Russia-Ukraine war latest: Russia claims 1,026 Ukrainian marines surrender in Mariupol; Biden accuses Putin of genocide – live | World news

A quick snap from Reuters here that Ukraine’s defense ministry spokesperson, questioned on the Russian claim that 1,026 Ukrainian marines have surrendered in Mariupol, told reporters that they had no information on any surrender.

1,026 soldiers of Ukraine’s 36th marine brigade, including 162 officers, have surrendered in the besieged port city of Mariupol, according to a statement from the Russian defense ministry.

“In the town of Mariupol, near the Ilyich Iron and Steel Works, as a result of successful offensives by Russian armed forces and Donetsk People’s Republic militia units, 1,026 Ukrainian soldiers of the 36th Marine Brigade voluntarily laid down arms and surrendered,” it said. in a statement.

There was no immediate comment from the Ukrainian president’s office, the Ukrainian general staff or the defense ministry. Ukraine’s general staff, in its morning report, had said that Russian forces were proceeding with attacks in Mariupol on the Azovstal iron and steel works and the port.

Russia said 151 wounded Ukrainian soldiers were treated on the spot and taken to Mariupol’s city hospital. Russian television had shown pictures of what it said were marines giving themselves up at the iron and steel works in Mariupol on Tuesday.

Reuters reports that earlier the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has said more than 1,000 Ukrainian marines had surrendered, and he urged remaining forces in the Azovstal steel mill to surrender.

“Within Azovstal at the moment there are about 200 wounded who cannot receive any medical assistance,” Kadyrov said in his post. “For them and all the rest it would be better to end this pointless resistance and go home to their families.”

In a Facebook post on Monday, the last Ukrainian soldiers defending Mariupol said they were “running out of ammunition” and expected to be killed or taken prisoner very soon.

“We were bombed from airplanes and shot at by artillery and tanks. We have been doing everything possible and impossible. But any resource has the potential to run out, ”said the 36th Brigade.

AFP is carrying a couple of further quotes from Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk‘s message about the lack of humanitarian corridors being set up today. It quotes her saying:

Unfortunately, we are not opening them today. The situation along the routes is too dangerous and we are forced to refrain from opening humanitarian corridors today. The occupiers not only disregard the norms of international humanitarian law, but also cannot properly control their people on the ground

She said that around Zaporizhzhia in the south, Russian forces were blocking buses used in the evacuations, and that in the east Lugansk region Moscow’s army was violating an agreement to stop shooting while people escape. The claims have not been independently verified.

One civilian was killed in Russian shelling of Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region over the past 24 hours, Luhansk governor Serhiy Gaidai said this morning.

Reuters reports he said in a post on the Telegram messaging app that three trains would be offered on Wednesday to residents who wanted to leave the region, which he said was under constant shelling and may face a new large offensive by Russian forces.

Earlier today, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said it was not possible to open any humanitarian corridors for Wednesday, and she accused occupying Russian forces of violating a ceasefire and blocking buses evacuating civilians.

Russia said on Wednesday that claims by the US and Ukraine that Russia could use chemical weapons in Ukraine were disinformation because Moscow destroyed its last chemical stockpiles in 2017.

US department of state spokesman Ned Price told reporters yesterday that the US was concerned Russia may seek to resort to chemical weapons in Ukraine.

Reuters reports Russia’s embassy in Washington said Ukrainian radicals were preparing to stage provocations with the use of chemical weapons and that the state department’s price was spreading disinformation.

“We call on Washington to stop spreading disinformation,” the embassy said in a statement. “Ned Price once again distinguished himself by his idle talk, not substantiated by a single piece of evidence.”

The claim that chemical weapons have been used in Mariupol is based on video posted by Ukrainian fighters in the area, and has not been independently verified. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said it was not possible to draw 100% firm conclusions about whether Russian forces had used chemical weapons. Russia has dismissed the claims.

Matti Maasikas, the European Union’s ambassador to Ukraine, has been asked on Sky News in the UK about the prospects of the country joining the EU, which he said was being done at an accelerated pace. He told viewers:

The Ukrainian’s EU path has started. And it has started with an unprecedented speed. What is normally being done over a two-year period is now being attempted in three months, namely the first assessment by the European Commission of Ukraine’s compliance with the basic criteria of membership, namely a working democracy and a working market economy. Or that’s the working assumption – to hear more in June.

Reuters reports that the mayor of the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, Vadym Boichenkosaid in televised remarks this morning that more than 100,000 people remained in the city awaiting evacuation.

Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said it was not possible to open any humanitarian corridors on Wednesday.

She accused occupying Russian forces of violating a ceasefire and blocking buses evacuating civilians. Reuters reports Vereshchuk added in a statement on the Telegram messaging app that authorities would work to reopen the humanitarian corridors as soon as possible.

China’s overall trade with Russia rose by more than 12% in March from a year earlier in dollar termsin sync with previous gains, even as Beijing criticized western sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

Overall trade with Russia increased 12.76% in March to $ 11.67bn and jumped 30.45% in the first quarter from the same period last year, Chinese customs data showed on Wednesday, according to Reuters.

The gains in total trade – comprising the values ​​for both exports and imports – were in line with previous increases, with Russia a major source of oil, gas, coal and agriculture commodities for China.

Beijing has refused to call Russia’s action an invasion and has repeatedly criticized what it says are illegal western sanctions to punish Moscow.

Several weeks before the attack on Ukraine, China and Russia declared a “no-limits” strategic partnership. Last year, total trade between China and Russia jumped 35.8% to a record $ 146.9bn.

As sanctions against Russia mount, China could offset some of its neighbor’s pain by buying more. But analysts say they have yet to see any major indication China is violating Western sanctions on Russia.

China’s economic and trade cooperation with other countries including Russia and Ukraine remains normal, customs spokesman Li Kuiwen said at a news conference.