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Ukraine launched an investigation Wednesday into a gruesome video that purportedly shows the beheading of a Ukrainian soldier, in the latest accusation of atrocities said to have been committed by Russia since it invaded in February 2022. The video spread quickly online and drew outrage from officials in Kyiv, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as international organizations. The Kremlin called the footage "horrible" but said it needed to be verified. The Associated Press was not able to independently verify the authenticity of the video or the circumstances of where and when it was shot. The AP is not distributing the video or using frame grabs due to its extremely graphic nature. Meanwhile, a Russian defense official claimed that fighters from Russia's paramilitary Wagner group have seized three districts of Bakhmut, the embattled city that for months has been the focus of Moscow's grinding campaign in the east. The video circulating online appears to show a man in green fatigues wearing a yellow armband, typically donned by Ukrainian fighters. His screams are heard before another man in camouflage uses a knife to decapitate him. A third man holds up a flak jacket apparently belonging to the man being beheaded. All three men speak in Russian. Since Russia's forces invaded on Feb. 24, 2022, they have committed widespread abuses and alleged war crimes, according to the United Nations, rights groups and reporting by The Associated Press. Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of targeting apartment buildings and other civilian structures and equipment in its strikes, and images of hundreds of dead civilians in the streets and in mass graves in Bucha after Russian forces withdrew from the city have horrified the world. The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes, accusing him of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine. The Kremlin denies it has committed war crimes or that it has targeted civilians. Ukrainian troops have also been accused of abuses, and last year Kyiv said it would investigate video circulating online that Moscow alleged showed Ukrainian forces killing Russian troops who may have been trying to surrender. Zelenksyy said the violence in the latest video would not be forgotten, and that Russian forces would be held responsible. "Everyone must react, every leader. Do not expect that it will be forgotten, that time will pass," he said in a video. In it, he used strong language to describe Russian soldiers, calling them "beasts." Later Wednesday, at a roundtable of IMF and World Bank meetings, Zelenskyy called in a video for a moment of silence for the Ukrainian soldier killed in the apparent beheading. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the video was "horrible" but must be verified. "In the world of fakes we live in, the authenticity of the footage must be checked," he said in a conference call with reporters. Ukraine's state security service opened an investigation, according to a statement from Vasyl Maliuk, the head of the agency, known as the SBU. Officials are studying the video to identify those responsible, as well as the victim, according to Hanna Maliar, the deputy head of the Defense Ministry. Posters on pro-Kremlin Russian Telegram channels, while not confirming the video's authenticity, did not dispute it. Some sought to justify it by saying combat has hardened Russian troops. Andrei Medvedev, a Russian state TV journalist and a member of the Moscow city legislature, speculated that the video's release was "fairly opportune" for the Ukrainian army, saying it could help "fire up personnel ideologically" ahead of a planned major counteroffensive. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelenskyy, also linked the video's release to the expected offensive but said it was meant to "demoralize the public mood or at least change the psychological perception of the war right now." Ukraine's human rights chief said he will request that the U.N. Human Rights Committee investigate. Dmytro Lubinets said he has also written to the U.N. Commissioner for Human Rights, the U.N. Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the International Committee of the Red Cross. He wrote on Telegram that "a public execution of a captive is yet another indication of a breach of Geneva Convention norms, international humanitarian law, a breach of the fundamental right to life." The U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said it had previously documented "serious violations of international humanitarian law, including those committed against prisoners of war," adding that "the latest incidents must also be properly investigated and the perpetrators must be held accountable." Guterres "had also seen the video and was horrified by it and supports the call for the perpetrators to be held to account," said U.N. spokesman, Stephane Dujarric. The video provoked an outcry among Ukrainians. "This is horrifying," said Mykola Drobot, 44, of Kyiv. "Such things cannot happen without the consent -- silent or not -- of the military and political leadership." Another Kyiv resident, Yuliia Sievierina, 40, speculated the video was meant as "moral pressure on us to consider ourselves even more oppressed and emotionally torn." "It doesn't work," she told the AP. "It only creates more anger and thirst for resistance." The war's front lines have been largely frozen for months, with much of the fighting focused around the city of Bakhmut. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Wagner forces had made progress there. Ukrainian officials did not immediately comment, but Zelenskyy has said before that his troops could pull out if they face a threat of encirclement. Konashenkov did not specify which neighborhoods of Bakhmut are under Russian control, or how much of the city remains in Ukrainian hands. Elsewhere, at least four civilians were wounded as Russian forces shelled a Ukrainian-held town near the shut-down Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, said regional Gov. Serhii Lysak. He said in a Telegram post that "people are being pulled out from under the rubble" after Russian shelling destroyed 13 houses and cars in Nikopol, across the Dnieper River from the plant. Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko alleged Russian forces attacked a town in the eastern Donetsk province with cluster munitions — banned by an international treaty — wounding one person. An AP and Frontline database called War Crimes Watch Ukraine has cataloged how Russia has used cluster bombs.  

