OSBC Osun State Broadcasting Corporation
Russian shelling is preventing the evacuation of civilians from Kyiv, Mariupol, Sumy, Kharkiv, Volnovakha and Mykolayiv, Ukraine’s foreign ministry has said.
More than 1.7 million Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s invasion have so far crossed into central Europe, the United Nation’s refugee agency said on Monday, as thousands more streamed across the borders.
A third round of conflict talks between Ukraine and Russia have ended with “small positive developments” relating to potential humanitarian corridors, according to reports. But Russia said it was “too early” to talk about positives.
The mayor of Lviv said the western Ukrainian city had reached the limits of its capacity to help people displaced by Russia’s assault on Ukraine and appealed to international organisations for help.
The US assesses that Russia has now committed almost 100% of the forces it had amassed for the Ukraine invasion. That means an estimated 127 battalion tactical groups. The Russian force has launched over 625 missiles, mostly short and medium range surface to air missiles and cruise missiles, US officials say.
At least 13 civilians have been reported killed in an air strike on a bread factory in the Ukrainian town of Makariv, just outside Kyiv, according to the Ukrainian state emergency service.
Ukraine has suffered about $10 billion in damage to infrastructure since Russia invaded the country, Infrastructure Minister Oleksander Kubrakov said on Monday.
Members of the US Congress pushed President Joe Biden’s administration on Monday to facilitate the immediate transfer of fighter aircraft to Ukraine from Nato and eastern European countries.
The Russian shelling of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, in Ukraine last week was a “close call” and “must not, under any circumstances, be repeated”, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Amnesty International has criticised the Ukrainian authorities for bringing Russian prisoners of war to press conferences. Prisoners of war in Russia’s invasion of its neighbour “must have their rights respected under the Third Geneva Convention”, the non-government organisation said.
The US ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Michael Carpenter has accused Belarus of “stabbing [its] neighbour in the back”. He made the comments while denying that United States had confirmed that there were no Belarusian troops in Ukraine, describing it as a “co-aggressor” in Russia’s war on it’s neighbour.
Russia has accused Ireland of failing to protect its ambassador and staff as required under international law after a truck reversed into the embassy estate forcing open the gates in the process.
The Russian rouble has slumped to new record lows against the dollar and euro today, losing over a third of its value so far this year. The rouble traded at 131.25 per dollar and 143.3 per euro on Monday morning.
European Union leaders will discuss Ukraine’s application to join the 27-nation bloc in the coming days, the chairman of EU summits, Charles Michel, said in a tweet on Monday.
Plans are being drawn up for Ukraine’s President Volodomyr Zelenskiy to address British MPs via video link on Tuesday.He is expected to ask for more arms and repeat calls for an implementation of a no-fly zone, according to Ukraine’s embassy to the UK.
The British prime minister, Boris Johnson, said a boycott of Russian oil and gas was “very much on the table”. Over the weekend, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said Washington was in “very active discussions” with countries in Europe over banning imports of Russian oil, PA Media reported.
