Thank you for following today’s coverage of the war in Ukraine.
We will be closing this liveblog but you can catch all the latest developments on our new blog launched below.
Here’s a bit more detail on the Blinken-Austin visit to Kyiv from AP, which reports that the top US envoys promised more $300m in foreign military financing and have approved a $165 million sale of ammunition.
The news agency wrote:
They also said Biden would soon announce his nominee to be ambassador to Ukraine and that American diplomats who left Ukraine before the war would start returning to the country this coming week. The US embassy in Kyiv will remain closed for the moment.
Zelenskyy had announced Saturday that he would meet with the US officials in Kyiv on Sunday, but the Biden administration refused to confirm that and declined to discuss details of a possible visit even though planning had been underway for more than a week.
Journalists who traveled with Austin and Blinken to Poland were barred from reporting on the trip until it was over, were not allowed to accompany them on their overland journey into Ukraine, and were prohibited from specifying where in southeast Poland they waited for the Cabinet members to return. Officials at the State Department and the Pentagon cited security concerns.
Austin and Blinken announced a total of $713 million in foreign military financing for Ukraine and 15 allied and partner countries; some $322 million is earmarked for Kyiv. The remainder will be split among NATO members and other nations that have provided Ukraine with critical military supplies since the war with Russia began, officials said.
Such financing is different from previous US military assistance for Ukraine. It is not a donation of drawn-down US Defense Department stockpiles, but rather cash that countries can use to purchase supplies that they might need.
The new money, along with the sale of $165 million in non-U.S. made ammunition that is compatible with Soviet-era weapons the Ukrainians use, brings the total amount of American military assistance to Ukraine to $3.7 billion since the invasion, officials said.
Zelenskiy had urged the Americans not to come empty-handed. US officials said they believed the new assistance would satisfy at least some of the Ukrainians’ urgent pleas for more help. New artillery, including howitzers, continues to be delivered at a rapid pace to Ukraine’s military, which is being trained on its use in neighboring countries, the officials said.
On the diplomatic front, Blinken told Zelenskyy that Biden will announce his nomination of veteran diplomat Bridget Brink to be the next U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.
A career foreign service officer, Brink has served since 2019 as ambassador to Slovakia. She previously held assignments in Serbia, Cyprus, Georgia and Uzbekistan as well as with the White House National Security Council. The post requirements confirmation by the US Senate.
Blinken also told Ukraine’s foreign minister that the small staff from the now-shuttered US embassy in Kyiv, which has relocated to Poland from temporary offices in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, would begin making day trips to Lviv in the coming days.
Blinken, Austin pledge return of diplomats to Ukraine, State Department says
US secretary of state Antony Blinken and secretary of defense Lloyd Austin have met with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Ukraine, a senior State Department official has confirmed according to Reuters.
The pair used the first official US visit to Ukraine since Russia invaded two months ago to announce a gradual return of US diplomats to the country and the nomination of a new ambassador, officials said.
The cabinet secretaries also pledged new assistance worth $713 million for Zelenskiy’s government and countries in the region, where Russia’s invasion has raised fears of further aggression by Moscow.
Officials had declined requests from the media to accompany the secretaries into Ukraine, citing security concerns. The officials briefed reporters in Poland on condition the trip not be reported until the delegation was safely out of Ukraine.
Austin will travel on to Germany, where he will host counterparts from more than 20 nations and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the US air base at Ramstein to discuss Ukraine’s defense needs, a Pentagon official said.
Updated
A bit more on the fires in Bryansk: Russian news agency Tass is reporting that oil tanks caught fire at the city’s oil depot, citing the regional government.
“The Emergency Situations Ministry has confirmed there’s a fire,” the government’s press office said. “There’s also a confirmation that it’s the fuel tanks.”
The Emergency Situations Ministry in Bryansk said they received a fire report at 2 am Moscow time, according to Tass.
No further information on the cause of the fires.
There was also no immediate indication the fire was related to the war in Ukraine, although Russian officials said last week that Ukrainian helicopters hit residential buildings and injured seven people in the area, according to Reuters.
Bryansk pic.twitter.com/82ELKwlwxr
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) April 25, 2022
A closer look at the area on NASA's FIRMS shows two groups of fires in Bryansk, Russia pic.twitter.com/0G5M2zxneD
— Brady Africk (@bradyafr) April 25, 2022
Updated
NASA’s fire monitoring service, FIRMS, has detected the reported oil depot fires in Bryansk, according to maps on its website:
2 locations seem to have been set alight in Bryansk, Russia. A storage yard located at 53.212889, 34.447078, and a Rosneft refinery located at 53.225075, 34.457078 https://t.co/gB3iajCFQu pic.twitter.com/RVZb0Lvcru
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) April 25, 2022
Australia’s defence minister, Peter Dutton, has said that the only way to “preserve peace is to prepare for war” and compared events in Ukraine to the 1930s, in an appearance on the Today breakfast show.
As the country marks Anzac day, the national day of commemoration in Australia and New Zealand, Dutton also warned of the increased risk that China is posing in the Pacific, and lambasted anyone who wants to “curl up in a ball, pretending nothing is happening”:
The only way you can preserve peace is to prepare for war and be strong as a country, not to cower, not to be on, you know, bended knee and be weak. That’s the reality.
Curling up in a ball, pretending nothing is happening, saying nothing, that is not … in our long-term interests and we should be very honest about that.
We have to be realistic that people like Hitler and others aren’t just a figment of our imagination or that they’re consigned to history.
We have in President Putin at the moment somebody who is willing to kill women and children. That’s happening in the year 2022.
It’s a replay, in part, of what happened in the 1930s.
Updated
Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations has confirmed “the fact of ignition” at an oil depot in the city of Bryansk, the Kremlin-backed television channel and news agency RT has reported, after social media posts suggested there was a large fire at the depot.
It wrote:
Local residents report that explosions were heard. Sirens can be heard in social media videos.
According to locals, explosions and fire occurred in several districts of Bryansk. According to unconfirmed reports, the second source of fire originates in the area where the military unit of the 120th arsenal of the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defense is located.
Emergency services began to evacuate residents of houses near the burning oil depot.
Officials have yet to comment on the cause of the fire, RT reports.
Global military spending rose again in 2021, setting new records as Russia continued to beef up its military prior to its invasion of Ukraine, researchers have said according to AFP, predicting the trend would continue in Europe in particular.
The news agency writes:
Despite the economic fallout of the global Covid pandemic, countries around the world increased their arsenals, with global military spending rising by 0.7 percent last year, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri).
