According to Reuters, a Red Cross spokesman said senior Russian and Ukrainian authorities had agreed on an evacuation strategy from Mariupol that includes operating 54 buses. However, the organization warned that its teams were not given permission to bring humanitarian aid and therefore left without supplies, and the destination of the evacuees has not yet been decided, although it is known that it will be in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Russian troops appear to be withdrawing from Chernihiv in northern Ukraine. “Air and missile strikes are possible in the region, nobody rules it out,” local governor Viacheslav Chaus said, adding that Ukrainian forces were entering and securing settlements previously held by Russian troops.
📄📄📄 Before we start, a few keys from the day before:
- Russia is regrouping its troops in Ukraine to launch fresh attacks, NATO said on Thursday, as Moscow opened a new front by threatening to halt gas supplies to the European Union if it doesn’t receive payment in rubles.
- Russia on Thursday banned the “top leaders” of the European Union (EU) and most lawmakers from entering its territory in retaliation for sanctions it faces over the invasion of Ukraine, Moscow’s foreign ministry reported.
- The Ukrainian government on Thursday began dispatching 45 buses to evacuate civilians from the besieged city of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine after Russia announced a ceasefire, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk said.
The Red Cross says it is “impossible” today to evacuate civilians from Mariupol
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it was “impossible” to evacuate thousands of civilians from Mariupol. “The ICRC team, consisting of three vehicles and nine people, did not reach the city today or allow for the safe passage of civilians,” the entity said in a statement. “They will try again on Saturday to facilitate the safe passage of civilians from Mariupol,” he added.
Today our team tried to enable a safe exit #mariupol.
But had to return to Zaporizhia after conditions made it impossible to continue.
We’ll try again tomorrow.
It is crucial that the parties honor agreements and provide the necessary security guarantees.
— ICRC Ukraine (@ICRC_ua) April 1, 2022
The governor of eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, Pavlo Kyrylenko, accused Russia of failing to keep its promises to allow humanitarian aid to Mariupol. In a televised address, he said: “Despite all the agreements and promises made by the Russian side, humanitarian transfers are not taking place. The humanitarian corridor isn’t working.”
Ukraine is swapping captured troops with Russia, Kyiv officials say
As reported by AFP, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, Deputy Chief of Staff of Ukraine, said in a video message on Telegram that “the exchange has just taken place: 86 Ukrainian servicemen, including 15 women, are already safe.” Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk , said the military “is already being brought home”. “I want to address all our people who are still imprisoned: we will fight for each of you!”
A senior Ukrainian official has denied Russia’s allegations over the recent bombing
Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s Security Council, has dismissed Russian accusations that Ukraine was behind an attack on an oil depot in the Russian city of Belgorod, Reuters reported. He explained on national television: “For some reason they say we did it, but according to our information, that is not the reality.”
Ukraine refuses to confirm or deny its involvement in the bombing of a Russian city
Russia has accused Ukraine of sending helicopters across the border to attack an oil storage facility. This would be the first raid on Russian soil since the outbreak of war, if confirmed.
According to information from The Guardian, Ukraine has not confirmed that it launched the attack. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he could neither confirm nor deny reports of Ukraine’s involvement in the attack as he had no military information, Reuters reported. The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine did not respond to a request for comment.
EU leaders are calling on China to help end the war in Ukraine
In a virtual meeting with Xi Jinping, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said China should not help Russia circumvent Western sanctions. “We have made it very clear that China should, if not support, at least not interfere with our sanctions. It would do great damage to China’s image here in Europe,” he said.
Every day, the European official added, China and the European Union exchange goods and services worth almost 2,000 million euros, while trade between China and Russia was only 330 million euros a day.
Xi said he hopes European countries can form their view of China “independently,” stressing that the two sides should communicate more on important issues related to their bilateral ties and world peace, and that China and Europe are in a volatile to bring stability to the world. This was reported by the state broadcaster CCTV.
The federal government is analyzing the Russian gas decree
According to AFP, the federal government has received a Kremlin decree to pay for gas in rubles from accounts in Russia, a proposal being studied in Germany. “The federal government is currently examining this decree for its specific effects,” said government spokesman Wolfgang Büchner at a press conference.
