Russian forces in Mariupol have been shelling foreign-flagged civilian ships and trying to take the sailors hostage in the space of a few days, the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for Human Rights Lyudmila Denisova announced. Denisova asked the foreign consulates, whose citizens are onboard the ships, to help evacuate these people under Ukrainian control, UNIAN agency reported.

According to Bulgaria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Bulgarian sailors in Mariupol said on April 11 that they were safe.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is to meet today with the Chancellor of Austria’s Karl Nehammer, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced. On April 9, Chancellor Nehammer met in Kyiv with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Chancellor Karl Nehammer will be the first EU leader to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.