“In 2021 military spending rose for the seventh consecutive time to reach $2.1 trillion. That is the highest figure we have ever had,” Diego Lopes da Silva, senior researcher at Sipri, told AFP.
Russia’s spending grew by 2.9% - the third year of consecutive growth - to $65.9 billion.
Defence spending accounted for 4.1% of Russia’s gross domestic product (GDP), “much higher than the world average”, and making Moscow the fifth largest spender in the world, Lopes da Silva said.
High oil and gas revenues helped the country boost military expenditure. Lopes da Silva noted that Russia saw a sharp uptick in spending towards the end of the year.
“That happened as Russia amassed troops alongside the Ukrainian border preceding of course the invasion of Ukraine in February,” the researcher said.
Whether Russia would be able to sustain its spending was difficult to predict, Lopes da Silva said, due to the wave of sanctions imposed by the West in response to the aggression in Ukraine.
In 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea, the country was also targeted with sanctions at the same time as energy prices fell, making it difficult to gauge how effective sanctions were on their own.
“Now... we have even tougher sanctions, that’s for sure, but we have higher energy prices which can help Russia afford to maintain military spending at that level,” Lopes da Silva said.
On the other side, Ukraine’s military spending has risen by 72% since the annexation of Crimea. While spending declined by over eight% in 2021 to $5.9 billion, it still accounted for 3.2% of Ukraine’s GDP.
As tensions have increased in Europe, more NATO countries have stepped up spending.
Eight members countries last year reached the targeted two% of GDP for spending, one fewer than the year before but up from only two in 2014, Sipri said.
Lopes da Silva said he expected spending in Europe to continue to grow.
The US, which far outspent any other nation with $801 billion, actually went against the global trend and decreased its spending by 1.4% in 2021.
Over the past decade, US spending on research and development has risen by 24% while arms procurement has gone down by 6.4%.
While both decreased in 2021, the drop in research was not as pronounced, highlighting the country’s focus “on next-generation technologies.”
“The US government has repeatedly stressed the need to preserve the US military’s technological edge over strategic competitors,” Alexandra Marksteiner, another researcher at Sipri, said in a statement.
China, the world’s second largest military spender at an estimated $293 billion, boosted its expenditure by 4.7%, marking the 27th straight year of increased spending.
The country’s military buildup has in turn caused its regional neighbours to beef up their military budgets, with Japan adding $7 billion, an increase of 7.3% - the highest annual increase since 1972.
Australia also spent four% more on its military, reaching $31.8 billion in 2021.
India, the world’s third largest spender at $76.6 billion, also increased funding in 2021, but by a more modest 0.9%.
The UK took over the number four spot, with a 3% increase in military spending to $68.4 billion, replacing Saudi Arabia which instead decreased spending by 17% to an estimated $55.6 billion.
New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has used her annual speech on Anzac Day – the day of national remembrance in New Zealand and Australia – to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and call for peace.
Speaking at a service of remembrance for New Zealand troops who have died in overseas conflicts, Ardern said New Zealand and other countries were “inextricably linked” to the war in Ukraine.
“Fresh in all our minds is the invasion of Ukraine, a most grim reminder of the fragile nature of peace, and the devastating impact of war on people’s lives,” Ardern said.
“The invasion of Ukraine is a senseless act of war, one that is taking the lives of innocent people. It is a threat to the international laws that a nation like ours relies on – but it is also a threat to our sense of humanity. And that makes it a threat to all of us.”
She said New Zealand would not “sit on the side-lines,” and outlined the country’s contribution of military aid.
“Today, on this day, we are yet again reminded that peace cannot be taken for granted. That it must be preserved by the acts of leaders, and protected through the actions of citizens.”
Large fire at Russian oil depot north of Ukrainian border, unconfirmed reports say
There are unconfirmed reports of a large fire at an oil depot in the Russian city of Bryansk, around 100 kilometres north of the Ukrainian border. The Guardian has so far been unable to verify the reports.
There is a large fire at an oil depot in Bryansk. https://t.co/0YwGd04tk6 pic.twitter.com/bV4w07f3da
— Rob Lee (@RALee85) April 25, 2022
Multiple explosions and fires in Bryansk, Russia. Unknown what has happened. pic.twitter.com/sSKV6GNl1e
— Woofers (@NotWoofers) April 24, 2022
‼️💥 В Брянске было слышно несколько взрывов pic.twitter.com/3R6KLjbEjZ
— Alexander Bunin (@abunin) April 25, 2022
Russian forces continued to bombard the remaining Ukrainian defenders in Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant on Sunday and may be preparing for renewed assaults on the facility, which would likely lead to high Russian casualties, the Institute for the Study of War has said in its latest analysis.
Russia had also made “minor advances” around Severodonetsk in the east of the country, the US-based think tank said, adding that it remained “unlikely to be able to launch massed offensive operations”.
“Russia’s offensive in eastern Ukraine continues to follow the pattern of their operations throughout the war, using small units to conduct dispersed attacks along multiple axes rather than taking the pauses necessary to prepare for decisive operations,” it wrote.
In southern Ukraine there had been no change in the military situation, it said.
Other key takeaways from its analysis:
- Additional Russian forces are deploying to reinforce unsuccessful attacks on the Izyum front.
- Ukrainian civilians in occupied Kharkiv Oblast are reportedly organizing volunteer movements to resist Russian occupation measures, similar to previously documented actions in southern Ukraine.
#Mariupol Update:#Russian forces continued to bombard #Ukrainian defenders in the Azovstal Steel Plant with artillery and air strikes and may be preparing for renewed assaults on the facility which would likely sustain high casualties.https://t.co/eqQ8sfHhri pic.twitter.com/MuYvNzFvyG
— ISW (@TheStudyofWar) April 24, 2022
Updated
Orthodox worshipers celebrated Easter on Sunday, as the Russian invasion continued. Here’s a selection of images from around the country:
In case you missed it, Guardian reporters Isobel Koshiw and Ed Ram reported on an Easter service at the Moscow-aligned monastery complex Pechersk Lavra in Kyiv. Until recently, Ukrainian intelligence services deemed its religious leaders to be agents of the Kremlin for their Moscow links.
Here’s a taste:
On invitation from one of Pechersk Lavra’s senior priests, the Guardian was let into the hand-painted interior of the 18th-century Trapezniy church – one of the 12 churches of the monastery, which sits on Kyiv’s riverbanks – for its night-time service.
In the main part of the church, believers were saving their places for a long night around the altar. On the other end of the church, a line of believers had formed for confession, which in Orthodoxy is achieved by kissing an icon with a priest standing over the believer, covering the believer’s head with his stole. The service was broadcast live for those who could not attend.
