Ukraine - Russia war: latest news live | At least eight dead in Russian attacks in various regions of Ukraine

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At least eight people have died in attacks perpetrated this morning by Russian forces in various parts of Ukraine, according to local authorities.

A Russian projectile has hit a shelter for displaced persons in Kostiantinivka, in the province of Donetsk (in the east), leaving five fatalities.

Another person has died in Kherson, in the south, while the other two have died in the town of Bilopilla, in Sumi (in the north).

Meanwhile, the head of Chinese diplomacy, Wang Yi, has asked Europe to reach a "strategic consensus" on a ceasefire and a political resolution of the war in Ukraine during a telephone conversation held last night with Emmanuel Bonne, the adviser diplomat of the French president, Emmanuel Macron, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry in a statement.

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The country

Sánchez will express to the Chinese president Spanish support for Zelenski's peace plan

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has affirmed that he will take advantage of his visit to China next week to "learn first-hand the Chinese position" on the war in Ukraine "without forgetting that any solution must have the support of Ukraine and be in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations”.

Likewise, he will transfer Spain's support to the peace plan of the Ukrainian presidency, which conditions any dialogue with Russia to the withdrawal of troops.

ACT.24 MAR 2023 - 13:53

The country

A group of Ukrainian sappers is receiving training at the Burgos military facilities this Friday.

/ VINCENT WEST / REUTERS

Ukrainian sappers train in military facilities in Burgos

ACT.24 MAR 2023 - 13:48

The country

Ukraine confiscates assets for more than 11 million euros from the wife of pro-Russian Medvedchuk

A Ukrainian court has ordered the seizure of assets worth 440 million hryvnias (11.1 million euros) from Oksana Marchenko, wife of Viktor Medvedchuk, a disgraced deputy from the banned pro-Russian party Opposition Platform for Life, accused of treason and to finance armed groups.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has reported this Friday that Marchenko, a well-known Ukrainian actress, is suspected of being responsible for financing Russian armed groups operating in Ukraine through her participation in several companies, some of which They are located in tax havens.

One of these companies is the Dniprospetsstal metallurgical company, which specializes in the industrial production of steel and metal products.

"The seizure of assets will prevent them from being re-registered as fictitious persons and in the future will allow them to be transferred for the benefit of our State," details SBU, according to the Ukrinform agency.

It is not the first time that Ukrainian courts have seized Marchenko's accounts.

In February 2023, assets worth 5.6 billion hryvnas (about 141 million euros) were confiscated from him, after suspicions that he was behind the attempt to overthrow the constitutional order were reported to him that same month.

After several months in custody on suspicion of "high treason," Medvedchuk was sent to Russia in September as part of a prisoner exchange between Moscow and kyiv.

In January 2023, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, stripped him of his Ukrainian citizenship, while the Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, stripped him of his accreditation as a deputy.

(Europe Press)

ACT.24 MAR 2023 - 13:30

Isabel FerrerThe Hague

The ICC and kyiv sign an agreement to open a court office in Ukraine

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has signed a cooperation agreement with Ukraine to open a court office on the ground.

The pact opens a new chapter in the search for and subsequent prosecution of the perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian chief prosecutor, Andriy Kostin, and the secretary of the TPI, Peter Lewis, have signed the pact in The Hague, seat of the court.

In this same Dutch city, the court has some facilities in the jail where the defendants remain until a final sentence is handed down. 

The agreement has been announced just a week after Karim Khan, chief prosecutor of the ICC, issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin for his alleged responsibility for the forced deportation of Ukrainian minors from the occupied territories to Russia.

It is a war crime, according to the Rome Statute, the founding text of the court, which includes in the arrest warrant Maria Lvova-Belova, Kremlin commissioner for Children's Rights.

The Ukrainian government estimates that 16,221 minors have been deported in this way.

For their part, the European Commission and Poland are going to organize a conference to help locate these children.

In his evening speech, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky

Ukrainian prosecutor Kostin has stated that the new CFI office “opens a new chapter in our cooperation with the court;

It is a strong start and I am sure that we will not stop until all perpetrators of international crimes committed in Ukraine are brought to justice.”

Russia is not a member of the court.

Neither does Ukraine, but the Kiev government has recognized the jurisdiction of this court so that it investigates all crimes registered in its territory -also those that the Ukrainians may have committed- since the Russian invasion, which has been over a year. 

ACT.24 MAR 2023 - 13:30

The country

Russia claims that the use of depleted uranium shells in Ukraine would harm the population

The Russian Ministry of Defense said this Friday that the possible use of depleted uranium projectiles in Ukraine would harm Kiev's troops, a large part of the population and would negatively affect the agricultural sector, according to the Interfax agency.

Moscow has reacted furiously to plans announced by the United Kingdom, a NATO member country and a nuclear power, to send depleted uranium shells to Ukraine.

According to London, it is a common type of ammunition, while Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that this move shows that members of the Atlantic Alliance are sending weapons with a "nuclear component" to Kiev.

(Reuters)

ACT.24 MAR 2023 - 12:15

The country

The members of the emergency teams work this Friday in Kostiantinivka after the impact of a Russian missile.

/ EMERGENCY SERVICES OF UKRAINE

What has happened in the last hours

On the 393rd day since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, here's the top news at 12:00 this Friday, March 24, 2023:

At least eight dead in Russian attacks in various regions of Ukraine.

 At least eight people have died in attacks perpetrated this morning by Russian forces in various parts of Ukraine, according to local authorities.

