AFP, KYIV
Kyiv yesterday said that more than 1,000 Ukrainian troops, many of them injured, remained in the sprawling Azovstal steel works in the Russian-controlled port city of Mariupol.
“More than a thousand” Ukrainian soldiers remain in the plant, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, said. “Hundreds are injured. There are people with serious injuries who require urgent evacuation.”
Photo: AFP
Earlier yesterday, Matilda Bogner, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, told reporters in Geneva, Switzerland, that since the Russian invasion, thousands more civilians have been killed than the official UN death toll of 3,381.
The UN team, which includes 55 monitors in Ukraine, has said that most of the deaths occurred from the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, such as shelling and airstrikes.
“We have been working on estimates, but all I can say for now is that it is thousands higher than the numbers we have currently given to you,” Bogner said.
“The big black hole is Mariupol, where it has been difficult for us to fully access and to get fully corroborated information,” she said.
On Monday, Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa came under repeated missile attack.
The Ukrainian military said that Russian forces fired seven missiles from the air at Odesa, hitting a shopping center and a warehouse.
As part of the barrage, a Russian supersonic bomber fired three hypersonic missiles, said the Center for Defense Strategies, a Ukrainian think tank tracking the war.
Using advanced guided missiles allows Russia to fire from aircraft at a distance, without being exposed to potential anti-aircraft fire.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden signed a law speeding up arms deliveries to Kyiv.
The US has sent about US$4 billion in military aid to Ukraine, but “caving to aggression is even more costly,” Biden said.
In a bid to build pressure on Russia, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she made “progress” on a proposed Russian oil embargo during talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Additional reporting by Reuters, AP
ONE LAST TALK: While Xi said that Taiwan was a ‘red line,’ Biden, in what is likely his last meeting with Xi as president, called for an end to China’s military activity around Taiwan China’s military intimidation and economic coercion against Taiwan are the main causes of tensions that are destabilizing peace in the Taiwan Strait, Taipei said yesterday while thanking US President Joe Biden for expressing Washington’s firm stance of maintaining peace and stability in the region. Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met on Saturday for their third meeting and their first talks in seven months on the sidelines of the APEC forum in Lima, Peru. It was likely Biden’s last meeting as president with Xi. During their conversation, Biden reiterated the US’ opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” from either
Taiwan would participate in the 2026 APEC summit to be hosted by China after Beijing promised it would ensure the personal safety of attendees, Taiwanese national security sources said yesterday. The APEC Leaders’ Machu Picchu Declaration announced yesterday said that China would host the APEC summit in 2026. Beijing proposed hosting the summit shortly before this year’s gathering began on Friday, a national security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Many APEC members expressed concerns about China hosting the event and said that prior communication over the decision was insufficient, the official said. Taiwan brought up concerns about legal “guidelines” China announced in
SUPPORT: Arms sales to NATO Plus countries such as Japan, South Korea and Israel only have to be approved by the US Congress if they exceed US$25m The US should amend a law to add Taiwan to the list of “NATO Plus” allies and streamline future arms sales, a US commission said on Tuesday in its annual report to the US Congress. The recommendation was made in the annual report by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), which contained chapters on US-China economic and trade ties, security relations, and Taiwan and Hong Kong. In the chapter on Taiwan, the commission urged the US Congress to “amend the Arms Export Control Act of 1976 to include Taiwan on the list of ‘NATO Plus’ recipients,” referring to
MEET AND GREET: The White House, which called the interaction ‘just a handshake,’ did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Biden planned to visit Taiwan’s envoy to the APEC summit, Lin Hsin-i (林信義), on Friday invited US President Joe Biden to visit Taiwan. During the APEC Leaders’ Informal Dialogue, Lin, who represented President William Lai (賴清德) at the summit, spoke with Biden and expressed gratitude to the outgoing US president for his contribution to improving bilateral ties between Taipei and Washington over the past four years, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Lin and Biden exchanged views during the conversation, with Lin extending an invitation to Biden to visit Taiwan, it said. Biden is to step down in January next year, when US president-elect Donald Trump is
RSS