Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is due to address the United Nations Security Council at 10 a.m. ET on Tuesday after warning that worse atrocities may emerge amid the ongoing retreat of Russian forces around Kyiv.
World leaders have continued to condemn civilian deaths as Ukrainian forces liberate more cities and expose the true horrors of the war.
Here are the latest developments on the war in Ukraine:
Red Cross workers released: Aid workers from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), who were initially detained in Russian-held territory while attempting to evacuate desperate residents of Mariupol, have been released, according to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk. An evacuation convoy of seven buses accompanied by the ICRC was held in Manhush, a Russian-held town to the west of Mariupol, on Monday but were released later that night.
“Difficult” situation in Luhansk region: The situation in the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine is “difficult” amidst heavy Russian bombardment, according to Serhiy Haidai, chair of the Luhansk regional military administration. It comes as the Russian military said it is shifting its focus to the eastern Donbas region following a withdrawal of forces from around Kyiv and northern Ukraine.
Zelensky on Russia negotiations: Ukrainian leader Zelensky has cast doubt on the possibility of meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin after he accused Russia of genocide. Zelensky paid a visit to the Kyiv suburb of Bucha on Monday, an area where shocking images of civilian bodies strewn on the streets emerged over the weekend. A meeting could happen if Russia were to “bear all the punishments” of committing genocide, Zelensky said.
Satellite images undermine Russia’s claims: New satellite images from Maxar Technologies show the bodies of dead civilians in Bucha had been laying in the street for weeks, including when the town was under Russian control. Moscow claimed footage from Bucha was “fake” but the new pictures show objects on Yablunska street match the exact locations where bodies are seen in the street in the video.
CNN team witnesses removal of bodies: Ukrainian officials have shown international media the removal of five bodies from a basement in Bucha. A CNN team visited the basement before the removal and saw the bodies, which were in an advanced stage of decomposition. Five men had been tortured and executed by Russian soldiers, an adviser to the Ukrainian interior minister, Anton Gerashchenko, told CNN on the ground. CNN cannot independently verify Gerashchenko’s claims.
