2:15 PM
King Willem-Alexander: we will assist Ukraine for as long as necessary
King Willem-Alexander said today that the Netherlands will assist the Ukrainian people for as long as necessary. He made this statement in a video message for the Restoring Justice for Ukraine conference at the World Forum in The Hague, which started today.
The Netherlands is organizing the conference together with Ukraine and the European Commission. The event is intended to hold Russia accountable for war crimes committed. In his speech, Willem-Alexander said it is ‘unacceptable’ if war criminals avoid punishment.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also addressed the conference today. He calls on countries to continue their efforts to prosecute Russian war criminals. According to Zelensky, this is in the interest of the entire international community. His foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, who is in The Hague, has said that the International Criminal Court in The Hague should issue more arrest warrants.
Last year, the ICC issued an international arrest warrant against Russian President Putin, alleging that he was personally responsible for the forced deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
The conference will also discuss compensating the Ukrainian population for the damage they have suffered as a result of the war. A register has been opened for the conference in which Ukrainians can report war damage to their homes. Dutch foreign minister Hanke Bruins Slot has suggested frozen Russian assets to compensate that damage.
Thom Canters
10:28
Ukraine carries out drone strikes in Tatarstan, hitting key oil refinery
Ukraine shelled several targets around Yelabuga and Nizhnekamsk in Tatarstan last night. According to Tatar driver Roustam Minnikhanov, the attacks were largely successfully repelled, he reports on Telegram. Rarely has Ukraine struck so far into Russian territory.
Since 2006, there has been a so-called ‘economic zone’ around the cities, consisting of dozens of companies that focus on the production of chemical products and metalworking. Ukraine is increasingly targeting targets far beyond its own borders. In this way it tries to hit the Russian petrochemical sector.
One of the targets last night was an important refinery of oil company Tatneft, located about 1,300 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. The factory is one of the largest in the country and processes 360,000 barrels of oil every day. An unmanned aircraft briefly caused a fire at the factory near Nizhnekamsk, but according to Russian authorities the damage was not so extensive that production had to be halted.
A hostel where workers from the zone stay was also hit, according to international news agencies. Seven people were injured.
Conversely, Russia struck with drones last night in the Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovohrad regions, with the aim of disrupting the Ukrainian energy network. Most attacks were repulsed, but a high-voltage station in Kirovohrad was damaged. Russian attacks on the Ukrainian electricity network have caused significant damage several times in recent weeks, resulting in large-scale power outages.
Maartje Geels
06:45
Third-country nationals from Ukraine still unsure about leaving the Netherlands
People who lived in Ukraine with a temporary residence permit and fled to the Netherlands when Russia invaded the country should leave the Netherlands no later than today. This would concern a group of about 2,500 refugees.
Earlier this year, the Council of State determined that so-called third-country nationals were no longer entitled to residence from March 4 and had to leave the Netherlands within one month or apply for asylum. However, dozens of third-country nationals appealed against the so-called return decision.
Various courts subsequently ruled that third-country nationals are entitled to the same protection as Ukrainians who are housed in the Netherlands and may not be deported. Other courts followed the ruling of the Council of State in their judgments. As a result, there is now a lot of uncertainty among third-country nationals.
State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Asylum) is expected to send a letter to all municipalities on Tuesday about how they should act. “Third-country nationals who do not have a well-founded appeal, granted interim measure or disciplinary measure are obliged to leave the Netherlands on April 2,” said the spokesperson for State Secretary Eric van der Burg of (Asylum) last week.
Also read: Courts contradict each other, no one knows anymore where the third-country nationals stand
11:59 PM, Yesterday
Welcome to the live blog of Tuesday April 2
This was the most important news about the war in Ukraine last weekend:
• Russian President Vladimir Putin has given permission to call up 150,000 conscripts. These are men between the ages of 18 and 30. Conscripts are called up twice a year in Russia. By law, the men cannot be deployed in combat outside Russian territory during their period of service.
• If the military support promised by the US is not forthcoming, the Ukrainian army must withdraw ‘in small steps’. This is what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says The Washington Post. “If there is no American support, it means we have no air defenses, no Patriot missiles, no electronic warfare jammers, no 155-millimeter artillery ammunition,” Zelensky said.
• France will supply hundreds of old but still functional armored vehicles to Ukraine. In addition, Paris will also supply Aster 30 rockets to the country. French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu said this in an interview with LaTribune.
Read the full live blog from last weekend here.
