Photograph: Reuters
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Summary
- Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called for more weapons, describing “every delay” as “permission for Russia to take the lives of Ukrainians”. In his latest address, he appealed to countries to send arms, saying Ukraine’s fate “depends upon them”.
- Zelenskiy also claimed in the address that the regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine’s south were being transferred to “the ruble zone” and subordinated to Russian administration. The Ukrainian president said Russia’s actions in the territories were following the example of the so-called separatist republics of the DPR and LPR.
- Ukraine has completed a questionnaire which will form a starting point for the European Union to decide on its membership. “Today, I can say that the document has been completed by the Ukrainian side,” Ihor Zhovkva, deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office, told the Ukrainian public broadcaster on Sunday evening. “We expect the recommendation ... to be positive, and then the ball will be on the side of the EU member states.”
- Ukraine has vowed that its forces will “fight to the end” in the besieged port city of Mariupol, after a Russian ultimatum for the remaining Ukrainian troops there to surrender expired.
- A second British soldier fighting with the Ukrainian army was paraded on Russian television after being captured in Mariupol. Shaun Pinner, 48, said he had been fighting alongside Ukrainian marines when Vladimir Putin’s forces invaded nearly eight weeks ago.
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A fresh series of Russian airstrikes came as a reminder this weekend that the war in the Ukrainian capital is far from over, despite signs of more normal life returning to the streets in recent days.
- An unverified photo claiming to show the Russian warship Moskva moments after it was reportedly hit by a Ukrainian Neptune missile has surfaced online. The source of the image is unclear and the Guardian has not been able to immediately verify its authenticity.
- Zelenskiy said he has invited French President Emmanuel Macron to visit Ukraine to see for himself evidence that Russian forces have committed “genocide”, a term Macron has avoided using.
- Earlier on Sunday Zelenskiy urged US president Joe Biden to visit Ukraine and reiterated that he is not willing to cede territory in the country’s east to end war with Russia. Zelenskiy said he was “hopeful” Biden would make the trip.
- The president of the European Commission has urged member states to supply Ukraine with weapons systems “quickly” and suggested that a next round of EU sanctions could target Russia’s powerful Sberbank.
- The International Monetary Fund’s managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, said she had a “very good call” with Ukraine’s president. She added: “Continued economic support by Ukraine’s partners is essential to lay the foundations for rebuilding a modern competitive Ukraine.”
- The United Nations refugee agency said 4,869,019 Ukrainians had left the country since Russia invaded in February – up 32,574 from Saturday’s total, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees chief, Filippo Grandi’s, said on Sunday.
- Oleg Synegubov, head of the Kharkiv regional administration, said Ukrainian forces were successfully pushing the Russians back to the east of the city and that several villages were liberated.
- At least two people were killed and four injured on Sunday in the shelling of the eastern Ukrainian town of Zolote, the local governor said.
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Zelenskiy maintained Ukraine is not willing to give up territory in the east in order to end the war with Russia and acknowledged that the battle could influence the entire course of the war.
Here are some of the latest images to drop on our newswires from Ukraine today.
In Kharkiv, a destroyed shop can be seen after the centre of the city was hit by Russian artillery strikes, killing five and injuring 13.
In the city of Borodianka, northwest of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, a Ukrainian flag flaps in the wind beside a damaged residential area.
Ukraine completes questionnaire for EU membership
We have a little more detail on Ukraine’s completion of a questionnaire which will form a starting point for the European Union to decide on its membership.
“Today, I can say that the document has been completed by the Ukrainian side,” Ihor Zhovkva, deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office, told the Ukrainian public broadcaster on Sunday evening.
The European Commission will need to issue a recommendation on Ukraine’s compliance with the necessary membership criteria, he added.
“We expect the recommendation ... to be positive, and then the ball will be on the side of the EU member states.”
Zhovkva added that Ukraine expects to acquire the status of a candidate country for EU accession in June during a scheduled meeting of the European Council meeting.
The European Council is to meet June 23-24th, according to the Council’s schedule on its website.
“Next, we will need to start accession talks. And once we hold those talks, we can already talk about Ukraine’s full membership in the EU,” Zhovkva said.
Updated
Protests against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continued over the weekend.
In Paris, France, demonstrators rallied at the Place de la Republique carrying placards, Ukrainian flags and sunflowers.
Zelenskiy also warned of an incoming offensive by Russian forces in the eastern part of Ukraine, during a video address on Sunday.
“Russian troops are preparing for an offensive operation in the east of our country. It will begin in the near future,” he said.
“They want to literally finish off and destroy Donbas. Destroy everything that once gave glory to this industrial region. Just as the Russian troops are destroying Mariupol, they want to wipe out other cities and communities in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.”
Zelenskiy maintained Ukraine is not willing to give up territory in the east in order to end the war with Russia and acknowledged that the battle could influence the entire course of the war.
“This is why it is very important for us to not allow them, to stand our ground, because this battle ... it can influence the course of the whole war,” Zelensky said in an interview with CNN.
He added that by capturing the Donbas, Russian forces may try again to seize Kyiv.
“That is why we understand that the fact that we fought them off and they left, and they were running away from Kyiv - from the north, from Chernihiv and from that direction - it doesn’t mean if they are able to capture Donbas, they won’t come further towards Kyiv.”
The president said that he’s prepared to engage with Russia diplomatically to try to end the war.
“If there is an opportunity to speak, we’ll speak. But to speak only under a Russian ultimatum? It’s then a question about attitude towards us, not about whether the dialogue is ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ It’s impossible.”
Updated
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he has invited French President Emmanuel Macron to visit Ukraine to see for himself evidence that Russian forces have committed “genocide,” a term Macron has avoided using.
“I talked to him yesterday,” Zelenskiy told CNN in an interview recorded on Friday but broadcast on Sunday.
“I just told him I want him to understand that this is not war, but nothing other than genocide. I invited him to come when he will have the opportunity. He’ll come and see, and I’m sure he will understand.”
