War in Ukraine: Latest developments

Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:

Zelensky says Mariupol siege war crime

Zelensky says the siege of Mariupol will go down in history as a war crime.

"To do such a thing to a peaceful city, what the occupiers have done, this is a terror that will be remembered even in the next century," he says. He adds Russian shelling is blocking efforts to deliver humanitarian supplies to Ukrainian cities.

Chernigiv hospital hit

In the encircled northern city of Chernigiv, the mayor says dozens of civilians have been killed by "indiscriminate artillery shelling", and that a hospital has been hit.

"The city is suffering from an absolute humanitarian catastrophe," he adds.

Azovstal steel works damaged

Ukrainian officials say one of Europe's biggest iron and steel works, Azovstal, has been badly damaged by Russian forces.

"We will return to the city, rebuild the enterprise and revive it," Azovstal's director general Enver Tskitishvili writes on messaging app Telegram, without specifying the extent of the damage.

Ukraine calls on China to condemn 'Russian barbarism'

Ukraine calls on China to join the West in condemning "Russian barbarism", after the US warned Beijing of consequences if it backed Moscow's attack on the country.

"China can be the global security system's important element if it makes a right decision to support the civilized countries' coalition and condemn Russian barbarism," presidential aide Mikhailo Podolyak writes on Twitter.

Hypersonic weapons

Russia says it has used hypersonic missiles for the first time in Ukraine to destroy a weapons storage site in the west of the country.

Hypersonic missiles travel faster than the speed of sound and can maneuver mid-flight, making them hard to track and intercept.

Russia's defense ministry says it used the technology to strike an underground arms depot in the village of Deliatyn, around 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Ukraine's border with Romania.

Air raids on Mykolaiv

Russian air raids on Mykolaiv were taking place in quick succession Saturday, Vitaly Kim, head of the regional administration, says, a day after a deadly strike on a military barracks in the southern Ukrainian city.

Dozens of soldiers are thought to have been killed after Friday's strike on the barracks, witnesses tell AFP as rescue operations continue. An official toll has not yet been given.

Russians in central Mariupol

Russia says its forces have broken through the defenses of the besieged southern port of Mariupol and are now inside the war-torn city.

The mayor of Mariupol confirms to the BBC that Ukrainian and Russian forces are engaged in gun battles in the heart of the southern port, which has suffered relentless shelling.

Zelensky blasts Nestle, banks

In a live address to a Swiss rally, President Volodymyr Zelensky blasts firms including food giant Nestle for carrying on business as usual with Russia "even though our children are dying" and tells the country's banks to freeze funds belonging to the Kremlin elite.

Japan presses India to act

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida urges India's Narendra Modi to take a tougher line on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but a joint statement after talks in Delhi falls short of condemning Moscow's actions.

'Time to meet', says Zelensky

Zelensky calls for urgent talks with Russia, saying in a Facebook video they are the "only chance for Russia to minimize the damage done with their own mistakes".

He has been pushing for direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Moscow claims that several rounds of negotiations have made progress on one of its key demands -- that Ukraine becomes a neutral state. Kyiv, which is demanding international security guarantees, denies its position has changed.

'Dire' situation in east

The UN warns that the humanitarian needs are becoming ever more urgent across eastern Ukraine, with a potentially fatal lack of food, water and medicines in besieged cities such as Mariupol and Sumy.

Russia warning on Black Sea mines

Russia warns that "dilapidated" mines that Ukrainians had deployed in the Black Sea against its "military operation" could drift as far as the Straits of Bosphorus and the Mediterranean Sea.

3.3 million refugees

More than 3.3 million refugees have now fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion, while nearly 6.5 million are thought to be internally displaced within the country, the UN refugee agency says.

The First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, calls on the World Council of Churches to help organize "real" humanitarian corridors.

© 2022 AFP