Live updates: follow the latest news on Russia-Ukraine
The atrocities committed by Russian forces in Ukraine appear close to “genocide”, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said, as Nato’s chief warned the war could drag on for years.
Days after the images of bodies dumped in a mass grave and human remains littering a street in Bucha shocked the world, western leaders ramped up sanctions against Moscow.
Six weeks on from Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Mr Putin does not appear to have dropped “his ambition to control the whole of Ukraine”, Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday as he warned the conflict could last for a long time.
“We have to be realistic and realise that this may last for a long time, for many months, for even years,” he said before a meeting of Nato foreign ministers. “And that's the reason why we need also to be prepared for the long haul, both when it comes to supporting Ukraine, sustaining sanctions and strengthening our defences.”
He said officials expect Russian troops to resupply and reposition with the aim of launching a renewed offensive in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
“They will be rearmed, because they've used a lot of ammunition and they will be resupplied with fuel and all the things they need, food and so on, to launch a new big offensive.”
Mr Johnson pledged Britain will be in the “front rank” of nations imposing a fresh set of sanctions on Moscow, in light of the grim discoveries made in Bucha, a commuter city 30 kilometres north-west of Kyiv.
Ukrainian officials have said the bodies of at least 410 civilians have been discovered in Bucha and other cities and towns around the capital recaptured from the Russians as their forces pull back.
Speaking during a visit to a hospital in Welwyn Garden City, Mr Johnson said the latest disclosures underline the need for the international community to tighten the economic pressure on the Kremlin.
“I'm afraid, when you look at what's happening in Bucha, the revelations that we are seeing from what Putin has done in Ukraine doesn't look far short of genocide to me,” he said.
Meanwhile, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban said he had urged Mr Putin to impose an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, and had invited the leaders of France, Germany and Ukraine to meet the Russian president in Budapest.
“I suggested to President Putin that he declare an immediate ceasefire,” Mr Orban told a press conference on Wednesday, following a phone conversation with the Russian leader.
Mr Orban said he had proposed a meeting in Budapest between Mr Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
He said the Russian president's response to the idea of a meeting “was positive, but with conditions”. He did not elaborate on the details but said that Mr Putin had initiated Wednesday's phone call.
The Hungarian leader previously had the closest relationships to the Kremlin of any EU member state. On Wednesday he reiterated his opposition to Hungary sending weapons to arm the Ukrainians and to the EU imposing an embargo on Russian energy imports, on which Hungary is highly dependent.
Asked about civilians found dead in Bucha, Mr Orban replied: “With all atrocities, we have to examine them, even though we live in an era of massive manipulation where we can't be sure if we can trust our own eyes".
He called for civilians to be protected “at all costs”, adding: “We want an independent, fair investigation".
The UN General Assembly will vote on Thursday on a UK and US push to suspend Russia from the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council, diplomats said.
A two-thirds majority of voting General Assembly members in New York can suspend a country for committing gross and systematic violations of human rights. Russia is in its second year of a three-year term on the 47-member Human Rights Council.
The White House announced a new round of punitive measures against Russia, including sanctions targeting Maria Vorontsova and Katerina Tikhonova, Mr Putin's two adult daughters.
Also hit with new sanctions from the US were the wife and daughter of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and members of Russia's Security Council, including former President and prime minister of Russia Dmitry Medvedev and prime minister Mikhail Mishustin.
The European Commission has proposed a ban on coal imports, which could be adopted later on Wednesday if all 27 ambassadors agree to the plan. The EU depends on Russia for about 45 per cent of its coal imports, according to the Commission’s website, and payments to Moscow are used to finance Mr Putin’s war machine.
Britain announced new sanctions on Russia on Wednesday, including an asset freeze on Sberbank, the country's largest bank, and an end to all new UK outward investment in Russia.
The government also said it would end imports of Russian coal and oil by the end of 2022.
Asset freezes and travel bans on a further eight oligarchs linked to the Kremlin were also unveiled.
Britain's Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the latest round of sanctions were part of the UK's “campaign to bring Putin's appalling war to an end".
“Our latest wave of measures will bring an end to the UK's imports of Russian energy and sanction yet more individuals and businesses, decimating Putin’s war machine,” she said. “Together with our allies, we are showing the Russian elite that they cannot wash their hands of the atrocities committed on Putin's orders. We will not rest until Ukraine prevails.”
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
Where to donate in the UAE
The Emirates Charity Portal
You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.
The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments
The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.
Al Noor Special Needs Centre
You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.
Beit Al Khair Society
Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.
Dar Al Ber Society
Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.
Dubai Cares
Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.
Emirates Airline Foundation
Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.
Emirates Red Crescent
On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.
Gulf for Good
Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.
Noor Dubai Foundation
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
The biog
Favourite films: Casablanca and Lawrence of Arabia
Favourite books: Start with Why by Simon Sinek and Good to be Great by Jim Collins
Favourite dish: Grilled fish
Inspiration: Sheikh Zayed's visionary leadership taught me to embrace new challenges.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs
Engine: 5.2-litre V10
Power: 640hp at 8,000rpm
Torque: 565Nm at 6,500rpm
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch auto
Price: From Dh1 million
On sale: Q3 or Q4 2022