But less than an hour later, the priests at the altar stopped chanting to issue an unscheduled notice: “It is forbidden to photograph, would the person photographing please stop now.” The cleric Metropolitan Pavel, who was leading the Easter service and whom the Ukrainian authorities have investigated under charges of whipping up religious hatred, said we had to leave.
“You have to understand the [Ukrainian] ministry of culture won’t like there being lots of people here,” said an assistant cleric. “We don’t want them to close down the Lavra.”
Read on below:
Summary
If you’re just joining us now, here’s a quick rundown of the latest developments:
- US defense secretary Lloyd Austin and secretary of state Antony Blinken are currently in talks with Volodymyr Zelensky, an advisor has told local Ukrainian news outlets. Zelensky is expected to use the meeting to appeal for more US military aid.
- Russia is planning a “staged referendum in the southern city of Kherson aimed at justifying its occupation”, the UK’s Ministry of Defence has said in its latest intelligence report. “The city is key to Russia’s objective of establishing a land bridge to Crimea and dominating southern Ukraine,” the ministry said.
- Igor Zhovkva, a top diplomatic adviser to Zelenskiy, has criticised UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres’ upcoming meeting with Vladimir Putin and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, saying that Guterres does “not really” have the authority to speak on behalf of Ukraine.
- Zelenskiy has tweeted his congratulations to Emmanuel Macron for winning the French presidential election. He called Macron “a true friend of Ukraine”.
- Dozens of civilians who died during the Russian occupation of the Ukrainian city of Bucha were killed by tiny metal arrows from shells of a type fired by Russian artillery, forensic doctors have said. Fléchettes are an anti-personnel weapon widely used during the first world war.
- Latest UNHCR data reveals almost 5.2 million Ukrainians have fled the country. More than 1,151,000 Ukrainians have left during April so far, compared with 3.4 million in the month of March alone. Beyond that, the UN’s International Organisation for Migration (IOM) estimates more than 7.7 million people have been displaced within Ukraine.
- The OSCE, the world’s largest security body, has said it is “extremely concerned” after several of its Ukrainian members were believed to have been arrested in pro-Russian separatist territories in the country’s east.
- In his Easter Sunday message, Zelenskiy said the religious festival “gives us great hope and unwavering faith that light will overcome darkness, good will overcome evil, life will overcome death, and therefore Ukraine will surely win”.
- Pope Francis has used the Orthodox Easter weekend to once again appeal for a truce in Ukraine “to ease the suffering of exhausted people”.
- Ukraine says hundreds of its forces and civilians are trapped inside the Azovstal steel plant in the city of Mariupol, which Russia has been trying to take for two months. Although Moscow had earlier declared victory in Mariupol and said its forces did not need to take the factory, the Ukrainian authorities say Russian forces have resumed air strikes and are trying to storm the plant.
- Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdoğan and Zelenskiy have discussed Mariupol during a telephone call. Turkey is ready to give all possible assistance during negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, the Turkish presidency said on Sunday.
- The UN has called for an “immediate stop” to fighting in Mariupol so that civilians trapped in the city can be evacuated today.
Updated
The death toll from a huge fire at a Russian defence research institute in Tver, north-west of Moscow, has risen to 17, the state-run news agency Tass has reported.
“As the debris continued to be cleared, another six bodies were found. The death toll from the fire is up to 17,” the agency quoted a source from the emergency services as saying, adding that the scene of the incident continued to be searched.
Another 30 people were injured in the fire, which broke out on Thursday, engulfing the building’s upper three floors and forcing those inside to jump from windows and causing the roof to cave in.
Tass said on Sunday that the fire had affected an area of 2.5 square kilometres and that it was “due to a power grid emergency” as well as firefighters being called too late. The Guardian was unable to verify the report. Military investigators are looking into the case.
Hello, this is Helen Livingstone taking over the blog from my colleague, Lauren Aratani.
Russia is planning a “staged referendum in the southern city of Kherson aimed at justifying its occupation”, the UK’s Ministry of Defence has said in its latest intelligence report.
“The city is key to Russia’s objective of establishing a land bridge to Crimea and dominating southern Ukraine,” the ministry said.
It noted that Russia had previously held an “illegitimate referendum” to retrospectively justify its 2014 invasion of Crimea.
“Russia’s own domestic elections have been beset by allegations of vote rigging and have seen high-profile opposition blocked from running,” it added.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 24 April 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) April 24, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/SvXy5QJ0ho
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/OU5hdzH6cI
Updated
Volodymyr Zelenskiy just tweeted his congratulations to Emmanuel Macron for winning the French election. He calls Macron “a true friend of Ukraine”.
“I wish him new success for the good of the people. I appreciate his support and I am convinced that we are moving forward together towards new common victories. Towards a strong and united Europe!”
Félicitations à @EmmanuelMacron, un vrai ami de l’Ukraine, pour sa réélection! Je lui souhaite de nouveaux succès pour le bien du peuple 🇫🇷. J'apprécie son soutien et je suis convaincu que nous avançons ensemble vers de nouvelles victoires communes. Vers une Europe forte et unie!
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 24, 2022
Updated
Marking 60 days of the Russia Invasion of Ukraine, the Kyiv Independent just published a story with devastating before-and-after pictures of towns and buildings across the country.
Some numbers included in the story: Russia has launched 2,000 missiles at Ukraine. The country’s prosecutor general’s office is investigating 7,882 war crimes allegedly committed by Russian troops, local authorities in Mariupol have estimated that the city has 22,000 killed civilians. The cost of damage has reached $100bn.
Under continuous heavy bombardment, many of the Ukrainian cities and their trademark locations can be barely recognized now, as they stand in ruins, deprived of the previously bustling life.https://t.co/wiZdhKhZVI
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) April 24, 2022
Igor Zhovkva, a top diplomatic adviser to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, criticized United Nation secretary-general Antonio Guterres’ upcoming meeting with Vladimir Putin and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, saying that Guterres does “not really” have the authority to speak on behalf of Ukraine.
“This is not a good idea to travel to Moscow. We do not understand his intention to travel to Moscow to talk to President Putin,” Zhovkva said on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday.
Zhovkva said that while “any peace talks are good if they end with a result”, “I really doubt if those peace talks organized by Secretary-General of the UN will end up with any result.”
Guterres is set to meet with Putin and Lavrov on Tuesday. He will then meet with Zelenskiy and Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba on Thursday.
Guterres announced the meeting on Friday, tweeting “We need urgent steps to save lives, end the human suffering and bring peace in Ukraine.”
