New Delhi: A rocket attack on a train station in Ukraine's Kramatorsk city on Friday killed at least 50 people, including five children, said the local governor of Donetsk. Ukraine has blamed Russia for the attack, but Moscow has denied the accusation. This comes on a day European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen was in the country, where she visited the mass grave site in Bucha.
Meanwhile, Russia said it was shutting down the local offices of a number of international organisations, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, due to "violations of the current legislation of the Russian Federation,"
Russia was yesterday suspended from the UN Human Rights Council as punishment for the invasion of Ukraine. Of the 193 members of the UN General Assembly, 93 voted in favour of suspension while 24 voted against and 58 abstained.
Ukraine has warned residents in the east that they have a "last chance" to flee before a major Russian offensive expected in the Donbas region. However, trains evacuating residents were halted by Russian strikes on the only line still under Kyiv's control.
Here are the Highlights on Russia-Ukraine War:
Apr 09, 2022 02:30 (IST)
Ukraine War Live: Russia's ruble stages rebound despite Western sanctions
After a historic collapse in the wake of Russia's military offensive in Ukraine, the ruble has staged a spectacular bounceback, supported by strict capital controls and energy exports.
But analysts say that success is in many ways artificial and does not bode well for the health of the Russian economy.
The February 24 military operation triggered unprecedented Western sanctions on Moscow, sending the ruble into free-fall and accelerating already high inflation.
Apr 09, 2022 01:21 (IST)
Ukraine War Live: EU publishes sanctions against Putin's two daughters
The EU blacklisted Russian President Vladimir Putin's two adult daughters and more than 200 other people as part of its latest sanctions package over Moscow's war in Ukraine, according to an official list published late Friday.
Those on the list, which additionally included 18 companies, face asset seizures and travel bans in the 27-nation European Union.
Apr 09, 2022 00:30 (IST)
Ukraine War Live: Moscow shutting down Amnesty, Human Rights Watch in Russia
Russia said on Friday it was shutting down the local offices of more than a dozen international organisations including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Fifteen organisations have been taken off Russia's registry of international organisations and foreign NGOs due to "violations of the current legislation of the Russian Federation," the justice ministry said in a statement without providing further details.
Apr 08, 2022 23:16 (IST)
Ukraine War Live: Russian Currency Stages Rebound Despite Western Sanctions
After a historic collapse in the wake of Russia's military offensive in Ukraine, the ruble has staged a spectacular bounceback, supported by strict capital controls and energy exports. But analysts say that success is in many ways artificial and does not bode well for the health of the Russian economy. The February 24 military operation triggered unprecedented Western sanctions on Moscow, sending the ruble into free-fall and accelerating already high inflation. (AFP)
Apr 08, 2022 23:06 (IST)
Ukraine War Live: France Calls Ukraine Station Attack "Crime Against Humanity"
A strike blamed by Ukraine on Russia against a railway station in the east of the country that left at least 50 people dead can be classified as a crime against humanity, France said on Friday. "They hit a station where there are refugees, civilians and so this can be seen as a crime against humanity," Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told France 5 television, calling for experts to head to the scene in Kramatorsk to gather evidence so the perpetrators can be held to account. (AFP)
Apr 08, 2022 23:02 (IST)
Ukraine LIVE: UN Says New Ukraine Refugees Fleeing Dire Conditions
The flow of people escaping Russia's war in Ukraine has slowed but those now fleeing have often spent weeks in dire conditions, the United Nations said on Friday. UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, said 4,382,316 Ukrainians had fled the country since the war began on February 24. The total is up 62,822 on Wednesday's figures, including 22,957 who have headed to Russia since March 29, following updated numbers from Moscow. (AFP)
Apr 08, 2022 23:00 (IST)
Ukraine Live: Czechs Ship Tanks, Rocket Launchers, Artillery To Ukraine, Says Report
The Czech Republic has delivered tanks, multiple rocket launchers, howitzers and infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine among military shipments that have reached hundreds of millions of dollars and will continue, two Czech defence sources said. Ukraine has repeatedly called on the West to urgently supply more weapons, especially heavy equipment, as Russian forces regroup in the country's east for new offensive after withdrawing from around the capital Kyiv and other regions. (Reuters)
Apr 08, 2022 22:59 (IST)
Ukraine Live: Russia Says Belarus Should Become Security Guarantor For Ukraine
