HERE ARE THE latest developments in the war in Ukraine today:
Good morning. Lauren Boland here – let’s look at what’s happening in the war in Ukraine today:
Mariupol, a strategic port city in southern Ukraine, has been under a fierce siege and appears close to falling to Russia.
Ukraine called for urgent negotiations with Russia in Mariupol after Russia issued another call yesterday for the city’s defenders to surrender.
Negotiator and presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter: “One on one. Two on two. To save our guys, Azov, military, civilians, children, the living & the wounded. Everyone. Because they are ours.”
Earlier, a Ukrainian commander in the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol issued a plea for help, saying his marines were “maybe facing our last days, if not hours”.
Pictured: Devastated buildings in Mariupol
It’s believed more than 2,000 Ukrainian troops are still in the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a siege on the plant.
In a televised meeting, he said “block off this industrial area so that not even a fly can escape”.
He said it would be “impractical” to storm the area.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland this morning, Ukrainian ambassador Larysa Gerasko said that EU sanctions that impact on ordinary European citizens are necessary to take action against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
She said that the Ukrainian Prime Minister asked the Taoiseach “to be a leader” in the process of Ukraine’s application to be an EU member.
On the proposed group accommodation for refugees in Millstreet, Co Cork, she said: “Of course it concerns me because it’s not the best accommodation but I fully understand that Ireland is facing a housing challenge, but also Ireland is a small country.”
“But we have to think about how to accommodate our new arrivals quicker.”
Ukrainian police have found the bodies of nine civilians in the town of Borodyanka outside the capital Kyiv, some showing signs of torture.
“These people were killed by the occupiers and some show signs of torture. I want to emphasise that these people were civilians,” the head of the police in the Kyiv region Andriy Niebytov said overnight.
“The Russian military knowingly shot civilians who did not put up any resistance,” Niebytov said.
He said police had discovered two graves around Borodyanka, one with three people, including a 15-year-old girl, and a second with six people, all of whom were locals.
Kyiv authorities say hundreds of bodies of killed civilians have been found in areas that were controlled by Russian forces around the capital.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen arrived in Kyiv this morning for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Four more buses carrying evacuees from Mariupol have been able to leave the city.
Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on social media: ”Four evacuation buses managed to leave the city yesterday through the humanitarian corridor.”
She said that evacuations of women, children and elderly people would continue today but that the security situation is difficult and things may change.
The latest intelligence update from the British Ministry of Defence says Russia likely wants to demonstrate significant successes ahead of its annual Victory Day celebrations on 9 May.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has written to Zelenskyy and Putin to request meetings with the two leaders in their respective capitals, according to a UN spokesperson.
To date, the UN has been largely sidelined as a potential mediator in the conflict.
Negotiations between Ukraine and Russia have taken place in countries like Turkey.
Minister for Integration Roderic O’Gorman has said that ‘grouped’ accommodation like at the Millstreet Arena, Co Cork is going to become a “more substantial part” of how Ireland accommodates people fleeing Ukraine.
Around 70 Ukrainian refugees are being housed at the Millstreet Arena at the moment due to a shortage of hotel capacity. It’s expected they will remain there for several weeks.
The minister said measures in other countries like large sports stadia being decked out with camp beds are “going to be part of the solution, I believe”.
Our reporter Céimin Burke spent the last few days in Poland near the Ukrainian border, reporting on the refugees leaving the country – and some who have started to return.
Morgues in and near Kyiv are holding the bodies of more than 1,000 civilians whose bodies were found after Russian troops withdrew from the region.
Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Olga Stefanishyna AFP in Borodyank there are “1,020 bodies [of] civilians, only civilians, in the areas of all the Kyiv region”.
The Deputy Prime Minister’s comments follow the earlier update in which police said they had discovered the remains of nine civilians in Borodyanka buried in communal graves.
Stefanishyna said: “These are only civilians collected from buildings, but also on the streets.
She specified that the deaths date to the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February.
Kyiv Regional Governor Oleksandr Pavliuk said the dead were “either killed or tortured to death during the hostilities”.