WATCH: Igor Zhovkva, President Zelenskyy’s top diplomatic adviser, joins #MTP from Kyiv.
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) April 24, 2022
Mariupol "is almost wiped out. People are living without ... food, water, electricity. ... We need the attention of the international community."#MTP #IfitsSunday pic.twitter.com/uAN74dLXPA
Updated
US officials meet Zelenskiy in Kyiv
US defense secretary Lloyd Austin and secretary of state Antony Blinken are currently in talks with Volodymyr Zelenskiy, an advisor told local Ukrainian news outlets. Zelenskiy is expected to use the meeting to appeal for more US military aid.
President @ZelenskyyUa is currently having a meeting in Kyiv with U.S. Secretary of State Blinken and Pentagon Chief Austin, according to @arestovych. The topic of the talks should have been arms supplies to Ukraine.
— SUSPILNE NEWS 📰 (@suspilne_news) April 24, 2022
Updated
Beyond the destruction that is happening in Ukraine because of Russia’s invasion, the conflict could have a major impact on climate change if Russian wildfires go untethered.
Experts have voiced concerns that Russia will allow wildfires – which are a major source of carbon emissions – to grow as it dedicates its military aircraft to the invasion over fighting the fires.
“Either there will be more fires… or these aircraft and personnel will be taken away from the western front and brought to Siberia,” Jessica McCarty, a climate research at Miami University in Ohio, told Axios.
In a Tweet, Lesia Volodymyrivna, the people’s deputy of Ukraine, said: “Question is what will Putin choose: less fires in Russia or less attacks on Ukraine?”
Fires in #Siberia just might save #Ukraine. To put out the growing forest fires #Russia will have to use aircrafts that are now bombing #Ukraine. Question is what will #putin choose: less fires in #Russia or less attacks on #Ukraine ? pic.twitter.com/P75WoPfzQK
— Lesia Vasylenko (@lesiavasylenko) April 24, 2022
A bit of a visual contrast: Ukrainian soldiers holding hefty Easter cakes.
Ukrainian soldiers can not be at home with their families now as they are serving the country. They are defending millions of #Ukrainians 💙💛
— MFA of Ukraine 🇺🇦 (@MFA_Ukraine) April 24, 2022
But a piece of celebration – Easter cake – is with them 🥮
📸 vova.neizvestniy (Instagram)#StandWithUkraine️#LifeWillPrevail pic.twitter.com/L0VGep4zzO
A new report from the Wall Street Journal reveals that US officials have been holding off on levying sanctions against Alina Kabaeva, a former Russia Olympic gymnast believed to be Vladimir Putin’s mistress. Last month, the US targeted Putin’s daughters, Maria Vorontsova and Katerina Tikhonova, along with his former wife, Lyudmila Shkrebneva, but Kabaeva – and at least three of her children that are believed to be Putin’s – was left out. Here’s more from the Journal:
Ms. Kabaeva, a former Olympic champion rhythmic gymnast known in the sport for her extreme flexibility and an international doping scandal, is suspected of playing a role in hiding Mr. Putin’s personal wealth overseas, U.S. officials said, and remains a potential sanctions target.
The belief among U.S. officials debating the move is that sanctioning Ms. Kabaeva would be deemed so personal a blow to Mr. Putin that it could further escalate tensions between Russia and the U.S. The 69-year-old Mr. Putin has never acknowledged a relationship with Ms. Kabaeva, a 39-year-old former cover model for Russian Vogue.
The U.S. Treasury Department, which according to U.S. officials prepared the sanctions package against Ms. Kabaeva, now on hold, declined to comment. U.S. officials said that the action against Ms. Kabaeva isn’t off the table.
The Kremlin has long denied any relationship between Mr. Putin and Ms. Kabaeva. Mr. Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, didn’t respond to requests for comment. Ms. Kabaeva, who has denied a relationship with Mr. Putin, couldn’t be reached for comment.
French polling agencies are projecting that voters elected French president Emmanuel Macron for a second term, beating far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.
The solid base of voters Le Pen had built during the election raised concerns about what the French election could mean for the future of the Russian invasion. Earlier this month, Le Pen said that if elected, she would propose closer links between Nato and Russia once the war ended, and she would pull France out of the alliance’s military command.
In the leadup to the election, Macron had painted Le Pen as being friendly with Russia, saying that she was “complacent” and “financially dependent” on the Kremlin, accusations which she denied.
Some Twitter users are celebrating the win – which has not been made official – as a good sign for Ukraine.
Congrats to Macron. And with a wide margin. This is a mandate for France to support Ukraine fully. No more chats with Putin. No more “brotherly love” https://t.co/DIZlrj8pwF
— Paul Massaro (@apmassaro3) April 24, 2022
Relieved. Essential for NATO unity in the fight for Ukraine. https://t.co/0L04mjKoTq
— Howard Sherman (@HESherman) April 24, 2022
Another big win for Ukraine pic.twitter.com/tOc73ahAVd
— Matt O'Brien (@ObsoleteDogma) April 24, 2022
At least eight people including a baby have been killed in a Russian missile strike in the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa.
Resident Ekateryna described running down 17 floors with her family, including her parents and young daughter, after she heard the explosion and smoke obscured the windows of her home.
This is Lauren Aratani taking over from Sam Jones.
Bulgarian journalist Christo Grozev noticed on a flight-tracking website that a Ukrainian Antonov plane just landed in the Bulgarian capital.
A Ukrainian heavy-transport Antonov plane just landed in Sofia... I wonder why.. pic.twitter.com/Vc8iaPNNGl
— Christo Grozev (@christogrozev) April 24, 2022
On Twitter, Grozev notes that Bulgaria has been “secretly supplying ammo to Ukraine via a ‘third country’” as a way to “prevent disintegration” of the coalition government in the country, which includes the pro-Russian Socialist party.
On Thursday, Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba made an appeal to Bulgaria, which is a member of NATO and the EU, for military aid.
“The best way to bring peace closer today is to stand by Ukraine,” Kuleba told Bulgarian parliament.
A priest sprinkles holy water on believers on Easter Day at the Svyato-Troitsky church, amid Ukraine-Russia conflict, in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 24, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko Photograph: Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
Dozens of civilians who died during the Russian occupation of the Ukrainian city of Bucha were killed by tiny metal arrows from shells of a type fired by Russian artillery, forensic doctors have said.
Pathologists and coroners who are carrying out postmortems on bodies found in mass graves in the region north of Kyiv, where occupying Russian forces have been accused of atrocities, said they had found small metal darts, called fléchettes, embedded in people’s heads and chests.
