The New Arab's live coverage of the latest from the Russian invasion of Ukraine concludes for today.

Here were the key developments from Sunday:

Russia hiding 'thousands' killed in Mariupol

Russia is blocking humanitarian access to the besieged port city of Mariupol because it wants to hide evidence of "thousands" of people killed there, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday.

"The reason why we cannot get into Mariupol with the humanitarian cargo is precisely because they are afraid... that the world will see what is going on there," Zelensky told Turkey's Haberturk TV.

"I think it's a tragedy there, it's hell, I know that it's not tens, but thousands of people, different people, who have been killed there and thousands wounded," Zelensky said.

Red Cross evacuee convoy arrives from Russian-held city

A Red Cross convoy arrived in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Wednesday after failing to reach the besieged port city of Mariupol, an AFP journalist on the scene reported.

Accompanied by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), seven buses and at least 40 private cars arrived in the city carrying hundreds of evacuees from Russian-occupied areas.

The ICRC said most of the people arriving were in fact from Mariupol, which is still held by Ukrainian forces, but had been evacuated from the nearby Russian-held city of Berdiansk.

Leave 'now', residents in eastern Ukraine told 

Ukraine told residents in the country's east to evacuate "now" or "risk death" ahead of a feared Russian onslaught on the Donbas region. 

Deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk wrote on Telegram that the governors of the Lugansk and Donetsk regions, part of the Donbas, and the nearby city of Kharkiv "are doing everything to ensure that the evacuations take place in an organised manner".

US slaps sanctions on Putin's daughters 

The White House announced sanctions on Wednesday targeting Russia's top public and private banks and two daughters of Vladimir Putin, adding more pressure on the country's economy and its elite over the invasion of Ukraine.

The new sanctions targeted Maria Vorontsova and Katerina Tikhonova, two adult daughters of Putin's with his former wife Lyudmila Shkrebneva.

"These individuals have enriched themselves at the expense of the Russian people. Some of them are responsible for providing the support necessary to underpin Putin's war on Ukraine," the White House said in a statement.

'Small number' of Ukraine soldiers get drone training in US

Ukrainian soldiers are being trained in the United States to operate the deadly Switchblade drones that Washington is supplying to Kyiv, a Pentagon official said Wednesday.

Defense Department spokesman John Kirby said it was a "very small" number of Ukrainian troops who were already present in the US before Russia invaded their country.

"We took the opportunity, having them still in the country, to give them a couple of days' worth of training on the Switchblades, so they can go back... to train others in the Ukrainian military," according to Kirby.

He said the 100 drones, which are essentially remotely controlled flying bombs which are crashed into targets where they explode, have been sent to Ukraine to bolster the military's fight against Russian troops.

Macron slams Polish PM after criticism of Putin talks

President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday lashed out at Poland's prime minister following his criticism of the French leader's repeated talks with Russia's Vladimir Putin.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Monday slammed Macron's hours of phone calls with Putin, whom he likened to Hitler, and suggested they had achieved nothing.

"These statements are both baseless and scandalous," Macron told TF1 on Wednesday evening when asked about the remarks which threaten to undermine EU unity during the bloc's face-off with Moscow over Ukraine.

He said the Polish leader was from a "far-right party" and was "supporting" his rival Marine Le Pen in France's presidential election this month.

"I take full responsibility for having spoken to the president of Russia, in the name of France, to avoid the war and to build a new architecture for peace in Europe several years ago," he added.

"I did it from the beginning of my term in office," he said adding: "I was never naive, unlike others. I was never complicit, unlike others."

Macron has sought to target Le Pen's links to Russia, stressing repeatedly how she had taken a loan from a Russian bank which her National Rally party is still repaying.

Russia hiding 'thousands' killed in Mariupol

Russia is blocking humanitarian access to the besieged port city of Mariupol because it wants to hide evidence of "thousands" of people killed there, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday.

"The reason why we cannot get into Mariupol with the humanitarian cargo is precisely because they are afraid... that the world will see what is going on there," Zelensky told Turkey's Haberturk TV.

"I think it's a tragedy there, it's hell, I know that it's not tens, but thousands of people, different people, who have been killed there and thousands wounded," Zelensky said.

However, he expressed confidence that Russia would not succeed in concealing all the evidence.

With Ukraine war, Putin has 'shortened his term': Navalny ally

Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to invade Ukraine was clearly a miscalculation, and will shorten his time in office, a top ally of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny said Wednesday.

