– Austrian leader to meet Putin –
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer is expected to raise alleged Russian war crimes in Bucha and other Ukrainian towns during his meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
Nehammer will be the first European leader to meet with Putin since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
– ‘Last battle’ for Mariupol –
Ukrainian forces are preparing for a “last battle” to control the southern port of Mariupol, besieged by Russians since the invasion, because ammunition is running out, marines in the city say.
“It’s death for some of us, and captivity for the rest,” the 36th marine brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces says on Facebook, saying it had been “pushed back” and “surrounded” by the Russian army.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tells South Korean lawmakers he believes “tens of thousands” of people in Mariupol have been killed by Russian forces.
– Offensive ‘soon’ in the east –
Ukraine is expecting Russia to launch a major offensive in the east of the country “soon”, defence ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk says.
“The enemy has almost finished preparation for assault on the east, the attack will begin soon,” he says.
Russian troops are believed to want to create a long-sought land link between occupied Crimea and the Moscow-backed separatist statelets of Donetsk and Lugansk in Donbas region.
– Medical evacuations –
Evacuations resume from Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine, where a missile strike killed 57 people at a railway station Friday.
Nearly 50 wounded and elderly patients are evacuated in a hospital train by medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
The Chairman of the Board of Ukrainian Railways, Alexander Kamyshin, says another railway station in the east had been attacked overnight.
– Over 1,200 bodies found –
Ukraine says it has discovered 1,222 bodies in Bucha and other towns around the capital Kyiv from which the Russian army has retreated.
French police officers and forensic doctors arrive in Ukraine to help investigate alleged Russian war crimes after the discovery of the civilian bodies in towns around Kyiv.
– Societe Generale leaves Russia –
Societe Generale says it is ceasing its activities in Russia and selling its majority stake in Rosbank, weeks after scores of multinationals withdrew from the country.
France’s third-largest bank estimates that pulling out of Russia will cost it 3.1 billion euros ($3.4 billion).
Swedish telecom giant Ericsson also says that it is suspending all of its Russian operations for the foreseeable future.
– Biden, Modi to discuss Ukraine –
US President Joe Biden will meet virtually Monday with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, weeks after saying New Delhi has been “shaky” in its response to the invasion of Ukraine.
– Sixth round of EU sanctions –
EU foreign ministers meet to discuss a sixth round of sanctions on Moscow.
EU members are divided on whether to impose the sanctions that would hurt Russia the most, a boycott of its oil and gas exports, but diplomats acknowledge there are discussions about the measures.
– Ukraine economy collapses –
The World Bank predicts that the war will cause Ukraine’s economy to contract by 45.1 percent this year.
– More than 4.5 million flee –
More than 4.5 million Ukrainian refugees have now fled their country, the United Nations refugee agency says.
Ninety percent of those who have left are women and children.
