Russia-Ukraine war: humanitarian convoy seized near Mariupol, says Zelenskiy, as he decries ‘constant bombing’ of city

US president Joe Biden will travel to Europe for a meeting with leaders of Nato, the EU and G7 in Bruseels on Thursday, where he will announce more US aid to help tackle the growing refugee crisis in Poland and other eastern Euroipean countries, the White House has said.

In a statement, the White House said Biden will outline “further American contributions to a coordinated humanitarian response to ease the suffering of civilians inside Ukraine and to respond to the growing flow of refugees”.

Elon Musk’s Space X has reportedly sent “thousands” of Starlink dishes to Ukraine in order to bolster its internet connectivity.

Company president Gwynne Shotwell told CNBC on Tuesday that the kits were largely funded by private sources.

Starlink dishes were initially sent to Ukraine shortly after Russia invaded and have been installed across the country, including a rooftop in the southern port of Odesa.

In recent weeks, internet access across Ukraine came under cyber attacks, various media outlets reported.

“I’m proud that we were able to provide the terminals to folks in Ukraine. It’s been enormously helpful, I think, to ensure people are still communicating,” Shotwell said during a panel at the Satellite 2022 conference in Washington, DC.

Estonia’s former president has said he is hosting two Ukrainian refugees at his own private house.

In a tweet on Tuesday, Toomas Hendrik said two refugees from Kyiv are staying at his home.

In Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s nightly national address, the Ukrainian president provided an update on the situation unfolding in Mariupol, saying there are still 100,000 people in the city living in “inhumane” conditions while accusing Russian forces of seizing a humanitarian convoy near Mangush, just 20km south-west of Mariupol.

As of today, there are about 100,000 people in the city. In inhumane conditions. In a total blockade. Without food, water, medication. Under constant shelling, under constant bombing.”

The president added that officials are continuing to attempt to organise humanitarian corridors for Mariupol residents but efforts have been sabotaged by continued shelling.

Sadly, almost all of our efforts are sabotaged by Russian occupants, by [their] shelling or deliberate terror.

Today, one of the humanitarian convoys was seized by occupants on an arranged route near Mangush.

Employees of the State Emergency Service and bus drivers have been taken captive. We are doing everything to set our people free and unblocked the movement of humanitarian cargo.”

Despite the difficulties, Zelenskiy said 7,026 people were able to be saved from Mariupol with efforts continuing to arrange humanitarian corridors in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, and Luhansk regions.

Zelenskiy wrapped up his nightly address by promising he was continuing to work “to push Russia towards peace”.

We are continuing to work on various levels to push Russia towards peace, towards the end of this brutal war. Ukrainian representatives are continuing negotiations that basically take place daily. It is very hard, sometimes, scandalous. But step by step we are moving forward.”

Zelenskiy also noted the three summits scheduled for this week: G7, Nato and the EU.

New packages of sanctions, new support. We’ll keep working and will keep fighting as much as we can. Until the end. Courageously and openly. On all of those platforms. With full energy. With all our strength. And we will not get tired. We will have rest when we win. And it will definitely happen.”

Recently released satellite images taken by private US space technology company Maxar Technologies show scenes of devastation across the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

Multiple destroyed apartment buildings are seen burning buildings in the Livoberezhnyi district as thousands of residents sought to escape the Russian siege of the city on Tuesday.

US President Joe Biden is expected to announce new sanctions against Russia and new measures to tighten existing ones when he visits Brussels this week.

The United States is preparing sanctions on more than 300 members of Russia’s lower house of parliament as soon as Thursday, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited unnamed officials and internal documents.

“No final decisions have been made about who we will sanction and how many we will sanction,” said a White House spokesperson.

“We will have additional sanctions measures to announce that will be rolled out in conjunction with our allies on Thursday when the President has the opportunity to speak with them.”

Biden’s Europe trip is also set to include an announcement on joint action to enhance energy security on the continent, which is highly reliant on Russian gas, and a visit to Poland to show solidarity with Ukraine’s neighbour.