“Forensic experts are now examining the bodies, but what we saw was hands tied behind the back, their legs tied and shot through the limbs, and in the back of the head.”
The Department of Transport has announced that it’s going to provide emergency public transport services to Ukrainian refugees in rural locations.
Transport connections will be put in place to support Ukrainian refugees housed away from existing public transport services to give better access to amenities and other transport links.
Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan said the department and the National Transport Authority are working with TFI Local Link in rural Ireland to “mobilise all available resources to strengthen our existing public transport services”.
“We are doing this practically and quickly by adding extra stops and routes where a need has been identified. We want to ensure that passengers have access to essential services such as shopping centres, places of employment, and medical centres,” he said.
“As we continue to welcome individuals and families arriving in Ireland from Ukraine, a once-off Community Transport Fund will also be established to support occasional social travel requests.
“It is vital that our guests do not feel isolated while they are with us and that they are supported with public transport to join in the many activities that are available in our towns, in particular activities focused on youth, integration, culture and education.”
Three in 10 Ukrainians granted visas have arrived in UK – Government figures
Fewer than a third of Ukrainian refugees who have been issued with visas have arrived in the UK, Government figures show.
A total of 71,800 visas had been issued as of Wednesday under the Ukraine Family Scheme and the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme, the Government said.
But, as of Monday, just 21,600 Ukrainians had arrived in the UK, according to figures from the UK’s Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the Home Office.
There has been widespread concern about the length of time it has taken for visas to be issued to refugees under the scheme.
PA is reporting that UK Government officials believe some people applied for visas so they have the option of coming to the UK, but are staying in countries bordering Ukraine so they can return home sooner.
Others may have applied but then changed their minds, deciding to stay where they are or travel elsewhere.
And some will be waiting for everyone in their family to receive permission to travel letters or visas before they depart for the UK.
Germany has reached an agreement with eastern European partners to supply Ukraine with a new batch of heavy weapons “in the next few days”, according to its Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht.
“It’s about tanks, armoured vehicles, or other options individual countries are able to give,” Lambrecht told the NTV broadcaster.
Germany will then replenish these stocks, she said, without giving further details.
The deliveries must happen quickly because “military experts agree that the next two weeks will be decisive in Ukraine’s fight against Russia”, she said.
The tanks will include T-72 models from Slovenia, according to German media reports.
Lambrecht also said Germany would train Ukrainian soldiers to use German-made Panzerhaubitze 2000 tanks — reportedly due to be sent by the Netherlands.
More than 7.7 million people are estimated to have been internally displaced by Russia’s war in Ukraine, having fled their homes but stayed within the country, the United Nations has reported.
The figure is up from the 7.1 million estimate that the UN’s International Organization for Migration gave on April 5th of internally displaced persons.
On the Russian siege of the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, Ukraine has called for a humanitarian corridor to be opened immediately to allow civilians and wounded fighters to be evacuated from the plant.
“Hundreds of civilians, children, injured Ukrainian defenders are trapped in plant’s shelters.
“They have almost no food, water, essential medicine. An urgent humanitarian corridor is needed from the Azovstal plant with guarantees people will be safe,” the Ukrainian foreign ministry said in a statement on social media.
Ukrainian army keeps fighting in the besieged #Mariupol, ruined by heavy 🇷🇺 bombardment. The situation on Azovstal is desperate. Hundreds of civilians, children, injured Ukrainian defenders are trapped in plantʼs shelters. They have almost no food, water, essential medicine. pic.twitter.com/tvYbZfuNk1
— MFA of Ukraine 🇺🇦 (@MFA_Ukraine) April 21, 2022
Spain is to send 200 tonnes of military material to Ukraine, its prime minister Pedro Sanchez has confirmed.
The Spanish leader has condemned the “atrocities” allegedly committed by Russian forces in the town of Borodyanka outside Kyiv during a visit to Ukraine with his Danish counterpart.
“Shocked to witness the horror and atrocities of Putin’s war on the streets of Borodyanka,” Sanchez tweeted along with a video of his visit to the war-ravaged town.
“We will not leave the Ukrainian people alone,” he said.
The bodies of nine civilians, some showing signs of torture, were found last night in two graves around Borodyanka, a senior police official said.
