Ukraine-Russia war – latest: 10,000 civilians in ‘horrific circumstances’ around Bakhmut, Red Cross warns

Some 10,000 Ukrainian civilians, many elderly and with disabilities, are clinging on to existence in horrific circumstances in and around the besieged city of Bakhmut, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Friday.

Russian forces have been trying for months to capture the city in Europe’s bloodiest infantry battle since World War Two.

Several thousand are estimated to remain in the city itself, said the ICRC’s Umar Khan, who has been providing them with aid in recent days.

“For the civilians that are stuck there, they are living in very dire conditions, spending almost the entire days in intense shelling in the shelters,” he told a Geneva press briefing by video link from Dnipro in Ukraine.

“All you see is people pushed to the very limits of their existence and survival and resilience.”

British households taking in Ukrainian refugees who have been in the country for more than a year are to receive an increased “thank you” payment as Kyiv’s ambassador implored more sponsors to offer accommodation.

The Ukrainian ambassador to the UK thanked the British people for their generosity in coming to the aid of those fleeing the conflict caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

But Vadym Prystaiko added that “some still need your help” as he called for “those who can” to open their doors to families displaced from their homeland.

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The UK should stay out of negotiations to halt Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to a former foreign secretary.

Lord Owen said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak should not talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin and any peace talks should be conducted by the two warring countries.

But he added there could be a role for US President Joe Biden as he is the negotiator that “really matters”.

Martina Bet reports:

Democratic and Republican US senators have urged the Biden administration to share information with the International Criminal Court that could assist as it pursues war crimes charges against Russian president Vladimir Putin.

The letter to president Joe Biden from Democrats Dick Durbin, Bob Menendez, Richard Blumenthal and Sheldon Whitehouse and Republicans Lindsey Graham and Thom Tillis, noted that Congress passed legislation to give the administration more flexibility in assisting the ICC.

“Yet, months later, as the ICC is working to build cases against Russian officials, including Putin himself, the United States reportedly has not yet shared key evidence that could aid in these prosecutions,” the letter said.

“Knowing of your support for the important cause of accountability in Ukraine, we urge you to move forward expeditiously with support to the ICC’s work so that Putin and others around him know in no uncertain terms that accountability and justice for their crimes are forthcoming,” the letter said.

This week’s Russia–China summit in Moscow was not unusual in itself, writes Mary Dejevsky. Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping have met many times more, and less, formally. They appear to have established an amicable and straight-talking relationship – their discussions were described by Putin at their closing press conference as “frank, open and friendly”.

Viewed through the longer lens of history, however, this visit may end up being seen as a unique, landmark, occasion: the point at which the global centre of gravity started seriously to shift from West to East.

The United States and Canada must together build a North American market on everything from semiconductors to solar panel batteries, in the face of growing competition, including from an “increasingly assertive China,” prime minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday.

Trudeau, speaking in the Canadian parliament ahead of a speech by Joe Biden, also expressed unity in supporting Ukraine and said the two allies must continue “to face down authoritarian threats, both at home and abroad.”

The Group of Creditors of Ukraine (GCU) body says it has provided financing assurances to support the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) approval for an upper credit tranche programme to help restore Ukraine‘s economy.

The Group of Creditors of Ukraine includes Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Britain, and the United States.

Denmark has invited the Russian-controlled operator of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to help recover a mystery object found on the seabed near the pipeline.

It come six months after sections of the pipeline were sabotaged. Russian President Vladimir Putin said he believes the object could be a signal antenna to activate an explosive in that part of the pipeline.

German, Swedish and Danish authorities are investigating the pipeline explosion that sparked four leaks on the two Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea in September, seven months after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Martha McHardy reports: