Germany intercepted Russian transmissions about Ukraine's Bucha killings - live update

Germany's foreign intelligence agency, the BND, has intercepted radio transmissions from Russian military officers in which the killing of civilians in Bucha, was discussed.

Germany's weekly news magazine Der Spiegel revealed the intercepts suggest that these were neither random acts nor the actions of individual soldiers who got out of hand.

According to Der Spiegel, the BND showed the killings were discussed as if it was normal procedure, possibly to fear and terror among the civilian population.

It seems the Russian paramilitary group, Wagner, was also involved in the killings.

Ukrainian forces found bodies of civilians that were apparently executed and mass graves in Bucha after retaking the city over the weekend.

Floating mines in the Black Sea cause concern

Defense ministers from Turkey, Bulgaria, Georgia, Poland, Romania and Ukraine discussed mines drifting in the Black Sea, Turkey's Defense Ministry said.

"Aside from the mines, the importance of cooperation in the Black Sea for peace, calm and stability was emphasised," Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said.

Russia was notably absent from the virtual meeting.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Turkey has detonated three separate floating naval mines while Romania has also defused a stray mine in its waters.

Turkey’s government had said previously that it was in contact with both Moscow and Kyiv about the weapons.

An international treaty prohibits countries from laying unanchored mines.

Ukraine tells Hungary: 'Get on the right side of history' over Russia sanctions

Hungary's Foreign Minister, Peter Szijjarto, rejected any sanctions on Russian oil and gas.

After Hungary received the first shipment of nuclear fuel for its Paks nuclear plant from Russia, Szijjarto said sanctions on activities related to nuclear energy was also a "red line."

Hungary has sought to balance its fraught relationship with the EU and NATO with its close ties to Russia.

Ukraine, however, urged the country "to get on the right side of history."

"If Hungary really wants to help end the war, here's how to do it: stop destroying unity in the EU, support new anti-Russian sanctions, provide military assistance to Ukraine, and not create additional sources of funding for Russia's military machine," Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said.

Life slowly returning to Kyiv

Life seems to be returning to some form of normality in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

There are noticeably more people and cars on the streets and supermarket shelves are being restocked, hairdressers, cafes, and restaurants are reopening, DW reports.

Russian forces have fully withdrawn from Kyiv and Chernihiv to its north. Moscow is now concentrating its invading forces in the eastern part of Ukraine.

According to a survey carried out by Kyiv's Rasumkov Center for Economic and Political Studies, 79% of Ukrainians who have fled their country want to return.

EU promises fifth round of sanctions soon

A new round of EU sanctions on Russia, including a ban on coal imports, could be agreed by Friday, the bloc's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, has said.

"Maybe this afternoon, or tomorrow at the latest," he told reporters as he arrived at a NATO foreign ministers meeting.

He said the bloc would discuss an oil embargo on Russia on Monday.

"We have been following a progressive approach. Now we are accelerating," Borrell said.

Ukraine wants 'weapons, weapons and weapons'

Ukrainian Foreign Minister said his country needs "weapons, weapons and weapons."

Dmytro Kuleba was speaking ahead of the second day of meetings of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels.

Speaking alongside NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Kuleba called for the dispatch of more planes, air defense systems, missiles, and military vehicles from NATO allies.

"We know how to fight; we know how to win," Kuleba said.

He singled out Germany in his appeal, saying, "It is clear that Germany can do more."

Stoltenberg said it was highly likely the alliance would provide more weapons for Ukraine, including heavier weapons.

Ukraine demands oil and gas embargo on Russia

Ukraine will keep up pressure on Western nations for an embargo on Russian oil and gas, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Thursday.

"We will continue to insist on full oil and gas embargo," he said.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he hoped an embargo of Russian oil would be on the agenda of an EU foreign affairs council on Monday.

How Russia could get away with hospital attacks

Since invading Ukraine, Russian armed forces have hit nearly 100 medical facilities. These attacks have disrupted health care and taken the lives of patients as well as medical staff.

A DW investigation has examined 21 such attacks in detail. Attacks on health care infrastructure are classified as war crimes, but perpetrators have historically evaded justice.

Russian-owned jumbo jet stuck at German airport

A Russian-owned Boeing 747 cargo plane will not be able to take off from Hahn Airport in Germany's southwestern Rhineland-Palatinate state due to sanctions.

The airport collects a daily parking fee of around €1,200 ($1,300) for the plane.

Germany's Transport Ministry said the jet is "100% owned by Cargo Logic Holding Ltd," which is itself owned by Russian citizens Alexey Isaykin and Sergey Skhylanik. Isaykin also holds a Cypriot passport, but the ministry said that "Russian citizenship is the determining factor for the assessment."

