Over 66,200 Ukrainian men returned home from abroad to fight Russia: Defence Minister

About 66,224 Ukrainian men had returned from abroad to join the fight against Russia’s invasion, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on Saturday.

“That’s how many men returned from abroad at this moment to defend their country from the horde. These are 12 more combat and motivated brigades! Ukrainians, we are invincible,” Reznikov said in an online post.

Russian defence ministry announced a ceasefire Saturday to let Mariupol residents evacuate, said news agency AFP. Meanwhile, Kremlin informed the UN Security Council that Russian buses are ready at crossing points to go to the eastern Ukrainian cities of Kharkiv and Sumy to evacuate Indian students and other foreign nationals who are stranded there.

Meanwhile, the European Union said it had joined members of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) in suspending Russia and Belarus from the Council’s activities, Reuters reported.

“This decision is a part of the European Union’s and like-minded partners response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the involvement of Belarus in this unprovoked and unjustified aggression,” it said Saturday.

“The EU agrees with the other members of the CBSS (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland and Sweden) that the suspension of Russia and Belarus will remain in force until it is possible to resume cooperation based on respect for fundamental principles of international law,” it added.

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• Russia
• Russia-Ukraine crisis
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• Ukrainian men
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• returned home
• Defence Minister