Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now-update

Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now-update

(Reuters) – Ukraine said its forces had retaken all areas around Kyiv, while the mayor of Bucha near the capital said 300 residents had been killed during a month-long occupation by Russian troops.

FIGHTING

* Russia missiles struck “critical infrastructure”, most likely a fuel depot, near Ukraine’s southern port city of Odesa but there were no casualties, officials in the city said.

* Russian naval forces continue to blockade the Ukrainian coast on the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, preventing resupply by sea, British military intelligence said.

* Missiles struck near Ukraine’s southern port of Odesa, with the city council saying “critical infrastructure facilities” were hit by missiles. No casualties were reported.

* Two blasts were heard in the Russian city of Belgorod near the border with Ukraine, two witnesses told Reuters, days after Russian authorities accused Ukrainian forces of striking a fuel depot there.

CIVILIANS

* Work on evacuating people with the help of Red Cross from Mariupol will continue on Sunday with buses attempting to come close to the besieged city, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.

* The European Union accused Russian troops of committing atrocities in the Kyiv region after the mayor of the town of Bucha said 300 residents had been killed during a month-long occupation by Russian forces.

PEACE TALKS

* Russia said peace talks with Ukraine had not progressed enough for a leaders’ meeting and that Moscow’s position on the status of Crimea and Donbas remained unchanged. Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia had told Ukrainian television on Saturday that the draft deal was advanced enough to allow consultations between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

 

QUOTES

* “We were sitting in the cellar for two weeks. There was food but no light, no heating to warm up,” a 66-year old man called Vasili in the town of Bucha, describing life before Russian troops departed. “We put the water on candles to warm it … We slept in felt boots.”

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