The Russian Defense Ministry said that 1,026 soldiers from the 36th Marine Brigade of Ukraine surrendered in Mariupol, eastern Ukraine. Since last Monday, April 11, that unit had indicated on social networks that it was running out of weapons. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has accused his counterpart Vladimir Putin of “genocide” and trying to “eliminate the idea of being Ukrainian.”
49 days of war. Russian troops carry out heavy attacks on the port city of Mariupol in their renewed aim to control the entire Donbass region in eastern Ukraine.
Satellite images show the regrouping of Moscow’s forces in that area of the country, while its Defense Ministry says that more than a thousand Ukrainian soldiers from the 36th Marine Brigade have surrendered.
The situation in the eastern part of the nation is “too dangerous” that no civilian evacuations are scheduled for this Wednesday, April 13, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.
These are the main news of the day:
- 7:17 (BOG) OSCE: March 9 assault on Mariupol maternity home was “Russian attack” and “war crime”
The United States envoy to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) assures that the mission of experts found that the attack on March 9 against a maternity home and children’s hospital in Mariúpol was an “attack of Russia” and a “war crime”.
- 07:08 (BOG) Presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia visit kyiv
The presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia arrived in kyiv in the last few hours to meet with the president of Ukraine, Volodímir Zelenski.
The four join a growing number of European politicians visiting the Ukrainian capital to show support for the Zelensky government, since Russian forces left the north of the country, where the capital is located.
“I am going to kyiv with a strong message of political support and military assistance,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda announced during his journey, along with a photo of the leaders on a train.
This official trip comes after the visit of the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs of the EU, Josep Borrell, last week, who also went to Bucha, a town where the bodies dozens of civilians were found in the streets after the departure of the Russian Army.
- 6: 53 (BOG) Zelensky proposes to exchange a pro-Russian politician detained by imprisoned Ukrainians
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has proposed exchanging high-ranking pro-Russian politician and man close to Vladimir Putin, Viktor Medvedchukby prisoners of war: Ukrainian men and women held by Moscow forces.
In a speech, the president affirmed that it is “important that our security forces and military forces consider such a possibility.” Ukraine’s security services reported Tuesday, April 12, that they had arrested the Kremlin politician.
The detainee leads the pro-Russian Opposition Platform for Life party and was under house arrest, but disappeared a few days after the start of the Russian invasion. Putin is the godfather of Medvedchuk’s youngest daughter.
- 6:41 (BOG) Zelensky accuses Russia of using phosphorus bombs
During his speech before the Estonian Parliament, the President of Ukraine assured that Russia is using phosphorus bombs on Ukrainian soil and accused Moscow of deploying terrorist tactics against civilians.
“The Russian Army is using all kinds of artillery, all kinds of missiles, air bombs, in particular phosphorus bombs against residential districts and civil infrastructure (…) This is a clear terror against the civilian population,” Zelensky said.
Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians since launching the war on February 24, and has called the accusations against it of war crimes by kyiv and the West part of a fabrication.
- 6:23 (BOG) More than 100,000 people wait their turn to evacuate in Mariupol
The mayor of the port city in southeastern Ukraine, Vadym Boichenko, said that more than 100,000 people are still waiting there to be evacuated to safer areas.
His statements came after the national government reported that it is stopping these operations at least during this Wednesday, April 13, because the situation is “too dangerous” in the face of intense bombing and attacks by Russian troops.
- 06:11 (BOG) Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister: Humanitarian corridors will not be opened this Wednesday
The Ukrainian government reported that it is stopping all the humanitarian corridors, scheduled for this Wednesday, for the evacuation of civilians in all the attacked regions, while accusing Vladimir Putin’s troops of violating the temporary ceasefire agreements to remove the civilians.
“Unfortunately, we are not going to open them today. The situation along the routes is too dangerous and we are forced to refrain from opening humanitarian corridors today,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a statement.
Vereshchuk stressed that around Zaporizhzhia in the south of the country, the Russian military was blocking buses used in evacuations and that in the eastern Luhansk region, the Moscow Army was violating an agreement to stop shooting while people escape.
“The occupiers not only ignore the norms of International Humanitarian Law, but they are also unable to adequately control their people on the ground,” Vereshchuk said.
- 5:48 (BOG) More than a thousand Ukrainian soldiers would have surrendered to the Russian Army in Mariupol
1,026 soldiers of the 36th National Marine Brigade of Ukraine surrendered and handed over to the Russian Army in Mariupol, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
“In the city of Mariupol, near the Ilyich iron and steel factory, as a result of successful offensives by the Russian armed forces and militia units of the Donetsk People’s Republic, 1,026 Ukrainian soldiers from the 36th Brigade of Marine Corps voluntarily laid down their arms and surrendered,” the note states.
Russia’s state television released footage of what it said were Ukrainian servicemen surrendering at the iron and steel factory in the strategic port city for their outlet to the Sea of Azov.
In addition, Moscow noted that 151 wounded Ukrainian soldiers were treated at the scene and later transferred to the city hospital.
kyiv has not confirmed the surrender of members of its military units, although in its morning report the Army General Staff indicated on Wednesday, April 13, that Russian troops were attacking the port factory where the soldiers would have surrendered.
Since last Monday, April 11, the National Brigade 36 of the Marine Infantry, indicated that its men were running out of weapons. “Today will probably be the last battle, since we are out of ammunition (…) It will be death for some of us and captivity for others,” the military unit published at the time through its Facebook account.
- 5:27 (BOG) Biden accuses Putin of “genocide” and intending to “exterminate” the Ukrainians
For the first time, US President Joe Biden has argued that Russia’s launched war in Ukraine amounts to “genocide.”
“Yes, I called it genocide because it has become increasingly clear that Putin is only trying to eliminate the idea of being able to be Ukrainian and the evidence is mounting,” the president ratified after the controversy unleashed by his statements.
At the State Department, such an indictment usually follows a meticulous internal process before being launched.
Biden: “Yes, I called it genocide… Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of even being able to be Ukrainian.”
Zelensky: “True words of a true leader. Calling things by their names is essential to standing up to evil.”https://t.co/nFDX4fVS5r pic.twitter.com/MX9TyJZMLq— Cliff Levy (@cliffordlevy) April 13, 2022
Under international law, genocide is an attempt to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. The term was first used to describe the Nazi Holocaust and was established in 1948 as a crime under international law in a United Nations convention.
According to that resolution, genocide includes murder, serious bodily or mental harm; inflicting lethal conditions and measures to prevent births, among other actions.
“We will let the lawyers decide internationally if he qualifies or not, but it sure seems that way to me,” Biden said.
With Reuters, AP and local media
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