Russian helicopter shoot down by Ukraine soldiers

Negotiator from the Ukrainian side, Denis Kireev, was killed by the Security Service of Ukraine on ‘Suspicion of Treason’, Russian news agency RIA said on Saturday. A member of the first delegation of Ukraine at the negotiations with Russia was killed during the arrest, it said.

Officials in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol on Saturday said they were delaying an evacuation of the civilian population, accusing Moscow’s troops of breaking a ceasefire, according to AFP news agency. “Due to the fact that the Russian side does not adhere to the ceasefire and has continued shelling both of Mariupol itself and its environs and for security reasons, the evacuation of the civilian population has been postponed,” city officials said in a statement on social media.

While the Russian ceasefire does not extend to eastern Ukraine, India is in touch with both Russian and Ukrainian authorities to evacuate students stuck in Sumy after its implementation, sources told CNN-News18. The students have issued desperate pleas for help in Sumy, and said on Saturday that they had witnessed an airstrike near their hostel.

Ukraine’s strategic port city of Mariupol is under a “blockade” by the Russian army after days of “ruthless” attacks, its mayor said on Saturday, calling for the establishment of a humanitarian corridor. “For now, we are looking for solutions to humanitarian problems and all possible ways to get Mariupol out of the blockade,” said Vadim Boychenko in a message posted on Telegram.

Russian forces are now only 32 kilometres (20 miles) away from Ukraine’s second largest nuclear facility, the Yuzhnoukrainsk Nuclear Power Station in Mykolaiv Oblast, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield has said. Meanwhile, multiple blasts have been reported in Kharkiv, and residents have been asked to seek their nearest shelter for safety.

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting Monday on the humanitarian crisis triggered in Ukraine by the Russian invasion, diplomats said Friday. After this public session, the 15 members of the council will confer behind closed doors to discuss a possible draft resolution, a diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP.