War in Ukraine: Latest developments

Kyiv, March 28 (AFP/APP): Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:

– 5,000 dead in Mariupol –

A senior Ukrainian official says at least 5,000 people have been buried in the besieged southern city of Mariupol since the invasion began, but that bodies have gone uncollected for the past 10 days amid continuing Russian shelling.

The foreign ministry describes the humanitarian situation in the city as “catastrophic”.

– Fierce fighting around Kyiv –

Russian attacks near Kyiv cut power to more than 80,000 homes, officials say, underscoring the peril facing the capital despite an apparent retreat in Moscow’s war aims to focus on eastern Ukraine.

“The enemy is trying to break through the corridor around Kyiv and block transport routes,” Ukraine’s deputy defence minister Ganna Malyar says.

– Poisoning report –

Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich and Ukrainian negotiators were targets of a suspected poison attack, potentially by Moscow hardliners seeking to sabotage peace talks, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing people familiar with the matter.

– New peace talks –

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky says Kyiv’s negotiators are studying a Russian demand for Ukrainian neutrality.

Ahead of his country’s first face-to-face talks in weeks with Russia, set to take start Tuesday in Turkey, Zelensky says: “This point of the negotiations is understandable to me and it is being discussed, it is being carefully studied.”

– Banned weapons proof –

Ukraine has proof Russian forces have used banned cluster bombs in two southern regions of the country, Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova says

– $565 billion hit –

The Ukrainian government estimates the economic damages from the Russian invasion at nearly $565 billion.

Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko says on Facebook that the $564.9-billion (515.8-billion-euro) estimate includes immediate damage plus expected losses in trade and economic activity.

– Nearly $7 billion in US aid –

The US government proposes to spend an additional $6.9 billion to help Ukraine fend off Russia’s invasion and support NATO members.

The proposal includes spending of nearly $1 billion on US efforts “to counter Russian malign influence and to meet emerging needs related to security, energy, cyber security issues, disinformation, macroeconomic stabilisation, and civil society resilience,” the White House says.

– Top newspaper silenced –

Russia’s top independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, whose chief editor was last year awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, suspends publication until the end of the war in Ukraine.

The paper, which has fallen foul of Russian censors for its reporting on the war, says it took the decision “to save us for each other”.

– Ukraine recaptures village –

Ukrainian soldiers finish clearing Russian troops from the village of Mala Rogan on the outskirts of second-largest city Kharkiv, as Kyiv’s forces mount counterattacks against a stalling Russian invasion.

– ‘Unfriendly’ states –

Russia says it is preparing to restrict entry to the country for nationals of “unfriendly” countries, including Britain, EU members and the United States, in retaliation for Western sanctions on the country.

– Heineken, Carlsberg leave Russia –

Rival brewers Heineken and Carlsberg become the latest Western firms to pull out of Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, following in the footsteps of Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and other multinationals.

– Kadyrov in Mariupol –

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has arrived in Mariupol to raise morale among fighters, Russian media reports say.