The Ukrainian leader said he believed Macron was shying away from using the term “genocide” because he thinks it would hurt the chances for diplomatic engagement with Russia.
Zelenskiy said earlier that Macron’s refusal to use the term was “very painful for us.”
Macron told France’s Radio Bleu on Thursday that it was not helpful to Ukraine “to enter into verbal escalations without drawing all of the conclusions.”
“The word ‘genocide’ has a meaning” and “needs to be characterised legally, not by politicians.”
An unverified photo claiming to show the Russian warship Moskva moments after it was reportedly hit by a Ukrainian Neptune missile has surfaced online.
The source of the image is unclear, and the Guardian has not been able to immediately verify its authenticity.
The Guardian’s Moscow correspondent, Andrew Roth, said he believes the unverified photo may be the first of the Moskva cruiser to emerge after it was reportedly struck by a missile.
Rob Lee, a PhD student at the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, tweeted: “Looks like a legit photo of the Moskva after it was struck by Ukrainian Neptun[e] anti-ship missiles.”
OSINTtechnical, an account that shares open-source intelligence information, wrote: “I can’t verify the authenticity, but this is a Slava class cruiser and I don’t think any of them have been destroyed in this manner.”
Unverified photo may be the first of the Moskva cruiser that sank after reportedly being hit by a Ukrainian Neptune missile. https://t.co/F2CvK9I440
— Andrew Roth (@Andrew__Roth) April 17, 2022
And another https://t.co/yMYBuV0omP
— Andrew Roth (@Andrew__Roth) April 17, 2022
Updated
Russia attempts 'ruble occupation' of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, Zelenskiy says
The regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine’s south are being transferred to “the ruble zone” and subordinated to Russian administration, Zelenskiy claimed in his latest address.
The Ukrainian president said Russia’s actions in the territories are following the example of the so-called separatist republics of the DPR and LPR.
The occupiers are also trying to tear off the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, following the example of the so-called DPR and LPR.
This territory is being transferred to the ruble zone and subordinated to the administrative machine of Russia.”
The answer to the attempted “ruble occupation” of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions must be full coverage of the Russian banking and financial systems by sanctions, Zelenskiy added.
Speaking to Ukrainians directly, he urged residents in the regions to resist Russian orders.
Sabotage the orders of the occupiers. Do not cooperate with them. Protest. It is necessary to hold on so that Russia does not manage to distort life in other cities of Ukraine, like it did in Donetsk and Luhansk.”
Delay in weapons from west gives Russia 'permission to take the lives of Ukrainians': Zelenskiy
Zelenskiy called for more weapons, describing “every delay” as “permission for Russia to take the lives of Ukrainians”.
We are doing everything to ensure defence. We are in constant contact with partners. We are grateful to those who really help with everything they can. But those who have the weapons and ammunition we need and delay their provision must know that the fate of this battle also depends on them. The fate of people who can be saved.
The 53rd day of the war is over, and we have been waiting for answers to some points in our weapons inquiries for 53 days. And some answers are formulated so that delivery can begin only in May.
I speak directly in such cases: every delay in weapons, every political delay is a permission for Russia to take the lives of Ukrainians. This is how Russia interprets it. That should not be the case in reality.”
Updated
Eighteen people have been killed and more than 100 wounded in shelling in the past four days in the northeast Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said late on Sunday.
On Sunday, five people were killed and 20 were injured when a missile and artillery fire hit the city centre and the Saltivka suburb, regional governor Oleh Synyehubov said earlier.
Zelenskiy said in his nightly address that Russia’s shelling on Kharkiv has been constant.
Constant shelling of our city of Kharkiv continues....
As of this moment, the list of dead from this strike includes five Kharkiv residents and at least 15 wounded.
In the last four days alone, 18 people have been killed and 106 have been wounded by the Russian shelling of Kharkiv.
This is nothing but deliberate terror. Mortars, artillery against ordinary residential neighbourhoods, against ordinary civilians.”
Synyehubov said Ukraine’s armed forces had successfully engaged in counter-attacks in the Kharkiv region, recapturing two villages fully and another partially.
Summary
- Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, urged US president Joe Biden to visit Ukraine and reiterated that he is not willing to cede territory in the country’s east to end war with Russia.
- A second British soldier fighting with the Ukrainian army was paraded on Russian television after being captured in the besieged city of Mariupol.
- Ukraine has vowed that its forces will “fight to the end” in the besieged port city of Mariupol, after a Russian ultimatum for the remaining Ukrainian troops there to surrender expired.
- While life seemed to be slowly returning to the streets of Kyiv, a fresh series of Russian airstrikes came as a reminder this weekend that the war in the Ukrainian capital is far from over.
- The president of the European Commission has urged member states to supply Ukraine with weapons systems “quickly” and suggested that a next round of EU sanctions could target Russia’s powerful Sberbank.
- Oleg Synegubov, head of the Kharkiv regional administration, said that the Ukrainian forces were successfully pushing the Russians back to the east of the city and that several villages were liberated.
- At least two people were killed and four injured on Sunday in the shelling of the eastern Ukrainian town of Zolote, the local governor said.
The International Monetary Fund’s managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, said she had a “very good call” with Ukraine’s president, adding, “Continued economic support by Ukraine’s partners is essential to lay the foundations for rebuilding a modern competitive Ukraine”
Thank you @ZelenskyyUA for the very good call today. Continued economic support by Ukraine’s partners is essential to lay the foundations for rebuilding a modern competitive #Ukraine. https://t.co/QqCchEollS
— Kristalina Georgieva (@KGeorgieva) April 17, 2022
Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said he had discussed with Georgieva the “issue of ensuring Ukraine’s financial stability and preparations for post-war reconstruction”. Earlier this week, the IMF said, “We are preparing for the massive reconstruction effort that will be required.” And Georgieva has previously warned that the war could derail the global economic recovery from the Covid crisis.
