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2 hours ago
Ukraine is likely to join the European Union, says a French minister
French European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune attends a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, on March 8.
(Ludovic Marin/AFP/Getty Images)
French European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune said Ukraine, among other Eastern European countries, will "probably" join the European Union "within a few years."
"I have a deep conviction that there will be a European Union that in a few years, I don't know when, in a few years, will probably extend to Ukraine, to Moldova, to Georgia, perhaps to other countries," Beaune told French broadcaster France Inter. , speaking ahead of a meeting of EU leaders taking place today and Friday in Versailles, outside Paris.
But Ukraine's admission to the EU "is not for tomorrow," he added.
Beaune joined the chorus of global condemnation of the Russian "massacre" at a Ukrainian maternity hospital, adding that attacks on civilians are intensifying.
The minister also reiterated the need to abandon Russian gas "as quickly as possible", adding that "Russia is counting on us to need it."
"By buying Russian gas, we are financing Vladimir Putin's war," he said.
Beaune also advocated a joint European military defense complementary to the NATO military alliance.
He said that this would require investment, and that the possibility of financing these efforts through joint European debt would be discussed at the Versailles summit.
12 mins ago
At least three dead after bombing against maternity hospital in Mariupol
By Tim Lister
Ukrainian services at the site of a bomb-damaged maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine, on March 9.
(Evgeny Maloletka/AP)
At least three people have died as a result of the Russian shelling of a maternity hospital in southern Ukraine, the Mariupol city council said on Thursday.
"Until today, we know that after the terrorist bombing by Russian planes on the children's hospital in Mariupol there are 17 victims (children, women, doctors) and three died, including a minor, a girl," the council said.
The full extent of the casualties is unclear, but preliminary reports say that at least 17 people were injured in the shelling.
14 mins ago
UK sanctions Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich
The UK government has sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, freezing his assets, including the English Premier League soccer club Chelsea.
In a statement on Thursday, the UK government said Abramovich had been "imposed with an asset freeze, a ban on transactions with UK individuals and companies, a travel ban and transport sanctions".
Abramovich and Putin ally Igor Sechin are among seven oligarchs and politicians to be added to the UK sanctions list.
The sanctions are estimated to be worth close to $20 billion (£15 billion), the UK government said.
Who are the Putin-allied Russian oligarchs whose assets are being confiscated?
Seven oligarchs and politicians will be added to his sanctions list, including:
Roman Abramovich, owner of Chelsea FC and with stakes in steel giant Evraz and Norilsk Nickel
Oleg Deripaska, who has shares in En+ Group
Igor Sechin, CEO of Rosneft
Andrey Kostin, Chairman of VTB Bank
Alexei Miller, CEO of the energy company Gazprom
Nikolai Tokarev, chairman of the Russian state-owned pipeline company Transneft
Dmitri Lebedev, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bank Rossiya
16 mins ago
Bodies buried in mass grave in Mariupol
By Jonny Hallam
Corpses are placed in a mass grave on the outskirts of Mariupol, Ukraine, on March 9.
(Evgeny Maloletka/AP)
Disturbing photos show bodies being lowered into a mass grave in the besieged southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol on Wednesday.
Associated Press footage shows men, some wearing overalls or blue protective suits, dumping bodies into a trench.
In some photos, the bodies are in body bags, but in others they are seen wrapped only in what appear to be blankets.
The city has been under attack for days, bombed and besieged by Russian forces.
At least 1,300 civilians have been killed in Mariupol since the Russian invasion began, an aide to the city's mayor said on Wednesday.
They accuse Russia of bombing a mother and child hospital
Residents had their water and electricity cut off and on Tuesday Ukraine's Foreign Minister accused Russia of committing war crimes by taking 300,000 civilians "hostage".
"Really, we can't count how many deaths we have, I mean three or four times more. We can't even count how many people on the streets have been killed by shelling and artillery," Mariupol deputy mayor Sergei Orlov told CNN.
"We don't know how many, because we can't collect all the bodies and we can't count."
To deal with the large number of bodies, city workers dug a deep trench more than 22 meters (75 feet) long inside a cemetery and buried the bodies of soldiers and civilians who had been killed during repeated attacks by Russian forces.
Evgeniy Maloletka, an AP photojournalist who captured the scene, said some of the bodies were "brought in wrapped in rugs or plastic bags."
"Forty arrived on Tuesday, another 30 so far on Wednesday," he added.
war in ukraine