"Very clearly, Putin has shortened his term," Leonid Volkov told AFP in an interview.

With his decision to invade Ukraine, "Putin has dramatically decreased the probability of a scenario where he just stays in the Kremlin until he dies ... as he planned."

Speaking on the sidelines of the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, Navalny's right-hand man said it was becoming increasingly obvious that Russia's invasion of Ukraine six weeks ago was "miscalculated" and doomed to failure.

Thousands of people have been killed and more than 11 million displaced as refugees or within Ukraine since Russia invaded, sparking Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II.

Volkov acknowledged that Putin so far was "doing ok in selling his propaganda narrative" justifying the invasion to those in the Russian public who receive all news about the war from state-controlled television.

But he stressed that elites were "very unhappy with the economic devastation, the casualties and restrictions and sanctions."

Red Cross evacuee convoy arrives from Russian-held city

A Red Cross convoy arrived in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Wednesday after failing to reach the besieged port city of Mariupol, an AFP journalist on the scene reported.

Accompanied by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), seven buses and at least 40 private cars arrived in the city carrying hundreds of evacuees from Russian-occupied areas.

The ICRC said most of the people arriving were in fact from Mariupol, which is still held by Ukrainian forces, but had been evacuated from the nearby Russian-held city of Berdiansk.

"These people have really gone through the worst," ICRC spokesperson Lucile Marbeau told AFP.

"We've been hearing people saying how they had to walk out of Mariupol. There in Mariupol there is still no food, no water, no electricity."

Marbeau explained that there was "barely any connection" for residents to be able to call their families or try and find a way out.

A moment of deeply needed respite.

Today, our team @ICRC_ua led a convoy of over 1,000 civilians to Zaporizhzhia.

Those who were part of it had managed to flee #Mariupol.

They’re now in a safer place. pic.twitter.com/oUYnbUZqaW

— ICRC (@ICRC) April 6, 2022

Russian strikes kill four in Donetsk region: Ukraine official

Russian strikes Wednesday killed four people and wounded four others near a humanitarian distribution point in the east Ukraine region of Donetsk, the regional governor said.

"In the morning, the enemy cynically fired at civilians of Vugledar who came to receive humanitarian aid," Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Facebook. "Four died and four were wounded as a result of the shelling."

The strikes come shortly after Moscow pulled back its invading forces from major cities in the centre of Ukraine and announced it would focus its military offensive on taking control of the eastern Donbas region.

Kyrylenko posted images to his official Telegram account showing what appeared to be the inside of a school building with its windows blown in from the strikes and several desks overturned.

US official says Russians must access the truth on Ukraine

Russian “disinformation” about its war against Ukraine needs to be exposed, including on Russia's “war crimes,” a US State Department official said on a visit to Cyprus Wednesday.

Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland said Russian “lies” have evolved to the point of blaming Ukrainians for actions by Russian forces, including “the war crimes we see on the ground.”

“So we all have an interest in exposing Russian disinformation, ensuring our citizens have the truth and ensuring that Russian citizens also (have the truth) ... despite the Iron Curtain that Putin has put down over that,” Nuland said.

Nuland was in Cyprus as part of a five-nation tour aimed at strengthening bilateral ties and rallying support for Ukraine.

Asked whether the US has asked Cyprus to transfer its Russian-made weapons, including short-range anti-aircraft batteries and tanks, to Ukraine, Nuland said Washington is in touch with other nations about supporting Ukraine “in any way that they can.”

“It is not for the United States to ask of Cyprus. It is for Cyprus to make its own decisions about what it wants to and can do,” she said.

Cypriot officials said no weapons would be transferred to Ukraine without securing replacements, to avoid weakening the war-divided island nation’s defences.

Putin speaks about Bucha killings 

Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukrainian authorities of being behind "crude and cynical provocations" after they said hundreds of civilians were found dead in the town of Bucha when Russian troops withdrew.

India has condemned atrocities committed in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, in its strongest statement yet against Russia's invasion of Ukraine.https://t.co/1DA6TISzUu

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) April 6, 2022

Leave 'now', residents in eastern Ukraine told 

Ukraine told residents in the country's east to evacuate "now" or "risk death" ahead of a feared Russian onslaught on the Donbas region. 

Deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk wrote on Telegram that the governors of the Lugansk and Donetsk regions, part of the Donbas, and the nearby city of Kharkiv "are doing everything to ensure that the evacuations take place in an organised manner".