Italy’s right-wing government on Tuesday declared a six-month national state of emergency to help it cope with a surge in migrants arriving on the country’s southern shores. State TV said a special commissioner was expected to be named. Initial funding of 5 million euros (nearly $5.5 million) was also approved as part of the measure approved by Premier Giorgia Meloni and her Cabinet. In a statement after the Cabinet meeting, the government said the state of emergency was deemed necessary “to carry out with urgency extraordinary measures to reduce congestion” at an overwhelmed migrant shelter on a tiny Italian island in the Mediterranean. Also needed are “new structures, suitable both for sheltering as well as the processing and repatriation of migrants who don't have the requisites to stay” in Italy, the government statement said. Also Read: Italy's coast guard, navy, bring hundreds of migrants ashore During the COVID-19 pandemic Italy’s governing coalitions also imposed a state of emergency, enabling the Cabinet to mandate many coping measures by decree, temporarily bypassing the usually long parliamentary process for funding and regulations. “Let's be clear, this doesn't resolve the problem, whose solution is tied to a mindful and responsible intervention of the European Union,” Civil Protection and Sea Policies Minister Nello Musumeci was quoted as saying by the Italian news agency ANSA. Largely unsuccessfully, Meloni's government, like several others before, has pressed for more solidarity from fellow EU countries, which often don't make good on pledges to accept some of the asylum-seekers hoping to find relatives or work in northern Europe. Since the start of this year, some 31,000 migrants, either rescued by Italian military boats or charity ships or reaching Italy without assistance, have disembarked, according to Interior Ministry figures. That's nearly four times the roughly 8,000 for the same period in each of the two previous years. The arrivals of migrants, who set out in unseaworthy vessels launched by smugglers from northern African shores, seem destined to swell. Early on Wednesday, a smugglers' boat, crowded with some 700 passengers, was expected to pull into the port of Catania, a major city in eastern Sicily. Also Read: Italy: Migrants paid 8,000 euros each for ‘voyage of death’ Italian coast guard boats had been escorting the distressed fishing vessel toward shore when a breakdown forced it to need towing, slowing its advance. The coast guard had already transferred some 100 of the passengers when rough seas made that operation too risky, and the decision was taken to leave the rest of the migrants aboard until the vessel could reach port. On one recent day alone, 26 migrant boats, many of them without needing rescue, reached the Lampedusa, a tiny Italian island south of Sicily. The facility on Lampedusa which shelters migrants so they can be provisionally identified as a first step toward any asylum application, was reeling under the relentless stream of arrivals. The shelter is meant to accommodate about 350-400 people, but in recent days, there were 3,000. Italy chartered empty commercial ferries to transfer hundreds of them to Sicily or the mainland. On Tuesday, some 1,600 migrants were staying in the Lampedusa structure, and authorities were hoping for weather to improve so that by evening some 400 could be ferried off the island. “There are many women with small children, plus there are unaccompanied minors,” the migrant center director, Lorena Tortorici, told Italian Sky TG24 TV. “We are in an emergency situation. The staff are trying to do what they can.” The biggest number of migrants arriving so far this year are from Ivory Coast, followed by people from Guinea, Pakistan, Egypt, Tunisia and Bangladesh, according to the Interior Minister's tally. For years, most of the smugglers' boats plying the dangerous central Mediterranean route set sail from western Libya. But recent months have seen many of the voyages start from eastern Libya or from Tunisia. Another route starts from Turkey, aiming to reach Calabria or Puglia in the southern end of the Italian mainland.

