Update on the situation at 11 p.m.
The European Union approves an embargo on Russian coal. As part of a fifth salvo of sanctions against Moscow, the representatives of the European Union (EU) decided on Thursday, an embargo on Russian coal and the closure of European ports to Russian ships. This package “very substantial” also provides for the ban on exports to Russia, in particular of high-tech goods, up to ten billion euros, and new sanctions against Russian banks. This is the first time the Europeans have hit the Russian energy sector. This embargo will come into force at the beginning of August, 120 days after the publication of the new package in the EU’s official journal expected on Friday.
Russia suspended from the UN Human Rights Council. The United Nations (UN) General Assembly, made up of 193 member countries, suspended Russia from its seat on the UN Human Rights Council due to the invasion of Ukraine, in a vote which collected 93 votes in favor and reflected a erosion of international unity in the face of Moscow. Twenty-four countries voted against this suspension, initiated by the United States. 58 countries abstained but the abstentions were not taken into account in the required two-thirds majority among the only votes for and against.
Estonia will stop importing Russian gas. The country will stop importing Russian gas and instead lease a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal to Finland by the fall. The Estonian government, which says it wants to buy 1 terawatt-hour of supply, has not, however, set a date for the end of gas imports from Russia.
At least “5,000” civilians killed in Mariupol. the “new mayor” proclaimed by pro-Russian forces in Mariupol, Konstantin Ivashchenko announced on Thursday that“about 5,000 people” had died among the civilian population of this Ukrainian city, besieged for weeks by the Russian army and its separatist allies. “About 60 to 70% of the housing stock has been destroyed or partially destroyed”, added Mr. Ivashchenko, appointed head of the city on Wednesday by Denis Pushilin, leader of the Donetsk separatists. The estimates of the Ukrainian authorities are higher.
Twenty-six bodies extracted from rubble at Borodianka. Twenty-six bodies have been extracted by Ukrainian rescue workers from the rubble of two bombed apartment buildings in Borodianka, northwest of kyiv, announced the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Iryna Venediktova. According to her, it is “the most destroyed city in the region” of the capital, adding that” he [était] difficult to predict how many deaths there will be” in total in Borodyanka, where “only the civilian population was targeted”. The situation in this city has been described by the President of Ukraine as “much more awful” than in Boutcha.
“Last chance” for civilians to evacuate the east of the country. The days ahead will be for civilians in Eastern Ukraine ” the last chance “ to evacuate the area, local authorities have warned. “All the free towns of the Luhansk region are under enemy fire”warned on Facebook its governor, Serhi Haïdaï, specifying that the Russians “were in the process of cutting off all possible exit routes”. Eastern Ukraine is now the Kremlin’s priority target.