Scenes of normality contrast with the catastrophic attacks Russia continues to launch on Ukraine.

The United States and its western allies are assessing whether Russia should remain within the Group of Twenty (G20) grouping of major economies following its invasion of Ukraine, sources involved in the discussions told Reuters on Tuesday.

The likelihood that any bid to exclude Russia outright would be vetoed by others in the club – which includes China, India, Saudi Arabia and others – raised the prospect of some countries instead skipping G20 meetings this year, the sources said.

The G20 along with the smaller Group of Seven – comprising just the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan and Britain – is a key international platform for coordinating everything from climate change action to cross-border debt.

According to Reuters, a senior G7 source said:

There have been discussions about whether it’s appropriate for Russia to be part of the G20.

If Russia remains a member, it will become a less useful organisation.”

Asked whether US President Joe Biden would move to push Russia out of the G20 when he meets with allies in Brussels this week, national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters at the White House Tuesday: “We believe that it cannot be business as usual for Russia in international institutions and in the international community.”

However, the United States plans to consult with its allies before any other pronouncements are made, he said.

A European Union source separately confirmed the discussions about Russia’s status at forthcoming meetings of the G20, whose rotating chair is currently held by Indonesia.

“It has been made very clear to Indonesia that Russia’s presence at forthcoming ministerial meetings would be highly problematic for European countries,” said the source, adding there was however no clear process for excluding a country.

US defense officials have praised the bravery and courage of the Ukrainian people in their fight against the Russian invasion.

A senior US official described the Ukrainian defence as one of “bravery and courage and just the absolute grit that you see coming out of the Ukrainian people”.

“They’re being very creative, very nimble,” the official said, adding that Ukrainians “have been defending their airspace with great dexterity”.

Referring to Russia’s continued catastrophic attacks, the official said:

And rather than demoralising the Ukrainians, I think you’ve all seen that this kind of violence has only motivated them more, which means that they’re resisting more, which means the Russians continue to get frustrated and flummoxed and kind of stuck where they are.”

However, the official did some credit to the work of the United States and other western nations, saying:

So this stiff defence that they’re putting up did not just happen by accident. And while a lot of it is due to their bravery and their courage and just the absolute grit that you see coming out of the Ukrainian people, it also is a reflection of a lot of work by the United States and other western nations to provide them this competency as well as the capability.

So they get — they must get and should get — the lion’s share of the credit here. But obviously the tools that they’re using, in many cases, came from outside the country, the United States as well as other donor nations.”

More from the US department of defense briefing.

A senior US defense official has given a critical review of Russia’s ability to take over Ukraine, describing morale issues, command-and-control problems, a reliance on conscripts and a stalled advance to Kyiv.

The official said:

We still hold them about 30 kilometers to the east of Kyiv, which is where they were last week.

The official also described morale issues inside Russian ranks

Anecdotally, we still assess that the Russians are experiencing morale issues at various levels and at various places … They did not expect this level of resistance.

Describing a reliance on conscript soldiers, the official added:

Some of them were not told what they were actually going to be doing inside Ukraine. We know they relied on conscripts, and they still do. I mean, still it has been largely a conscript army. And so these are very young men who haven’t — don’t have a long experience with soldiering and — and we believe that all those factors are combining to affect their morale.”

Additionally, the official said Russian forces continue to be plagued by logistical problems.

We believe that they are having command-and-control problems just in terms of communications. And again, this is another one of those logistic/sustainment issues that we’ve seen them struggle with. I mean, they just weren’t fully-prepared for operations of this intensity for this long on so many different multiple lines of attack, and so we do see them having some command-and-control difficulties, both in terms of a military operational concept issue — in other words, being able to integrate air to ground, being able to make decisions in real-time effectively, but also from a physical perspective, just in terms of their ability to communicate over established links.”

