Russia has already used more than 4,700 missiles in Ukraine since the beginning of war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated.
“Today is the 270th day of the full-scale war. Russia used more than 4,700 missiles,” he said in an address to members of the International Organization of La Francophonie.
“Hundreds of our cities are simply burned. Thousands of people died. Hundreds of thousands were forcibly deported to Russia. Millions left Ukraine for other countries, fleeing the war,” he added.
Zelensky also spoke about what he called “the Ukrainian peace formula.”
“The Ukrainian peace formula is very clear, and each of its points has been thoroughly worked out,” he said.
“Radiation and nuclear safety. Food security. Energy security. Release of all prisoners and deportees. Implementation of the UN Charter and restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the world order. Withdrawal of Russian troops and cessation of hostilities. Restoring justice. Countering ecocide. Prevention of escalation. Fixing the end of the war,” the president added.
Zelensky invited world leaders “to choose the element of the peace formula they can help Ukraine implement.”
5 million people have lost jobs due to Russia’s invasion: Ukraine official
About 5 million people have lost their jobs in Ukraine due to Russia’s invasion, according to Ukraine’s deputy economy minister.
According to the Kyiv Independent, Tetyana Berezhna said “fighting continues in the regions where 10 million people were once employed”. She said the war, which led seven million people to flee, had “significantly” affected the unemployment rate.
“The war is destroying the Ukrainian labour market,” she added.
Over 84,000 Russian soldiers killed since February: Ukraine
Ukraine’s defence ministry has reported that 330 more Russian soldiers were “eliminated” in the last 24 hours.
In its daily update on “enemy combat” losses, the ministry reported that the total number of Russian servicemen killed during the invasion now stands at 84,210.
The update, which was not independently verified, also announced that Ukraine took out nearly 3,000 Russian tanks since February.
IAEA chief slams ‘targeted’ strikes at Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
UN atomic watchdog chief Rafael Grossi has denounced the “targeted” strikes at Ukraine’s Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, calling for a “stop to this madness”.
Around a dozen strikes had targeted the plant, he said, and the situation was “very serious”, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) told French broadcaster BFM TV.
It was an outrage that some people “consider a nuclear power plant to be a legitimate military target”, he added.
While he did not blame either Russia or Ukraine, Grossi said: “Whoever it is, stop this madness!”
“The people who are doing this know where they are hitting. It is absolutely deliberate, targeted,” the chief continued.
Earlier Sunday, Kyiv and Moscow blamed each other for shelling the site of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine.
The IAEA is to send a team of experts to the plant – the biggest nuclear facility in Europe – after the “powerful explosions” there on Saturday and Sunday.
“The plant is on the front line, there are military activities that are very difficult to identify, there are Russian troops and Ukrainian troops in operation,” Grossi stated.
“There has been damage in some rather delicate places,” he added, though the nuclear reactors themselves have not been affected but “rather the area where the fresh and spent fuel is located”.
“We expect to be able to take stock of the situation very early tomorrow morning,” he added.
But the inspectors had not been able to leave for the site on Sunday, as the situation was too dangerous, he said.
Russia, which launched an offensive on Ukraine in February, has been occupying the territory around the power station. Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed its annexation, along with four Ukrainian regions.
Moscow and Kyiv have blamed each other for the repeating shelling of the site.
Human rights commissioner denies Ukrainians killed Russian POWs
The Ukrainian parliament’s commissioner for human rights has denied Kyiv’s forces had killed Russian prisoners of war.
Videos circulated on Russian social media this week purporting to show the bodies of Russian servicemen killed after surrendering to Ukrainian troops.
Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets argued that Ukraine’s soldiers were defending themselves against Russians who feigned surrender.
He said “excerpts” of a video showed that Russians “using a staged capture … committed a war crime by opening fire on the Ukrainian Armed Forces”.
This means the soldiers “cannot be considered prisoners of war”, he argued.
The Russian defence ministry announced on Friday that the videos showed the “deliberate and methodical murder of more than 10 restrained Russian soldiers”.
It called for an investigation into “war crimes”.
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova condemned “the merciless shooting of unarmed Russian” prisoners and demanded that “international organisations condemn and thoroughly investigate this shocking crime”.
A UN spokesperson told AFP on Friday it was “aware of the videos” and “looking into them”.