Discussed with IMF Managing Director @KGeorgieva the issue of ensuring Ukraine's financial stability & preparations for post-war reconstruction. We have clear plans for now, as well as a vision of prospects. I’m sure cooperation between the IMF & 🇺🇦 will continue to be fruitful.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 17, 2022
Updated
An adviser to the mayor of Mariupol claimed that the city would be closed for entry and exit on Monday and warned that those who remain in the city would be “filtered out”, according to CNN, which said it could not independently verify the claims of the advisor on Telegram.
Petro Andriushchenko, the mayor’s adviser, said Russian forces had begun issuing passes for movement within the city and posted a photo that allegedly showed residents lining up for the passes, CNN said. Andriushchenko said:
Hundreds of citizens have to stand in a line to get a pass, without which it will be impossible not only to move between the districts of the city, but also to go out on the streets starting next week.”
CNN noted that Andriushchenko is not currently in Mariupol, but gathers information from people on the ground in the city.
The AP reported earlier that some Ukrainian fighters have ignored a surrender-or-die ultimatum from the Russians on Sunday and were holding out against the capture of the vital port.
The United Nations refugee agency said 4,869,019 Ukrainians had left the country since Russia invaded in February – up 32,574 from Saturday’s total, the AFP reported, citing United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees chief Filippo Grandi’s remarks on Sunday:
As Christians celebrate resurrection on this sombre Easter Sunday, we must stubbornly hope that in the days, months and years to come the methods and language of war will not prevail over those – more difficult, more complicated – that lead to peace.
In addition to the 4.9m Ukrainians who have fled, an additional 215,000 students and migrant workers (who are citizens of other nations) have also left Ukraine since the start of the war, the UN has said. Some additional statistics on the refugee crisis from the UN, via the AFP’s latest report:
- Nearly two-thirds of all Ukrainian children have been forced from their homes, including those who remain in Ukraine.
- Nearly six out of 10 Ukrainian refugees, or 2.76 million, have entered Poland.
- A total of 738,862 Ukrainians entered Romania, many of whom crossed over from Moldova.
- Another 484,725 refugees have ended up in Russia.
- A total of 458,654 Ukrainians have entered Hungary.
- The UN’s international office for migration estimates that 7.1 million people have left their homes but remain in Ukraine.
Updated
The office of Ukranian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy reported that Ukraine has filled out a questionnaire in its effort to join the European Union:
⚡️ Ukraine has filled in the questionnaire to receive EU candidate status, according to Ihor Zhovkva, a deputy chief of staff for President Volodymyr Zelensky
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) April 17, 2022
Now the European Union is expected to decide on giving candidate status to Ukraine.
Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser for the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs, also shared the news on Telegram, and quoted Ihor Zhovkva, the deputy head of the Ukrainian president’s office, as saying that now “the ball will be in the court of the European Commission”, the Washington Post reported.
Earlier this month, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said she welcomed Ukraine’s bid and that the questionnaire would be the first step in the process, telling Zelenskiy: “We are with you as you dream of Europe … Ukraine belongs in the European family,” the Post noted.
That process could be lengthy, but Von der Leyen said at the time: “It will not as usual be a matter of years to form this opinion but I think a matter of weeks.”
An earlier report from her visit:
Updated
Kharkiv official claims several villages have been liberated
Oleg Synegubov, head of the Kharkiv regional administration, said that the Ukrainian forces were successfully pushing the Russians back to the east of the city and claimed that several villages had been liberated, CNN reported, citing his Telegram posts.
⚡️ Governor says Ukrainian troops counterattack near Kharkiv.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) April 17, 2022
They have liberated the villages of Bazaliivka and Lebyazhe and part of Kutuzivka and advanced in the village of Mala Rohan, Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Synehubov said on April 17.
The Guardian has not been able to independently confirm the reports of liberated villages.
Kharkiv continued to endure heavy shelling on Sunday, according to Synegubov’s post, CNN reported:
Today, in broad daylight, there were shellings of the central part of the city, the residential area of Saltivka from MLRS [multiple rocket systems] and artillery. Unfortunately, 20 people were injured, five people were killed. Apartment buildings and other civilian infrastructure were damaged.”
The State Emergency Services also reported that 18 addresses in Kharkiv had been hit, and that apartments in a five-story building were set ablaze, CNN said.
Updated
Ukrainian fighters ignore surrender-or-die ultimatum
Ukrainian fighters holed up in a steel plant in the last known pocket of resistance inside the shattered city of Mariupol ignored a surrender-or-die ultimatum from the Russians on Sunday and held out against the capture of the strategically vital port, according to a new AP dispatch.
From reporters Adam Schreck and Mstylav Chernov.
The fall of Mariupol, the site of a merciless, seven-week-old siege that has reduced much of the city to a smoking ruin, would be Moscow’s biggest victory of the war yet and free up troops to take part in a potentially climactic battle for control of Ukraine’s industrial east.
As its missiles and rockets slammed into other parts of the country, Russia estimated 2,500 Ukrainian troops and about 400 foreign mercenaries were dug in at the hulking Azovstal steel mill, which covers more than 11 square kilometers (4 square miles) and is laced with tunnels.
Moscow gave the defenders a midday deadline to surrender, saying those who laid down their arms were “guaranteed to keep their lives”. The Ukrainians rejected it, just as they did with previous ultimatums.
“All those who will continue resistance will be destroyed,” Maj Gen Igor Konashenkov, the Russian Defense Ministry’s spokesman, said in announcing the latest ultimatum. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar described Mariupol as a “shield defending Ukraine” as Russian troops prepare for battle in the mostly Russian-speaking Donbas, where Moscow-backed separatists already control some territory.