Russia threatens states with consequences over UN vote on Human Rights Council 

Russia has warned countries at the United Nations that a yes vote or abstention on a US push to suspend Moscow from the Human Rights Council will be viewed as an "unfriendly gesture" with consequences for bilateral ties, according to a note seen by Reuters on Wednesday.

The United States said on Monday it would seek Russia's suspension after Ukraine accused Russian troops of killing hundreds of civilians in the town of Bucha.

The 193-member U.N. General Assembly in New York is due to vote on the measure on Thursday.

Inflation in Russia hits seven-year high 

Annual inflation in Russia accelerated to 16.70 percent as of April 1, its highest since March 2015 and up from 15.66 percent a week earlier, the economy ministry said on Wednesday, as the volatile rouble sent prices soaring amid Western sanctions.

Russia goes after YouTube 

Russia's foreign ministry reserves the right to take steps against YouTube after it blocked Russian government channels, the ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters on Wednesday. 

US slaps sanctions on Putin's daughters 

The White House announced sanctions on Wednesday targeting Russia's top public and private banks and two daughters of Vladimir Putin, adding more pressure on the country's economy and its elite over the invasion of Ukraine.

The new sanctions targeted Maria Vorontsova and Katerina Tikhonova, two adult daughters of Putin's with his former wife Lyudmila Shkrebneva.

"These individuals have enriched themselves at the expense of the Russian people. Some of them are responsible for providing the support necessary to underpin Putin's war on Ukraine," the White House said in a statement.

I made clear that Russia would pay a severe and immediate price for its atrocities in Bucha. Today, along with our Allies and partners, we’re announcing a new round of devastating sanctions. https://t.co/LVqTDIOSvz

— President Biden (@POTUS) April 6, 2022

Putin discusses Russia-Ukraine talks with Orban 

Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed holding talks between Russia and Ukraine during a phone call with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the Kremlin said in a statement on Wednesday.

Orban said earlier that he had spoken with Putin and asked him to announce an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.

NATO chief warns Ukraine invasion could last 'months, even years' 

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday there was no sign Russian President Vladimir Putin had dropped "his ambition to control the whole of Ukraine" and the war could last for a long time.

"We have to be realistic and realise that this may last for a long time, for many months, for even years. And that's the reason why we need also to be prepared for the long haul, both when it comes to supporting Ukraine, sustaining sanctions and strengthening our defences," Stoltenberg said ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers.

Russian shelling sets fire to ten high-rise buildings 

Ten high-rise buildings are on fire in the eastern Ukrainian town of Sievierodonetsk after Russian forces shelled the town on Wednesday, the governor of the eastern Luhansk region said in an online post.

He said that there was no information yet on any casualties. Sievierodonetsk is the temporary headquarters of the regional authorities as Luhansk city has been controlled by Russia-backed separatists since 2014

Germany's Chancellor said his country will do everything it can to help Ukraine

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to immediately end his "destructive war" in Ukraine, vowing to continue supporting the country in every way possible until the Kremlin had withdrawn its troops.

"Withdraw your troops from Ukraine and until then, we will do everything we can to continue to support Ukraine," he said in the Bundestag lower house of parliament.

Germany is delivering weapons to Ukraine from its army stores that are "rapidly available and effective," he added

"It must be our goal that Russia does not win this war," he said. 

To read more about Germany's response to Russia's invasion, click here. 

UK PM says Bucha killings not 'far short of genocide' 

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the murder of Ukrainian civilians by Russian troops in the town of Bucha "doesn't look far short of genocide to me".

The UK government has consistently refused to use the word "genocide" with regard to Ukraine and other conflicts. 

But Johnson told reporters: "I'm afraid when you look at what's happening in Bucha, the revelations that we are seeing from what (Vladimir) Putin has done in Ukraine doesn't look far short of genocide to me.

"It is no wonder people are responding in the way that they are," the prime minister added.

To the Russian people, look at what is being done in your name.

You deserve the truth. You deserve the facts. pic.twitter.com/sqDxvGnTnp

— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) April 5, 2022

Convoy of more than 500 people reaches Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine

An International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) team has led a convoy of buses and private cars carrying more than 500 people to Zaporizhzhia after the civilians fled the besieged Ukrainian town of Mariupol on their own, the ICRC said on Wednesday.

