In exchange for safe evacuation of badly injured soldiers trapped in a Mariupol steel mill, Ukraine offered to free Russian prisoners of war.

Iryna Vereshchuk, Deputy Prime Minister, stated Wednesday that negotiations are ongoing and that there are many options but that “none is ideal”.

These negotiations are taking place while the country’s top procuror has revealed plans to bring a Russian soldier captured for war crimes trial.

General Iryna Venediktova stated that her office had brought charges against Sergeant Vadin Shishimarin, 21, for the murder of a unarmed civilian aged 62 who was riding a bike in February, just four days after the start of the war.

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Shyshimarin, a soldier in a tank unit is accused of shooting through a car window at a man from the north east village of Chupakhivka.

Venediktova stated that the soldier could face a sentence of up to 15 years imprisonment.

This announcement comes as Finland announces it wants to join NATO, as the Russian invasion continues in Ukraine.

President Sauli Niinisto stated that Russia has to be a member of the organization “without delay” because it shares an 810-mile border with the country.

They made a joint statement along with Sanna Marin, the country’s prime Minister.

Key developments:

* Moscow has started imposing sanctions on its own, with restrictions on gas pipeline owners. * The UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace met Lloyd Austin at Pentagon to discuss “the next steps in Ukraine” and the importance of transatlantic cooperation.

* A new report by Human Rights Watch alleges that both Russia and Ukraine used cluster munitions in conflict situations

‘Medieval ghetto’

Reports are emerging that Russian forces are being pushed back in counterattacks against Ukrainian troops on the battlefield. This could indicate a shift in war’s momentum.

General staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces stated that it had captured Pytomnyk (a village located on the main highway north)

Kharkiv is the second-largest city, located about halfway to Russia’s border.

Mariupol, a southern port town, continues to be under siege. Ukrainian officials have issued dire warnings to civilians and last fighters following weeks of Russian bombardment that the mayor of the city said had made it a “medieval Ghetto”.

Learn more:

Pictures that speak a thousand words: The pounding at Azovstal

Russia attempts its own sanctions

Moscow is reportedly imposing additional sanctions, including restrictions on the Polish owner of the Yamal pipeline, which transports Russian gas to Europe.

They are also being applied to the Gazprom’s former German unit, which supplies Europe’s gas needs.

Robert Habeck, Germany’s Economy Minister, stated that Germany may be able cope with a boycott on Russian gas imports in the coming winter.