Russian forces, meanwhile, carried out aerial attacks near Kyiv and elsewhere in an apparent effort to weaken Ukraine’s military capacity ahead of the anticipated assault. Russia said Sunday that it had attacked an ammunition plant near Kyiv overnight with precision-guided missiles, the third such strike in as many days. Explosions were also reported overnight in Kramatorsk, the eastern city where rockets earlier this month killed at least 57 people at a train station crowded with civilians trying to evacuate ahead of the Russian offensive.
Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said he had discussed with the International Monetary Fund’s managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, the “issue of ensuring Ukraine’s financial stability and preparations for post-war reconstruction”.
Zelenskiy tweeted late Sunday evening that “we have clear plans” and that cooperation between the IMF and Ukraine will continue to be fruitful:
Discussed with IMF Managing Director @KGeorgieva the issue of ensuring Ukraine's financial stability & preparations for post-war reconstruction. We have clear plans for now, as well as a vision of prospects. I’m sure cooperation between the IMF & 🇺🇦 will continue to be fruitful.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 17, 2022
Earlier this week, the IMF said, “We are preparing for the massive reconstruction effort that will be required.” And Georgieva has previously warned that the war could derail the global economic recovery from Covid-19:
The International Monetary Fund warns the war in Ukraine could derail the global economic recovery from the pandemic, as fuel and food costs soar in what IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva called “a crisis on top of a crisis.” https://t.co/7HHdfKpkc9 pic.twitter.com/eacscbKEGM
— Bloomberg (@business) April 15, 2022
For further reading:
Here are some of the latest photos from Mariupol where the remaining Ukrainian forces were still fighting on Sunday in defiance of a Russian demand that they surrender, according to the prime minister of Ukraine.
The EU is allocating an additional €50m in humanitarian funding to support those affected by Russia’s invasion, including €45m for humanitarian projects in Ukraine and €5m for Moldova, the European Commission announced in a statement Sunday:
As heavy fighting and missile strikes continue to destroy critical civilian infrastructure, humanitarian needs in Ukraine remain extremely high. Despite access and security constraints, EU humanitarian partners are providing assistance to vulnerable people in different regions of Ukraine.
The EU is allocating a further €50m in humanitarian funding to support the people affected by Russia’s war on Ukraine, including €45m for humanitarian projects in Ukraine and €5m for Moldova. This brings the EU’s total humanitarian aid funding in response to the war to €143m. This funding is part of the €1bn support package pledged by the European Commission at last week’s global pledging event ‘Stand Up For Ukraine’.
This new funding will address the most pressing humanitarian needs by providing emergency medical services, access to safe drinking water and hygiene, shelter and protection, cash assistance, and support against gender-based violence.
Earlier, the president of the European Commission urged member states to supply Ukraine with weapons systems urgently and suggested that new EU sanctions could target Russia’s Sberbank. “It applies to all member states: those who can should deliver quickly, because only that way Ukraine can survive in its acute defensive battle against Russia,” Ursula von der Leyen told Germany’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper.
Updated
GES-2, a vast new arts centre that was supposed to be Moscow’s answer to Tate Modern, is now home to empty galleries as artists have removed their works in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to a new report from my colleagues Pjotr Sauer and Andrew Roth:
“We need to end this illusion that things will get back to how they were before the war. Drinking cocktails at art openings as people are being killed feels criminal.” With @PjotrSauer on how artists have boycotted Russian state and oligarch cultural hubs. https://t.co/Z5POIr1gDw
— Andrew Roth (@Andrew__Roth) April 17, 2022
At the end of last year Vladimir Putin toured the GES-2 museum alongside Leonid Mikhelson, one of the country’s richest businessmen, who financed the multimillion dollar construction of the centre.
Cameras followed Putin as he watched over the work of the Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson, who inaugurated the much-anticipated GES-2 with Santa Barbara – A Living Sculpture, a theatrical piece that examined the relationship between Russia and the US.
Few places now seem to epitomise Russia’s cultural decoupling from the west better than the large, empty walls of GES-2, created as Moscow’s answer to Tate Modern.
“We need to end this illusion that things will get back to how they were before the war. Drinking cocktails at art openings as people are being killed feels criminal,” said Evgeny Antufiev, a Russian artist who asked for his works to be removed from GES-2 shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February.
Full story here:
Aid workers are struggling to care for elderly people in Ukraine, who are suffering from extreme traumas and physical ailments, according to this new AFP report:
'This is my third war': Ukraine's elderly are conflict's forgotten victimshttps://t.co/Fyj1hcEs29 pic.twitter.com/VxT270S155
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) April 17, 2022
Vladimir Lignov, 71, who lost a limb, is now at a Dnipro maternity hospital, which was opened up for people fleeing. He told AFP:
I don’t understand what’s going on. Maybe it’s better if I just go to the graveyard. I don’t want to go on living.
Aleksandra Vasiltchenko, 80, said she spent weeks alone in her apartment before she escaped:
I was hiding all the time in the bathroom. I was constantly crying. I was imprisoned in my own flat.
Yulia Panfiorova, 83, is a former economics professor. She told AFP:
This is my third war [referring first to the second world war, then the outbreak of fighting in 2014 between the Ukrainian army and pro-Kremlin separatists]. Lysychansk was freed from the Nazis in 1943. I remember how we returned home. Of course I have some memories about it. They were Nazis. Then our country was invaded, and now our country has been invaded by a foreign state. Then the freedom of our state was at threat. Now it is the same.
Olga Volkova, the volunteer director of a centre housing 84 residents, mostly elderly people, told the news agency:
The hardest are the people who spent long stretches in cellars ... A lot of people were left on their own. We helped them before the war, but then they were left to fend for themselves.
Updated
The US president, Joe Biden, has said he is praying on Easter for “those who have lost loved ones and those among us living in the dark shadow of war, persecution, and poverty”.
Earlier today, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, urged Biden to visit Ukraine, telling CNN: “I think he will ... But it’s his decision, of course, and [it] depends on the safety situation, of course. But I think he’s the leader of the United States and that’s why he should come here to see.”
Biden said earlier this week that the US would decide soon whether to send a senior official to Ukraine as a show of support.
