Ukraine’s president has accused Russia of “genocide” after it bombed a children’s hospital and maternity ward in Mariupol on Wednesday.
Volodymyr Zelensky called the strike “beyond atrocity” and accused Moscow of a “crime that reflects all evil that the invaders have brought on us”.
In a passionate address on Telegram late on Wednesday night, he said:
“A children’s hospital, a maternity ward. How did they threaten the Russian Federation? What is this country, the Russian Federation, that is afraid of hospitals, maternity wards and is destroying them? Were there little Banderovites? Were pregnant women going to shoot on Rostov? Did anyone in the maternity ward humiliate Russian speakers? Or was it de-Nazification of a hospital?”
World leaders on Wednesday condemned the attack, with Boris Johnson calling the targeting of pregnant women and infants “depraved”.
Follow the latest updates below.
03:01 AM
Carlsberg pulls its beer out of Russia
Carlsberg says it we will stop producing and selling its flagship beer in Russia while ceasing all advertising there.
It follows an announcement last week that it would halt new investments or exports from Carlsberg Group into Russia.
“We feel a moral obligation to our Russian colleagues who are an integral part of Carlsberg, and who are not responsible for the actions of the Government.
“We have been owners of Baltika Breweries since 2000 and majority owners since 2008. Our 8,400 employees in Baltika represent more than one in every five of our total global workforce. They value working for Carlsberg, which is known for honesty, fairness and a strong values-led culture.”
The company added that Baltika Breweries will be run as a separate business, with the purpose of sustaining its employees and their families.
02:35 AM
Australia ups defence spending amid ‘uncertain global environment’
Australia will spend about A$38 billion (£ 22.2 billion) out to 2040 to expand its active defence personnel by a third to keep the country safe “in an increasingly uncertain global environment”, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday.
Australia has been boosting its defence spending over the past few years as China looks to step up its presence in the Indo-Pacific region.
“This is a significant investment in our future force,” Mr Morrison said during a media briefing on Thursday. The planned expansion would see the number of defence personnel rise to 80,000, a level not seen since the Vietnam War.
Morrison, behind in opinion polls in an election year, has made national security a core issue and has attacked the opposition Labor party as being “soft” on China, viewed by two-thirds of Australians as more of a security threat than an economic partner.
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese sharply criticised China for offering Russia relief from sanctions despite its war with Ukraine, a similar line to Mr Morrison’s ruling coalition.
02:28 AM
Pictured: Fuel prices around the world surge as the conflict continues
02:10 AM
Sony suspends PlayStation operations in Russia
Sony said it has halted PlayStation shipments to Russia and suspended operations of the gaming giant’s online store there, the latest global brand to shun the country over its invasion of Ukraine.
“Sony Interactive Entertainment joins the global community in calling for peace in Ukraine,” the company said on Thursday
“We have suspended all software and hardware shipments, the launch of Gran Turismo 7, and operations of the PlayStation Store in Russia.”
The statement added that Japanese tech and entertainment giant Sony Group was donating $2 million to the UN refugee agency and Save the Children “to support the victims of this tragedy”.
A growing number of multinationals, from McDonald’s to Adidas and Samsung, have fully or partially halted business in Russia after its invasion of its neighbouring country two weeks ago.
Some have cited supply chain disruption while others have directly linked the move to outrage over President Vladimir Putin’s decision to send troops to Ukraine.
02:08 AM
China-Taiwan war would end in ‘miserable victory’, says Taiwanese minister
No matter who wins in any future war between Taiwan and China, it will be a “miserable victory”, Taiwan Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said on Thursday, adding it was best if everyone avoided conflict.
Speaking to reporters before a parliament session on the security implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Mr Chiu said both sides would pay a heavy price in the event of conflict between China and Taiwan, which Beijing has vowed to reclaim, by force if necessary.
“If there’s a war, to be frank, everyone will be miserable, even for the victors,” he said.
“One really needs to think this through,” Mr Chiu added. “Everyone should avoid wars.”
While Taiwan has stepped up its alert level since the war in Ukraine, it has reported no unusual Chinese military activities, though China’s air force has continued to mount occasional missions into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone.
01:41 AM
35,000 people flee Ukraine’s cities
At least 35,000 civilians were evacuated from besieged Ukrainian cities, Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
In a video address on Wednesday, the Ukrainian leader said three humanitarian corridors had allowed residents to leave the cities of Sumy, Enerhodar and areas around Kyiv.
He said he hoped the evacuations would continue on Thursday with three more routes set to open out of the cities of Mariupol, Volnovakha in the southeast and Izium in eastern Ukraine.
The evacuations came after Moscow and Kyiv agreed on Wednesday to open more corridors, offering a glimmer of hope for terrified civilians trapped in bombarded cities.
01:40 AM
PM promises more sanctions
Boris Johnson has committed to impose the “maximum economic cost” on Russia as the Foreign Secretary is expected to say aggression like Vladimir Putin’s must “never again” be allowed to “grow unchecked”.
In a call on Wednesday evening, the Prime Minister joined Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in condemning a reported Russian strike on a maternity hospital in the besieged port city of Mariupol.
He noted that this, together with reports Russian forces had failed to respect ceasefire agreements, was “yet further evidence that Putin was acting with careless disregard for international humanitarian law”, Downing Street said.
01:36 AM
Today’s top stories
-
Vladimir Putin is plotting to use chemical weapons in Ukraine, Western officials fear, after his air force bombed a maternity hospital in a “depraved” attack that shocked the world
-
Boris Johnson described the attack on Hospital No 3 as “depraved” and said Britain would step up its supplies of weapons to the Ukrainian armed forces
-
Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, called on the West to “close the skies” after the strike, reigniting demands to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine and send its air force more fighter jets
-
The Ministry of Defence said on Wednesday that Russia had admitted firing a thermobaric weapons system in Ukraine
-
Volodymyr Zelensky has accused the US and Poland of “playing ping-pong” with the lives of Ukrainians after the apparent collapse of a proposal to send MiG fighter jets to his air force
-
Boris Johnson is facing calls to intervene to urge Saudi Arabia to release more oil after the country’s crown prince refused to take a call from Joe Biden, US president
-
Russia has admitted for the first time that it has sent conscripts to fight in Ukraine, as defence analysts said the military was “struggling to assemble” a large enough force to capture Kyiv
-
Priti Patel is preparing an about-turn to allow up to 20,000 more Ukrainians in the UK to bring in loved ones and remain for three years in the wake of criticism over the Government’s handling of the refugee crisis