Authorities in Kyiv say hundreds of bodies of civilians have been found in areas controlled by Russian forces around the capital in the opening stages of the February 24 invasion.
Sanchez said on Wednesday he would convey to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky the European Union and Spain’s “clear engagement… for peace”.
He said Spain would continue to work for an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine, while also sending “all the humanitarian and military aid needed” and taking in Ukrainian refugees.
Spain has taken in 134,000 Ukrainians, of whom 64,000 have received temporary protection, including accommodation and a work permit.
Three school buses filled with evacuees from the devastated Ukrainian city of Mariupol arrived on Thursday in Zaporizhzhia after crossing through territory held by Russian forces, AFP journalists at the scene are reporting.
Women and children could be seen on the buses as they arrived after the opening of a humanitarian corridor from Mariupol that has been delayed multiple times because of fierce fighting in southern Ukraine.
‘No cap’ planned for Ukrainian refugees arriving into Ireland
Ireland will not cap the number of refugees it accepts even as the Government admits it is facing a struggle to house arriving Ukrainians, the Justice Minister Helen McEntee has said.
Around 25,000 Ukrainian refugees have arrived since the war began at the end of February.
While numbers arriving have fallen in recent days, the Government expects it to rise again in the coming weeks.
McEntee, speaking to media in Government Buildings, insisted that Ukrainian refugees will continue to be welcomed.
She indicated the Government will avoid, if possible, forcing people or businesses to give up property or open their homes to Ukrainian refugees.
“Obviously we want to make sure that we don’t find ourselves in a situation where we don’t have space and accommodation, because we’ve been very clear we’re not going to turn people away. We’re not going to put a cap on the number of people,” McEntee said.
She said “every option” is being explored.
“We want to encourage people to come forwards, not to force anybody to have to give up their property or accommodation.”
US President Joe Biden has announced a new package of $800 million in military aid for Ukraine.
Vowing that Putin “will never succeed”, he said it would help Kyiv’s forces in the fight against Russians forces in the Donbas region.
“This package includes heavy artillery weapons, dozens of howitzers, and 144,000 rounds of ammunition to go with those howitzers. It also includes more tactical drones,” Biden said.
US President Joe Biden has said it was unclear if Russia had taken control of Mariupol after President Vladimir Putin claimed the “liberation” of the flattened Ukrainian city.
“It’s questionable whether he does control Mariupol,” Biden said, adding that people should be allowed to leave through humanitarian corridors.
“There is no evidence yet that Mariupol has completely fallen,” Biden said.
Earlier, school buses filled with evacuees from the devastated city arrived in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia after crossing through territory held by Russian forces.
Russia slaps travel ban on Kamala Harris, Zuckerberg
Russia has imposed a travel ban on US Vice President Kamala Harris, Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg and 27 other prominent Americans in retaliation for sanctions imposed over the Kremlin’s military campaign in Ukraine.
AFP is reporting that the Russian foreign ministry said the travel ban, which also includes top Pentagon officials, US business leaders and journalists, would remain in effect “in perpetuity”.
The UK Government has banned imports of caviar and other high-end products from Russia in its latest round of sanctions in relation to Ukraine, the Department for International Trade has said.
The import ban is being extended to cover silver and wood products while tariffs on imports of diamonds and rubber from Russia and Belarus are being increased by 35 percentage points.
International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said: “We are taking every opportunity we can to ratchet the pressure to isolate the Russian economy and these further measures will tighten the screws, shutting down lucrative avenues of funding for (Vladimir) Putin’s war machine.”
Russia has announced a travel ban on 61 Canadian citizens, including a number of officials and journalists, in response to sanctions imposed over Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the list of persons “indefinitely” banned from Russia includes those “directly involved in the development, substantiation and implementation of the Russophobic course of the ruling regime in Canada”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he is “grateful” to his US counterpart Joe Biden after the country announced a new package of $800 million in military aid for Ukraine.
In a tweet, Zelenskyy said the help “is needed today more than ever” and said it “brings us closer to restoring peace” in Ukraine.