Updated
Russian troops are “gradually withdrawing” from the Borivs’kyi district in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, according to a Borova village council statement released Sunday and reported by CNN. The statement said:
There is no mobile connection and no Internet, which are impossible to restore as the territory is occupied by the Russians ... some places are left without electricity and gas.”
The Russian forces have taken complete control of the district, with troops housed in the village council properties, the Palace of Culture, hospitals and civilians’ homes, the statement said.
This is Sam Levin taking over our live coverage for the next few hours. Here is more from Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, who told CBS he anticipated “desperate attempts of the Russian forces to finish with Mariupol at any cost”.
How does Ukraine expect its war with Russia to play out in the next few weeks? Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba says he expects heavy fighting in the east and “desperate” attempts to take Mariupol “at any cost.” pic.twitter.com/WDPHIntwVn
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) April 17, 2022
He said Mariupol “doesn’t exist anymore”:
The situation in Mariupol is both dire militarily and heartbreaking. The city doesn’t exist anymore. The remainings of the Ukrainian army and large group of civilians are basically encircled by the Russian forces. They continue their struggle, but it seems from the way the Russian army behaves in Mariupol, they decided to raze the city to the ground at any cost.”
The teenage daughter of a Ukrainian paramedic who had been due to take part in the Invictus Games but was captured by Russian soldiers has called for her release.
Yuliia Paievska, 52, is the founder of Taira’s Angels, a medical evacuation unit that rescues war casualties. It had worked in Mariupol, helping soldiers and residents. Paievska was due to be part of Ukraine’s archery and swimming teams.
Her daughter, Anna-Sofia Puzanova, told PA Media: “My mum was captured by Russian soldiers near Mariupol on 16 March, one month ago already.
“And now she’s probably in Russia. To be honest I don’t know exactly where she is because we don’t have any contact with her.”
Updated
Associated Press’ Cara Anna and Emilio Morenatti have filed this despatch from villages on the outskirts of Kyiv, where hastily buried bodies are being dug up as part of investigations into war crimes.
On a quiet street lined with walnut trees was a cemetery with four bodies that hadn’t yet found a home.
All were victims of Russian soldiers in this village outside Kyiv. Their temporary caskets were together in a grave. Volunteers dug them up one by one on Sunday – two weeks after the soldiers disappeared.
This spring is a grim season of planting and replanting in towns and villages around Kyiv. Bodies given hurried graves amid the Russian occupation are now being retrieved for investigations into possible war crimes. More than 900 civilian victims have been found so far.
All four bodies here were killed on the same street, on the same day.
The volunteers tried digging with shovels, then gave up and called an excavator. It arrived, rumbling past the cemetery’s wooden outhouse. Soon there was the smell of fresh earth, and the murmur, “There they are.”
A woman appeared, crying. Ira Slepchenko was the wife of one man buried here. No one told her he was being dug up now. The wife of another victim arrived. Valya Naumenko peered into the grave, then hugged Ira. “Don’t collapse,” she said. “I need you to be OK.”
The two couples lived next to each other. On the final day before the Russians left the village, soldiers knocked at one home. Valya’s husband, Pavlo Ivanyuk, opened the door. The soldiers took him to the garage and shot him in the head, apparently without any explanation.
Then the soldiers shouted, “Is anyone else here?”
Ira’s husband, Sasha Nedolezhko, heard the gunshot. But he thought the soldiers would search the homes if no one answered. He opened the door and the soldiers shot him too.
In the house next to the cemetery, 66-year-old Valya Voronets cooked homegrown potatoes in a wood-warmed room, still getting by without water, electricity or gas.
A Russian soldier once came running and pointed his gun at her husband after spotting him climbing onto the roof to get a cellphone signal. “Are you going to kill an old man?” 65-year-old Myhailo Scherbakov replied.
Not all the Russians were like that. Voronets said she cried together with another soldier, barely 21. “You’re too young,” she told him. Another soldier told her they didn’t want to fight.
Still, she feared them all. But she offered them milk from her only cow.
“I felt sorry for them in these conditions,” she said. “And if you’re nice to them, maybe they won’t kill you.”
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has urged the US president, Joe Biden, to visit Ukraine and reiterated that he is not willing to cede territory in the country’s east to end war with Russia.
“I think he will,” Zelenskiy said in an extended interview with CNN when asked if he was aware of any plans for a US presidential visit. “But it’s his decision, of course, and [it] depends on the safety situation, of course. But I think he’s the leader of the United States and that’s why he should come here to see.”
Biden told reporters on Thursday that the US would decide soon whether to send a senior official to Ukraine as a show of support, but sources suggested to Reuters the administration was considering defense secretary Lloyd Austin or secretary of state Antony Blinken. The Zelenskiy comments came after UK prime minister Boris Johnson made a surprise visit to Kyiv last weekend.
Updated
The Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba has said there has not been any recent diplomatic communications between Russia and his country.
Kuleba said that the two countries’ foreign ministries had not formally spoken, and that the situation in Mariupol might provide a block to negotiations.
He told CBS News in an interview: “Mariupol may be a red line.”
Earlier on Sunday, the Ukrainian prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, said Ukraine’s forces continued to fight on in Mariupol and had not surrendered, despite Russian demands.
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Summary
The time in Kyiv is 6pm. Here is a round-up of today’s main headlines:
- Remaining Ukrainian forces in the southern port of Mariupol are still fighting and continue to defy a Russian demand that they surrender, the Ukrainian prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, said on Sunday.
- The president of the European Commission has urged member states to supply Ukraine with weapons systems “quickly” and suggested that a next round of EU sanctions could target Russia’s powerful Sberbank and include an embargo on Russian oil.
- A Ukrainian health official says that at least five people have been killed in the Russian shelling of Kharkiv. Maksym Haustov, the head of the Kharkiv regional administration’s health department, said that another 13 residents were wounded by Sunday’s shelling of Ukraine’s second-largest city.