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said today that Belarus should provide security guarantees for Ukraine in the future, once Kiev affirms its neutral status. "At the request of the Ukrainian side, its neutral, non-bloc, non-nuclear status should be accompanied by security guarantees," Lavrov said. "We proposed that the Republic of Belarus should, of course, be among such guarantor countries." (Reuters)
Apr 08, 2022 22:58 (IST)
LIVE: EU Chief Promises Speeded Up Process For Ukraine To Seek Membership
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged today to offer Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a speedier start to Ukraine's bid to become a member of the European Union. Handing Zelensky a questionnaire which will form a starting point for the EU to decide on membership for Kyiv, she said: "It will not as usual be a matter of years to form this opinion but I think a matter of weeks." Zelensky said he would come back with answers in a week. (Reuters)
Apr 08, 2022 22:46 (IST)
Ukraine Live: Biden Thanks Slovakia For Giving Ukraine Air Defense System
US President Joe Biden todau thanked Slovakia for giving Ukraine a Russian-made S-300 anti-aircraft air defense system, adding the US would reposition a Patriot missile system to replace it. "I want to thank the Slovakian government for providing an S-300 air defense system to Ukraine, something President Zelensky has personally raised with me in our conversations," Biden said in a statement. (AFP)
Apr 08, 2022 22:45 (IST)
Ukraine War Live: Russian Shoppers Feel Pinch As Inflation Tops 16%
Russia's inflation rate reached 16.7 per cent year-on-year in March, the state statistics agency said today, a level not seen since 2015, while food prices have risen even more steeply. Prices in March --- the first full month since Moscow began its military campaign in Ukraine in late February -- were up 7.5 per cent on the previous month, according to Rosstat statistics agency. The Russian central bank sets a target for inflation of 4 per cent, but as the economy has been hit by unprecedented Western sanctions, the latest year-on-year figure is more than four times higher. (AFP)
Apr 08, 2022 22:41 (IST)
Ukraine Live: Biden Accuses Russia Of "Horrific Atrocity" At Ukraine Train Station
US President Joe Biden today accused Russia of carrying out a "horrific atrocity," after a rocket attack on a train station packed with conflict evacuees in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk left at least 50 dead. "The attack on a Ukrainian train station is yet another horrific atrocity committed by Russia, striking civilians who were trying to evacuate and reach safety," Biden said on Twitter. (AFP)
Apr 08, 2022 21:14 (IST)
Ukraine Live: Weekend Curfew In Ukraine's Odessa Over "Missile Strike Threat"
Ukraine's southern city of Odessa imposed a weekend-long curfew today over a "missile strike threat" from Russia, after the shelling of a train station that killed dozens in the eastern city of Kramatorsk. "A curfew will be introduced in Odessa and Odessa region from 9 pm on April 9 to 6 pm April 11," Odessa's regional military administration said on Facebook. The decision was taken "given events in Kramatorsk" and "threat of a missile strike on Odessa", it said. (AFP)
Apr 08, 2022 20:31 (IST)
Ukraine Live: UK PM Says Sending Ukraine More Anti-Aircraft, Anti-Tank Missiles
Britain is sending Ukraine more Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles and 800 anti-tank missiles after an "unconscionable" attack on a train station, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said today. The supplies of the "high-grade military equipment" are worth 100 million pounds ($130 million, 120 million euros), PM Johnson said. The attack at Kramatorsk "shows the depths to which (Vladimir) Putin's once-vaunted army has sunk", he told reporters alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who said the Russian strike was "atrocious". (AFP)
Apr 08, 2022 20:21 (IST)
Ukraine Live: UK Minister Priti Patel Voices "Frustration" Over Ukraine Refugee Delays
UK Home Secretary Priti Patel today voiced her "frustration" at the slow process of rehousing Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian conflict. The Indian-origin minister was speaking with reference to the latest UK Home Office figures, which show the government has granted 41,000 visas to Ukrainians fleeing the war zone but of those only around a quarter at 12,500 have reached the UK. "I'll be very candid, it has taken time. Any new scheme takes time, any new visa system takes time," Patel told the BBC. (PTI)
Apr 08, 2022 20:18 (IST)
Ukraine Live: Ukraine's Zelensky Urges "Molotov Cocktail" Sanctions On Russia
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky today asked the West to impose "Molotov cocktail" sanctions on Moscow, including a ban on Russian gas, and appealed for more weapons as he addressed Finnish MPs. Scolding "those who are making us wait, wait for the things that we need badly, wait for the means of protecting our lives," Zelensky called on Western leaders to impose a "sanctions cocktail" against Russia that "would be remembered just like Molotov cocktails". Molotov cocktails are improvised incendiary devices popularised by the Finns in their war against the Soviet Union during World War 2. (AFP)