In an Easter message highlighting hope, Pope Francis on Sunday invoked prayers for both the Ukrainian and Russian people, praised nations which welcome refugees and called on Israelis and Palestinians wracked by the latest surge in deadly violence to forge a “climate of trust.” Francis, along with dozens of prelates and tens of thousands of faithful, celebrated Easter Mass in a flower-adorned St. Peter’s Square, affirming the Christian belief that Jesus rose from the dead days after his crucifixion. The 86-year-old pontiff topped the celebration with a traditional speech about troubled places in the world. Encouraging “trust among individuals, peoples and nations," Francis said Easter's joy “illumines the darkness and gloom in which, all too often, our world finds itself enveloped.” The pope's Easter message is known by its Latin name, ”Urbi et Orbi," which means “to the city and the world.” Since Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine in February 2022, Francis has repeatedly called for the fighting to end and sought prayers for the “martyred” Ukrainian people. Ukrainian diplomats have complained that he hasn't come down hard enough in his statements on Russia and particularly Russian President Vladimir Putin as the Vatican tries to avoid alienating Moscow. “Help the beloved Ukrainian people on their journey towards peace, and shed the light of Easter upon the people of Russia,'' Francis implored God in his Easter speech, which he delivered while sitting in a chair on the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica facing the square. ”Comfort the wounded and all those who have lost loved ones because of the war, and grant that prisoners may return safe and sound to their families." He urged the international community to work to end the war in Ukraine and “all conflict and bloodshed in the world, beginning with Syria, which still awaits peace.” Francis also prayed for those who lost loved ones in an earthquake that struck Syria and Turkey two months ago, claiming tens of thousands of lives. With a renewal in deadly violence affecting both Israelis and Palestinians in recent days, Francis called for a "resumption of dialogue, in a climate of trust and reciprocal respect, between Israelis and Palestinians, so that peace may reign in the Holy City and in the entire region,'' a reference to Jerusalem. But Francis also noted progress on some fronts. “Let us rejoice at the concrete signs of hope that reach us from so many countries, beginning with those that offers assistance and welcome to all fleeing war and poverty," he said, without naming any particular nations. How to care for asylum-seekers, migrants and refugees, and whether to allow them entrance, is a raging political and social debate in much of Europe, as well in the United States and elsewhere. Francis also prayed that national leaders “ensure that no man or woman may encounter discrimination” and that there would be “full respect for human rights and democracy.” With migrants risking their lives in smugglers’ unseaworthy boats in hopes of reaching Europe, the pope lamented that Tunisia's people, particularly the young, struggle with social and economic hardship. In the last two weeks, dozens have died or were left missing after attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea from Tunisia. The pope included Lebanon and two African countries he visited this year - South Sudan and Congo - among the nations in need of ending divisions and building reconciliation. Speaking about Haiti, he appealed to “political actors and the international community to seek a definitive solution to the many problems that afflict that sorely tried people.” The bloody conflicts cited by Francis contrasted with a riot of bright colors lent by orange-red tulips, yellow sprays of forsythia and daffodils, hyacinths and other colorful seasonal flowers that decorated St. Peter's Square. The blooms were trucked in trucks from the Netherlands. By the end of the pope's appearance, some 100,00 people had flocked to the square in time for the pontiff's speech, according to the Vatican's crowd count. A canopy on the edge of steps on the square sheltered the pontiff, who was back in the public eye for the Mass 12 hours after a 2.25-hour long Easter vigil ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica the night before. Francis was hospitalized March 29-April 1 for treatment of bronchitis. Still recovering, he skipped the traditional Good Friday procession at Rome’s Colosseum due to unseasonably cold nighttime temperatures. Near the end of the more than two-hour-long Easter Sunday appearance, Francis seemed to run out of steam. His voice grew hoarse and he interrupted his speech at one point to cough. He nonetheless made several laps through the square in the popemobile after the Mass, waving and smiling at cheering well-wishers.