- At least two people were killed and four have been injured on Sunday in the shelling of the eastern Ukrainian town of Zolote, the local governor said. “In one of the high-rise buildings, two floors were destroyed ... We have at least two dead citizens, four more wounded,” said Serhiy Gaidai, the governor of Luhansk.
- Ukraine and Russia have failed to agree on Sunday about humanitarian convoys for the evacuation of civilians from war-affected areas, according to Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk.
- Another missile attack in the early hours of Sunday damaged infrastructure in the city of Brovary, near Kyiv, Igor Sapozhko, the mayor of Brovary, said in an online post.
- Russian armed forces destroyed an ammunition factory near Kyiv, Russian defence ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said on Sunday.
- Many of the nearly 5 million people who have fled Ukraine will not have homes to return to, the United Nations warned.
- Ukraine has asked G7 nations for $50bn in financial support and is also considering issuing 0% coupon bonds to help it cover a war-linked budget deficit over the next six months, the president’s economic adviser Oleh Ustenko said on Sunday.
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Russia says it is “concerned” about increased activity of Nato forces in the Arctic and sees risks of “unintended incidents” occurring in the region, Reuters reports.
- Pope Francis, marking an “Easter of war,” on Sunday urged leaders to hear the people’s plea for peace in Ukraine and implicitly criticised Russia for dragging the country into a “cruel and senseless” conflict.
- Christ’s message that good will triumph over evil will resonate even more this year amid the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, Boris Johnson has said.
That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, for today. My colleague Harry Taylor will be along shortly.
Updated
Boris Johnson delivered a special message on Sunday to Ukrainian Christians, telling them to be strong and have courage in their hearts, as he wished Christians around the world a happy Easter.
His message comes as tensions in the port area of Mariupol remain high.
A Ukrainian health official says that at least five people have been killed in the Russian shelling of Kharkiv.
Maksym Haustov, the head of the Kharkiv regional administration’s health department, said that another 13 residents were wounded by Sunday’s shelling of Ukraine’s second-largest city.
Rescuers have been working to help survivors after the shelling that hit residential and administrative buildings and caused fires.
Officials said the centre of Kharkiv came under shelling by multiple rocket launchers, the Associated Press reported.
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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex said everyone was ‘standing with’ the Ukraine team at the Invictus Games during a speech at the opening ceremony in the Netherlands.
The couple paid tribute to the bravery of team Ukraine and acknowledged their physical and emotional struggle to even get to the competition.
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Ukraine: Mariupol 'has not fallen'
Remaining Ukrainian forces in the southern port of Mariupol are still fighting and continue to defy a Russian demand that they surrender, the Ukrainian prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, said on Sunday.
“The city still has not fallen,” Shmyhal told ABC’s This Week programme, adding that Ukrainian soldiers continued to control some parts of the city.
Shmyhal said that he would attend the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in Washington this week and seek more financial assistance for Ukraine.
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Shelling kills two, injures four in eastern town of Zolote - report
At least two people were killed and four have been injured on Sunday in the shelling of the eastern Ukrainian town of Zolote, the local governor said.
“In one of the high-rise buildings, two floors were destroyed ... We have at least two dead citizens, four more wounded,” said Serhiy Gaidai, the governor of the Luhansk region.
Reuters could not immediately verify his remarks.
Shoppers are being warned that the cost of a new sofa and other furniture is to rise as the Russia-Ukraine war pushes up the cost of key materials such as timber.
“We have never seen anything like this in terms of across-the-board price increases for materials,” said Sean Holt, the managing director of the British Furniture Manufacturers, the industry’s trade body. “It is putting a lot of pressure on manufacturing in the UK and that will have to be shared with retailers and consumers.”
Higher furniture prices are already feeding into higher living costs in the UK. Inflation is running at 7%, the highest level in three decades, with furniture prices up 17%. The invasion of Ukraine is heaping more pressure on British furniture makers who had been sourcing timber from Russia.
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Christ’s message that good will triumph over evil will resonate even more this year amid the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, Boris Johnson has said.
Delivering his Easter message in a video on Twitter, the UK prime minister paid tribute to “the Christians of Ukraine, whether they’re marking Easter today, or its orthodox equivalent later this month, for whom Christ’s message of hope, the triumph of life over death and good over evil, will resonate this year, perhaps more than any other”.
Speaking in Ukrainian, and referencing a Psalm, he said: “Be strong and have courage in your heart, you all who trust in the Lord.”
Johnson said:
Easter tells us that there is light beyond the darkness, that beyond the suffering lies redemption.
Wishing Christians around the world a happy and blessed #Easter, including the Christians of Ukraine – whether you are marking Easter today or later this month.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) April 17, 2022
May the risen Christ’s message of hope bring you strength.
1/2 pic.twitter.com/ChRimI3hzG
Meanwhile, the archbishop of Canterbury also referenced the conflict in his Easter sermon.
Justin Welby said:
Ukrainians have woken up to the end of the world as they knew it. Now they are awakened by the noises of war, and the sickening reality of terror. They wake up to mortal fear.
Let this be a time for Russian ceasefire, withdrawal and a commitment to talks. This is a time for resetting the ways of peace, not for what Bismarck called blood and iron. Let Christ prevail. Let the darkness of war be banished.
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Russia says it is “concerned” about increased activity of Nato forces in the Arctic and sees risks of “unintended incidents” occurring in the region, Reuters reports.
The news agency cited the TASS news agency, which carried quotes from Russian ambassador-at-large Nikolai Korchunov on Sunday.
“The recent increase in Nato’s activity in the Arctic is a cause for concern. Another large-scale military exercise of the alliance was recently held in northern Norway. In our view, this does not contribute to the security of the region,” Korchunov said.
According to Korchunov, such activity raises the risk of “unintended incidents”, which, in addition to security risks, can also cause serious damage to the Arctic ecosystem.
He did not specify what type of incident he might be referring to.
