Russia withdraws troops from northern Ukraine, separatists take center of Mariupol

Speaking on Ukrainian television, Sumy Governor Dmytro Zhyvytskyi announced on April 4 that most of the Russian forces had withdrawn from this province near the Ukraine-Belarus border. He also said that the Ukrainian army was fighting to push back the remaining Russian units and that the Russian soldiers had left behind a lot of equipment.

A Russian motor vehicle was caught on fire in the city of Trostyanets, Suny province on April 2. Photo: Zuma Press

Russian troops are also said to have withdrawn most of their forces from Chernihiv, another province located in the north of Ukraine. However, Chernihiv Governor Viacheslav Chaus said an unspecified number of Russian troops remained in some parts of the province after withdrawing from the city of Chernihiv.

Meanwhile, Sputnik news agency, citing Eduard Basurin, a spokesman for the armed forces of the separatist region in the eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk province, the same day reported that the forces had taken control of the center of the battle port city. Mariupol comb. Basurin added that the separatists were continuing their military operations to control the city’s seaport and industrial zones.

Mariupol, a strategically located port city in southern Ukraine, has been besieged and fiercely attacked by Russian forces for the past month.

Also on April 4, Jason Straziuso, a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), told Reuters news agency that the latest attempt to deliver aid and evacuate civilians from Mariupol had been unsuccessful. hindered by “security conditions” in the area. Several previous attempts by the ICRC to reach Mariupol in recent days and weeks have also been unsuccessful.

The US wants to exclude Russia from the UN Human Rights Council

Speaking today (April 4), US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield called on the United Nations General Assembly to vote to remove Russia from the Human Rights Council for its alleged “murder of civilians” in the United Nations. Ukraine.

“For Russia to join the Human Rights Council is a mistake. We believe it is time for the United Nations General Assembly to vote to remove Russia from this body,” Ms. Thomas-Greenfield said.

Since Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine on February 24, the United Nations General Assembly has passed two resolutions condemning Russia with at least 140 votes in favor. However, to remove a country from the United Nations Human Rights Council requires two-thirds of the votes of the 193 members of the United Nations General Assembly.

Russia is in the second year of its three-year term at the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Russia denies Ukraine’s accusations

During talks with United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths today (April 4), Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denied Ukraine’s accusations that Moscow’s forces had carried out committed acts of violence against civilians in Bucha, and called Kiev’s statements a “staged anti-Russian provocation”.

Foreign Minister Lavrov also called the accusations from Ukraine a “direct threat to global peace and security”. Russia will step up efforts to convene the UN Security Council after an earlier request for an emergency meeting was rejected by Britain, which holds the council’s rotating presidency.

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