"This convoy's arrival to Zaporizhzhia is a huge relief for hundreds of people who have suffered immensely and are now in a safer location. It's clear, though, that thousands more civilians trapped inside Mariupol need safe passage out and aid to come in," Pascal Hundt, the ICRC's head of delegation in Ukraine, said in a statement. 

Kremlin says peace talks with Ukraine not progressing rapidly enough 

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv were not progressing as rapidly or energetically as it would like.

Russia has accused the West of trying to derail peace talks with Ukraine by fuelling "hysteria" over allegations of war crimes by Moscow's forces following their retreat from the Kyiv region.

"The only thing I can say is that work (on the talks) is continuing," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call when asked about the prospect of another round of negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv.

"There is a still a long road ahead. The work process is ongoing but it is dragging along way more than we would like."

Ukraine's Luhansk region tells civilians to evacuate 'while it is safe' 

Authorities in the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk urged civilians on Wednesday to evacuate "while it is safe," warning that Russian bombardments could cut off escape routes.

"We will take everyone out if the Russians allow us to get to the meeting places (for evacuation). Because, as you can see, they don't always observe ceasefires," the Luhansk region governor, Serhiy Gaidai, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

"I appeal to every resident of the Luhansk region - evacuate while it is safe ... While there are buses and trains - take this opportunity. "

Ukraine's Zelensky slams European 'indecisiveness' over Russian sanctions 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday condemned hesitancy in Europe over barring Russian energy imports, arguing some leaders were more concerned with business losses than with war crimes.

New "rhetoric" about sanctions had emerged, he told the Irish parliament, "but I cannot tolerate any indecisiveness after everything we have gone through and everything that Russia has done to us".

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Володимир Зеленський (@zelenskiy_official)

Pope Francis slams 'horrendous cruelties' in Ukraine 

Pope Francis says the "recent news about the war in Ukraine, instead of bringing relief and hope, instead attests to new atrocities, such as the Bucha massacre."

"Evermore horrendous cruelties, also perpetrated against defenceless civilians, women and children," he says during his weekly audience.

US and EU ready new sanctions 

The United States, European Union and G7 are set to toughen sanctions on Russia following allegations of war crimes in the Ukrainian town of Bucha.

A source in Washington says the US will ban all new investment in Russia. The White House says it will also add sanctions on government officials and "their family members", as well as state-owned enterprises.

The EU has proposed banning Russian ships from European ports and halting Russian coal imports, but European Council president Charles Michel says the bloc would also have to act "sooner or later" on Russian oil and gas.

There will be accountability for Ukraine crimes...eventually, say experts 

Shocking images of bodies strewn in Ukrainian streets clearly indicate war crimes, but legally proving that and ensuring accountability is tricky, according to a top international justice expert.

The Kremlin has denied responsibility and suggested the images are fake or that the deaths occurred after Russian forces pulled out of the area.

Philip Grant, who heads the TRIAL International NGO that works to ensure accountability for international crimes, said that, while powerful, such images alone cannot legally prove war crimes have occurred and who is responsible.

"Images in themselves rarely count as the defining evidence," he told AFP in an interview.

"They can reveal important elements, but they will not reveal the full story," he said.

The world must act to stop 'mass murder' in Ukraine: UK health minister 

The world must act to stop the mass murder in Ukraine, British Health Secretary Sajid Javid said on Wednesday, comparing reports of civilian killings by Russian troops to a 1995 genocide in Bosnia.

"I don't want to be commemorating another genocide in Europe years from now. We have the power, the world has the power to stop this, and it must act," Javid said.

Horrific.

We will not rest until Ukraine is free and Vladimir Putin fails. https://t.co/55Ih1nFhlO

— Sajid Javid (@sajidjavid) April 3, 2022

Russian border guards under fire in region bordering Ukraine 

A Russian regional official said on Wednesday that border guards in the Kursk region bordering Ukraine had come under fire.

"Yesterday, on April 5, they tried to fire mortars at the position of our border guards in the Sudzhansky district," said Roman Starovoit, the governor of the Kursk region. "Russian border guards returned fire... There were no casualties or damage on our side."

There was no immediate reaction from Ukraine.

Turkey calls for probe into murder of civilians in Bucha 

Turkey on Wednesday joined the global condemnation of the murder of civilians in the town of Bucha and other cities in Ukraine and called for an independent investigation.

"The images of the massacre, which have been published in the press from various regions including Bucha and Irpin near Kyiv, are appalling and sad for humanity," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

To read more about this story, click here.