Russia-Ukraine Crisis: Reports of civilian killings in Bucha deeply disturbing, says India's Ambassador to UN at UNSC meeting

President Joe Biden on Monday called for war crimes trial against Russia President Vladimir Putin and said he'd seek more sanctions after reported atrocities in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will speak Tuesday during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the conflict in his country, Britain's diplomatic mission announced, the leader's first address to a UN body since Russia invaded on February 24.

USDefense Secretary Lloyd Austin defended America's response to the war in Ukraine on Tuesday during a heated exchange with a Republican lawmaker who accused the Pentagon of over-estimating Russia's military capability. (Reuters)

Recent reports of civilian killings in Bucha deeply disturbing, says India's Ambassador to UN T S Tirumurti at UNSC meeting onUkraine. (PTI)

Russia UN envoy says 600,000 'evacuated' from Ukraine, denies 'coercion'.

UN Security Council shown graphic video of bodies in Ukraine

A top UN official told the 15-member Security Council including Moscow's envoy on Tuesday of "credible" claims Russia has used indiscriminate cluster munitions two dozen times in populated parts ofUkraine. (AFP)

Zelenskyy says Russian military and those who gave them orders must be brought to justice

Zelenskyy urges reform for a more effective United Nations

Russia wants to turn Ukraine into silent slaves, Zelenskyy tells UNSC

Putin says world faces food crisis due to West's sanctions

President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday thatRussiamust keep a close eye on its food exports to hostile countries because the West's sanctions had fomented a global food crisis and spiralling energy prices. (Reuters)

More than 7.1 million people have been displaced in war-torn Ukraine

More than 7.1 million people have been displaced by the war in Ukraine, a report by the International Organisation for Migration said on Tuesday.

That represented a 10% increase in the number of internally displaced persons in Ukraine since the first round of the survey on March 16, it added. (Reports Reuters)

Kremlin says no rush to expand rouble payments for exports

Russia is in no rush to increase the share of rouble payments for its exports, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

He was commenting on a report about steel baron Vladimir Lisin, who told Kommersant newspaper that Moscow's plans to charge roubles for its exports would undermine the country's position on global markets.

Peskov said the possible process of moving to charge roubles for exports should be gradual and well-prepared.

Russia has already asked its overseas clients from so-called "unfriendly" countries to pay in roubles for natural gas, a plan which has met strong criticism from Europe. (Reports Reuters)

France to start inquiry on Russia's war crimes on French citizens in Ukraine

France's anti-terrorism prosecutor said it had opened three inquiries over possible war crimes inUkraine, related to acts against French citizens in the country, which has been invaded by Russia since the end of February.

In a statement, the prosecutor said it was investigating possible crimes committed in the Ukrainian towns of Mariupol, Gostomel and Chernihiv between Feb 24 and March 16.

The flow of "bloody money" to Russia must stop, Kyiv's mayor said on Tuesday as the West prepared new sanctions on Moscow after dead civilians were found lining the streets of a Ukrainian town seized from Russian invaders.

Russia denies targeting civilians and said the deaths had been staged by the West to discredit it. (ReutersReported)

Ukraine opens corridors out of Mariupol

Corridors will also be open from the city of Tokmak in the Zaporizhzhia region and the cities of Severodonetsk, Lysychansk, Popasna and Hirske in the Luhansk region.

Vereshchuk said the Russian troops “don't allow anyone to enter Mariupol”, and that the Russians “blocked the representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross” in the settlement of Manhush just west of Mariupol.

Vereshchuk said that after negotiations the Red Cross representatives “were released at night and sent to Zaporizhzhia”.(AP Reported)

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Zelenskiyy says Ukraine-Russia talks the only option to end war

President Volodymyr Zelenskiyy said on Tuesday(April 5)Ukraine had no option but to negotiate withRussiato end fighting but that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin might not personally hold talks.

Zelenskiyy was speaking after accusing Russian troops of carrying out extra-judicial killings in the town of Bucha west of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the reports of civilian killings in Bucha were "fakes" aimed at discreditingRussia. Moscow said it would present "empirical evidence" to a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday proving its forces were not involved. (REUTERS)

Ukraine's General Staff reports Tuesday (April 5)morning that Russia is regrouping its troops and preparing for an offensive in Donbas.

“The goal is to establish full control over the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions,” the update posted on the General Staff's Facebook page says.

In the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the Russian military are focusing their efforts on taking control of Popasna and Rubizhne cities, as well as establishing full control over Mariupol, the General Staff said. Other towns and settlements in the two regions are subject to continued shelling.

The Russian troops also continue to block Kharkiv, AP reported citing the General Staff.

Japan welcomes 20 more Ukrainian refugees

The 20, ranging in age from 6 to 66, are not the first Ukrainians to arrive since Russia invaded their country on Feb. 24 but they were the first to come on a special government plane on a trip arranged by Japan's foreign minister, reported Reuters

"The government of Japan is committed to provide the maximum support to these 20 Ukrainians to help them live with a sense of peace in Japan," the minister, Yoshimasa Hayashi, said in Poland shortly before he and the refugees set off for Japan.

Hayashi, who had been in Poland assessing the refugee situation, arrived in Tokyo on a separate flight shortly before the 20 landed.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the United Nations Security Council later on Tuesday for the first time since the invasion of his country.

Russian services sector shrinks in March at fastest pace since May 2020: PMI

Russia's services sector activity shrank in March at the fastest rate since May 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, due to a slump in client demand and new orders, a business survey showed on Tuesday, with those surveyed citing "greater economic and geopolitical uncertainty".

The S&P Global purchasing managers' index (PMI) slid to 38.1 in March from 52.1 the previous month, sliding well below the 50 mark that separates expansion from contraction.(Reuters)

'Fortnite' maker raises $144 million for Ukraine

Epic committed the "Fortnite" proceeds from the past two weeks to humanitarian efforts in Ukraine and said that the Xbox gaming unit of Microsoft is doing the same.

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Ukraine's Zelenskyy to address UN Security Council today

The meeting will now likely be dominated by the weekend discovery of dead bodies in civilian clothing scattered on the streets of Bucha, a town outside Kyiv. Photos of the horrific scene have drawn international condemnation of Russia.

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Putin should face war crimes trial for Bucha 'genocide', says Biden

Biden's comments to reporters came after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Bucha, one of the towns surrounding Kyiv where Ukrainian officials say the bodies of civilians have been found.

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