Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will speak at today's meeting of the UN Security Council, which is expected to discuss the events in the Ukrainian city of Bucha. Meanwhile, it has become clear that the European Union and the United States are preparing a new package of sanctions against Russia, following the discovery of many civilian casualties in the formerly Russian-controlled city. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that the United States would announce new sanctions against Russia over the invasion in Ukraine.

"After the mass killings of civilians in Bucha and other cities, peace talks with Russia will be much more difficult," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on the 41st day of the war. He added Russia was deliberately delaying the negotiation process and trying to cover up its war crimes behind propaganda. Ukraine will make every effort to conduct an independent investigation to prove that the Russian military committed war crimes in the recently occupied cities, the president added. According to him, it would soon become clear that there were hundreds more civilians killed in Bucha and in other Ukrainian cities.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has called on residents of his hometown who left it to wait for at least another ten days before returning because of danger of air strikes. Russian troops are preparing for a large-scale attack in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine, local Governor Serhiy Gaidai warned and called for a mass evacuation.