Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed humanitarian corridors from Mariupol with the UN Secretary General, NATO countries announced the supply of powerful weapons to Ukraine, Russia opened the first case of “fake” about the army against municipal deputies.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres, at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, called the invasion of Ukraine contrary to the UN Charter and proposed the creation of a joint group to organize humanitarian corridors, including from the Azovstal plant in Mariupol.

Putin replied that all the corridors were actually open, and there were no military operations at Azovstal in Mariupol, since he ordered them to stop. A few days ago, Putin ordered Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu not to storm the plant, but to block it, but Ukrainian authorities say the shelling of Azovstal’s territory has not stopped.

Putin said that negotiations with Ukraine continue in an online format, and diplomatic resources have not exhausted themselves.

Later, the press secretary of Guterres Stefan Dujarric made a statement that Putin agreed to the participation of the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross in organizing the withdrawal of civilians from the besieged territory of the Azovstal plant in Mariupol.

On Thursday, António Guterres intends to travel to Kyiv for a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

At a meeting on Tuesday at the US Ramstein base in Germany, representatives of 40 countries discussed military assistance to Ukraine.

Several NATO countries at once announced the provision of new types of weapons to Kyiv for the war with Russia and agreed to further provide weapons to Ukrainian troops.

In particular, Germany will send Gepard armored vehicles to Ukraine and train its military, France will supply Caesar guns with a range of 40 km, and the UK will provide Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles and tanks.

Britain’s Undersecretary of Defense James Hippie said on Tuesday that Ukraine has the legal right to strike at Russian supply lines, while noting that weapons received from the West have the appropriate range.

The Russian Defense Ministry, in response to this statement, threatened to strike at “decision-making centers in Kyiv.”

The ministry added that “advisers from one of the Western countries located in Ukrainian decision-making centers in Kyiv would not necessarily be a problem” in the event of such strikes.

In Kyiv, on Tuesday, they demolished the Soviet monument “Friendship of Peoples” – a bronze sculpture of two workers, installed in the center of the capital under the Arch of Friendship of Peoples in 1982.

“We are dismantling eight meters of metal of the so-called “friendship of two peoples”. And what is symbolic – when they tried to lift the sculpture with a crane, the head of a Russian worker fell off,” said Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.

The arch itself will remain in place, but will be renamed the Arch of Freedom of the Ukrainian People.

In Russia, meanwhile, the first case was opened under the article about “fakes” about the army in relation to the municipal deputies of Moscow.

In the Krasnoselsky Council of Deputies on the morning of April 26, the security forces broke down the doors and seized all the equipment, said opposition politician, council member Ilya Yashin.

According to him, the reason for the visit is a criminal case under the article on “fakes” about the army, which was initiated against two deputies. In early March, the council of deputies adopted a statement “On disagreement with the military operation against Ukraine.”

For anti-war statements, municipal deputies face up to 10 years. The lawyer of the deputies Sergei Telnov confirmed the information about the searches. Law enforcement agencies have not yet commented on this.

The defendants in the case are council member Aleksey Gorinov, who was interrogated and detained today, and the head of the Krasnoselsky municipal district, Elena Kotenochkina, who had previously left Russia.