TOP HEADLINES

• The United Nations General Assembly voted to suspend Russia from the Geneva-based Human Rights Council on Thursday. There were 93 votes in favor, while 24 countries voted against it and 58 countries abstained but that was enough to pass the two thirds majority threshold.

• NATO members have agreed to strengthen support to Ukraine and are providing a wide range of weapon systems to the country, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.

• Ukraine urged Russia to show it was ready for dialogue by lowering "hostility" after Moscow accused Ukrainian negotiators of changing their demands since face-to-face talks in March.

• U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Russia must decide if it wants to engage in meaningful diplomacy with Ukraine.

• Facebook's parent company Meta said Russian state actors and others are relentlessly trying to use the social network against Ukraine with deception, hacking and coordinated bullying campaigns.

• The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly backed legislation banning oil imports from Russia.

• Germany's intelligence agency intercepted radio messages from Russian military sources discussing the killing of civilians in Bucha, German news magazine Der Spiegel reported.

• The French government summoned Russia's ambassador to Paris after his embassy posted a photo on Twitter claiming to show a "film set" by Ukrainians staging civilian killings in Bucha that have stoked global outrage.

• Russia's state communications watchdog said it would ban Google from advertising its services in the country, accusing YouTube of spreading "fake news" about its military campaign in Ukraine.

• British energy giant Shell warned that it would take a hit of up to $5 billion (4.6 billion euros) on its exit from Russia.

IN DETAIL 

UN General Assembly suspends Russia

The United Nations General Assembly suspended Russia from the UN Human Rights Council over reports of "gross and systematic violations and abuses of human rights" by Russian troops in Ukraine.

There were 93 votes in favor, while 24 countries voted against the resolution and 58 countries abstained. That was enough to meet the two-thirds majority of voting members needed to suspend Russia from the 47-member council.

The countries voting against included China, Iran, the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, Cuba, Belarus, Syria and Russia itself. Suspensions are rare and the last time it happened was when Libya was suspended in 2011.

The resolution adopted by the 193-member General Assembly draft expresses "grave concern at the ongoing human rights and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine," particularly at reports of rights abuses by Russia.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba welcomed the outcome of the UN vote. "War criminals have no place in UN bodies aimed at protecting human rights. Grateful to all member states which supported the relevant UNGA resolution and chose the right side of history," Kuleba wrote on Twitter. 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview,"We'll continue to defend our interests using every possible legal means."

Russia had warned countries that a yes vote or abstention will be viewed as an "unfriendly gesture" with consequences for bilateral ties, according to a note seen by Reuters news agency.

Moscow is one of the most vocal members on the council and its suspension bars it from speaking and voting, officials say, although its diplomats could still attend debates. "They would probably still try to influence the Council through proxies," said a Geneva-based diplomat.
 

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'The battle for Donbas will remind you of WWII'

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he expected NATO members to send Kyiv the weapons it needs but insisted they had to act quickly before Russia launches another major offensive. 

"Either you help us now - and I'm speaking about days, not weeks, or your help will come too late, and many people will die, many civilians will lose their homes, many villages will be destroyed. Exactly because this help came too late," Kuleba said after meeting NATO foreign ministers in Brussels.

"I have no doubts that Ukraine will have the weapons necessary to fight. The question is the timeline. This discussion is not about the list of weapons. The discussion is about the timeline," he told journalists. 

Ukraine is pushing the West to increase its arms supplies with heavier weaponry, including air defense systems, artillery, armored vehicles and jets, as Moscow refocuses its offensive on the east of the country. 

"The battle for Donbas (in eastern Ukraine) will remind you of the Second World War with large operations maneuvers, the involvement of thousands of tanks, armored vehicles, planes, artillery," Kuleba said. "Russia has its plan, we have ours -- and the outcome of this battle will be decided on the battlefield."

WHO calls for humanitarian access to Mariupol

The World Health Organization (WHO) called for humanitarian access to Ukraine's besieged city of Mariupol, and said over 90 attacks on health services had been confirmed in the war.

Speaking at a press conference in Lviv, WHO regional director for Europe Hans Kluge lamented that while health assistance had reached many "affected areas", some were out of reach.

"It's true some remain very difficult. I think a priority definitely, I think we all agree, would be Mariupol," Kluge told reporters.

Located in a strategic southeastern spot between Russia-occupied Crimea and pro-Russian separatist regions in Ukraine's east, Mariupol residents have spoken of utter devastation and dire conditions. The city's population has shrunk from 400,000 before the conflict to around 120,000 today.

Kluge at the same time noted that the WHO had "delivered over 185 tonnes of medical supplies to the hardest hit areas of the country, reaching half-a-million people".

The UN health agency also said it had confirmed 91 attacks on different health services, including supplies, ambulances and several hospitals.

"This is clearly a breach of international humanitarian law," Kluge said.

The regional director also noted that "50 percent of Ukraine's pharmacies are presumed closed and 1,000 health facilities are in proximity to conflict areas or changed areas of control".