Russia Ukraine War Updates: Don’t expect Russia to be ousted from UN Security Council, says White House

A day after Russia’s suspension from the UN Human Rights Council amid its invasion of Ukraine, the White House on Friday said it does not anticipate the same for Moscow in the Security Council where it is a veto-wielding Permanent Member. “I know a question has been asked about whether Russia should be kicked out of being a permanent member. We don’t anticipate that happening,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily news briefing.  Meanwhile, a missile hit a train station where thousands of Ukrainians had gathered Friday, killing at least 50 and wounding dozens more in an attack on a crowd of mostly women and children trying to flee a new, looming Russian offensive in the country’s east, Ukrainian authorities said. The attack that some denounced as yet another war crime in the 6-week-old conflict came as workers unearthed bodies from a mass grave in Bucha, a town near Ukraine’s capital where dozens of killings have already been documented following a Russian pullout. Photos from the station in Kramatorsk showed the dead covered with tarps on the ground and the remnants of a rocket with the words “For the children” painted on it in Russian. About 4,000 civilians were in and around the station at the time of the strike, heeding calls to leave the area before fighting intensifies in the Donbas region, the office of Ukraine’s prosecutor-general said.

132 bodies found in Ukraine mass grave

At least 132 bodies have been found at a mass grave in Ukraine’s Makariv town, located some 50 km west of capital Kiev, an official has confirmed. Speaking to the media on Friday, Makariv’s Mayor Vadym Tokar said: “As of yesterday, we have found 132 civilians who have been shot dead by the Russian ‘orcs’,” Ukrayinska Pravda reported. He said besides the bodies in the mass grave, corpses were also found in the streets of the town. Tokar added that 40 per cent of the entire town has been destroyed and many of the buildings cannot be restored.

‘Russian soldiers who were at Chernobyl have a year to live at most’

A Ukrainian Minister has claimed that the Russian troops who were posted at the Exclusion Zone of the now-defunct Chernobyl nuclear power plant were exposed to high levels of radiation due to which they have at the most a year to live. Chernobyl, the site of the world’s worst nuclear accident, fell to the Russian troops on the first day of Moscow’s invasion on February 24. On April 5, National Guard of Ukraine seized it and took control of the facility after the troops fully evacuated the premises on March 31. 

India’s dependence on Russia for defence and fertiliser is immense says top American diplomat

India’s dependence on Russia for major defence equipment and supplies along with some other essential items like fertiliser is immense, a top American diplomat has told lawmakers ahead of the next week’s 2+2 ministerial meeting. US Deputy Secretary of State Windy Sherman, during her testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, showed a complete understanding of India’s position on Russia and its repeated abstention at the United Nations on the issue of Ukraine.

Dy NSA to Prez Biden didn’t issue any warning to India, had a constructive dialogue: WH

Biden Administration’s key architect for Russian sanctions Indian American Daleep Singh had not issued any warning to India on oil imports from Russia during his recent trip to New Delhi and had a rather constructive dialogue, the White House said Friday.

Biden expects 2+2 to continue driving forward his admin’s work with India: White House

US President Joe Biden expects that the Indo-US two-plus-two ministerial here next week will continue to drive forward the Administration’s work with New Delhi, the White House said Friday ahead of the meeting. “We also believe both sides will continue our close consultations on the consequences of President Putin’s brutal war against Ukraine and mitigating the impact by addressing energy and food prices. Obviously, it could cover a range of topics, but we expect that to be a central one,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily news conference.

News Credit: India TV News