Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says Russia could resort to chemical weapons as it amasses troops in the eastern Donbas region for a new assault on the port of Mariupol, where thousands are believed to have died under a near-seven week siege.
"When it comes on the necessary weapons, we still depend on supplies, on our partners. Unfortunately we are not getting as much as we need to end this war faster ... In particular, to lift the blockade of Mariupol," he said in a televised address late on Monday.
The first European Union leader to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in person since he launched what he called a "special operation", Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, said following talks in Moscow on Monday that an offensive in the east was "being prepared on a massive scale".
After suffering heavy losses and withdrawing from the suburbs of Kyiv, Russia has turned its sights on Donbas, where it demands Ukraine cede control to separatist fighters. Capturing Mariupol would allow Moscow to attempt to encircle the main Ukrainian force in the east.
The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said that aside from trying to take control of Mariupol, Russian forces were also intent on capturing Popasna, a town west of Luhansk, and were set to launch an offensive in the direction of Kurakhove, in the Donetsk region.
The Ukrainian military said its troops had repulsed attacks in both the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, destroying four tanks, five armoured vehicles, 26 vehicles and eight enemy artillery systems. It also said its forces had downed a Russian plane, two helicopters and four drones.Â
The departure of Russian forces from the outskirts of Kyiv has brought to light harrowing allegations of war crimes including executions and rape of civilians. Moscow dismisses the allegations as Ukrainian and Western provocations and has also accused Ukrainian forces of sexual violence.
Senior UN official Sima Bahous told the Security Council on Monday that while all allegations must by independently investigated, "the brutality displayed against Ukrainian civilians has raised all red flags".
"We are increasingly hearing of rape and sexual violence," she said.
Kateryna Cherepakha, president of rights group La Strada-Ukraine, told the Council via video: "We know and see - and we want you to hear our voices - that violence and rape is used now as a weapon of war by Russian invaders in Ukraine."
Russia's deputy UN ambassador denied the allegations and accused Ukraine and allies of "a clear intention to present Russian soldiers as sadists and rapists".
Russia's defence ministry said Ukraine's government was being directed by the United States to sow false evidence of Russian violence against civilians despite what it cast as Moscow's "unprecedented measures to save civilians".
Putin is scheduled to meet Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Tuesday to discuss the situation in Ukraine and Western sanctions, news agencies in Russia and Belarus reported. Belarus is a key staging area for Russian forces.
The United States has sought to pressure Putin to withdraw his forces by banning Russian oil and gas and encouraging allies to follow suit.
But world powers including China and India have refrained from sanctioning Russia. Lured by steep oil discounts, India has purchased more Russian crude since the start of the February 24 invasion than it did for the whole of last year, data compiled by Reuters shows.
In a video call, US President Joe Biden told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi "very clearly that it is not in their interest" to increase reliance on Russian energy, the White House said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow would not pause the fighting for any new round of peace talks, which last convened on April 1.
