Latest news about Russia and the war in Ukraine

The United Nations Security Council is due to meet at 10 a.m. ET in New York City to discuss the war and “maintaining peace and security” in Ukraine, according to the organization’s schedule.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer became the first European Union leader to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin since the invasion of Ukraine, with several Austrian media including the Kronen Zeitung newspaper saying the meeting had begun.

As news of Nehmer’s visit intended to help end the war surfaced on Sunday, reactions ranged from surprise to dismay. The Green Party, Niemer’s coalition partner, denounced the trip as a PR coup for Putin, although German Chancellor Olaf Schulz said he would welcome it.

– Reuters

Editor’s note: The following post contains pictures of wounded civilians.

MSF, in collaboration with Ukraine Railways and the Ministry of Health, has completed the referral of a new medical train for 48 patients, coming from hospitals close to the front line in the war-affected east of the country. They include some elderly patients from long-term care facilities, but also the majority of injured patients.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said the Kremlin will not halt its military operation in Ukraine before the next round of peace talks, Reuters reports.

His comments come on the 47th day of Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has mentioned 4,232 civilian casualties in Ukraine since the Russian invasion on February 24. That number, updated as of April 10, includes 1,793 deaths and 2,439 infections.

– Sam Meredith

Russia said on Monday it used cruise missiles to destroy S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems supplied by Ukraine, an unidentified European country.

Russia fired Kalibr cruise missiles on Sunday at four S-300 launchers hidden in an aircraft hangar on the outskirts of the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Russia said 25 Ukrainian soldiers were wounded in the attack.

– Reuters

Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Irina Verychuk said that nine humanitarian corridors were agreed on Monday to evacuate people from the besieged eastern regions of the country.

Vereshuk said the planned lanes include five in the Luhansk region, three in the Zaporizhzhya region and one in the Donetsk region.

– Sam Meredith

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed South Korean lawmakers, telling the country’s parliament that tens of thousands of people were likely killed in the Russian attack on the besieged port city of Mariupol.

“Although the Russians did not stop the attack, they wanted to do it so that Mariupol could serve as an example,” Zelensky said, according to one translation.

He accused Russia of targeting and destroying Ukraine’s infrastructure, including nearly 300 hospitals, and warned that tens of thousands of Russian troops were ready for the next attack.

“There is no hope that Russian rational thinking will prevail and Russia will stop. Russia can only be forced to do this,” Zelensky said.

– Sam Meredith

German Foreign Minister Annalina Barbock said there were “huge indications” of Russian war crimes in Ukraine, adding that it was necessary to secure all evidence, according to Reuters.

“We have huge indications of war crimes,” Barbock said before a meeting with European ministers in Luxembourg. “Ultimately, the courts will have to decide, but for us it is essential to secure all the evidence.”

“As the German Federal Government, we have already made it clear that there will be a complete phase-out of fossil fuels, starting with coal, then oil and gas, and so that this can be implemented jointly in the European Union, we need a joint and coordinated plan for the phase-out of fossil fuels to be able to leave the EU. European”.

– Sam Meredith

The head of the administration of the Kharkiv region, Ole Senegubov, said that the Russian forces launched nearly 66 strikes in the northeastern city and nearby points within 24 hours.

Senegubov said 11 civilians were killed in the attacks, including a 7-year-old child, and 14 people were wounded. Affected areas include Saltivka, Pyatiatki, Khuludna Hora, Besochun, Zolochev, Balaklia and Derhachi.

CNBC was unable to independently verify this report.

“We are witnessing the activity of hostile reconnaissance aircraft in the region,” Senegubov said via Telegram, according to a translation.

– Sam Meredith

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has warned Western lawmakers of the possibility of a “massive” Russian disinformation campaign about imposing sanctions and supplying arms to Ukraine.

“Russia knows that arms supplies are essential to Ukraine and is mobilizing all efforts to undermine it,” Kuleba said on Twitter.

“Moscow has orchestrated a massive media campaign targeting foreign media and politicians. Their trolls factory may send spam emails and flood comments with them. [disinformation] in Ukraine. Don’t fall in love with her, said Koleba.

– Sam Meredith

French bank Societe Generale It agreed to sell its stake in Rosbank and the insurance companies of the Russian lender to Interros Capital, an investment company founded by Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin.

The bank’s exit from Russia comes after mounting pressure to follow in the footsteps of other Western companies in the wake of the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Societe Generale She said In a statement, it would write off €2 billion ($2.1 billion) from the net book value of divested activities and an exceptional non-cash item without any impact on the group’s €1.1 billion capital ratio.

Societe Generale shares are up nearly 5% during morning trading in London.

– Sam Meredith

The British Ministry of Defense said that Russian bombing continues in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, where Ukrainian forces were seen “repelling several attacks that destroyed Russian tanks, vehicles and artillery equipment”.

The ministry warned Russian forces that the prior use of phosphorous munitions in Donetsk Oblast “raises the possibility of their future employment in Mariupol as the fighting for the city intensifies.”

It also said that “Russia’s continued reliance on unguided bombs reduces its ability to distinguish when to target and conduct strikes, while significantly increasing the risk of further civilian casualties.”

– Sam Meredith

Ukraine’s economic output is likely to shrink by a staggering 45.1 percent this year, the World Bank said on Sunday, in a new assessment of the economic effects of the war, as the Russian invasion shut down businesses, curtailed exports and destroyed production capacity.

The World Bank also predicted that Russia’s GDP for 2022 would fall by 11.2% due to the punishment of financial sanctions imposed by the United States and its Western allies on Russian banks, state-owned enterprises and other institutions.

The World Bank’s Eastern Europe region, which includes Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, is expected to show a GDP contraction of 30.7% this year, due to shocks from the war and disruption to trade.

As for Ukraine, the World Bank report estimates that more than half of the country’s businesses are closed, while others remain open and operate at significantly less than normal capacity. The closure of sea freight from Ukraine has cut off about 90% of the country’s grain exports and half of its total exports.

– Reuters