Ultimately, the official said Russia has not achieved their objectives, which is population centres so that they could occupy and take over Ukraine.

So what have they gained in — in now 26 days? They got Melitopol’, they got Berdyans’k and they got Kherson. That’s it. They don’t have Kyiv, they don’t have Kharkiv, they don’t have Mariupol, although — obviously, you guys know this better than me — I mean, there’s a lot of fighting going on there.”

Russia’s combat power in Ukraine has declined below 90% of its pre-invasion levels for the first time since its attack began, a senior US defence official said on Tuesday, suggesting heavy losses of weaponry and growing casualties.

The United States has estimated Russia assembled more than 150,000 troops around Ukraine before the 24 February invasion, along with enough aircraft, artillery, tanks and other firepower for its full-scale attack.

The US defence official, on condition of anonymity and according to a transcript published by the US department of defense, told reporters:

We assess Russian combat power at just below 90 percent.

They’re expending an awful lot, but they also built up an awful lot since the early fall, and they just have a lot available to them.

For the first time they may be just a little bit below 90 percent.”

The official did not provide evidence for the claims.

They have put a lot into this fight, and they still have a lot left. I — we recognise that they are taking casualties every day. They are losing aircraft. They are losing armour and vehicles, no doubt about that — tanks, APCs, artillery units, helicopters, fixed-wing jets. They’re losing, — you know, I wouldn’t say they’re losing everything every day in those categories, but we do see them continue to suffer casualties and losses, but they had — they built up an awful lot of combat power, as we said way back in the fall, that Mr. Putin had arranged an oppressive alignment of combined-arms capability that he still has the vast majority available to him.”

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan estimated on Tuesday the number of Russian casualties was in the thousands but declined to offer a precise figure.

Ukrainian president Zelenskiy also provided an update on the situation unfolding in Mariupol, saying there are still 100,000 people in the city living in “inhumane” conditions.

As of today, there are about 100,000 people in the city. In inhumane conditions. In a total blockade. Without food, water, medication. Under constant shelling, under constant bombing.”

The president added that officials are continuing to attempt to organise humanitarian corridors for Mariupol residents.

Sadly, almost all of our efforts are sabotaged by Russian occupants, by [their] shelling or deliberate terror.

Today, one of the humanitarian convoys was seized by occupants on an arranged route near Mangush.

Employees of the State Emergency Service and bus drivers have been taken captive. We are doing everything to set our people free and unblocked the movement of humanitarian cargo.”

Despite the difficulties, Zelenskiy said 7,026 people were able to be saved from Mariupol.

Russian president Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron have continued talks, the French government has confirmed.

In a statement, the Elysée Palace said that the pair spoke by phone on Tuesday to continue Macron’s previous conversations with Putin regarding a ceasefire and ongoing safety concerns. The statement read:

There is currently no agreement but President Macron remains convinced of the need to continue his efforts. There is no other way out than a ceasefire and Russia’s good faith negotiations with Ukraine.”

It added that Macron “stands alongside Ukraine”.

Macron also spoke on Tuesday to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi ahead of the summit in Brussels on Thursday.

Hello it’s Samantha Lock with you and we continue to deliver all the latest breaking developments in Ukraine.

Ukrainian president Zelenskiy wrapped up his nightly address by promising he was continuing to work “to push Russia towards peace”.

We are continuing to work on various levels to push Russia towards peace, towards the end of this brutal war. Ukrainian representatives are continuing negotiations that basically take place daily. It is very hard, sometimes, scandalous. But step by step we are moving forward.”

Zelenskiy also noted the three summits scheduled for this week: G7, Nato and the EU.

New packages of sanctions, new support. We’ll keep working and will keep fighting as much as we can. Until the end. Courageously and openly. On all of those platforms. With full energy. With all our strength. And we will not get tired. We will have rest when we win. And it will definitely happen.”