Independent weapons experts who reviewed pictures of the metal arrows found in the bodies, seen by the Guardian, confirmed that they were fléchettes, an anti-personnel weapon widely used during the first world war.
These small metal darts are contained in tank or field gun shells. Each shell can contain up to 8,000 fléchettes. Once fired, shells burst when a timed fuse detonates and explodes above the ground.
Fléchettes, typically between 3cm and 4cm in length, release from the shell and disperse in a conical arch about 300m wide and 100m long. On impact with a victim’s body, the dart can lose rigidity, bending into a hook, while the arrow’s rear, made of four fins, often breaks away causing a second wound.
Updated
AP has this interesting report from the United Arab Emirates, where Russians and Ukrainians are celebrating the Orthodox Easter at the only Russian Orthodox Church on the Arabian Peninsula:
The church’s gold Byzantine crosses rise unexpectedly from the dusty streets of Sharjah - a conservative Muslim emirate just south of skyscraper-studded Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
Although the two nationalities, united in language and history, typically celebrate Easter in harmony in this strange corner of the world where they’ve forged new lives as expats, this year there was unspoken tension even as children in floral dresses played on the stone steps and priests blessed brimming bread baskets under the blazing sun.
“I don’t have any problems with Russians as people,” said Sergei, a Ukrainian businessman from Kyiv and Dubai resident of five years, who like all those interviewed, declined to give his last name for privacy reasons. “But war changes people. Children are dying. The Russians now hate my country.”
A few Russians interviewed said they did not support the war and felt sick or guilty about it. But to avoid any confrontation in the pews, they stuck to small talk with Ukrainians about the festivities and warming weather, they said.
“We’re all the same, we’ve all come from Russia or Ukraine to seek a better life here,” said Kata, who moved from Moscow to Dubai for a marketing job just before the war. “It’s so weird between us right now. We try as much as possible not to discuss the war. It’s too painful, too difficult.”
This is Sam Jones, taking over the blog from Sarah Haque.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has made it plain that’s he’s expecting concrete contributions following his much-trailed meeting later today with the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin.
The White House, however, has not commented.
Zelenskiy said he was looking for the Americans to produce results, both in arms and security guarantees, saying on Saturday:
You can’t come to us empty-handed today, and we are expecting not just presents or some kind of cakes – we are expecting specific things and specific weapons.
The visit would be the first by senior US officials since Russia invaded Ukraine 60 days ago. Blinken stepped briefly on to Ukrainian soil in March to meet the country’s foreign minister during a visit to Poland. Zelenskiy’s last face-to-face meeting with a US leader was on 19 February in Munich with vice-president Kamala Harris.
Updated
Here’s a quick summary of today’s events
- Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, is expected to ask Washington for more heavy weapons when he meets the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, later today. Blinken and Austin will be the most senior US officials to visit Kyiv since the war began two months ago. Zelenskiy announced the planned visit at a news conference on Saturday night. The White House has not responded.
- Latest UNHCR data reveals almost 5.2 million Ukrainians have fled the country. More than 1,151,000 Ukrainians have left during April so far, compared with 3.4 million in the month of March alone. Beyond that, the UN’s International Organisation for Migration (IOM) estimates more than 7.7 million people have been displaced within Ukraine.
- In his Easter Sunday message, Zelenskiy said the religious festival “gives us great hope and unwavering faith that light will overcome darkness, good will overcome evil, life will overcome death, and therefore Ukraine will surely win”.
- Pope Francis has used the Orthodox Easter weekend to once again appeal for a truce in Ukraine “to ease the suffering of exhausted people”.
- Ukraine says hundreds of its forces and civilians are trapped inside the Azovstal steel plant in the city of Mariupol, which Russia has been trying to take for two months. Although Moscow had earlier declared victory in Mariupol and said its forces did not need to take the factory, the Ukrainian authorities say Russian forces have resumed air strikes and are trying to storm the plant.
- Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdoğan and Zelenskiy have discussed Mariupol during a telephone call. Turkey is ready to give all possible assistance during negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, the Turkish presidency said on Sunday.
- The UN has called for an “immediate stop” to fighting in Mariupol so that civilians trapped in the city can be evacuated today.
The UK’s flagship scheme for welcoming Ukrainians, Homes for Ukraine, has been called “heartless and inhumane” after visa officials demanded a six-month-old baby undergo security scans 800 miles from her home before she is allowed to fly to Britain.
The demand was criticised as “a scandal” on Sunday as the Guardian revealed further examples of UK bureaucracy preventing Ukrainians from fleeing to safety. Read the exclusive report from Josh Halliday:
Updated
UN: almost 5.2 million Ukrainians flee war
The number of Ukrainians who have fled the country since Russia’s invasion two months ago is approaching 5.2 million, the UN refugee agency said on Sunday.
The total figure of 5,186,744 is an increase of 23,058 over Saturday’s data, the UNHCR said. More than 1,151,000 Ukrainians have left during April so far, compared with 3.4 million in the month of March alone.
Beyond the refugee figures, the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates more than 7.7 million people have been displaced within Ukraine. Almost two-thirds of Ukrainian children have had to flee their homes, including those who remain in the country.
The latest figures come as Ukrainians mark Orthodox Easter Sunday.
Here is a breakdown of how many Ukrainian refugees have fled to neighbouring countries, according to UNHCR:
- Poland: 2,899,713 (nearly six out of 10 Ukrainian refugees have crossed into Poland).
- Russia: 578,255 (in addition, 105,000 people crossed into Russia from the separatist-held pro-Russian regions of Donetsk and Lugansk).
- Romania: 774,074.
- Hungary: 489,754.
- Moldova: 433,214.
- Slovakia: 354,329.
- Belarus: 24,084.
Updated
OSCE ‘concerned’ over missing members in separatist areas
The world’s largest security body said on Sunday that it is “extremely concerned” after several of its Ukrainian members were believed to have been arrested in pro-Russian separatist territories in the country’s east.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) evacuated many of its staff from the country after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February.
In a tweet on Sunday, it said: “The OSCE is extremely concerned that a number of @OSCE_SMM national mission members have been deprived of their liberty in Donetsk and Lugansk.”
It added that it is “using all available channels to facilitate their release”.
The OSCE is extremely concerned that a number of @OSCE_SMM national mission members have been deprived of their liberty in Donetsk and Luhansk and is using all available channels to facilitate their release.
— OSCE (@OSCE) April 23, 2022
According to Russia’s Tass news agency, the security services of the Luhansk separatists said this month they had arrested two members of the OSCE mission.
Tass said one of them had “confessed” to passing “confidential military information to representatives of foreign special services” and that a high treason investigation had been opened against them.
On Sunday, the US ambassador to the OSCE, Michael Carpenter, called for the body’s members to be released.
“Russia’s lies claiming Ukrainian @OSCE—SMM staff spied for the Ukrainian government are reprehensible,” he said on Twitter.
“Staff loyally and impartially served the @OSCE. Any staff held by should be released immediately and will be held accountable for any harm they suffer.”
The Vienna-based OSCE has 57 member states across three continents – including Russia, Ukraine and the US.
Updated
Tory chairman Oliver Dowden: France and Germany have to do more
Minister and Tory party chairman Oliver Dowden told the BBC that “it would be good to see more from France and Germany” to support the Ukraine war effort.
He told the BBC that the west should “continue to tighten the ratchet on Russia” as Moscow ramps up its offensives in the south and east of Ukraine.
When asked whether he thought Russia could emerge victorious, he said: “That has always been a possibility that Russia could come out of this victorious. We don’t want that to happen.”
On Sunday, the US’stop diplomat and defence chief were set to make their first war-time visits to Kyiv since Russia invaded Ukraine two months ago. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced the planned visit during a lengthy Saturday night news conference held in a Kyiv subway station. The White House has not commented.
Updated
The governor of Russia’s Kursk region says a checkpoint in the region has come under fire from Ukraine.
This report cannot immediately be verified.
Updated
Speaking on Sophy Ridge on Sunday. the human rights lawyer Baroness Helena Kennedy discussed serving on a legal taskforce to build cases of war crimes in Ukraine.
On Russian soldiers not facing consequences for rape she told Sky News: “A change is taking place internationally in the recognition of rape as a weapon of war and what that means is not that an instruction is given from the top to go out there and rape citizens, women and girls and nobody else, but it is about this tacit permission that is given.
“The reason why no one is bought to book or called into line or disciplined and so that gives an immunity to soldiers on the ground, they know that this is permissible and so what we’ve heard and evidence is being gathered, is that serious offences of a grievous kind are being committed against citizens, against women and girls and that’s a new thing, in recognition and investigating and making sure it is properly reported.”
Updated
Erdoğan and Zelenskiy discuss Mariupol
Turkey is ready to give all possible assistance during negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, President Tayyip Erdoğan told Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy during a telephone call, the Turkish presidency said on Sunday.
Zelenskiy said he and Erdoğan discussed the urgent need for immediate evacuation of civilians from the mostly Russian-occupied port city of Mariupol, and the exchange of Ukrainian troops holed up in the surrounded but Ukrainian-held Azovstal factory.
Updated
Ukrainian refugees scattered across central Europe filled churches on Sunday for Orthodox Easter, in bittersweet celebrations: giving thanks for escaping the Russian invasion, but dreaming of a return home to family and friends left behind.
More than 5 million Ukrainians have fled since Russia invaded, with the majority seeking refuge across borders into Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania.
Reuters reported scenes in Poland and Germany:
At Warsaw’s Orthodox Cathedral of St Mary Magdalene in the city centre where priests said holiday services were busier than in past years, children carried Easter baskets adorned with Ukrainian flags and had blue and yellow bows in their hair.
“This is my first Easter holiday that I am not spending in Ukraine … but fortunately there are a lot of people from Ukraine here,” said Anna Janushevich, 35, who fled from Lviv.
“When the war is over I will go back to Ukraine. I dream that I will be able to return so that I can celebrate Easter at my home and that my daughter will be with her family.”
Like many fellow churchgoers, Bohdana Dudka, 27, snapped photos to send home to family members including her two brothers who remained in Ukraine to fight.
At Berlin’s Nathanael Church, Ukrainian community leaders said the congregation of around 500 would swell to an expected 2,500 people for the celebrations where refugees said the singing and traditions reminded them of home. More than 369,000 Ukrainians have registered in Germany after fleeing the war.
Diana Shyndak, 23, originally from Kyiv said, “It’s my first Easter celebration not in Ukraine. It’s sad and my heart hurts because so many people have died. We pray everyday for our people and our children.”
Updated
Viktor Yushchenko, who was the president of Ukraine from 2005 to 2010, has written this opinion piece, in which he stresses the importance of international solidarity and a united front when dealing with Vladimir Putin.
Yushchenko says the Putin he once knew has disappeared and has been replaced by “a completely isolated and brutal despot who cannot stand any opposition”.
Pope Francis has used the Orthodox Easter weekend to once again appeal for a truce in Ukraine “to ease the suffering of exhausted people”.
The blue and yellow flag of Ukraine flew among the faithful gathered on St Peter’s Square, where the leader of the Roman Catholic Church recalled that fighting erupted two months ago on 24 February.
The pope said:
Instead of halting, the war has become worse. It is sad that on these most holy and solemn days for Christians we hear more of the murderous noise of weapons than that of the bells announcing the resurrection … I renew the appeal for an Easter truce, the smallest tangible sign of a willingness for peace. Stop the attacks to ease the suffering of exhausted people.
(via AFP)
Here's a quick summary of today's events
- Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, is expected to ask Washington for more heavy weapons when he meets the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, later today. Blinken and Austin will be the most senior US officials to visit Kyiv since the war began.
- Zelenskiy has accused Russia of continuing to use “filtration camps”, where Ukrainian citizens are sent before being forcibly relocated to Russia. He has likened the camps to Nazi concentration camps.
- In his Easter Sunday message, Zelenskiy said the religious festival “gives us great hope and unwavering faith that light will overcome darkness, good will overcome evil, life will overcome death, and therefore Ukraine will surely win”.
- The senior Ukrainian negotiator and presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak has urged Moscow to agree to a “real Easter truce”, calling on Moscow to immediately open a humanitarian corridor for civilians and agree on a “special round of negotiations” to facilitate an exchange of military and civilians.
- Ukraine says hundreds of its forces and civilians are trapped inside the Azovstal steel plant in the city of Mariupol, which Russia has been trying to take for two months. Although Moscow had earlier declared victory in Mariupol and said its forces did not need to take the factory, the Ukrainian authorities say Russian forces have resumed air strikes and are trying to storm the plant.
- The UN’s has called for an “immediate stop” to fighting in Mariupol so that civilians trapped in the city can be evacuated today.
The UN’s Ukraine crisis coordinator, Amin Awad, has called for an “immediate stop” to fighting in Mariupol so that civilians trapped in the city can be evacuated today, AFP reports.
“The lives of tens of thousands, including women, children and older people, are at stake in Mariupol,” Awad said in a statement. “We need a pause in fighting right now to save lives.
