UN: 1 million people have fled Ukraine

Highlights: Russians in port city of Kherson, million Ukrainians on the run

These are the main developments from Wednesday evening and Wednesday night:

• Russian military personnel are in the center of the southern Ukrainian port city of Kherson, but conflicting reports remain as to whether Russia has taken a major city for the first time since the invasion began. The Russian Defense Ministry said it had captured Kherson on Wednesday. The mayor of the city seemed to confirm that Wednesday evening. According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukrainian armed forces continue to defend the city of about 250,000 inhabitants on the Black Sea.
• Russia, meanwhile, is ramping up its attacks in northern, eastern and southern Ukraine. The northeastern city of Kharkov has been hit by heavy fighting. Eight civilians, including two children, are said to have been killed in shelling in Izium, southeast of Kharkov. The southern port city of Mariupol is surrounded by Russian soldiers. And explosions were observed in the capital Kiev last night and the air-raid siren went off again.
• The number of people who have fled Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion has risen to 1 million. This has been reported by the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR. The UN expects the number of refugees to reach 4 million people or more.
• The International Criminal Court in The Hague has opened an investigation into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine, after 39 member states requested it. This mainly concerns European countries, including the Netherlands. Member States’ requests significantly speed up the process as Prosecutor Karim Khan no longer has to apply to the ICC for approval, a step that could take months.
• A Ukrainian delegation left on Wednesday evening for the location where a second round of negotiating talks with Russia will take place. The delegations would meet near the Belarusian town of Brest, on the border with Poland. According to members of the Russian delegation, negotiations will resume on Thursday.

Zelensky: Pride of ‘heroic’ resistance from Ukrainians

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video message on Wednesday night that he was proud of the Ukrainians’ “heroic” resistance to the Russian invasion. That reports AFP.

“We are a nation that broke the enemy’s plans in a week,” Zelensky said in the message, which was distributed via Telegram. “Plans that have been in the making for years: secretly, full of hatred for our country and for our people.”

The Ukrainian president said he “sincerely admires the heroic inhabitants” of the cities who resisted the Russian advance. He said nearly 9,000 Russian soldiers had been killed in the past week, a figure that cannot be directly verified. Moscow said 500 Russian soldiers were killed and 1,597 wounded.

UN: 1 million people have fled Ukraine

The number of people who have fled Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion has risen to 1 million. This has been reported by the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR.

“In just seven days we have seen an exodus of 1 million refugees from Ukraine to neighboring countries,” wrote UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi on Twitter. He calls for an immediate ceasefire so that humanitarian aid can be delivered.

Wednesday reported the UNHCR based on data from multiple sources, more than 934,000 people have left the country since Feb. 24 – that’s more than 2 percent of the population of 44 million. In the six days before the start of the invasion, 96,000 people fled to Russia from the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, according to the UNHCR.

About 54 percent of the refugees, more than half a million people, have emigrated to Poland, the figures show. The refugee organization expects the number of refugees from Ukraine to rise to 4 million people, but warns that that forecast could be revised upwards.

International Criminal Court opens investigation into war crimes in Ukraine

An International Criminal Court investigation into possible war crimes in Ukraine has been officially opened, following requests from 39 member states. Prosecutor Karim Khan announced this on Wednesday evening.

“Active investigations formally start in Ukraine after receiving requests from 39 states,” wrote Khan on Twitter. Collection of evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity has begun.

The 39 countries that have submitted a request are mainly European countries, including the Netherlands, according to a statement from the ICC (ICC). Australia, New Zealand, Colombia and Costa Rica have also submitted requests to open an investigation.

Member States’ requests significantly speed up the process, as the prosecutor no longer needs to request approval from the ICC. That step could take months. Khan said Monday that he would seek approval to investigate allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.

Ukraine is not itself a member of the ICC, but has allowed investigations into war crimes committed on its territory since late 2013 after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and fighting between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian armed forces in the east of the country. is not a member of the ICC and does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC.

World Bank suspends projects in Russia and Belarus

The World Bank immediately halts its projects in Russia and Belarus due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and “hostility against the people of Ukraine”. The institution made this known in a statement on Wednesday, Reuters reports.

The World Bank has not approved any new loans to Russia or investments in the country since 2014 due to Russia’s annexation of Crimea that year, the statement said. Belarus has received no new loans since mid-2020, when the United States imposed sanctions over allegations of fraud in the presidential election.

The World Bank has lent more than $16 billion to Russia from the early 1990s to 2013. For Belarus, the total amount in 2020 was USD 308 million. On Tuesday, the World Bank and the IMF announced that they would make billions of dollars more available to Ukraine in the coming weeks and months.