Pope Francis, marking an “Easter of war,” on Sunday urged leaders to hear the people’s plea for peace in Ukraine and implicitly criticised Russia for dragging the country into a “cruel and senseless” conflict.
Speaking to some 50,000 people in St. Peter’s Square for his twice yearly “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and world) address, Francis said Ukraine was “sorely tried by the violence and destruction of the cruel and senseless war into which it was dragged”, Reuters reported.
The president of the European Commission has urged member states to supply Ukraine with weapons systems “quickly” and suggested that a next round of EU sanctions could target Russia’s powerful Sberbank and include an embargo on Russian oil.
“It applies to all member states: those who can should deliver quickly, because only that way Ukraine can survive in its acute defensive battle against Russia,” Ursula von der Leyen told Germany’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper.
Several European nations appear to be vacillating over the export of heavy weapons such as tanks or fighter jets, amid concerns that such a move could formally escalate the war in Ukraine into a direct conflict between Russia and Nato member states.
The Ukrainian president has said the situation in Mariupol was ‘inhuman’ and called on allies to provide heavy weapons in order to save the city from Russian forces.
He insisted that leaders of other countries must provide weapons ‘immediately’ or intervene to force Russia into further negotiations.
Russian troops have maintained a blockade in Mariupol since the early days of the invasion at a horrific cost to trapped and starving civilians.
Ukraine has asked G7 nations for $50 billion in financial support and is also considering issuing 0% coupon bonds to help it cover a war-linked budget deficit over the next six months, the president’s economic adviser Oleh Ustenko said on Sunday.
Speaking on national television, Ustenko said these options were being actively discussed.
Another missile attack in the early hours of Sunday damaged infrastructure in the city of Brovary, near Kyiv, Igor Sapozhko, mayor of Brovary said in an online post.
It is the third consecutive day of attacks in the capital after 2 weeks of relative calm.
On Friday, Russian forces destroyed a plant which allegedly produced one of the missiles used to sink the Moskva warship in the Black Sea.
Then, on Saturday, Russian rockets allegedly hit a military hardware factory in the capital’s Darnytskyi district.
The sudden development of events is linked to the destruction of the jewel of the Russian fleet by Ukrainian forces during a combat operation in the Black Sea on Wednesday – a blow to Vladimir Putin’s war plans and his military’s prestige.
Many of the nearly 5 million people who have fled Ukraine will not have homes to return to, the United Nations warned.
When, at the end of January, Poland’s deputy interior minister, Maciej Wąsik, said his country had “to be prepared for a wave of up to a million people” in the event of a major Russian invasion of Ukraine, many thought he was exaggerating.
After 53 days from the Russian invasion, according to UNHCR, almost 5 million Ukrainians have left the country. About 90% of those who fled are women and children, after the government introduced martial law banning men aged 18-60 from leaving.
Early in April, UNHCR reported that more than 7 million people were internally displaced in the country.
Poland remains the main destination for Ukrainian refugees, with the country having received approximately 2.69 million refugees, followed by Romania with about 720,000 people.
Last week the UK home secretary, Priti Patel, apologised for the time it had taken for Ukrainian refugees to arrive in the UK under two visa schemes, after new figures showed just 12,000 had so far reached Britain.
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Ukraine and Russia have failed to agree on Sunday about humanitarian convoys for the evacuation of civilians from war-affected areas, according to Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk.
“We have not been able to agree ... about ceasefires on evacuation routes. That is why, unfortunately, we are not opening humanitarian corridors today,” she said on her Telegram account.
Vereshchuk also said that the Ukrainian authorities had asked for humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians and wounded Ukrainian troops from the besieged port of Mariupol, Reuters reported.
Updated
Russia says ammunition factory near Kyiv 'destroyed'
Russian armed forces destroyed an ammunition factory near Kyiv, Russian defence ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said on Sunday.
“Overnight, high-precision air-launched missiles destroyed an ammunition factory near the town of Brovary in Kyiv region,” Konashenkov said, as reported by the Reuters news agency.
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Bulgaria has banned Russian-flagged ships from entering its Black Sea ports as part of expanded EU sanctions, the country’s maritime administration announced on its website on Sunday.
“All vessels registered under Russian flag, as well as all vessels that have switched their Russian flag, or flag or maritime register registration to any other state whatsoever after 24 February, are forbidden access to Bulgarian maritime and river ports,” the authority said.
Exceptions will be made only for ships in distress or seeking humanitarian assistance, or ships transporting energy products, food and pharmaceuticals to EU countries.
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The city of Kramatorsk feels empty. Only a handful of supermarkets, restaurants and hotels are still open. Windows along the main streets are boarded up. Many residents have moved out of their apartment blocks and into houses in neighbouring villages, where they judge it will be safer.
The few locals walking around behave as if they can’t hear the sirens blaring and appear not to flinch from the occasional thunder of incoming shells.
Russia’s war in Ukraine is moving into a new phase centred on the Donbas region in the east, and most of its citizens are not taking any chances. Regional mayors told the Observer they estimated that about 70% of the population had left since Russia’s offensive began in February.
Ukrainian-controlled Donbas is surrounded by Russian forces from the north, east and south. Ukraine’s authorities believe Russian forces are aiming to encircle the territory by cutting off their supply lines from the west.
Russian-backed forces have held about a third of the region since 2014. Russia had hoped and possibly expected that its attempts to gain more territory would be popular with the mainly Russian-speaking population. But eight years of conflict, and particularly the last eight weeks, have taken their toll.
Thanks all for following, I will now be handing over the blog to my colleague Tom Ambrose in London.
Updated
A missile attack in early hours of Sunday damaged infrastructure in the city of Brovary, near Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv, Igor Sapozhko, mayor of Brovary said in an online post.
There were no details on the extent of the destruction and potential casualties.