“The longer we wait the more lives will be at risk. They must be allowed to safely evacuate now, today. Tomorrow could be too late.”
His call came after an attempted evacuation from Mariupol by Ukraine had failed on Saturday, with Kyiv saying it was “thwarted” by Russian forces.
The UN statement said there were an estimated 100,000 civilians trapped in the city, which has been heavily bombarded after being besieged by Russian forces for weeks.
Awad said Orthodox Easter, which is celebrated in both Russia and Ukraine, provided an opportunity to halt hostilities.
“At a time of a rare calendar alignment of the religious holidays of Orthodox Easter, Passover and Ramadan, it is the time to focus on our common humanity, setting divisions aside,” Awad said.
This month, UN secretary general, António Guterres, had urged a pause in fighting for Orthodox Easter.
Updated
This is Sam Jones taking over the blog for the next hour or so.
There is a growing list of regions that keep popping up in coverage of this war. So where exactly has Russia been targeting? Here are a few key locations, with background from AP.
Mariupol
Russia has been attempting to take Mariupol, in the Donbas region, for nearly two months, and the city on the Sea of Azov has faced some of the war’s most brutal attacks. Two thousand troops are fighting to hold on to the last remaining Ukrainian outpost in the city, the Azovstal steel plant, which is also housing civilians in its tunnel system.
Russian forces continue to hammer the plant with airstrikes, including by long-range aircraft, Oleksandr Shtupun, spokesperson for the Ukrainian armed forces general staff, said on Sunday.
If captured, Ukraine would lose a vital port, and Russian troops would be free to fight elsewhere. It would also establish a land corridor to the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow seized in 2014.
Satellite images have shown what appears to be mass graves dug in towns to the west and east of Mariupol.
Rest of the Donbas region
The wider Donbas region, where Moscow-backed separatists controlled some territory before the war, is one of Russia’s major targets.
Last week, Russian troops overran the small city of Kreminna.
Shtupun said Russian forces intensified their assault operations toward the cities of Popasna and Siverodonetsk in Luhansk, and Kharkiv. Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai said on Sunday that eight people were killed and two others were wounded in a Russian barrage on Saturday.
The Russians also have shelled the Dnipro region west of Donbas, where at least one person was killed by a Russian missile, according to regional governor Valentyn Reznichenko.
Kyiv
Russia has pulled back forces from Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the north of the country to feed into the Donbas offensive, but the British Ministry of Defence said on Sunday that Ukrainian forces had repelled numerous assaults in the past week.
“Despite Russia making some territorial gains, Ukrainian resistance has been strong across all axes and inflicted significant cost on Russian forces,” the ministry said in an intelligence update.
Updated
Zelenskiy speaks of hope on Easter Sunday
In his Easter message on Sunday, Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke from the ancient St Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv: “The great holiday today gives us great hope and unwavering faith that light will overcome darkness, good will overcome evil, life will overcome death, and therefore Ukraine will surely win.”
“The Lord and the holy heavenly light are on our side,” he added. “We are going through very difficult ordeals. Let us reach a just end on this path – the beginning of a happy life and prosperity of Ukraine.”
Zelenskiy said: “On Easter, we ask God for great grace to make our dream come true – this is another great day – the day when great peace will come to Ukraine.”
Updated
US: 'This is going to be a victory for Ukraine'
The BBC journalist Sophie Raworth spoke to US state department spokesperson Ned Price earlier today about the possibility of Russia winning the war.
“What we have seen from our Ukrainian partners is nothing short of victory on the battlefield,” Price said.
“Right now, they are winning the battle for Ukraine. And it’s really no surprise, because they are fighting with grit, with determination, with tenacity – but also with massive amounts of security assistance that United States and some 30-odd countries from around the world are also providing.”
He added, “This is going to be a victory for Ukraine. It is going to be a strategic defeat for Russia. However and whenever that happens, we are confident of that.”
When pressed by Raworth on whether the US is committed to sending heavy offensive weapons to push Russian soldiers off Ukraine territory, Price said: “We announced yesterday, another tranche of security assistance, in the form of $800m in security assistance. We’re providing them just what they need for this new type of battle, the battle that’s going to emerge in the Donbas and in the south.
“We are confident that with our continued support, with the determination and tenacity that our Ukrainian partners have demonstrated, they will emerge victorious there as well.”
Updated
Russia says it struck several arms depots in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region overnight.
Reuters reports:
Russia’s defence ministry said on Sunday its high-precision missiles struck nine Ukrainian military targets overnight, including four arms depots in the Kharkiv region where artillery weapons were stored.”
These claims could not immediately be verified.
Updated
The senior Ukrainian negotiator and presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak has urged Moscow to agree to a “real Easter truce” on Sunday.
“Russia is constantly attacking Mariupol’s Azovstal. The place where our civilians and soldiers are is covered with heavy air bombs, artillery fire and intensive concentration of forces and equipment for the assault,” Podolyak said on Twitter.
He called on Russia to immediately open a humanitarian corridor for civilians and agree on a “special round of negotiations” to facilitate an exchange of military and civilians.
(1/2) Великдень-2022. Але прямо зараз РФ без зупинки атакує маріупольську Азовсталь. Місце, де знаходяться наші цивільні та військові засипають важкими авіабомбами, обстрілюють артилерією та інтенсивно концентрують сили й техніку для штурму. Хто там віддав наказ «не штурмувати»?
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) April 24, 2022
Updated
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the latest developments in Ukraine with me, Sarah Haque.
It is 11am, and this morning the sun came out as Ukrainians marked Orthodox Easter in the capital, Kyiv, with prayers for those fighting on the front lines and others trapped in places like Mariupol.
AP reports that residents of villages battered by the war remain defiant in commemorating the holiday:
“We’ll celebrate Easter no matter what, no matter much horror,” said Kateryna Lazarenko, 68, in the northern village of Ivanivka outside Chernihiv, where ruined Russian tanks still littered the roads.
“How do I feel? Very nervous, everyone is nervous,” said another resident, Olena Koptyl, as she prepared her Easter bread. “The Easter holiday doesn’t bring any joy. I’m crying a lot. We cannot forget how we lived.” She and 12 others spent a month sheltering from Russian soldiers in the basement of her home before the soldiers withdrew.”
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy is expected to meet with US secretary of state Antony Blinken and defence secretary Lloyd Austin later today in the first high-level US trip to Kyiv since before the war began on 24 February.
Updated
Summary
-
The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy will meet US secretary of state Antony Blinken and defence secretary Lloyd Austin on Sunday, the most senior US officials to visit Kyiv since the war began. It’s expected that Zelenskiy will ask the US for more heavy weapons.
