Moscow says United States is preparing to accuse Russia of using weapons of mass destruction
The head of the Russian armed forces said the United States was preparing false charges against Moscow, several Russian media reported this Saturday† According to him, the Americans want to accuse Russia of using weapons of mass destruction, which the country denies.
New attempt to evacuate civilians from Mariupol from noon on Saturday, according to kyiv
Another attempt to evacuate civilians from the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, which is largely controlled by the Russian military, is planned for this Saturday, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.
“Today we are again trying to evacuate women, children and the elderly,” the official posted on Facebook, adding that citizens had begun to gather near a shopping center in the city and hoped to begin evacuating around 12:00 p.m. local time. (09:00 GMT).
The difficult evacuation of civilians from Mariupol
BFMTV went to Kryvyï Rih, in Ukraine, a city that welcomes refugees leaving Mariupol, where there are still 100,000 people. According to the testimonies of people on the ground, the Russians are preventing the establishment of safe humanitarian corridors.
Update on the situation at 8am.
Moscow announced on Friday that it is seeking total control over southern Ukraine and the Donbass region to “ensure a land corridor to Crimea”.
The strategic port of Mariupol, which Moscow claims to have “liberated”, continues to resist Russian forces, Kiev says, according to which Ukrainian fighters continue to fiercely defend the immense Azovstal metallurgical complex where civilians have entrenched themselves.
· Negotiations aimed at settling the conflict “skating” between Moscow and Kiev declared on Friday the chief of Russian diplomacy Serguei Lavrov.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will travel to Russia on Tuesday, where he will be received by Vladimir Putin, before traveling to Ukraine two days later, where he will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
A sailor has died and 27 others are still missing after the sinking of the cruiser Moskva last week, Russia’s defense ministry said Friday, acknowledging casualties for the first time.
UN chief to visit Russia and Ukraine next week
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will go to Russia next week where he will be received by Vladimir Putin, before going to Ukraine two days later to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“On Tuesday, April 26, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will arrive in Moscow for talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. He will also be received by President Vladimir Putin,” the government spokesman said on Friday. Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov.
The UN chief will then visit Ukraine, where he “will meet with Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and be received by President Volodymyr Zelensky on April 28,” the organization said in a statement.
The situation in Ukraine on the 58th day of the war
On Friday evening, Mariupol’s fate was not yet decided as Russia claims full control of the area. In Boutcha, the UN has identified dozens of unlawful killings of civilians, adding further credibility to the war crimes charges against Moscow.
Story by BFMTV of this 58th day of war in Ukraine.
No truce in sight on the eve of Orthodox Easter
Calls for a ceasefire in Ukraine over the Easter weekend in Orthodox countries seem to remain a dead letter, especially in Mariupol, due to an ongoing deaf dialogue between Kiev and Moscow.
The war will enter its third month on Sunday, but the “second phase of the special operation” launched by Moscow has just started this week. “One of the objectives of the Russian military is to establish total control over Donbass and southern Ukraine,” a senior Russian military official said on Friday.
