WAR IN UKRAINE: April 1, 2022
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 37
The ICRC team I’m Ukraine said this morning they’ve been given the all clear to bring in badly needed aid to besieged city of Mariupol and to escort evacuation buses. It represents a major achievement for the Geneva-based organization. As of late afternoon word out of the region was that hundreds has managed to safely board evacuation buses.
According to CNN: Around 2,000 civilians are on evacuation buses heading from the coastal city of Berdyansk to the Ukrainian government-held city of Zaporizhzhia, carrying civilians evacuating from the besieged city of Mariupol. “The evacuation convoy left Berdyansk for Zaporizhzhia," Mariupol city council said in a statement on Telegram. "Many private vehicles have joined the 42 buses escorted by Red Cross and SES (State Emergency Service) vehicles. Today we expect the arrival of a record number of Mariupol residents."
Footage of Russian troops shooting a man with his hands up on a highway outside Kyiv at the beginning of March was shared around the world. Now the Russians have been pushed out of the area and the BBC's Jeremy Bowen has been to see the grim aftermath of their short-lived occupation. Read full story here
A Ukrainian official says the Russian side has forcibly move 45,000 residents of besieged Mariupol. According to Iryna Vereshchuk, Mariupol residents were illegally deported to the Russian-occupied territories of Donetsk Oblast. Nearly 100,000 people are still waiting for urgent evacuation from the city, she said - Kyiv Independent
Russia says Ukrainian helicopters attacked an oil depot in Belgorod, in Russian territory. The alleged strikes do not create "comfortable conditions" for peace talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says. Ukrainian officials have not confirmed the attacks, but video has emerged showing fuel tanks on fire - BBC
Tim Cullinam, the president of the Irish Farmers’ Association, told BBC World Television today that the war could prevent Ukrainian farmers from planting corn used as animal feed in Europe. Ukraine provides about 30 percent of Europe’s animal feed corn and that it is too late for planting to take place. Ukraine has about 33-million hectares of land designated for agriculture - which is about two times the size of France. The soil is regarded as among the most fertile in the world. Of the 66-million tonnes of corn feed consumed in Europe annually, 11-15 million tonnes comes from Ukraine. That deficit will have to come from imports which will likely translate into higher food costs, Cullinam said. “To replace that animal feed we will need a boost in production,” he said.
At least 153 children have been killed in Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion five weeks ago, and more than 245 children have been injured, the country’s general prosecutor's office said in news release Friday. Bombing and shelling have also damaged 859 educational institutions, including 83 that have been "completely destroyed," according to the news release - CNN
