Ukraine

April 7 (Reuters) - Russia's long-term objective is to seize all of Ukraine even though the short-term focus of its invasion is now on the east of the country, Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar said on Thursday.

She said Russian forces were biding their time in Ukraine as Moscow stepped up intelligence operations there and learnt how best to fight Ukrainian troops. 

"The key objective of the Russian Federation was and is the capture of the entire territory of Ukraine, " Malyar told a video briefing.

Brussels, Apr 7 (AP) Ukraine on Thursday appealed to NATO for more weapons in its fight against Russia to help prevent further atrocities like those reported in the city of Bucha, and urged Germany to slash red tape so that more supplies can get in.

NATO, as an organisation, refuses to send troops to Ukraine or police any no-fly zone to prevent Russia from completely overwhelming its neighbour. But individual member countries are supplying anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons, as well as equipment and medical supplies.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine told residents of its industrial heartland to leave while they still can and urged Western nations to send “weapons, weapons, weapons” Thursday after Russian forces withdrew from the shattered outskirts of Kyiv to regroup for an offensive in the country’s east.

Russia’s six-week-old invasion failed to take Ukraine’s capital quickly and achieve what Western countries say was President Vladimir Putin’s initial aim of ousting the Ukrainian government. Russia’s focus is now on the Donbas, a mostly Russian-speaking region in eastern Ukraine.

KIEV, April 6 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine on Wednesday created 11 humanitarian corridors to allow civilians to leave conflict-affected cities and deliver humanitarian aid, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Telegram.

The humanitarian corridors established safe exit routes from five towns in the southern Zaporizhzhia region and five towns and villages in Luhansk, Vereshchuk said.

One humanitarian corridor was set up to allow civilians to leave Mariupol in Donetsk, where there has been fierce fighting, via private transport.

06 April 2022; MEMO: An Irish factory which specialises in electrical parts and car cables has decided to suspend its activities in Ukraine and relocate to other countries, including Morocco, the Moroccan television website SNRTnews reported.

According to the station, Aptiv, which is based in Dublin, will move production to Poland, Romania, Serbia and Morocco.

"The process of moving production outside Ukraine will take more than six weeks," it added.

BUCHA, Ukraine (AP) — Police and other investigators walked the silent streets of ruined towns around Ukraine’s capital, documenting widespread killings of unarmed civilians and other alleged war crimes by Russian forces that could draw tougher Western sanctions as soon as Wednesday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has kept up demands for war-crimes trials for Russian troops and their leaders, while warning they were regrouping for fresh assaults on Ukraine’s east and south.

KIEV, April 5. /TASS/: Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky believes that talks with Russia should be continued, as he himself said in an interview with Ukrainian journalists.

"It’s impossible to just say: ‘Let’s not talk anymore.’ It’s the easiest position, it’s the easiest thing to say, ‘I won’t talk with you’," he pointed out. "The hardest thing is to talk," Zelensky added.

April 5 (Reuters) - Satellite images taken weeks ago of the town of Bucha in Ukraine show bodies of civilians on a street, a private U.S. company said, undercutting the Russian government's claims that Ukrainian forces caused the deaths or that the scene was staged.

Maxar Technologies provided nine images taken of Bucha on March 18, 19 and 31 to Reuters. At least four of the images appear to show bodies on one of the town's roads, Yablonska Street. The city was occupied by Russian forces until about March 30.

BUCHA, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that the Russian military must be brought to justice immediately for war crimes, accusing the Kremlin’s troops of the worst atrocities since World War II.

The Ukrainian leader made his plea via video as grisly evidence continued to emerge of civilian massacres carried out by Russian forces on the outskirts of Kyiv before they pulled back from the capital.

05 April 2022; MEMO: Human Rights Watch has called on the Ukrainian authorities to immediately release migrants and asylum seekers who are arbitrarily detained and at heightened risk due to military activity in the vicinity.

Up to 15 nationalities are being held in the Zhuravychi Migrant Accommodation Centre in Volyn oblast, including people from Syria, Algeria, and Afghanistan.