A Russian projectile has hit a shelter for displaced persons in Kostiantinivka, in the province of Donetsk (in the east), leaving five fatalities.

Another person has died in Kherson, in the south, while the other two have died in the town of Bilopilla, in Sumi (in the north).

China calls for reaching a "strategic consensus" with Europe on a ceasefire in the conflict.

 Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has urged the EU to play its part in the face of peace talks in Ukraine.

In Beijing's opinion, "the ceasefire and the end of the war, the resumption of peace talks and the political solution of the crisis must become the strategic consensus between China and the EU" and China "hopes that France and other European countries also play their part in this regard”.

Wang made these statements after speaking by telephone with the diplomatic adviser to the French Presidency, Emmanuel Bonne.

The purpose of the conversation between the two diplomats was to exchange views on the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping this week to Moscow, where he met for several hours with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Kremlin says it is important to identify the object found near the Nord Stream gas pipelines.

The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, said this Friday that it is important to identify the object discovered next to the Nord Stream gas pipelines, and has stated that the ongoing investigation into the explosions that left the pipes unusable last September must be conducted with full transparency.

Peskov has also said that he sees it as positive that Denmark has invited the Russian operator of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to help rescue an unidentified object that was found near the pipelines, which run through the Baltic Sea: "It is certainly positive news that the owner of the gas pipeline is invited to be part of the important phases of the investigation”.

Medvedev now says that Russia is interested in negotiating to resolve the war in Ukraine.

 The one who was president of Russia between 2008 and 2012, Dmitri Medvedev, said this Friday that Moscow is not planning a direct conflict with NATO and that it is interested in resolving the war in Ukraine through negotiations, as reported by the agency Interfax.

However, Medvedev has warned that any attempt by Ukraine to reconquer the Crimean peninsula – illegally annexed by Russia in 2014 after a referendum that the international community does not recognize – would be sufficient reason for the Kremlin to use “absolutely any weapon ” against Kiev.

Borrell denounces Medvedev's threats to the ICC for the arrest warrant for Putin.

 The EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, has denounced the "illegal threats" to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its headquarters made by former Russian President Dimitri Medvedev.

Medvedev affirmed that the issuance of an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin by the ICC would have "monstrous consequences" for international justice and considered a Russian missile attack on the court's headquarters in The Hague "imaginable".

On Thursday, he also stated that Russia would consider the arrest of Putin in any country a declaration of war and also threatened to attack that country if it occurred.

ON MAR 24, 2023 - 13:21

The country

The Kremlin says it is important to identify the object found near the Nord Stream gas pipelines

The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, said this Friday that it is important to identify the object discovered next to the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, and has stated that the ongoing investigation into the explosions that left the pipes unusable last September must be conducted with full transparency.

The object has been found next to the Nord Stream 2 tube that was not destroyed —the gas pipelines consist of two pipes each, and three of the four were burst.

Peskov, in his usual daily press conference, has also told journalists that he sees it as positive that Denmark has invited the Russian operator of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to help rescue an unidentified object that was found near the pipes, which cross the Baltic Sea.

“It is certainly positive news that the owner of the pipeline is being invited to take part in important phases of the investigation,” Peskov said.

Last week, Danish authorities said a cylindrical object, which protrudes about 40 centimeters from the seabed and is about 10 centimeters in diameter, had been found during an inspection.

“It is very important to determine what type of object it is, and if it is related to an attack – apparently, it is – to continue the investigation.

And this has to be transparent ”, he added.

Three of the four Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines, designed to transport Russian gas to Europe via the Baltic Sea, blew up last September.

Russia, without showing evidence, has blamed the United Kingdom and the United States for the attack, although European investigators have yet to say who they believe is responsible for the sabotage.

(Reuters)

ACT.24 MAR 2023 - 13:19

At least one dead in a Russian attack on Kherson

At least one person has been killed and four others have been injured this morning in a Russian attack on the province of Kherson, in southern Ukraine, as confirmed by the regional governor, Yaroslav Yanushevich.

Yanushevich has detailed in a message on his Telegram channel that Russian forces attacked the town of Bilozerka in the early hours of the morning.

"There is not a single military installation nearby and the Russian military was targeting the houses of civilians at a time when people were still sleeping," denounces the governor.

ACT.24 MAR 2023 - 11:25

The country

Medvedev now says that Russia is interested in negotiating to resolve the war in Ukraine

The one who was president of Russia between 2008 and 2012, Dmitri Medvedev, said this Friday that Moscow is not planning a direct conflict with NATO and that it is interested in resolving the war in Ukraine through negotiations, as reported by the agency Interfax.

However, Medvedev has warned that any attempt by Ukraine to reconquer the Crimean peninsula – illegally annexed by Russia in 2014 after a referendum that the international community does not recognize – would be sufficient reason for the Kremlin to use “absolutely any weapon ” against Kiev.

Medvedev, a faithful ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and current vice president of the country's Security Council, often uses hyper-aggressive rhetoric in his messages against NATO and Ukraine.

In fact, a few days ago he stated that the issuance of an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin by the International Criminal Court (ICC), based in The Hague, would have "monstrous consequences" for international justice, and He considered a Russian missile attack on the court headquarters “imaginable”.

Yesterday Thursday, in addition, he said that Russia would consider the arrest of Putin by any country a declaration of war and, consequently, he also threatened to attack that supposed state if the arrest of the Russian autocrat leader were to take place.

(Reuters / EL PAÍS)

ACT.24 MAR 2023 - 10:27

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