Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said fighting was continuing in the key city of Liman, which Russia said earlier in the day its troops had left to avoid being encircled, Reuters reports.
"The Ukrainian flag is already in Liman in the Donetsk region. Fighting is still going on there," Zelensky said in a video address.
The bodies of 24 civilians, 13 of them children, were found in a convoy of cars in northeastern Ukraine, near Kupyansk, regional governor Oleg Sinegubov said tonight.
"A column of cars with killed civilians was discovered," he said in a message published on Telegram, adding that according to preliminary data, 24 civilians were killed, including one pregnant woman and 13 children.
The governor added that "the occupiers (Russians) attacked civilians who were trying to escape from the airstrikes".
Sinegubov, the governor of Kharkiv, where the bodies were found, said police and experts were on the scene and an investigation was underway.
The local prosecutor's office said that there were seven cars with civilians in the convoy.
"Two cars were completely burned, there were children with their parents, who were burned alive," the prosecution added, stating that the control of the Ukrainian army over the area is not permanent because it is on the front line in the so-called "gray zone."
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion at the end of February, Ukraine has condemned the abuses of Russian forces. The Russian authorities systematically reject these accusations.
The authoritarian leader of the Russian region of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, said that Moscow should consider using low-yield nuclear weapons in Ukraine due to new upheavals on the battlefield, reports Reuters.
In a Telegram message criticizing Russian commanders for abandoning the eastern Ukrainian city of Liman, Kadyrov wrote:
"In my opinion, more drastic measures should be taken, up to the declaration of a state of emergency in the border areas and the use of low-yield nuclear weapons."
Russia's annexation of four areas in Ukraine makes it "almost" impossible to end the war in Ukraine, the high representative of the European Union (EU) for foreign policy and security Josep Borelj said today.
The annexation of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporozhye and Kherson makes it "much more difficult, almost impossible to end the war," Borelj told Spanish television RTVE.
"Russia is losing the war. It has lost it in a moral and political sense," but "Ukraine has not yet won," Borelj said at a forum in northeastern Spain, where he defended European sanctions imposed on Russia and military aid to Ukraine.
Russia has announced that its troops have withdrawn from the city of Liman in eastern Ukraine to avoid being encircled by the Ukrainian army, reports Reuters.
Ukraine's capture of Liman marked a major defeat for Moscow, a day after President Vladimir Putin announced the annexation of four Ukrainian regions.
This includes Donetsk, where Liman is located.
The governor of the Kharkiv region, Oleh Sinjehubov, said that Russian forces shelled a civilian evacuation convoy in the northeast of the country today, killing 20 people.
Bombings have intensified since Moscow illegally annexed part of Ukrainian territory in an escalating war.
Sinjehubov said the convoy was shelled in the Kupiansi district, calling the attack on people trying to flee the area "cruelty that cannot be justified."
Russian forces did not acknowledge or comment on the attack, the second in two days to hit a humanitarian convoy.
Russian troops withdrew from much of the Kharkiv region after a Ukrainian counteroffensive last month, but continued to shell the area.
British Prime Minister Liz Truss and her Danish counterpart Mete Frederiksen agreed today that the incidents at the Nord Stream gas pipeline "represented an act of sabotage".
"Frederiksen informed the British Prime Minister about the damage caused to the Nord Stream gas pipelines last Sunday. They agreed that the incidents clearly represented an act of sabotage," the British Prime Minister's office said, according to Reuters.
The women leaders agree that general security and the security of the Baltic Sea is in everyone's interest.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it is seeking information about the general director of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, who the Ukrainian agency Energoatom said was arrested by a Russian patrol, Reuters reported.
"We have contacted the Russian authorities and demand explanations," the IAEA spokesman said.
Ukraine is holding besieged Russian forces in Liman, in the Donetsk region, and the operation to liberate that city is still ongoing, the spokesman of the Ukrainian army said, Reuters reported.
The Russian army has about 5.000 to 5.500 soldiers in Liman, but the number of surrounded members of the Russian forces may be lower now due to the casualties and some soldiers trying to break out of the encirclement, the spokesman of the Ukrainian army said.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Friday that Ukrainian troops had captured a village near Liman, which is under Russian control, in the east of the Donetsk region.
It is likely that Russian President Putin was confident of a quick victory at the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine. But the war is still going on, and now the mobilization has begun. How strong is the Russian army really? Experts spoke to DW about this.
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Turkey does not recognize the new Russian annexation of Ukrainian territories, just as it did not recognize the annexation of Crimea, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ankara announced today.
"Turkey did not recognize the annexation of Crimea during the 2014 illegitimate referendum and has always expressed firm support for Ukraine's territorial integrity, independence and sovereignty," the Turkish ministry said.
"In accordance with the position adopted in 2014, we reject the Russian decision to annex the regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye. This decision, which represents a serious violation of the principles of international law, should not be accepted," added the statement of the Turkish Ministry.