The Ukrainians teaching in a war zone: bombed-out schools, evacuations and board games
Yulia Kuryliuk, a teacher in a village near Lviv, woke on 24 February to find her country at war and gathered her sixth-grade class on Zoom. Two children tearfully asked when the fighting would end. She didn’t have an answer, but she led her students through breathing exercises to manage anxiety and encouraged them to hug a relative, pet, or stuffed animal for comfort.
With Ukraine’s education system upended by the war, teachers are helping provide stability for their students, along with other forms of emergency support such as evacuation and humanitarian aid. While the ministry of education and science declared a two-week break after Russia’s full-scale invasion began, lessons have now resumed where possible, though they are frequently interrupted by the wail of air raid sirens.
‘I feel really lost but not lonely’: a Kherson mother’s diary of flight from a war zone
Olha spent weeks living under Russian occupation in her home town of Kherson, southern Ukraine. Now she tells her story of fleeing the violence and travelling across Europe with two children and a cat in tow.
Groups of people who wanted to leave Kherson appeared on Telegram. People shared information and exchanged ideas. The first message in our group from anyone who had escaped came from a girl called Alinka. Her boyfriend took her out along a country road. It gave us a ray of hope.
Russia’s demand that Ukrainian forces in Mariupol surrender by 3am GMT passed without immediate signs of a response, as Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned that peace talks would be scrapped if the city’s remaining defenders were killed.
As air raid sirens sounded across Ukraine, including in the Kyiv region, early on Sunday, Russia said its troops had cleared most of the besieged city, with only a small contingent of Ukrainian fighters remaining in the giant Azovstal steelworks in the south-eastern port, as missiles hit Kyiv and other cities.
If it falls, it would be Russia’s first seizure of a major city.
Ukraine’s president said in a video address: “The situation in Mariupol remains as severe as possible. Just inhuman … Russia is deliberately trying to destroy everyone who is there.” He added: “The elimination of our troops, of our men [in Mariupol] will put an end to any negotiations”, and called on the west to immediately provide heavy weapons.
While life seemed to be slowly returning to the streets of Kyiv, a fresh series of Russian airstrikes came as a reminder this weekend that the war in the Ukrainian capital is far from over.
Following two weeks of relative calm, on Friday the Russian forces destroyed a plant which allegedly produced one of the missiles used to sink the Moskva warship in the Black Sea. The attack was the most significant revenge strike by the Kremlin after the sinking of Russia’s flagship vessel.
Then, on Saturday, Russian rockets allegedly hit a military hardware factory in the capital’s Darnytskyi district. “They are making us pay for destroying the Moskva,” Andrei Sizov, the 47-year-old owner of a nearby wood workshop.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, who met with Vladimir Putin this past week in Moscow — the first European leader to do so since the invasion began Feb. 24 — said the Russian president is “in his own war logic” on Ukraine.
In an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Nehammer said he thinks Putin believes he is winning the war and “we have to look in his eyes and we have to confront him with that, what we see in Ukraine.’’
Nehammer said he confronted Putin with what he saw during a visit to the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, where more than 350 bodies have been found along with evidence of killings and torture under Russian occupation, and “it was not a friendly conversation.”
The UK government’s latest intelligence update this morning says:
- Russian forces continue to redeploy combat and support equipment from Belarus towards eastern Ukraine. This includes locations close to Kharkiv and Severdonetsk.
- Russian artillery continues to strike Ukrainian positions throughout the east of the country where Russia plans to renew its offensive activity
- Though Russia’s operational focus has shifted to eastern Ukraine, Russia’s ultimate objective remains the same. It is committed to compelling Ukraine to abandon its Euro-Atlantic orientation and asserting its own regional dominance
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 17 April 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) April 17, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/x9XjnFUY7Y
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/81fxQPbOye
Updated
Russia told Ukrainian forces fighting in Mariupol to lay down arms on Sunday morning to save their lives, but there were no immediate reports of activity two hours after the ultimatum took effect at 3am GMT in the strategic southeastern port.
Russia’s defence ministry claimed it had all but taken control of Mariupol, aside from a few Ukrainian defenders left in a steel plant, but the claim could not be independently verified. It would be the first major city to have fallen to Russian forces since the invasion which began on 24 February
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For a comprehensive visual guide on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, look no further than this excellent interactive piece prepared by my colleagues earlier this week
Good morning from Delhi and happy Easter to those who celebrate. Hannah Ellis-Petersen here on the live blog for the next few hours following the developments in Ukraine. Here is a summary of today’s events so far:
- The 3am GMT deadline set by Moscow for Ukrainian soldiers in the besieged city of Mariupol to “surrender or die” has passed, with no reports yet from the Ukrainian or Russian sides if the city has fallen fully to Russian control. On Saturday, the Russian defence ministry said it had cleared urban areas of Ukrainian forces, and the remaining defenders were trapped in a steelworks.
- The Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy described the situation in Mariupol as “inhuman” and called on the west to prove more arms. “The successes of our military on the battlefield are really significant, historically significant. But they are still not enough to clean our land of the occupiers,” he said.
- Russian forces have renewed missile strikes on Kyiv and intensified shelling of Kharkiv, in an apparent strategy to hobble Ukraine’s defences ahead of an expected full-scale Russian assault in the east. Explosions were heard in the early hours on Sunday in Kyiv. Russia had warned it would step up its missile bombardment following the sinking of its battleship Moskva.
- Russian air defence units have reportedly brought down a military transport plane carrying Western arms outside Odesa.
- The Ukraine president warned that the world “needs to prepare” for the possibility of Russia using nuclear weapons. On Saturday, the mayor of Trostianets, a city in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region, claimed that authorities have found the remains of chemical weapons including Sarin in the village of Bilka, which had been occupied by the Russians. The allegation has not been verified.
- Russia’s foreign ministry barred entry to the country for Johnson and other British government politicians and members in response to the government’s “hostile action” including sanctions. The Kremlin said it would expand restrictions against British politicians over what it calls a “wave of anti-Russian hysteria.”
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