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04:52
Attack on psychiatric hospital was ‘a war crime against civilians’, says Kharkiv governor
Updated
04:43
Russia reportedly shelled residential areas in Kharkiv 89 times in one day
04:37
Putin has approved 16,000 volunteers from the Middle East to fight in Ukraine
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04:33
EU to double spending on military support for Ukraine to €1billion
The EU will double the amount it is spending on providing military support to Ukraine to €1billion, it has been announced at a leaders’ summit on Versailles.
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said agreement among the 27 leaders had not been difficult to secure.
He said:
Everyone was completely aware that we have to increase our military support to Ukraine to increase the pressure on Russia.
04:32
04:23
Lithuanian president says ‘flavour of disappointment’ over EU not fast tracking Ukraine’s membership
Lithuania’s president Gitanas Nausėda said there was a “flavour of disappointment” to the decision by the EU leaders at a summit in Versailles not to offer Ukraine a fast track to EU candidate status in their response to Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s request.
Speaking as he arrived at the second day of the meeting, Nausėda said he believed that “more could be done” but that other member states had different concerns among their electorates to which they needed to answer. He said that he expected the EU to come back to the issue.
He said:
I wish Ukraine gets candidate status now. But it was not possible to get it today. But probably it will come back to this issue later on. Some countries have domestic agendas, opinion of society, and they have to care about it. But more could be done. Very slight flavour of disappointment but we made also a very important step and we go forward.
In a statement published in the early hours of Friday the leaders had said:
On 28 February 2022, exercising the right of Ukraine to choose its own destiny, the President of Ukraine submitted the application of Ukraine to become a member of the European Union.
The Council has acted swiftly and invited the Commission to submit its opinion on this application in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Treaties. Pending this and without delay, we will further strengthen our bonds and deepen our partnership to support Ukraine in pursuing its European path. Ukraine belongs to our European family.
04:20
Analysis from the Guardian’s Peter Beaumont, reporting from Lviv, of the latest movements of the Russian convoy near Kyiv:
With evidence from the latest satellite images from Maxar Technologies that the 40-mile (64-kilometer) Russian convoy that had been approaching the capital Kyiv – including tanks, trucks and artillery – has now been dispersed and redeployed, what does it mean?
In the last few days we’ve seen Russian tanks attempting to move forward towards Brovary from the north east and the redeployment of the 40 mile convoy to the west with Russian forces operating some 60k to the west of Kyiv on the main E40 east west motorway.
The question with the convoy to the north west was whether it was “stalled” as western defence analysts have claimed – suggesting they had expected it to assault Kyiv – or was regrouping to take up positions and besiege the Ukrainian capital.
With armoured units seen in towns near the Antonov airport in Hostomel to north of the cit, and with vehicles moving into forests, with towed howitzers positioned ready to fire, it looks increasingly likely that Russian forces are preparing a siege from both sides of the river Dnieper.
What is not yet clear is whether the Russian ambition is to close the encirclement of Kyiv to the south or leave that exit open.
Still, the immediacy of the threat to Kyiv is still unclear. A US defence official speaking on condition of anonymity said Russian forces moving toward Kyiv had advanced about 5 kilometers (about 3 miles) in the past 24 hours, with some elements as close as 15 kilometers (about 9 miles) from the city.
A more intense bombardment of Kyiv from the armour gathered outside would be in keeping with recent Russian tactics around Mariupol and Kharkiv.
While the Russian military may view a siege as a less risky option, given the effectiveness of the Ukrainian resistance, it is not risk free. Ukrainian use of Turkish supplied combat drones has been effective and Russian positions taken outside the city for shelling would be vulnerable to drones and other attacks.
04:16
More than 2.5m people have fled Ukraine, says UN
04:00
03:43
Russian forces reportedly hit psychiatric hospital in Kharkiv region
Updated
03:41
Putin says Russia will welcome volunteers to fight in Ukraine
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