Today’s Russia/Ukraine Update

🇺🇦 In his first extended public comments about the war in over a month, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to continue his assault on Ukraine after peace talks between the two sides reached a “dead end.”

• The US and UK are investigating allegations of a chemical attack used by Russia in the eastern port city of Mariupol; no independent evidence of such an attack has yet emerged.
• Russian military hackers tried and failed to attack Ukraine’s energy infrastructure last week, the country’s government and a Slovakia-based cybersecurity firm revealed yesterday.
• 4.8 million of Ukraine’s 7.4 million children (64%) have fled their homes over the past six weeks, per the UN, which has verified the deaths of 142 children thus far; officials say the true number is almost certainly much higher.
• Sweden's ruling party has officially begun debating whether the country should join NATO, while Finland is expected to take a step towards potentially joining the military alliance later this week.

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