Ukraine has told its citizens in the eastern parts of the country to evacuate
Ukraine today told residents of the country's eastern regions to evacuate "now" or "risk death" due to a feared Russian attack. Russia faces war crime allegations, after bodies of civilians were found in Ukraine's town Bucha.
Here's your 10-point cheatsheet to this big story:
- Ukraine's Defence Ministry tweeted a video that showed a village taken back from Russian forces. "Borodyanka, Kyiv region. Only 42 days ago, 13,000 people lived in this village. Russian occupiers brought death and destruction here. They wanted to do the same with the whole of Ukraine. But our army fought back. Borodyanka is under the Ukrainian flag again," it said.
- The US, European Union and G7 are set to toughen sanctions on Russia following allegations of war crimes. The US will ban all new investment in Russia, news agency AFP reported. The White House said it will also add sanctions on government officials and "their family members", among other measures.
- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the alleged massacre in Bucha "doesn't look far short of genocide to me" and that Britain will also step up sanctions on Russia. US President Joe Biden has branded Vladimir Putin a war criminal.
- Pope Francis said during his weekly audience the "recent news about the war in Ukraine, instead of bringing relief and hope, instead attests to new atrocities, such as the Bucha massacre."
- Mr Zelensky challenged the United Nations to "act immediately" or "dissolve yourself altogether" during an address in which he showed harrowing footage of dead bodies - including children - he said were victims of Russian atrocities.
- Dutch authorities impounded 14 yachts on order from Russian customers in Dutch shipyards, saying it needed to check whether the customers are on the sanctions list.
- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the images of bodies in Bucha, which the Kremlin claimed are fakes, are a "provocation" aimed at scuppering talks between Moscow and Kyiv.
- Russia's UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said over 6 lakh people have been taken voluntarily to Russia since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, denying Kyiv's claim of mass deportations.
- "And we're not talking about any kind of coercion or abduction, as our Western partners like to present this, but rather the voluntary decision by these people..." he told the Security Council.
- UN Undersecretary-General for Political and Peace-Building Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, told the Security Council of "credible" claims Russia has used indiscriminate cluster munitions two dozen times in populated parts of Ukraine.
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With inputs from AFP
