War in Ukraine: Latest developments

Russia says  in excess of thousand Ukrainian fighters have given up in the assaulted southeastern city of Mariupol following a fierce six-week fight for the essential port.

“In the city of Mariupol… 1,026 Ukrainian servicemen of the 36th Marine Brigade willfully set out their arms and gave up,” the Russian guard service says. Ukraine presently can’t seem to affirm the report.

– Ukraine a ‘crime scene’ –

“Ukraine is a crime scene,” the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor says on a visit to the town of Bucha west of Kiev, one of several towns where Russia is accused of massacring civilians.

Prosecutor Karim Khan says there are “reasonable grounds to believe that crimes within the jurisdiction of the court are being committed”. The ICC investigates allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and aggression.

Bucha’s mayor says more than 400 people have been found dead so far and 25 women have reported being raped.

– Russia committing ‘genocide’: Biden –

US President Joe Biden accuses Russian forces for the first time of committing genocide in Ukraine.

“It’s become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of even being able to be a Ukrainian,” he tells reporters.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has also accused Russia of genocide, hails Biden as a “true leader” but French President Emmanuel Macron warns against “verbal escalations”.

– ‘Credible’ chemical weapons claim –

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Washington has “credible information” that Russia “may use… chemical agents” in its offensive in Mariupol.

The world’s chemical weapons watchdog, the OPCW, says it is “concerned” over the reports.

– Polish, Baltic leaders to Kyiv –

The leaders of Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania travel to Kyiv together by train to show support for Zelensky.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier says he had planned to join them but was told by Kyiv he was “not wanted”. He has been criticised for his past advocacy of warmer ties with Russia. A top aide to Zelensky says Kyiv wants German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to visit instead.

– Attacks in south, east –

Ukraine accuses Russian troops of shooting six men and one woman in a home in the southern village of Pravdyne on Tuesday and then blowing up the building to hide the evidence.

The governor of Kharkiv says seven civilians have been killed by Russian shelling in the eastern region in the past 24 hours.

– Separatists sanctioned –

Britain says it and the European Union plan to impose sanctions on 178 pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Separatist forces have been fronting the fight against Ukrainian marines in Mariupol.

– Finnish NATO decision ‘within weeks’ –

Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin says the country, which has been non-aligned since the end of the Cold War, will decide whether to apply for NATO membership “within weeks”.

Russia’s intrusion of Ukraine has likewise relaunched a discussion over NATO enrollment in adjoining Sweden.

– Russia looks for new purchasers for oil, gas –

Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow has “every one of the assets and open doors” to rapidly observe new clients for its energy trades in the wake of being hit by Western approvals.

The US has prohibited imports of Russian oil and gas while the EU and Japan have restricted imports of Russian coal.

– Head honcho trade offer –

Zelensky offers to trade favorable to Kremlin magnate Viktor Medvedchuk, who has been near Putin for a really long time and who was captured in the wake of getting away from house capture, for Ukrainians caught by Russia