Eight people remained missing after the building they lived in exploded and collapsed early Sunday near the port of Marseille, leaving mounds of burning debris hampering rescue operations, officials said. More than 100 firefighters worked against a ticking clock to extinguish flames deep within the rubble of the five-story building, but more than 17 hours later “the situation is not yet stabilized,” Marseille Prosecutor Dominique Laurens said at an evening news conference. Earlier in the day, officials had thought that between four and 10 people may have been trapped. Laurens said police have yet to confirm the apparent disappearance of a ninth person who lived in a next-door building. Five people suffered minor injuries from the collapse, which occurred shortly before 1 a.m. Marseille Mayor Benoit Payan said two buildings that share walls with the one that collapsed were partially brought down before one later caved in, another complication in the search and rescue operation. The buildings were among evacuated structures. Drones and probes have been used to examine the scene for signs of life. The burning debris was too hot for dogs in the firefighters' canine team to work until Sunday afternoon, though smoke still bothered them, the prosecutor said. “We cannot intervene in a very classic way,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said during a morning visit to the site. He said the fire was burning a few meters under the mounds of debris and that both water and foam represent a danger to victims’ survival. An investigation has been opened for involuntary injury, at least initially sidestepping possible criminal intentions. A gas explosion was among the tracks to check, said Laurens, the prosecutor. But the start of the probe also was limited by the heat of the blaze. “The flames weren't pink. They were blue,” Payan said. Firefighters, with the help of urban rescue experts, worked through the night and all day Sunday in a slow race against time. The delicate operation aimed to keep firefighters safe, prevent further harm to people potentially trapped in the rubble and not compromise vulnerable buildings nearby, already partially collapsed. Some 30 buildings in the area were evacuated, Darmanin said. Lauren, the prosecutor, said that firefighters “are really in a complicated situation, dangerous for them.” Work is progressing but with safety precautions, she said. “We heard an explosion ... a very strong explosion which made us jump, and that's it,” said Marie Ciret, who was among those evacuated. “We looked outside the window at what was happening. We saw smoke, stones, and people running.” The building that collapsed is located on a narrow street less than a kilometer (a half-mile) from Marseille's iconic old port, adding to an array of difficulties for firefighters and rescue workers. The prosecutor said the building and those next door “are not at all substandard buildings.” Robots were reportedly being deployed. A crane was brought in to clear rubble and firefighters were at one point seen in TV video hosing parts of the debris from a window in a nearby apartment as plumes of smoke rose skyward. “We’re trying to drown the fire while preserving the lives of eventual victims under the rubble,” Lionel Mathieu, commander of the Marseille fire brigade, said during a televised briefing. “Firefighters are gauging minute by minute the best way to put out the fire,” Payan, the mayor, said. “We must prepare ourselves to have victims,” he said grimly. The collapsed building is located in an old quarter in the center of France’s second-largest city. The noise from the explosion resounded in other neighborhoods. Nearby streets were blocked off. French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne both tweeted their thoughts for people affected and thanks to the firefighters. In 2018, two buildings in the center of Marseille collapsed, killing eight people. Those buildings were poorly maintained — not the case with the building that collapsed Sunday after an explosion, the interior minister said.

The head of a Ukrainian rescue organization said Saturday that the organization has brought back 31 children from Russia, where they had been taken during the war. Mykola Kuleba said at a news conference in Kyiv that the children were expected to arrive in the capital later in the day. Kuleba is the executive director of the Save Ukraine organization and is the presidential commissioner for children's rights. Deportations of Ukrainian children have been a concern since Russia’s Feb. 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine. The International Criminal Court increased pressure on Russia when it issued arrest warrants on March 17 for President Vladimir Putin and Russian children's rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, accusing them of abducting children from Ukraine. The International Committee of the Red Cross said this week it had been in contact with Lvova-Belova, the first confirmation of high-level international intervention to reunite families with children who were forcibly deported. ICRC spokesman Jason Straziuso said the organization was in contact with Lvova-Belova “in line with its mandate to restore contact between separated families and facilitate reunification where feasible.” An Associated Press investigation revealed Lvova-Belova’s involvement in the abductions and found an open effort to put Ukrainian children up for adoption in Russia. Lvova-Belova told an informal U.N. Security Council meeting Wednesday that the children were taken for their safety, not abducted — a claim widely rejected by the international community. The exact number of Ukrainian children taken to Russia has been difficult to determine, and numbers from the warring countries differ vastly. A statement posted Wednesday on Twitter by Ukraine’s U.N. ambassador, Sergiy Kyslytsya, said more than 19,500 children had been seized from their families or orphanages and forcibly deported.