• Russian forces are now inside the besieged southern city of Mariupol, a senior US defence official said. Two “super-powerful bombs” rocked Mariupol on Tuesday even as rescue efforts were ongoing, local authorities said. More than 200,000 people are trapped in the city, where the situation has been described as a “freezing hellscape riddled with dead bodies and destroyed buildings”, Human Rights Watch said.

• Volodymyr Zelenskiy has accused Russian forces of seizing a humanitarian convoy near Mangush. “Employees of the State Emergency Service and bus drivers have been taken captive. We are doing everything to set our people free and unblocked the movement of humanitarian cargo,” he said in his latest address on Telegram.

• Zelenskiy will speak virtually at the Nato summit this week, where US president Joe Biden is also planning to push for new sanctions against Russia. “Three important summits are scheduled this week: G7, NATO and the EU.” he said. “New packages of sanctions, new support.

• About 300,000 people in the occupied southern city of Kherson were running out of food and medical supplies, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s foreign ministry said. Kherson was the first major Ukrainian city to fall into the hands of Russian troops after they invaded Ukraine on 24 February.

• Russian forces have only three further days of fuel, food and ammunition left to conduct the war after a breakdown in their supply chains, Ukrainian military commanders have alleged. The claims of major shortages were described as “plausible” by western officials although they said they were unable to corroborate the analysis.

• Russian forces have “kidnapped” 2,389 children from the Russian-controlled territories of Luhansk and Donetsk, the US embassy in Kyiv said today, citing figures by Ukraine’s foreign ministry. The embassy said: “This is not assistance. It is kidnapping.”

• At least one person has died after drones attacked a scientific institute in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, AFP reports. Rescuers were seen removing a body from the scene, as smoke rose from the seven-storey building at the Institute for Superhard Materials in north-west Kyiv, part of the National Academy of Science of Ukraine.

• The Ukrainian health minister, Viktor Lyashko, said 10 hospitals had been completely destroyed since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February. Other hospitals could not be restocked with medicines and supplies because of nearby fighting, the minister added.

• A Ukrainian official claimed that Russian forces had used phosphorous in the city of Kramatorsk in Donetsk. Oleksiy Biloshitsky, first deputy head of the National Police of Kyiv, said in a post on Facebook on Tuesday: “Another use of phosphorus munitions in Kramatorsk. Prohibitions and conventions are for the civilized world.” The claim could not be verified.

• Russia plans to unleash a “great terror” on the southern occupied city of Kherson by kidnapping residents and taking them across the Russian border, an FSB whistleblower has claimed. The Kremlin was no longer willing to “play nicely” with protesters in the Ukrainian city, a letter said.

• A Russian court has sentenced jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny to nine years in prison after convicting him of fraud and contempt of court. Navalny is already serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence at a prison camp east of Moscow for parole violations related to charges he says were trumped up.

• The UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, has said it is time for Russia to end its “absurd” and “unwinnable” war in Ukraine, as the EU prepared to set up a “trust fund” aimed at helping Kyiv repel the invasion and rebuild afterwards. Speaking to reporters at the UN’s headquarters in New York, Guterres said the war was “going nowhere, fast”.

• The European Commission will set out plans tomorrow for how people fleeing Ukraine will access jobs, education and housing in the EU, Reuters reports. MaroÅ¡ Å efčovič, the commission’s vice-president, said the bloc must ensure the right resources are in place to meet people’s needs after initial efforts were focused on receiving people at the border.

– Léonie Chao-Fong, Guardian staff

Bermet Talant reports:

We have some more information on the humanitarian convoy that president Zelenskiy said had been seized by Russian forces:

Iryna Vereschuk, deputy prime minister, said 11 buses and two cars from Ukraine’s state emergency service were stopped at the Russian checkpoint at the entry to Manhush. As of 21:15 local time, the fate of 11 drivers and 4 employees of the State Emergency Service was unknown, she said on Telegram.

News organisation Ukraine Pravda reported that the vehicles were taken in an unknown direction, and negotiations for setting the captives free were continuing.