Editor John Peter

 The number of people fleeing the war in Ukraine has reached 5,085,360, the latest figures from the UN's refugee agency show. More than half of those escaping the violence have gone to Poland, where 2,847,540 refugees are registered. Romania has welcomed 763,769 refugees while Hungary has accepted 476,213, figures show. More than 428,577 Ukrainians have fled to Moldova, 346,175 to Slovakia and 23,900 to Belarus. Another 563,266 Ukrainians have arrived in Russia since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine was launched on February 24. “The scale of human suffering and forced displacement due to the war far exceeds any worst-case scenario planning,” said Antonio Vitorino, director-general of the International Organisation for Migration. The influx of Ukrainians into neighbouring countries is made up predominantly of women, children and the elderly. More than 7.1 million people are internally displaced. These people have fled their homes but are still in Ukraine, the IOM said on April 14....

  Ukraine’s commitment to the laws of war is being tested by how it responds to video that appears to show its forces shooting Russian prisoners. AMID OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE that Russian forces have committed war crimes during an unprovoked war of aggression in Ukraine, Ukrainian officials were confronted this week with video that appeared to show Ukrainian soldiers shooting captive Russian soldiers in the legs. Although Ukraine’s senior military leader and its domestic intelligence agency both insisted that the video posted on social networks on Sunday was “a fake” produced by Russia, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy promised that the government would investigate and punish those responsible if the incident did take place. On Monday, a well-known Ukrainian journalist, Yuri Butusov, published graphic video showing the charred remains of three men he identified as Russian soldiers, as Ukrainian forces recaptured the town of Malaya Rohan, outside Kharkiv, over t...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the aim of his negotiators is to arrange for him to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin A new round of talks between Ukraine and Russia will start on Monday even as Russian troops edge closer to Kyiv and keep up their relentless bombardment of the besieged southern port city of Mariupol. Talks are set to begin via video link at 10.30am Kyiv time (8.30am GMT), said Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister. Neither side has said what they would cover, Reuters reported. Three rounds of talks between the two sides in Belarus, most recently last Monday, focused mainly on humanitarian issues. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the countries’ delegations have been speaking daily by video and a clear aim of his negotiators was to “do everything” to arrange for him to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. Amid the diplomatic efforts, fighting has continued to rage. The Antonov aircraft plant in Kyiv has been shel...

 Ukrainian officials negotiating with their Russian counterparts are to ensure direct talks between the countries’ leaders that could lead to bringing peace, Ukraine’s President Volodomyr Zelenskyy said late on Sunday. The next round of the talks on the war in Ukraine between the two neighbors is scheduled for early Monday, via video links. Although officials have been giving upbeat assessments lately, positive results of the negotiations are yet to come. Ukraine has repeatedly called for direct talks between Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, pointing to the Russian leader as the one making all final decisions. “Our delegation has a clear task — to do everything to ensure a meeting of the presidents. The meeting that I am sure people are waiting for,” Zelenskyy said in his daily video address. “Obviously this is a difficult story. A hard path. But this path is needed. And our goal is for Ukraine to get the necessary result in this struggle, in this negotiation work. N...