Poland has emerged as one Ukraine's most ardent supporters during Russia's invasion despite historical grievances between the neighboring nations that stir up bad feelings to this day. The tensions between the country at war and its staunch ally were acknowledged Wednesday when Ukrainian President President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a state visit to Poland, where he was welcomed with honors. President Andrzej Duda promised that Poland would keep helping Ukraine fight off Russia's aggression, but he also acknowledged at a joint news conference with Zelesnkyy that the relationship was complicated. "There are still open wounds in the memory of many people,” Duda said, an obvious reference to the massacres of some 100,000 Poles by Ukrainian nationalists during the 1940s. Poland considers the killings genocide. The difficult past in Poland-Ukraine relations goes back even further than that. In a part of Europe where entire nations have disappeared from maps for generations before returning from the ashes of collapsed empires, sometimes at the expense of neighbors, Poles and Ukrainians share a history of existential rivalry. Ukrainians, for example, harbor resentment from centuries spent under Polish rule, a period which is not remembered as completely benign. As the two presidents delivered public addresses to a crowd of Ukrainians and Poles in Warsaw, Duda acknowledged that both nations had made a lot of mistakes “for which we paid the ultimate price." “We are sending a clear message to the Kremlin today: You will never succeed in dividing us again," he said. Polish and Ukrainian officials have mostly avoided addressing the old grievances openly as they remain focused on Ukraine's survival and worry that Russian could exploit any divisions. It is, after all, a war whose outcome will determine Ukraine's very existence and Poland's own security for decades to come. “In the future, there will be no borders between our peoples: political, economic and — what is very important — historical," Zelenskyy said in a Telegram message before his meeting with Duda. "But for that we still need to gain victory. For that, we need to walk side by side a little more.” By raising the matter now, the leaders seemed to acknowledge that thorny issues could not be swept under the rug forever, even with the war dragging on. Duda and other nationalist authorities face political pressure to make sure Polish suffering at Ukrainian hands is not forgotten, especially with the growing strength of a far-right party, Confederation, that has sometimes expressed anti-Ukrainian views. A parliamentary election in Poland before the end of the year will be a test for the ruling party, Law and Justice, and determine whether it wins a third term. On Wednesday, though, Zelenskyy was met with red carpets and pomp. Duda bestowed on his visitor Poland’s oldest and highest civilian distinction, The Order of the White Eagle. “You are surely one of the most outstanding people who has received the distinction," the Polish president said. Zelenskyy called Duda a friend and said Polish-Ukrainian relations have never been so good. At the same time, Duda insisted the past must not be forgotten and now was the right time to confront it. “We cannot forget those who have perished in the past,” Duda said. “There are no taboo themes between us.” Probably the touchiest point of contention is how to remember one of Ukraine’s national heroes, Stepan Bandera, the far-right leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists who briefly allied himself with Germany's Nazis. Efforts by Bandera-led forces to carve out an independent territory for Ukraine led them to perpetrate atrocities against Poles, Jews and Soviets. Such subjects were off-limits during the Soviet era, when Ukraine was a Soviet republic and Moscow also controlled Poland. Historians say that more than 100,000 Poles, including women and young children, perished at the hands of their Ukrainian neighbors in areas that were then located in southeastern Poland and are mostly in Ukraine now. The peak of the violence was on July 11, 1943, known as “Bloody Sunday,” when the Ukrainian insurgent fighters carried out coordinated attacks on Poles praying in or leaving churches in more than 100 villages, chiefly in the Volhynia region. Polish officials insist that only the full truth can strengthen the nations' ties. Poles were angered in January when Ukraine’s parliament commemorated Bandera on the 114th anniversary of his birth by tweeting an image of the current commander of the Ukrainian armed forces against a portrait of Bandera. The post was later deleted. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said then that his government took “an extremely critical stance toward any glorification or even remembrance of Bandera.” After meeting with Zelenskyy on Wednesday, Morawiecki said the two spoke about the crimes and Poland’s request to carry out exhumations on the Polish victims, something Ukraine has so far banned. “We had a very difficult history and today there is a chance to rewrite this history and base it on the truth,” Morawiecki said.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday he wants to "engage China toward a shared responsibility for peace" in Ukraine when he meets Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week. French officials said earlier that Macron planned to urge Xi in talks Thursday to use Beijing's influence with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but didn't expect a big shift in the Chinese position. Macron is to be accompanied by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a show of European unity in dealings with Beijing. Xi and Putin declared their governments had a "no limits friendship" before Moscow's February 2022 attack on Ukraine. Beijing has refused to criticize the Kremlin but has tried to appear neutral and has called for a cease-fire and peace talks. In a speech to French residents of China, Macron said he would "try to build, and somehow engage China toward a shared responsibility for