Vladimir Putin announced on Thursday that buyers of Russian gas from “enemy” countries will have to pay from accounts in Russia starting this Friday. However, the Kremlin specified that the gas price is set in the currency of the current contracts, generally in dollars or euros, and that customers in Russia must carry out a simple exchange operation. “In fact, for those who receive Russian gas, who pay for its supplies, there is no change. You need to buy rubles only for the amount of foreign currency stipulated in the contract,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Russia accuses Ukraine of bombing a gas depot in Belgorod
In Russia, Belgorod Region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov accused Ukraine of bombing a “gasoline depot” in the city, some 40km from the border, from two helicopters. According to information from AFP, the spokesman for the Russian Council Presidency, Dmitry Peskov, warned that this could affect the dialogue between Russia and Ukraine. “It is clear that this cannot be seen as creating the appropriate conditions for negotiations to proceed,” the spokesman said.
This is the first time since the beginning of the conflict that Russia has denounced attacks of this kind on its territory. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov did not comment on the matter.
Lavrov: Peace talks must continue, but Ukraine has shown “much more understanding” for Crimea and Donbass
According to Reuters, the Russian foreign minister also said that Russia will increase its trade volume directly in rubles. That may anger Kyrylo Shevchenko, the governor of the Bank of Ukraine, who just issued a statement saying the United States, Japan, the European Union and the United Kingdom should ban transactions in rubles. He is quoted by Reuters as saying: “The ban on payments in Russian rubles will make it possible to thwart the aggressor state’s plans to switch to payments in its national currency.”
Mariupol evacuation plan agreed with “high-level authorities” from Ukraine and Russia, Red Cross says
According to Reuters, a spokesman for the humanitarian organization said high-level authorities from both countries had agreed on an evacuation strategy for the port city, which envisages the use of 54 buses. However, the Red Cross warned that its teams had not received authorization to bring humanitarian aid, so they left without supplies and the fate of the evacuees has not yet been decided, although it is known that it will be in Ukraine.
Russian forces withdraw from Chernihiv but not completely abandon: regional governor
Russian troops are withdrawing from northern Ukraine but are not completely gone, the local governor of Chernihiv said in a video. “Air and missile strikes are possible in the region, nobody excludes it,” said Vyacheslav Khaus, adding that Ukrainian forces entered and secured settlements previously held by Russian troops. Reuters reported that Chaus said it was too early for Ukrainian forces in the Chernihiv region to lose vigilance as Russian troops “are still on our land.”
Russian Foreign Minister visits India
Sergey Lavrov is visiting India, from where he said: “We appreciate that the country is taking this situation in its entirety and not just unilaterally.” Russian Foreign Minister that “we continue to implement projects in the fields of energy, science and technology, space, pharmaceutical industry,” he reported to Reuters.
The entry of humanitarian aid to Mariúpol is complicated
Reuters reported that the governor of the Lugansk region warned that five humanitarian corridors had been agreed for today. In contrast, however, an adviser to Mariupol’s mayor is quoted as saying that Russian forces are not allowing humanitarian aid into the country and the city is “very dangerous” for anyone trying to leave.
Oleksii Iaremenko, a deputy minister in the Ukrainian government, told Sky News that more than 100,000 civilians are still trapped in the city and that they have been unable to deliver medical supplies for 36 days. “As you can see from the recent Russian aggression targeting residential areas, social infrastructure and hospitals every day, in some regions the humanitarian corridors are not working. We appreciate all the support from countries and organizations providing humanitarian assistance, but given the number of attacks, we need more.”
Russia will respond to European Union sanctions
A senior official at Russia’s foreign ministry told state media agency RIA Novosti that the 27-nation bloc may realize that a confrontation with Moscow is not in its interests. Nikolai Kobrinets declared: “The actions of the European Union will not go unanswered. The irresponsible sanctions from Brussels are already having a negative impact on the daily lives of ordinary Europeans. Are they willing to pay out of their own pockets for more killings of civilians in Ukraine and for the transformation of Europe from an area of cooperation and stability to a zone of conflict? I do not believe it”.
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