Ukraine: Ukrainian official accuses Russia of using banned phosphorus munitions in the besieged eastern town of Kramatorsk. Russian onslaught in the port city of Mariupol, surrender by laying down arms and raising white flags in exchange for safe passage out of the city under siege. As the war in Ukraine enters its 27th day today, Russia said it will continue using state-of-the-art hypersonic missiles to hit particularly important targets in Ukraine.
Britain’s defence ministry said Russian forces have not managed to take over the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol despite weeks of bombardment and days of street fighting. UK officials said that “despite heavy fighting, Ukrainian forces continue to repulse Russian attempts to occupy” the city. Moreover, Russian forces have made “limited progress” elsewhere in Ukraine in the last day, and remain “largely stalled in place”.
The UN refugee agency said Tuesday that 3.53 million people have left Ukraine since Russia’s invasion, passing another milestone in an exodus that has led to Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II. Neighbouring Poland and Moldova have taken in the lion’s share of Ukrainian refugees followed by Romania. Whereas, Russia and Ukraine exchanged the first prisoners of war; nine Russian servicemen were released, according to Human Rights Commissioner.
Sirens have been activated in the Sumy, Mykolaiv, Ternopil, Poltava, Kirovohrad, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Zakarpattya, Chernivtsi, Dnipropetrovsk, Rivne, Volyn, Cherkasy, Khmelnytsky, Odesa oblasts. The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said, “Over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian forces shot down more than 9 enemy air targets. Ukraine’s Air Force shot down one plane, 6 UAVs and 2 helicopters. The number of shot-down missiles is being specified.”