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the Japanese government is considering extending additional humanitarian aid of $100m to Ukraine and neighboring countries, on top of the $100m in assistance Japan has already announced, public broadcaster NHK said on Thursday.
The government is also looking into doubling emergency loans to Ukraine to $200m and dispatching self-defence force medical officers to support Ukrainian refugees in Poland and other neighboring nations, NHK said.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said he plans to unveil Japan’s new support measures for Ukraine at a G7 summit meeting scheduled to take place in Brussels on Thursday.
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Summary
Hello it’s Samantha Lock with you and we unpack all the latest developments in Ukraine.
It is now one month since Russia invaded the Ukraine. Casualties are in the thousands and millions have fled the country seeking refuge abroad. Latest Nato estimates place Russian deaths at up to 15,000.
Here is a comprehensive rundown on where the crisis currently stands:
- western nations will warn the Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday that his country will pay “ruinous” costs for invading Ukraine during an unprecedented one-day trio of Nato, G7 and EU summits that will be attended by the US president, Joe Biden, inBrussels.
- Zelenskiy said he hoped for “meaningful steps” at the round of summits, noting they would reveal “who is a friend, who is a partner, and who betrayed us for money”.
- The Ukrainian president also called for a global rally to protest Russia’s war on Ukraine, urging citizens of the world to publicly stand against the war.
- russian forces have been accused of taking hostage the people of the besieged Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, as local officials imposed drinking water rationing on trapped civilians. About 150,000 people are stuck in the northern city with little hope of aid after Russia cut them off from the capital, Kyiv, when a key bridge was bombed on Wednesday.
- Ukraine is increasing pressure on Russian forces north-east of Kyiv while carrying out successful counterattacks against Russian positions in towns on the outskirts of the capital, the UK defense ministry has said.
- Nato announced it will double its troops along the alliance’s eastern flank. “The first step is the deployment of four new Nato battlegroups in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, along with our existing forces in the Baltic countries and Poland,” said the alliance’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg.
- born countries are also expected to agree at Thursday’s meeting to provide special kit to help protect Ukraine against chemical, biological or nuclear attacks launched by Russia.
- the UN General Assembly will vote on Thursday on a resolution backed by over 90 countries that blames Russia for the escalating humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and demands an immediate halt to hostilities.
- the White House has quietly assembled a team of national security officials to sketch out scenarios of how the United States and its allies should respond if Russian President Vladimir Putin unleashes his stockpiles of chemical, biological or nuclear weaponsthe New York Times reports.
- Britain will provide 6,000 defensive missiles and extra funds to support the Ukrainian military, as well as BBC journalists providing news coverage in the region.
- The US government has said it believes war crimes have been committed in Ukraine based on its assessment of evidence that civilians have been deliberately targeted.
- Between 7,000 and 15,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since the beginning of the war, Nato estimates. By way of comparison, Russia lost about 15,000 troops over 10 years in Afghanistan, the Associated Press has reported.
- Ukraine is using facial recognition software to identify the bodies of Russian soldiers killed in combat and to trace their families to inform them of their deaths, Ukraine’s vice prime minister said.
- The Russian climate envoy Anatoly Chubais has stepped down and left the country in protest against Putin’s war in Ukraine. He is the highest-level official to break with the Kremlin over the invasion.
- Israel has blocked Ukraine from buying Pegasus spyware, fearing Russia’s anger. The revelation, after a joint investigation by the Guardian and Washington Post, offers new insight into the way Israel’s relationship with Russia has at times undermined Ukraine’s offensive capabilities – and contradicted US priorities.
- Putin has said Russia plans to demand payment in roubles for its gas sales to “unfriendly” countries. The announcement sent European futures soaring over concerns the switch would exacerbate a looming energy crisis by jamming up deals that run to hundreds of millions of dollars every day.
- the risk of coup by Russia’s federal security service (FSB) against President Putin is growing every week that the war in Ukraine continues, a whistleblower at the heart of Russian intelligence has said, according to a report from The Times.
As usual, for any tips and feedback please contact me through Twitter or at [email protected]
The Guardian keeps you up to the minute on the crisis in Ukraine with a global perspective and from our team around the world and around the clock. Thank you for reading and please do stay tuned.
www.theguardian.com
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism