The offensive continues in Ukraine.
After a month of fighting, the war continues both on the ground and in communication.
While providing protective equipment to kyiv to protect itself in the event of a chemical attack, NATO announces that it will "respond" if Russia uses chemical weapons in Ukraine.
Read alsoWar in Ukraine: in Mariupol, Kharkiv and kyiv, they tell the conflict from the inside
The town hall of Mariupol taken?
The leader of the Russian republic of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, assured Thursday that his forces had taken the town hall of Mariupol.
The Chechen leader then published a video in which there is only talk of an official building on the outskirts of this large city in southeastern Ukraine that the Russian army is besieging.
“That's not true.
The occupants do not know where our town hall is.
The images they released show the outskirts.
It's a big lie, ”reacted on LCI the deputy mayor of Mariupol, Petro Andriyushenko.
“Mariupol has difficulties, but is under the control of Ukrainian soldiers,” he adds.
Bombings still just as deadly
At least five people died, including two children, and six others injured in Russian strikes near Lugansk, the region's governor said.
In Kharkiv, in the northeast, at least six civilians were killed and 15 others injured in a bombardment, according to the regional governor.
The strike hit a post office near which local residents were receiving humanitarian aid, he said, denouncing a new "crime of the Russian occupiers".
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War in Ukraine: a cellist plays in the streets of Kharkiv, among the ruins
In addition, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) expressed Thursday evening its "concern" after being informed by the Ukrainian authorities of the bombing of the city where the staff of the Chernobyl site live.
Millions on the run
More than half of children in Ukraine, or 4.3 million, have had to leave their homes since February 24, said Unicef, the United Nations Children's Fund.
In total, nearly 3.7 million people have fled Ukraine, according to the UN.
First prisoner exchange
Russians and Ukrainians have exchanged prisoners for the first time, according to kyiv.
"In exchange for ten captured occupants, we got back ten of our military," said Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, who also accused Russian forces of detaining civilians and engaging in torture.
NATO "will respond" if Moscow uses chemical weapons
NATO will respond if Russia uses chemical weapons in Ukraine, US President Joe Biden pledged for the first time on Thursday.
“We will respond if there is appeal.
The nature of the response will depend on the nature of this use”, declared the American president at the end of the NATO and G7 summits in Brussels.
He will travel to Poland on Friday in the town of Rzeszow, about 80 km from the border with war-torn Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron for his part refused to specify whether NATO had defined "red lines" likely to trigger an intervention.
NATO equips Ukraine
NATO will provide Ukraine with protective equipment against chemical, biological and nuclear threats, announced the Alliance's Secretary General.
Four new battlegroups will be deployed in Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia to strengthen NATO's defenses on its eastern flank.
More than 100,000 American soldiers are currently present in Europe and more than 40,000 soldiers are under direct NATO command in the eastern part of the Alliance.
The Ukrainian president accuses Russia of using "phosphorus bombs".
And for him, “the risk of large-scale use of chemical weapons by Russia in Ukraine is very real”.