Ukraine’s military says Russian forces have increased their aviation presence in the country’s airspace over the past 24 hours.
Russia launched what it calls a special military operation in Ukraine in February.
The invasion has resulted in the deaths of thousands of people – with over three-and-a-half million forced to flee the country.
The Russian Ambassador to South Africa, Ilya Rogachev says, “I am not sure that the UN Security Council can be useful in 100% of this situation, but we should strive to make it so. Unfortunately, for a number of reasons, the Security Council is blocked. The Russian military are doing their best not to harm or inflict excessive damage to civilian infrastructure and not to harm civilians. These special military operations are conducted not as a regular war.”
In the video below is Russian ambassador to South Africa, Ilya Rogachev’s interview with SABC News:
Earlier on Monday, Ukraine said it would not obey ultimatums from Russia after Moscow demanded it stops defending besieged Mariupol, where hundreds of thousands of civilians are suffering through Russian bombardments laying waste to their city.
Mariupol has become a focal point of Russia’s assault on Ukraine, but attacks were also reported to have intensified on the country’s second city Kharkiv on Monday.
The conflict has driven almost a quarter of Ukraine’s 44 million people from their homes, and Germany predicted the refugee number could reach as high as 10 million in coming weeks.
Europe said Russia was using refugees as a tool and that it was prepared to take more action on top of existing sanctions to isolate Russia from global finances and trade. – Additional reporting by Reuters
