Russia-Ukraine war LIVE updates:
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine entered its 21st day on Thursday even as an emergency UN Security Council meeting was called to discuss the Ukraine humanitarian situation at 3 pm ET today. The meeting has been called by the US, UK, France, Albania, Ireland, Norway.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Russia on Wednesday to stop the military actions it started in Ukraine on February 24. “The Russian Federation shall immediately suspend the military operations that it commenced on Feb 24, 2022, in the territory of Ukraine,” the judges said.
In the encircled city of Mariupol, a Russian airstrike destroyed a theatre where hundreds of people were sheltering. Many people were buried in the rubble, Ukraine’s foreign ministry said in a statement, though the number of casualties wasn’t clear.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter that the attack on the theatre in Mariupol is a horrendous war crime. Maxar’s satellite imagery from Monday showed the word children written in large white letters in Russian in front of and behind the building.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy invoked 9/11 during an urgent appeal on Wednesday to the US Congress for more weapons to stem the Russian assault. US President Joe Biden announced an additional $800 million for Ukraine’s military and said Russian President Vladimir Putin is a war criminal.
First Published: IST