Four people were killed when a Ukrainian missile hit a Russian village near the countries' border, the regional governor said Sunday. It comes after a week in which Russia renewed heavy missile attacks on Ukrainian cities, killing 23 people including a baby boy. Follow our blog to see how the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
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04:30am: Air defence systems repelling Russian missile attacks in Kyiv region
Air defence systems were repelling missile attacks in the early hours on Monday in the Kyiv region, local authorities said, after air raid alerts were issued throughout all of Ukraine by emergency services.
"Air defences are at work!" Kyiv's regional administration wrote on the Telegram messaging app, after reports of explosions heard in the region.
"Keep calm! Stay in shelters until the air alarm goes off!"
Ukrainian media also reported blasts in the Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions.
02:00am: Pope says Vatican involved in secret Ukraine peace mission
Pope Francis on Sunday revealed that a secret peace “mission” in Russia's war in Ukraine was under way, though he gave no details, and said the Vatican is willing to help facilitate the return of Ukrainian children taken to Russia during the war.
“I’m available to do anything,” Francis said during an airborne press conference en route home from Hungary. “There’s a mission that’s not public that’s underway; when it’s public I’ll talk about it.”
Deportations of Ukrainian children have been a concern since Russia invaded Ukraine last year. Francis said the Holy See had already helped mediate some prisoner exchanges and would do “all that is humanly possible” to reunite families.
“All human gestures help. Gestures of cruelty don’t help,” Francis said.
9:45pm: Ukraine forces still holding out in Bakhmut
Ukraine said on Sunday its troops were holding onto parts of the eastern city of Bakhmut, focus of a prolonged Russian assault, while the head of a major pro-Moscow force said his men were making progress.
Russian forces, which have struggled for months to capture Bakhmut, are slowly taking over more and more of the city.
"Fierce fighting continues in the city of Bakhmut. The enemy is unable to take control over the city, despite throwing all its forces into the battle and having some success," said Ukrainian deputy defence minister Hanna Malyar.
"The defence of Bakhmut is coping with its military tasks," she said in a Telegram post. The Ukrainian military does not reveal exactly how much of the city is in Russian hands.
9:02pm: Vatican involved in peace mission according to Pope Francis
The Vatican is involved in a peace mission to try to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Pope Francis said on Sunday, declining to give further details.
"I am willing to do everything that has to be done. There is a mission in course now but it is not yet public. When it is public, I will reveal it," the pope told reporters during a flight home after a three-day visit to Hungary.
"I think that peace is always made by opening channels. You can never achieve peace through closure ... This is not easy."
The pope added that he had spoken about the situation in Ukraine with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and with Metropolitan (bishop) Hilarion, a representative of the Russian Orthodox Church in Budapest.
7:59pm: Macron and Zelensky discuss Ukraine-Russia war
French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke by phone on Sunday and discussed Ukraine's military needs, both sides said.
Zelensky said he had a long and meaningful talk with Macron during which the two men co-ordinated their positions on the war and on how to end the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
"I am grateful to France and Emmanuel personally for their support of our country and our people," he said in an evening video address, in which he also thanked France for promising to send weapons to Ukraine.
The French presidency said Macron had reaffirmed France's support for Ukraine to Zelensky, and that Macron had given an update on European co-ordination to give Ukraine military help.
6:07pm: Wagner group warns Russia against Ukraine counteroffensive 'tragedy'
The head of Russian mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, warned Sunday that a Ukrainian counteroffensive could turn into a "tragedy" for Russia and complained that his fighters lacked ammunition.
For months Wagner has spearheaded the Russian attack on Bakhmut, the east Ukrainian town at the epicentre of fighting.
Prigozhin is an ally of President Vladimir Putin but as head of the private military group has been involved in a power struggle with Russia's defence ministry.
"We (Wagner) have only 10-15 percent of the shells that we need," he said, blaming the leadership of the Russian army.
5:01pm: Russia's highest ranking general for logistics replaced
The Russian army on Sunday replaced its highest ranking general in charge of logistics ahead of an expected counteroffensive by Kyiv.
The announcement followed days of rumours about the sacking of Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, under British sanctions for his role in the siege of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, which Russian troops captured a year ago.
2:32pm: Russian forces take four blocks in western Bakhmut, Russia's Ministry of Defence says
Russia's Ministry of Defence on Sunday said its forces had taken four blocks in western Bakhmut, Russian state-owned news agency RIA reported.
News agency Reuters could not independently confirm the claim. Russian forces have been struggling for months to capture the city in eastern Ukraine.
1:50pm: Ukrainian shelling on Russian border village of Bryansk’s death toll rises to four civilians
The death toll in an overnight Ukrainian strike on the Russian border village of Suzemka rose to four on Sunday, the governor of Russia's western Bryansk region said.
"Two more civilians have been found and removed from the rubble. Unfortunately, both of them died," Alexander Bogomaz, the local governor, said on Telegram. Earlier on Sunday he said two people were killed.
11:15am: At least 23 civilians, including 5 children, were killed in missiles over residential block in Uman, Ukraine says
One day after a series of Russian missile attacks that killed at least 23 civilians, including a number of children, in the central town of Uman and two in the southeastern city of Dnipro, FRANCE 24’s Gulliver Cragg went to meet the town's authorities and inhabitants.
The Russians claimed that they destroyed a base of Ukrainian reservists in the attack. In Odesa, the South Ukraine military command centre told FRANCE 24. "If it were a military base, what do you suppose children were doing there?"
8:40am: Ukraine says it controls key supply road into Bakhmut
Ukraine remains in control of a key supply route into Bakhmut, a military spokesperson said on Saturday, as the head of Russia's mercenary Wagner Group threatened to withdraw some of his troops from the eastern city if Moscow did not send more ammunition.
For several weeks, the Russians have been talking about seizing the 'road of life,' as well as about constant firecontrol over it," Serhiy Cherevatyi, a spokesperson for Ukrainian troops in the east, said in an interview with local news website Dzerkalo Tyzhnia. "Yes, it is really difficult there ... (but) the defence forces have not allowed the Russians to 'cut off' our logistics."
The "road of life" is a vital road between the ruined Bakhmut and the nearby town Chasiv Yar to the west – a distance of just over 17 km.
7:12am: Two killed in Ukrainian strike on Russian village near border
Two people were killed when a Ukrainian missile hit a Russian village near the countries' border, the regional governor said Sunday. It comes after a week in which Russia renewed heavy missile attacks on Ukrainian cities, killing 23 people including a baby boy.
Missiles hit the village of Suzemka, to the east of the frontier between the two countries, according to Alexander Bogomaz, the governor of Bryansk oblast.
"As a result of the strike inflicted by Ukrainian nationalists, unfortunately, two civilians were killed," he said in a message posted on Telegram. "According to preliminary data, one residential building was completely destroyed, two more houses were partially destroyed."
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Key developments from Saturday, April 29
Russian-installed authorities in southern Ukraine said Saturday that Ukrainian forces were subjecting the city of Novaya Kakhovka to "intense artillery fire" that had cut off electricity. This comes as Kyiv prepares for a widely expected counter-offensive against pro-Moscow forces.
Authorities in Russian-annexed Crimea reported a drone attack on a fuel depot and as Kyiv prepares for a widely expected counteroffensive against Moscow’s forces. More than 10 tanks of oil totalling up to 40,000 tonnes were destroyed in the fire at a Crimean fuel storage facility. According to Ukrainian military intelligence, the fuel was destined for use by Russia's Black Sea fleet. Meanwhile the Russia-installed government of Sevastopol, the port city of Crimea, said the loss "will not affect the supply of fuel to Sevastopol".
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
