Europe

VIENNA, April 28 (Reuters) - Radiation levels in a part of Chornobyl's exclusion zone where Ukraine has said Russian troops dug trenches in the highly contaminated soil are elevated but still well within the safe range, the U.N. nuclear watchdog's chief said on Thursday.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi travelled to Chornobyl this week with IAEA staff to bring equipment and check radiation levels at the site which includes radioactive waste facilities near the now-defunct power plant that in 1986 suffered the world's worst nuclear disaster.

AMSTERDAM, April 28 (Reuters) - The Dutch government is likely to send a forensic team from the national military police to Ukraine to help investigate possible war crimes, Dutch press agency ANP reported on Thursday.

The team would leave for Ukraine at short notice to help the International Criminal Court (ICC) gather evidence at sites where war crimes may have been committed, ANP cited sources close to the matter.

The government will make a final decision on the mission on Friday, the sources said.

The Dutch foreign ministry declined to comment on the report.

April 28 (Reuters) - Russia has handed over 33 Ukrainian soldiers, including 13 officers, in an exchange of prisoners of war with Ukraine, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Thursday.

"We are also bringing home 12 civilians," Vereshchuk wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Five of the troops exchanged on Thursday had been wounded, she said.

Vereshchuk did not say how many Russians were involved in the exchange.

LONDON, April 28 (Reuters) - Russia on Thursday warned the West that there would be a tough military response to any further attack on Russian territory, accusing the United States and its key allies of undermining European security by openly inciting Ukraine to assault Russia.

Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine has killed thousands of people, displaced millions more and raised fears of the most serious confrontation between Russia and the United States since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

BERLIN, April 28 (Reuters) - Germany's Bundestag lower house of parliament on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a petition on support for Ukraine backing the delivery of weapons including heavy arms to the country to help it fend off Russian attacks.

"Alongside the broad economic isolation and decoupling of Russia from international markets, the most important and effective means to stop the Russian invasion is to intensify and speed up the delivery of effective weapons and complex systems including heavy arms," the petition read.

KYIV, April 28 (Reuters) - The United States accused Russia on Thursday of planning to stage fake independence votes to justify its conquest of territory in Ukraine, as Russian forces stepped up their assault on the east.

More than two months into an invasion that has flattened cities but failed to capture the capital Kyiv, Russia is pursuing an offensive to seize two eastern provinces in a battle the West views as a decisive turning point in the war.

28 April 2022; MEMO: A British judge on Tuesday denied a bid by Qatar Airways to reinstate a jet contract cancelled by Europe's Airbus, Reuters reports.

The companies have been locked in a safety dispute for months on Europe's A350 long-haul jet. Their unprecedented bust-up widened in January when Airbus revoked a separate deal for 50 smaller A321neos that Qatar says it needs to open new routes.

28 April 2022; MEMO: German-Turkish footballer Mesut Ozil has taken to twitter to spread awareness of the plight of India's Muslims who face persecution in the Hindu-majority country.

Yesterday, on one of the final ten days of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, the former Real Madrid and Arsenal player called on the international community to "break the silence" on what is happening in India. He added that he is praying for the safety and well-being of the country's substantial Muslim minority.

MADRID, April 27 (Xinhua) -- The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) confirmed here on Wednesday that Russia had announced its intention to withdraw from the organization.

"Russia has announced its intention to withdraw from UNWTO," explained the UNWTO in a tweet, adding that nevertheless Russia must "follow due process - and this will take a year to complete upon the receipt of the official communications through the appropriate channels."

IRPIN, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine said Thursday that Russia’s offensive in the east picked up momentum, with several towns coming under intense attack as Moscow’s forces attempt to surround Ukrainian troops.

In a reminder of the horrific toll the war has taken since it began Feb. 24, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres visited towns outside the capital of Kyiv where evidence of mass killings of civilians was found after Russia’s retreat from the area.