Russia invades Ukraine: Johnson says 'realistic possibility' war could last till 2023

France sending heavy artillery to Ukraine: Macron

France is sending several heavy artillery pieces to Ukraine, President Emmanuel Macron said Friday, as growing numbers of Western nations contribute heavier arms to Kyiv following the Russian invasion.

"We are delivering significant equipment, from Milan (anti-tank missiles) to Caesar (self-propelled howitzers)," Macron told regional newspaper Ouest-France.

"I think we have to continue on this route. Always with the red line that we will not become parties to the conflict."

La France continue de soutenir l’Ukraine sur le plan militaire : le Président de la République a acté la livraison de plusieurs canons d'artillerie Caesar et de milliers d'obus. Nous sommes aux côtés du peuple ukrainien.

— Florence Parly (@florence_parly) April 22, 2022

Defence Minister Florence Parly confirmed on Twitter that France would send "several Caesar artillery cannons and thousands of shells".

Built by partly state-owned arms maker Nexter, the Caesar is a 155mm howitzer mounted on a six-wheeled truck chassis, capable of firing shells at ranges of more than 40 kilometres (25 miles).

Macron's Elysee Palace office did not reveal how many missiles and howitzers France would provide when contacted by AFP, saying that it did not want to reveal "operational information".

But it added that the anti-tank missiles had already been delivered, while the howitzers would move "in the coming days".

Around 40 Ukrainian soldiers will be trained in France on the weapons' use from Saturday, the presidency said.

Ukrainian officials including President Volodymyr Zelensky have repeatedly implored European and NATO powers to provide heavier weapons, especially artillery, as Russia launches a fresh assault on its neighbour's east.

Head of nuclear watchdog to visit Ukraine's Chornobyl next week

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will visit Ukraine's Chornobyl dormant nuclear plant next week, the nuclear watchdog said on Friday.

Rafael Grossi will head an expert mission to step up efforts to help prevent the danger of a nuclear accident during the conflict in the country, the agency said in a statement.

[IAEA Director General Rafael] "Grossi plans to head a mission of IAEA expert to Chernobyl later this month to conduct safety and radiological assessments and deliver vital equipment to the plant."https://t.co/2MS6mAyPui

— Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) April 21, 2022

The team of nuclear safety, security and safeguards staff will be in Chornobyl from April 26 to deliver vital equipment and conduct radiological and other assessments at the site, which was held by Russian forces for five weeks before they withdrew on March 31, it said.

"The IAEA's presence at Chornobyl will be of paramount importance for our activities to support Ukraine as it seeks to restore regulatory control of the plant and ensure its safe and secure operation," Grossi said, adding that more IAEA missions to Chornobyl and other nuclear facilities in Ukraine would follow within weeks.

UK could send tanks to Poland to bolster Ukrainian war effort

The UK is considering sending tanks to Poland so that Warsaw can send its own to Ukrainian forces fighting against Russia, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Friday.

"We are looking at sending tanks to Poland to help them as they send some of their T-72s (tanks) to Ukraine," Johnson told reporters on a two-day trip to India.

He also indicated that there may be no swift end to the conflict in Ukraine because of the stiff resistance to Russia's invasion.

Asked if he agreed with defence intelligence assessments that fighting could drag on until the end of next year, he told reporters in New Delhi: "The sad thing is that is a realistic possibility."

Johnson said Russia's Vladimir Putin had made a "catastrophic blunder".

"The only option he now has really is to continue to try to use his appalling grinding approach," he added.

The UK's prime minister Boris Johnson has said that Britain will re-open its embassy in Kyiv next week.

The UK's embassy in Kyiv has been closed since February this year ahead of Russia's brutal invasion of its neighbour. 

Russian actions in Ukraine may amount to war crimes: UN

Russian actions in Ukraine, which have included summary executions of civilians and levelling of civilian infrastructure, may amount to war crimes, the UN said on Friday.

"Our work to date has detailed a horror story of violations perpetrated against civilians," United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said on Friday.

"Over these eight weeks, international humanitarian law has not merely been ignored but seemingly tossed aside," she said.

The UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, has urged respect for international humanitarian law amid growing evidence of #WarCrimes in #Ukraine.

FULL STATEMENT ▶️ https://t.co/twj6J7INRC pic.twitter.com/KCeTwVJ1DR

— UN Human Rights Council (@UN_HRC) April 22, 2022

"Russian armed forces have indiscriminately shelled and bombed populated areas, killing civilians and wrecking hospitals, schools and other civilian infrastructure, actions that may amount to war crimes," said spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani.

In the town of Bucha, near Kyiv, a UN rights monitoring mission has documented that 50 civilians had been killed there, including by summary execution, Shamdasani said.

"Almost every resident in Bucha our colleagues spoke to told us about the death of a relative, a neighbour or even a stranger. We know much more needs to be done to uncover what happened there and we also know Bucha is not an isolated incident," Bachelet said.

The UN mission has received more than 300 allegations of killings of civilians in areas around Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy that were under Russian control until early March.

It "has also documented what appears to be the use of weapons with indiscriminate effects, causing civilian casualties and damage to civilian objects, by Ukrainian armed forces in the east of the country."

From the start of the war on February 24 to midnight on April 20, the UN mission has documented and verified 2,345 civilians have been killed and 2,919 wounded, it said.

"We know the actual numbers are going to be much higher as the horrors inflicted in areas of intense fighting, such as Mariupol, come to light," Bachelet said.

The UN has received 75 allegations of sexual violence by Russian forces, including against children.

"First and foremost, this senseless war must stop," Bachelet said.

"But as the fighting shows no sign of abating, it is vital that all parties to the conflict give clear instructions to their combatants to strictly respect international humanitarian law and international human rights law," she said.

UK police say examining about 50 allegations of Ukraine war crimes

British police said on Friday they were gathering evidence after receiving about 50 reports of alleged war crimes following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

London's Metropolitan Police War Crimes Team said its specialist detectives were assessing some 50 referrals made since the start of the conflict as part of the action in support of an International Criminal Court investigation.

Metropolitan Police says it has received around 50 referrals relating to alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

They are now being assessed by specialist officers and detectives.

Anyone in the UK with "direct evidence of potential war crimes" should come forward.

— Theo Usherwood (@theousherwood) April 22, 2022

"We’ve had around 50 referrals into us and we expect that number to grow over the coming weeks as more and more people who fled from Ukraine arrive here in the UK," said Detective Chief Superintendent Dominic Murphy from London police's Counter Terrorism Command.

The United States and European countries, including Britain, have accused Russian forces of war crimes since the invasion of Ukraine on 24 February.

Russia, which says it has launched a "special military operation" to "denazify" Ukraine, has rejected the allegations, accusing the West of faking evidence to smear its army.

No civilian evacuations in Ukraine on Friday: Kyiv

No evacuations of civilians will take place in war-torn Ukraine on Friday as the situation on the roads is too dangerous, a senior official said.

"Because of the insecurity along the routes, there will be no humanitarian corridors today, April 22," Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

"To all those who are waiting for an evacuation, please be patient and hold on," she said.

On Thursday, some 79 people, mostly women, were evacuated on three buses from the shattered port city of Mariupol.

The 225-kilometre (140 mile) journey to Zaporizhzhia - which used to take three hours in peacetime - took more than 24 hours.

Moscow and Kyiv regularly accuse each other of torpedoing evacuation plans.

 New satellite images show what appear to be mass graves near Mariupol, and local officials accused Russia of burying up to 9,000 Ukrainian civilians there in an effort to conceal the slaughter taking place in the siege of the port city.

It came just hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed victory in the battle for Mariupol, despite the presence of an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian fighters who were still holed up at a giant steel mill. P

Putin ordered a siege on the hold-out rather than storming the site.

Satellite image provider Maxar Technologies released the photos, which it said showed more than 200 mass graves in a town where Ukrainian officials say the Russians have been burying Mariupol residents killed in the fighting.

The imagery showed long rows of graves stretching away from an existing cemetery in the town of Manhush, outside Mariupo