukraine’s neighbours reported a dip in numbers of refugees as governments and volunteers struggled to find shelter for the nearly 2.6 million people who have fled.
Belarus role
Belarus has no plans to join Russian forces in Ukraine but is sending five battalion tactical groups to its border on rotation to replace forces already stationed there, its Chief of General Staff Viktor Gulevich said.
Economy and sanctions
Ukraine, a major global producer of agricultural products, has banned exports of fertilisers given the invasion, the agriculture ministry said.
Italian police have seized a superyacht owned by Russian billionaire Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko, the prime minister’s office said, a few days after the businessman was placed on an EU sanctions list.
What we know about the Russia-Ukraine conflict