On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an agreement with the pro-Russian leaders of four Ukrainian occupied territories on the annexation of the occupied parts of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions to Russia.
Last Sunday, the Turkish Ministry already condemned what it called the "illegitimate" referendums held in those four areas that preceded the declaration of annexation to Russia.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has not commented directly on the issue, has been trying to maintain relations with both Kiev and Moscow since the start of the conflict and has offered to mediate negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
(BETA)
The World Bank announced that it will provide an additional 530 million dollars in support to Ukraine, which will bring the total aid to the country from the World Bank to 13 billion dollars, reported Reuters.
Aid to Ukraine was supported by Great Britain with 500 million dollars and Denmark with 30 million dollars, according to the announcement of the World Bank.
It is added that, out of 13 billion dollars in aid to Ukraine, 11 billion have been fully paid.
The Ukrainian state nuclear company Energoatom accused Moscow today of kidnapping the head of the largest nuclear power plant in the country, the Zaporozhye power plant, which is under the control of Russian forces and is located in the Ukrainian region whose annexation was officially declared by Vladimir Putin.
Russian forces abducted the general manager of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, Ihor Murashov, around 16.00:XNUMX p.m. yesterday, Energoatom announced today.
This happened just a few hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed agreements on the annexation of four Ukrainian regions that were under Russian control.
Energoatom stated that Russian soldiers stopped the car Murashov was in, blindfolded him and then took him in an unknown direction.
"His detention threatens the security of Ukraine and Europe's largest nuclear power plant," said Energoatom president Petro Kotin and called on Russia to release Murashov immediately.
Russia did not immediately admit that it had kidnapped the director of the power plant. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has staff at the Zaporozhye power plant, did not immediately confirm Energoatom's claim that Murashov was kidnapped.
Ukrainian technicians continued to operate the power plant even after Russian troops occupied it. The last reactor at the plant was shut down in September due to constant shelling near that facility.
(BETA)
The facade of the Russian consulate in New York is painted red, the police announced yesterday, and most likely it is a protest over the annexation of four Ukrainian regions to Moscow.
Around noon yesterday, large stains and strips of red paint several meters high could be seen across the facade of the consulate, a Renaissance-style building located in Manhattan, a photographer from France Press reported.
The front door is also painted red.
A police official said police were alerted at around 1.30am, investigations are ongoing and no arrests have been made so far.
(BETA)
Ukraine achieved significant results against Russian forces in the east of the country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
He stated this in a video message published on social networks, in which he commented on current events.
"We have significant results in the east of our country. There is enough public information about it anyway. Everyone heard what happened in Liman, in the Donetsk region. For us, these are steps that speak volumes," said Zelenski, reports Al Jazeera Balkans.
Zelensky thanked the Ukrainian forces.
"We need to liberate our entire territory, and that will be the best proof that international law and human values cannot be violated by any brazen country like Russia," said Zelenski.
(MINE)
Gazprom spokesman Sergej Koprijanov said at the emergency session of the UN Security Council regarding the damage to the North Stream 1 and North Stream 2 gas pipelines and the spill of gas into the Baltic Sea, that 800 million cubic meters of gas had leaked, TASS reported.
According to him, this is equivalent to Denmark's three-month supply, Reuters reported.
Yesterday, President Vladimir Putin declared Russia's annexation of parts of Ukraine and promised victory for Moscow in a "special military operation" against Kiev, even though some of its troops face possible defeat.
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Russia used a veto in the Security Council of the United Nations (UN) to prevent the adoption of the American resolution condemning the annexation of four Ukrainian regions to Russia and the referendums on the basis of which the annexation was carried out, world media reported.
The UN Security Council has 15 members, five of which are permanent, and they have the right of veto.
According to CNN, China, Brazil and India abstained from the vote, while Russia, a permanent member, vetoed it.
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas Greenfield said at the beginning of the session that the US resolution is "exactly what the Security Council was created for - to protect sovereignty, defend territorial integrity and promote peace and security", reports Radio Free Europe.
The resolution condemns Russia for organizing illegal so-called referendums (on territories) within the internationally recognized borders of Ukraine, and declares the referendums "invalid".
The resolution would also call on Russia to deploy, fully and unconditionally withdraw all military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.
On Friday, the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, signed decrees on the basis of which Zaporozhye, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk regions were annexed to the Russian Federation.
Western countries strongly condemned that procedure, as well as the staged referendums that preceded it.
(MINE)
It is the two hundred and twentieth day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Yesterday's announcement on the entry of 15 percent of Ukraine's territory into Russia, which is the largest annexation in Europe since World War II, was strongly rejected by Western countries, and the US and Britain announced new sanctions.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned that this is the most serious escalation of the conflict so far. Yesterday, Ukraine submitted a request for accelerated admission to the Alliance.
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