As a sign of solidarity with Ukraine, UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday visited places in the outskirts of the capital Kyiv where Russian forces have apparently committed atrocities against civilians.

In Bucha, Guterres called on Russia to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in investigating possible war crimes.

"I fully support the ICC," said the Portuguese in Bucha.

He appealed to the Russian Federation to "accept cooperation with the ICC".

Gerhard Gnauck

Political correspondent for Poland, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania based in Warsaw.

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Guterres had previously gone to the badly damaged town of Borodjanka.

"War is an absurdity in the 21st century," he said.

“I imagine my family in one of those houses that are now destroyed.

I see my granddaughters running around in panic.” In the afternoon, a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba was on the agenda.

"Hopeful" about evacuation from Mariupol

The UN Secretary-General met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, among others, in Moscow on Tuesday.

He had called for a swift ceasefire and appealed to Moscow and Kyiv to work with the United Nations to open safe escape corridors for civilians.

The Russian interlocutors criticized the UN and blamed Ukraine.

Guterres said Russia should use the instruments of the UN Charter to improve the situation.

The invasion of Ukraine is not compatible with the charter.

In the encircled Ukrainian port of Mariupol, people continue to hope for a chance to escape.

UN official Osnat Lubrani said Thursday she was "hopeful" about an evacuation.

In addition to civilians, Ukrainian soldiers and a unit of the National Guard formed from the nationalist Azov regiment are still stationed in the city's steelworks.

One of their commanders demanded that Kyiv liberate Mariupol.

He also accused the Russian army of dropping phosphorus bombs.

On Thursday, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe called on its member countries to set up a special court in Strasbourg to investigate the "crime of aggression" against Ukraine.

The court should not be impeded by the immunity of presidents and other officials.

According to Kiev sources, the Ukrainian armed forces were able to recapture some villages in eastern Ukraine.

However, Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov admitted that the country was facing "extremely difficult weeks".

Russia said on Thursday it had destroyed two Ukrainian army depots with rockets.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned the West against arms deliveries to Kyiv.