US Senate to vote on ending trade relations with Russia, oil import ban

US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that the Senate will vote Thursday on whether to end normal trade relations with Russia, as well as on a ban on Russian oil imports.

The trade suspension has been stalled in the Senate for three weeks after having passed in the House.

"I wish this could have happened sooner, but after weeks of talks with the other side, it's important that we have found a path forward," Schumer said.

Sanctions 'blow to ordinary citizens,' Russian ambassador to US says

The Kremlin-run TASS news agency cited Russia's US ambassador as saying that sanctions against Sberbank and Alfabank are a "direct blow to the Russian population and ordinary citizens."

Sberbank holds a third of Russia's total banking assets, while Alfabank is the fourth largest bank in the country.

In the latest round of sanctions imposed by Washington on Russia, the two banks were blacklisted in the United States. The move freezes any assets connected to the US financial system and prohibits business with the two banks.

Family members of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov were also frozen out of the US financial system in the latest round of sanctions, as were members of Russia's Security Council such as Prime Minister Mikhail Mishushtin and former president Dmitry Medvedev.

Eleven bodies found in Hostomel in Kyiv region

Eleven bodies have been found in a garage in the town of Hostomel in the Kyiv region, former Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said in a post on Telegram.

According to Avakov, the dead were civilians killed by Russian soldiers.

Hostomel is located northwest of Kyiv and is home to an airport of the same name that receives international cargo planes. Most of its 16,000 residents have fled the area.

Local authorities had earlier said that 400 residents were missing from the town after 35 days of Russian occupation. Ukrainian forces regained control of the town alongside neighboring Bucha and Irpin a few days ago.

UN to vote on suspending Russia from rights council

The UN General Assembly will vote on Thursday on whether to suspend Russia from the organization's Human Rights Council.

The vote was requested by the United States in response to the discovery of hundreds of bodies in the town of Bucha  near Kyiv after Russian forces withdrew from the area.

The 47 Human Rights Council members are elected by the General Assembly for staggered three-year terms. The Russian Federation's term is set to end in 2023, as is Ukraine's.

For the suspension to be approved it requires a two-thirds majority of all votes, not including abstentions.

US Treasury: Ukraine war will have 'enormous economic repercussions'

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that Russia's actions "will have enormous economic repercussions in Ukraine and beyond" and warned of global "spillovers" from the crisis.

Yellen added that the rising price energy, metal, wheat and corn "is going to escalate inflationary pressures" as Russian and Ukrainian exports of such commodities are hit by the war. Many countries around the world have already been grappling with rising inflation and sovereign debt as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yellen made the comments while speaking for the US Congress.

Yellen also reiterated Washington's position that Russia should be expelled from the G20 forum, adding that the US will boycott "a number of G20 meetings" if Russian officials are present.

Zelenskyy accuses Russia of hiding war crime evidence

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia is trying to hide evidence of war crimes committed in Ukraine.

"We have information that the Russian troops have changed tactics and are trying to remove the dead people, the dead Ukrainians, from the streets and cellars of territory they occupied," Zelenskyy said.

"This is only an attempt to hide the evidence and nothing more," he added.

Zelenskyy said that Russian leadership was "afraid that the global anger over over what was seen in Bucha would be repeated after what was seen in other cities." He added that thousands of people were missing.

Ukraine's president urged Russian citizens to protest against the war.

"If you have even a little shame about what the Russian military is doing in Ukraine, then for such Russian citizens this is a key moment: You have to demand — just demand — an end to the war."

Summary of events in Ukraine-Russia crisis on Wednesday

Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko said that over 5,000 civilians have been killed during Russia's siege of the strategic port city over the last month.

Boichenko added that more than 90% of the city's infrastructure was destroyed by Russian shelling. Russian forces have also bombed hospitals, including one where 50 people burned to death, he said.

A convoy of seven buses and at least 40 private cars carrying Ukrainian evacuees led by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) arrived in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned that the war in Ukraine could last "for many months, for even years."

Ukraine's deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, called for residents of Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kharkiv provinces to evacuate their homes immediately as Russian forces were said to be repositioning for an assault.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz vowed to not let Russia win its war on Ukraine while he answered questions from lawmakers in the Bundestag.

Germany also presented a new renewable energy plan, as the climate crisis is compounded by Russia's attack on Ukraine.   

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and urged an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine.

China described reports of civilian deaths in Bucha as "deeply disturbing" and called for an investigation.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said Moscow wants to maintain diplomatic relations with Western countries despite a series of expulsions of its diplomats.