peace and stability on international issues" including Ukraine, Iran and North Korea. Macron expressed hope China will "participate in initiatives that are useful to the Ukrainian people." "Dialogue with China is indispensable," Macron said during the event at the French Embassy. Xi's government sees Russia as a source of energy and as a partner in opposing what both say is U.S. domination of global affairs. China is the biggest buyer of Russian oil and gas, which helps to prop up the Kremlin's revenue in the face of Western sanctions. That increases Chinese influence, but Xi appears reluctant to jeopardize that partnership by pressuring Putin. Macron noted Putin's announcement that Moscow plans to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, which China opposes. "Territorial integrity, the sovereignty of nations is part" of the Charter of the United Nations, which China affirmed, Macron said. Defending those principles "means moving forward together and trying to find a path for peace," Macron said. He noted China proposed a peace plan in February and that while France doesn't fully agree with it, the plan "shows a will to commit toward the resolution of the conflict." Meanwhile, NATO's 31 member countries warned Wednesday of "severe consequences" should China start sending weapons and ammunition to Russia. "Allies have been clear that any provision of lethal aid by China to Russia would be a historic mistake, with profound implications," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters after chairing a meeting of the organization's foreign ministers in Brussels. Stoltenberg declined to say what the implications of such a move might be, but warned only that it would involve "severe consequences." "At a time when Beijing and Moscow are pushing back against the rules-based international order, it is even more important that we continue to stand together," he said. Last week, von der Leyen warned the European Union must be prepared to develop measures to protect trade and investment that China might exploit for its own security and military purposes. Thierry Breton, EU commissioner for internal market, said Monday on French news broadcaster FranceInfo the message to Chinese authorities is that they "must stop trying to play one country against another." Macron also said "several major deals" were due to be signed between French and Chinese companies during the visit. He was accompanied by more than 50 French CEOs including from Airbus, railway equipment manufacturer Alstom and energy giant EDF. A French official said last week negotiations were underway on a potential deal with Airbus that would come on top of China's 2019 order for 300 aircraft. Macron said he will push for "working in partnership" with China on climate. He said France will organize a global conference on the protection of oceans in 2025 and said China should be part of these efforts.  

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife arrived in Poland Wednesday for a state visit that is meant as a gesture of thanks to the neighboring nation for its crucial support in Ukraine's defense against Russia's invasion. The visit is a rare foray for Zelenskyy out of Ukraine since Russia unleased the war in February 2022. While it follows visits to the United States, Britain, France and Belgium, it stands out from the others because it was announced in advance without the secrecy of past visits. It is also unusual that the president is joined by the first lady, Olena Zelenska. Marcin Przydacz, the head of Polish President Andrzej Duda’s foreign policy office, described it as Zelenskyy's first visit of this kind since the war began. The visit shines a light on Poland's rising international role in a new security order that is emerging after Russia's aggression against Ukraine. Poland is modernizing its military with orders of tanks and other equipment from U.S. and South Korean producers, while the United States has also beefed up its military presence in Poland. Zelenskyy has traveled through Poland on his other trips, but until now had not made Poland the focus of of one his trips. Zelenskyy is to meet with Duda and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, attend an economic forum focused on the reconstruction of Ukraine and meet some of the Ukrainians who have found refuge in Poland. Poland has been a key destination for Ukrainian refugees, particularly those who want to remain close because they plan to return or want to be able to visit loved ones. Warsaw has been a key ally for Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion last year, welcoming large numbers of refugees and becoming a hub for humanitarian aid and weapons to transit into Ukraine. More than 1.5 million Ukrainians have registered with the Polish government since the war began, joining large numbers that had already arrived in recent years for work. The exact number of Ukrainians present in the country at any given moment is impossible to measure, especially with many going back and forth. But Zelenskyy’s visit also comes at a delicate time, with Polish farmers growing increasingly angry because Ukrainian grain that has entered Poland has created a glut, causing prices to fall. The grain is only meant to be stored and transit through Poland to reach international markets, but farmers in Poland say the grain is instead staying in Poland, taking up space in silos and entering local markets, causing local prices to fall for the farmers. Romanian and Bulgarian farmers say they are facing the same problem. Przydacz acknowledged in comments to reporters that the issue has caused tensions and said that would be a topic of the talks on Wednesday. The anger of the farmers is emerging as a headache for Morawiecki's government ahead of general elections in the fall, particularly since his conservative ruling party, Law and Justice, gets much of its support in rural areas. An hour before Duda was to welcome Zelenskyy, Poland's agriculture minister, Henryk Kowalczyk, who has been the focus of the farmers' anger, resigned from his post.