I’m grateful to @POTUS & 🇺🇸 people for the leadership in supporting the people of Ukraine in the fight against Russian aggression. This help is needed today more than ever! It saves the lives of our defenders of democracy and freedom and brings us closer to restoring peace in 🇺🇦.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 21, 2022
Russia ally Kyrgyzstan warns citizens off pro-invasion ‘Z’ symbol
Security services in Russia-allied Kyrgyzstan has warned citizens that they could face prosecution for sporting the “Z” symbol signifying support for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Kyrgyzstan’s national security committee told organisations renting out parade uniforms ahead of a holiday marking the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II not to include the “Z” symbol, as it was “capable of inciting inter-ethnic hatreds”, a crime prosecutable under Kyrgyz law.
In a statement, the committee also warned citizens to refrain from Z-related insignia at the upcoming parade commemorating the victory on 9 May.
The Latin alphabet letter has been regularly sighted on the tanks and military uniforms of Russian forces that invaded Ukraine.
The Kremlin has encouraged its popularisation in civilian life, promoting it as a symbol signifying patriotism and national unity.
While reliable polling data is hard to come by, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine appears to have divided public opinion in countries such as Kyrgyzstan and its neighbour Kazakhstan, where there are notable ethnic Russian and Russian-speaking populations.
None of the five states in Muslim-majority Central Asia have directly criticised Moscow, which is an important trade and security partner for the region.
Kazakhstan, the region’s richest country with a large ethnic Russian minority, said this month that it does not plan to hold military parades in May, citing their expense.
Earlier, advisor to the mayor of Mariupol Petro Andryushchenko has said that the Russian military had arranged a mass grave for the killed Ukrainians in a village outside Mariupol.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) April 21, 2022
When the images confirmed his report, he said that even he was shocked by the scale of it.
The Kyiv Independent has shared a satellite image of an expanding mass grave near the besieged port city of Mariupol.
The newspaper said the 985-foot-long appears to have been first dug between 23 and 26 March, but has since expanded to what it shown in the satellite image.
It comes after the mayor of Mariupol said Russian troops are burying Ukrainian civilians killed in the conflict in order to cover up “military crimes”.
Mayor Vadym Boychenko claimed the Russians buried hundreds of civilians outside Mariupol.
Boychenko said “the bodies started disappearing from the streets of the city”, claiming that the Russians were “hiding the trace of their crimes and using mass graves as one of the instruments for that”.
He said the Russians dug huge trenches near Manhush, 20 kilometres west of Mariupol.
“They are taking the bodies of the dead residents of Mariupol in trucks and throw them into those trenches,” Boychenko said during an online briefing.
“They are hiding their military crimes,” he said.
Pictured: Firefighters battle a fire at a warehouse after a Russian bombardment in Kharkiv
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shymal has met US President Joe Biden, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen during his visit to Washington.
Biden earlier announced a new package of $800 million in military aid for Ukraine.
Millions of Ukrainians have been forced to flee their homes through russia's barbaric invasion of 🇺🇦. Today, U.S. President Joe Biden @POTUS announced the Uniting for Ukraine programme simplifying the procedure of entering the 🇺🇸 by Ukrainians.
— Denys Shmyhal (@Denys_Shmyhal) April 21, 2022
Grateful for this friendly move! https://t.co/lh4CTkOiW3
Support for 🇺🇦 & Ukrainians will increase in various areas - economic, humanitarian & military. Convinced of this during the meeting w/ @SpeakerPelosi & members of 🇺🇸 Congress. Grateful to our partners for the decisive actions that bring the victory of all the 🇺🇦 people closer. pic.twitter.com/hb7FuYiN7B
— Denys Shmyhal (@Denys_Shmyhal) April 21, 2022
Discussed with 🇺🇸 Secretary of the Treasure @SecYellen strengthening sanctions, increasing financial assistance & filling #U24RecoveryFund launched by Government. $500 million for the budget will be a significant support. It is important to join efforts and defeat the aggressor. pic.twitter.com/EqxoqKxgMC
— Denys Shmyhal (@Denys_Shmyhal) April 21, 2022
Additional reporting by AFP and Press Association
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