Ukrainian children who were kidnapped by Russian forces say they were “living with rats and cockroaches”, charity boss says; the US justice department has launched an official investigation into who is behind the leak of apparently classified documents.
The more the world knows about Russian aggression the faster the aggressor will lose, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said in his nightly address.
The Ukrainian leader said when it came to international support, it was nice to end this week with “good results for the country”, amid expanding ties with the world and movement towards NATO membership.
He said: “For the first time, I addressed the parliament in Latin America – the Chilean parliament.
“In fact, the values we are all fighting for here in Ukraine are relevant to every nation, regardless of whether they are geographically far from us, from our people.
“Everyone values security and protection from terror.
“There is no such nation that would gladly accept what the Russian occupation has brought – Russian concentration camps, the deportation of children, the rape of women, the burning of cities.
“The more the world knows about Russian aggression, the faster the aggressor will lose and peace will return.
“It will return not only to Ukraine. It will return to everyone in the world.”
Imports of Ukrainian grain to Poland will be temporarily halted to mitigate the impact on prices, but transit will still be allowed, the Polish agriculture minister Robert Telus has said.
Mr Telus took office on Thursday after his predecessor resigned amid farmers’ protests over falling prices of produce.
“We agreed to limit and for now halt exports to Poland,” Mr Telus told reporters after meeting his Ukrainian counterpart.
“Transit will be allowed but will be closely monitored in both countries, so that Ukraine grain doesn’t stay in Poland.”
For context: Large quantities of Ukrainian grain, which is cheaper than others produced in the European Union, has ended up staying in central European states amid logistical bottlenecks, hitting prices and sales for local farmers.
This created a political problem for Poland’s ruling nationalists Law and Justice (PiS) in an election year.
The prime ministers of five states, including Poland, last month wrote to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to demand action on Ukrainian agricultural imports.
These images show Ukrainian troops on the frontline near the Donetsk region.
The fight for Ukraine’s eastern province has proven to be one of the bloodiest of the war.
Donetsk is one of four provinces in eastern and southern Ukraine that Russia declared annexed last year and is seeking to fully occupy in what appears to be a shift in its war aims after failing to overrun the country early in the war.
President Joe Biden’s administration is looking at enforcement action against Russian cyber security company Kaspersky Lab, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Last year, the US ramped up its national security probe into the antivirus firm as fears mounted about Russian cyber attacks.
US regulators have already banned federal government use of the Kaspersky software.
And now the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security is weighing up enforcement action against the firm.
The reported enforcement action on Kaspersky follows the introduction of new US legislation that would allow the White House to ban China-based TikTok or other foreign-based technologies if they pose a national security risk.
Pope Francis decried the “icy winds of war” and other injustices as he spoke to worshippers in St. Peter’s Basilica today.
In his Easter Vigil service, the 86-year-old pontiff spoke of the bitterness, dismay and disillusionment many feel today.
“We may feel helpless and discouraged before the power of evil, the conflicts that tear relationships apart, the attitudes of calculation and indifference that seem to prevail in society, the cancer of corruption, the spread of injustice, the icy winds of war,” he said.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Francis has called for an end to all wars and has repeatedly referred to Ukraine and its people as being “martyred”.
The pope is currently recuperating from bronchitis, which saw him treated in hospital for three days.
The West must continue to support Ukraine in its war with Russia or else it risks losing “our coming generation’s security”, Estonia’s foreign minister Urmas Reinsalu has said.
In an interview with the Kyiv Independent, Mr Reinsalu said holding back on weapons for Ukraine would be the same as “co-signing a decision for Ukraine to lose on the ground”.
He went on to say that if the West were to surrender to Russia it would be complicit in “giving up the future of Ukraine.”
He said: “If we give up, the world will first lose Ukraine and our dignity, and afterward, we will also lose ourselves – at least our security or our coming generation’s security.
“I’m sure that all the countries are interested in peace, particularly those countries who are neighbouring Russia, but false peace is just a prelude to new wars.
“History taught us this.”
By Philip Ingram MBE, ex-British military colonel and NATO planner
Top Secret documents detailing the state of readiness of Ukraine’s forces as well as detailed planning information around equipment inflow, weather, ammunition expenditure, training and much more have been circulating on Telegram and Twitter.
The documents titled “Russia / Ukraine | Status of the Conflict as of 1 Mar” appears to be a daily briefing document with a classification higher than top secret, giving clues to the sources of the information within it, and a caveat of “NOFORN,” which means No Foreign Dissemination, so for US eyes only.
Some of the pages have lesser classifications and are designed for release to Ukraine.
The detail contained could be useful to the Russians, as there are two things related to any Ukrainian counteroffensive that the Russians need to know.
Read more on the story here…
After the International Olympic Committee (IOC) offered assistance from its fund to Ukrainian athletes who refused to boycott international events, an athlete has said it is “unlikely” this offer will be accepted.
Last month, the IOC recommended the gradual return of Russian and Belarusian athletes to international competition as neutrals.
It has also offered assistance from the IOC fund to Ukrainian athletes who refuse to boycott the events.
Speaking on the matter, Ukrainian athlete Zhan Beleniuk said that it was “unlikely that any Ukrainian athletes will agree to this”.
He said: “To put it mildly, it is not treating our country very correctly and is reversing its previous recommendations to exclude representatives of Russia and Belarus.”
Russian legislators have proposed tougher sentences for those convicted of terrorism, high treason and sabotage, according to reports.
The maximum sentence for carrying out “a terrorist act” – defined as a deed which endangered lives and was aimed at destabilising Russia – would be raised to 20 years, from 15 years at present.
Those found guilty of sabotage could also go to jail for 20 years, up from 15, while people convicted of “international terrorism” could be sentenced to life, up from 12 years.
The proposed changes were outlined by Vasily Piskaryov, head of the committee on security and anti-corruption in the State Duma or lower chamber of parliament.
“We propose to establish life imprisonment for high treason,” local news agencies quoted him as saying, but gave no details.
Earlier this week, TASS news agency cited Mr Piskaryov as saying the tougher measures were needed for protection against what he called the unprecedented threats Russia faced from Ukraine and its Western sponsors.
We have been reporting on the 31 children who were reunited with their families after being captured by Russian forces from the regions of Kherson and Kharkiv.
Moscow denies abducting children and says they have been transported away for their own safety.
But Mykola Kuleba, the founder of the humanitarian group Save Ukraine, said that children who had been brought back to Ukraine had said that no one in Russia was trying to find their parents in Ukraine.
These pictures show volunteers helping the children as they were reunited with their families this week.
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