Italians who use English or other foreign words in official correspondence might face fines of up to EUR 100,000 (USD 108,705) under new law proposed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy party. The legislation was introduced by Fabio Rampelli, a member of the lower chamber of deputies, and is backed by the Italian PM, reports CNN. Read More: Sparks fly as neutral pronoun included in French dictionary While the legislation applies to all foreign languages, it is aimed especifically against "Anglomania", or the usage of English phrases, which the draft argues "demeans" the Italian language, and is made worse because the UK is no longer a member of the EU, the report said. The bill, which was yet to be debated in the Italian parliament, requires anybody holding a public administration position to have “written and oral knowledge and mastery of the Italian language.” It also forbids the use of English in official paperwork, including "acronyms and names" of employment functions in domestic firms. According to a draft of the legislation, foreign firms would be required to have Italian language versions of all internal regulations and employment contracts. Read More: Int’l Mother Language Day: Discussion on multilingual education held at UN HQ The proposed law would create a body whose mandate would include “correct use of the Italian language and its pronunciation” in schools, media, commerce, and advertising, said the CNN report.

The U.S. will send Ukraine about $500 million in ammunition and equipment and will spend more than $2 billion to buy an array of munitions, radar and other weapons in the future, U.S. officials said, as the Ukrainian troops prepare for a spring offensive against Russian forces. The ammunition rounds, along with grenade launchers and vehicles, will be taken from military stockpiles so they can be in the war zone quickly, the officials said. "We very much appreciate everything that the United States has done specifically in the last month to help our army prepare itself for the counteroffensive," said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, speaking at NATO headquarters in Brussels before a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. "The Biden administration has upheld its commitment to provide Ukraine with a lot of what we need and set an example to other allies." The $2.1 billion in longer-term aid, which is being provided under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, will buy missiles for the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System, or NASAMS, as well as radar and other weapons, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the aid had not yet been announced. An announcement is expected as soon as Tuesday. The new weapons and funding come as Russia has continued to bombard Ukraine with long-range missiles and the hotly contested battle for the eastern city of Bakhmut drags on. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview that unless his country wins that fight, Russia could begin building international support for a deal that could require Ukraine to make unacceptable compromises. Zelenskyy said if Moscow's forces take Bakhmut, then Russian President Vladimir Putin would "sell this victory to the West, to his society, to China, to Iran." The latest U.S. package, with its mix of short-term and long-term aid, includes a wide variety of ammunition from Pentagon stocks, 23 million rounds of small arms ammunition and 200,000 grenades, as well as funding for more high-tech weapons, including counter drone rocket systems, air surveillance radar and satellite communications terminals and services. It brings the total amount of U.S. security assistance to Ukraine to more than $35 billion since Russia invaded in February 2022. Defense leaders testifying on Capitol Hill last week said the U.S. is prepared to support Ukraine for as long as needed. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg echoed that sentiment on Monday, as the alliance's foreign ministers were preparing to meet in Brussels. The ministers on Tuesday "will discuss how we can step up our support, including by continuing to strengthen Ukraine's armed forces," Stoltenberg said. "Our support is for the long haul." The White House said last week that it has new evidence that Russia is looking again to North Korea for weapons as it also prepares for a spring offensive. Russia would provide Pyongyang with needed food and other commodities in return. U.S. officials also are concerned that the president of Belarus has warned that Russian strategic nuclear weapons might be deployed in his country, along with part of Moscow's tactical nuclear arsenal. Putin has said he planned to place tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus. Those weapons are comparatively short-range and low-yield. Strategic nuclear weapons, such as missile-borne warheads, would be a greater threat. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, while talking up the possibility of nuclear weapons, has also called for a cease-fire in Ukraine. He said a truce must have no preconditions and all movement of troops and weapons must be halted. Russia, however, has rejected a cease in fighting, claiming that Ukraine has refused to enter talks under pressure from its Western allies.