(Reuters) – Ukraine warned that Russia was ramping up efforts in the South and East as it seeks full control of Mariupol, in what would be the first major city to fall, while Western governments committed more military help. Russia said it had taken control of Mariupol and that more than 1,000 Ukrainian marines had surrendered.
FIGHTING
* Russian television broadcast clips of what it said was the surrender in Mariupol. In the footage, unarmed men in military fatigues were visible walking with their hands up along a grass- and tree-lined path towards masked soldiers cradling assault rifles.
* Russia is beefing up forces for a new assault on Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, setting the stage for a protracted battle certain to inflict heavy losses on both sides as the Russians try to encircle Ukrainian fighters.
* The mayor of the northeastern city of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest, said bombing had increased significantly and satellite photos from Maxar Technologies showed long columns of armoured vehicles in the region.
* Russia will view U.S. and NATO vehicles transporting weapons on Ukrainian territory as legitimate military targets, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the TASS news agency in an interview.* The most important ship in Russia’s Black Sea fleet, the Moskva missile cruiser, was badly damaged after ammunition on board blew up, Interfax news agency quoted the Russian defence ministry as saying.
DIPLOMACY
* U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time that Russia’s invasion amounts to genocide. The Kremlin said it categorically disagreed. The White House added that a genocide determination would require a legal process.
* The presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv and called for Russia to be held accountable for the actions of its troops on the ground.
* A mission of experts set up by Organization for Security and Cooperation and Europe (OSCE) nations has found evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity by Russia in Ukraine. Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians.
ECONOMY AND BUSINESS
* Russia can easily redirect exports of its vast energy resources away from the West to countries that really need them while increasing domestic consumption of oil, gas and coal, President Vladimir Putin said.
* Countries seeking commercial advantage by failing to condemn Russia’s “heinous war” against Ukraine are being short-sighted and will face consequences if they undermine Western sanctions, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.
* Britain said it had imposed new sanctions on 206 individuals in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
(Compiled by Michael Perry; Editing by Alex Richardson, Mark Heinrich and Cynthia Osterman)
