UKRAINE WRAP | Ukraine says Russia's war kills 136 children so far

March 26 2022 — 13:49

Biden to call on 'free world' to stand against Putin in Poland speech

US President Joe Biden will argue in a speech in Poland on Saturday that the “free world” opposes Russia's invasion of Ukraine and that there is unity among major economies on the need to stop Vladimir Putin, the White House said.

Biden will also meet Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba and defence minister Oleksii Reznikov on Saturday in Warsaw in his first face-to-face meeting with top Ukrainian officials since the start of the war.

Biden has held three days of emergency meetings with allies in the G7, Europe and Nato, and visited with US troops in Poland on Friday. He was also set to meet Polish President Andrzej Duda on Saturday.

March 26 2022 — 12:12

More than 100,000 people still need to be evacuated from Mariupol -Ukraine's deputy PM

More than 100,000 people still need to be evacuated from the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on national television on Saturday. 

-Reuters

March 26 2022 — 11:14

Russian defence minister seen speaking at army meeting after long public silence

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu was seen chairing an army meeting and discussing weapons supplies in a video posted by his ministry on Saturday, the first time he had publicly been shown speaking for more than two weeks.

In the video, uploaded on social media, Shoigu said he had discussed issues related to the military budget and defence orders with the finance ministry.

"We continue ahead-of-schedule delivery of weaponry and equipment by means of credits. The priorities are long-range high-precision weapons, aircraft equipment and maintenance of engagement readiness of strategic nuclear forces," said Shoigu, who is overseeing what Russia calls its special military operation in Ukraine.

-Reuters

March 26 2022 — 10:07

Ukrainian president calls on energy producers to hike output

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on energy producing countries on Saturday to increase output so that Russia cannot use its oil and gas wealth to "blackmail" other nations.

Addressing the Doha Forum international conference via video link, Zelenskiy also said no country is insured against shocks from disruptions to food supply happening because of Russia's invasion of his country.

-Reuters

March 26 2022 — 09:00

Ukraine says Russia's war kills 136 children so far

The war in Ukraine has killed 136 children in the 31 days since the start of the Russian invasion, Ukraine's office of the prosecutor general said on Saturday in a message on the Telegram app.

Of the total, 64 children have been killed in the Kyiv region, the office said. A further 50 children have died in the Donetsk region, it said.

Additionally, 199 children have been wounded. Reuters was not able to immediately verify the report.

-Reuters