The Azov battalion said on Monday that Russia had used a drone to spread the toxic chemical to Mariupol. Britain has said it is investigating the allegations. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has not spoken about the use of chemical weapons.
12.4. 05:12 • Updated April 12th. 05:28
We gathered the key news from last night and last night in connection with the war in Ukraine.
Britain plans to find out if chemical weapons were used in Mariupol
Unconfirmed allegations were spread on Monday that Russia had used chemical substances in its attack on soldiers and civilians in the besieged city of Mariupol. The substances were reported to cause respiratory distress and neurological symptoms in those exposed.
Azov’s battalion, part of the Ukrainian forces, said the toxic substance would have been spread by an unmanned aircraft. The founder of the battalion Andrei Biletskyn according to three people had suffered from obvious symptoms of an unknown poison, but “without catastrophic consequences.” AFP was unable to confirm the allegations.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi warned in a video speech late Monday that Russian troops might use chemical weapons in Ukraine, according to Reuters. Zelenskyi said Ukraine is taking such plans “as seriously as possible.”
However, Zelenskyi did not say that chemical weapons had already been used, according to Reuters.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss wrote on Twitter that Britain and its partners are trying to check the reported data urgently. According to him, the possible use of chemical weapons would require the President of Russia Vladimir Putinia and his administration to the account.
U.S. Department of Defense Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told CNN they could not confirm allegations of the use of chemical weapons by Russia. According to Kirby, the United States is concerned about the possibility that Russia could do so.
Unicef: Food shortages threaten more than a million children in Ukraine
Unicef’s director of emergency programs warns that more than a million Ukrainian children are at risk of running out of food.
Manuel Fontaine said at a UN Security Council meeting that almost half of the 3.2 million children left homeless are at risk of food shortages, news BBC (switch to another service).
According to Fontaine, the situation is even worse in Mariupol and Kherson, for example, where children and families have been without running water, regular meals and medical care for weeks.
More than 4,300 people were evacuated along humanitarian corridors
A total of 4,354 people were evacuated through humanitarian corridors in Ukraine on Monday, says the country’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereštšuk according to the Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform.
The Minister told Telegram that 3,854 people arrived in Zaporizhia by private vehicles and evacuation buses from Mariupol, Berdyansk and Melitopol, among others. Of those evacuated, 556 arrived from the war-torn Mariupol.