- Zelenskiy warned peace negotiations with Moscow will be suspended if Russia kills any Mariupol defenders or goes forward with the independence referendum in the partly occupied southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
- On Saturday, Russia resumed its assault on the last defenders in the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol. This came despite Moscow declaring days ago that it had achieved victory in the southern port city and that its forces did not need to take the factory.
-
Zelenskiy, speaking via a video address late on Saturday, said new information continued to emerge regarding crimes committed against people in Mariupol, including the discovery of fresh graves. Russia was continuing the activities of “filtration camps” near Mariupol, he said, where Russian forces are sending Ukrainian citizens before forcibly relocating them to Russia.
- Zelenskiy also condemned the killing of eight people, including a three-month-old baby girl, in a missile strike on Odesa.
-
UN secretary general António Guterres will visit Turkey, which has played a key role in negotiations, on Monday before meeting Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday and Zelenskiy in Kyiv on Thursday.
- The UK Ministry of Defence said Ukraine has repelled numerous Russian assaults along the line of contact in the Donbas this week. It added that while Russia has made some territorial gains, its operations are hindered by poor morale and limited time to reorganise troops.
Updated
Ukrainians have marked Orthodox Easter this Sunday with prayers for those defending the country, and those facing desperate conditions in Mariupol.
At St Volodymyr’s Cathedral in Kyiv, Ukrainians brought baskets to be blessed by priests.
Easter Sunday, St Volodymyr’s cathedral, Kyiv. An indomitable people pic.twitter.com/cwfH1BGteE
— Luke Harding (@lukeharding1968) April 24, 2022
Updated
The Kyiv Independent has produced the following breakdown of Russia’s military losses as of 24 April, based on data from the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It is not possible to verify these figures.
These are the indicative estimates of Russia’s combat losses as of April 24, according to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/iUOV7RaDle
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) April 24, 2022
Updated
Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, leaders across Europe and North America have sought to isolate Russia by imposing “unprecedented” sanctions.
How isolated is Russia? AFP has published the following analysis:
In the weeks that followed the invasion, Nato and EU airspace closed to Russian planes and the United States ordered bans on importing Russian oil and gas, as well as seafood, vodka and diamonds.
Some Russian banks were excluded from the Swift international payment system and hundreds of prominent figures were prohibited from touching down on European soil.
But outside the West, the response has been more cautious.
At the UN General Assembly on March 2, India and South Africa abstained during a vote demanding Russia’s withdrawal from Ukraine.
In Latin America, Brazil and Mexico refused to participate in the barrage of sanctions.
“There are a growing number of countries that are more willing to assert their independence in spite of the fact that they aspire to closer cooperation with the West and are even in need of Western support,” Chris Landsberg, a professor of international relations at the University of Johannesburg, was quoted as saying by the Washington Post.
“It’s one thing to condemn the invasion of Ukraine – it’s another to launch an economic war against Russia, and many countries in South America, Africa and Asia are not ready to cross the line,” the former Chilean ambassador to India and South Africa Jorge Heine added.
This appears to be the case for Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which have so far avoided taking a stand against Russia. It could also be said for India, which abstained during a vote condemning the Russian invasion at the UN Security Council in February.
“For India, the war has posed a stark and unwelcome choice between the West and Russia, a choice that it has done everything possible to avoid making,” explained Shivshankar Menon, former national security adviser to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
“The United States is an essential and indispensable partner in India’s modernisation, but Russia remains an important partner for geopolitical and military reasons,” he wrote in an article published at the beginning of April, entitled: “The Fantasy of the Free World: Are Democracies Really United Against Russia?”
For former French ambassador Michel Duclos, this tendency is nothing new.
“Already in 2015 with the Syrian crisis and the first Ukrainian crisis, we had neither India nor Brazil with us,” he said. “We have to ask ourselves: why is this the case, and what can we do to build stronger bridges with these countries? The question is more relevant than ever before”.
Updated
Zelenskiy likens Russian 'filtration camps' to Nazi concentration camps
Here is a recap of Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s video address last night.
- Zelenskiy condemned a missile strike in Odesa which killed eight people on Saturday, including a three-month old baby girl. “How did she threaten Russia?” Zelenskiy questioned. The missiles were launched by Russian strategic aircraft from the Caspian Sea region, he said, adding that Ukraine managed to shoot down two missiles, but five more missiles hit the city. He promised justice for those killed.
- Zelenskiy said new information continued to emerge regarding crimes by Russian forces against Mariupol residents. “New graves of people killed by the occupiers are being found. We are talking about tens of thousands of dead Mariupol residents,” he said.
- Zelenskiy said Russia was also continuing the activites of “filtration camps”, where Russian forces are sending Ukrainian citizens, before forcibly relocating them to Russia. He likened the camps to Nazi concentration camps.
- Zelenskiy said he had spoken to UK prime minister Boris Johnson on Saturday, and thanked him for his support. He added he was now preparing to meet US representatives.
Updated
The UK Ministry of Defence has released its latest analysis of the war in Ukraine. It says that while Russia has made some territorial gains, its operations are hindered by poor morale and limited time to reorganise troops.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 24 April 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) April 24, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/tFb39zzDtn
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/lZE8s05wuX
Russia has deployed Iskander-M mobile battlefield missile launchers within 60 km (40 miles) of the Ukrainian border, General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said on Sunday.
“Then enemy has increased the number of troops in the Belgorod region by transferring and concentrating additional units,” the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in its daily morning update.
“According to available information, Iskander-M launchers have been deployed 60 km from the border with Ukraine,” it said.
Here is some more detail from a Reuters’ report on the development:
The Iskander, a mobile ballistic missile system codenamed SS-26 Stone by Nato, replaced the Soviet Scud missile. Its two guided missiles have a range of up to 500 km (300 miles) and can carry conventional or nuclear warheads.
Russia said on Friday it wanted to control all of southern Ukraine. Kyiv said this showed Moscow had wider goals than its declared aim of demilitarising and “denazifying” the country.Belgorod is a city and the administrative centre of Russia’s Belgorod region, north of the border with Ukraine.
Reuters could not immediately to verify the reports. There was no immediate reaction from Moscow to the reports.
Russian forces are “likely attempting to starve out” those who remain in Azovstal steel plant
The US-based Institute for the Study of War said in its latest analysis last night that Russian forces are “likely attempting to starve out” the remaining defenders of the Azovstal Steel Plant in Mariupol.
Ukraine says hundreds of its forces and civilians are trapped inside the steel plant, and has repeatedly called for a ceasefire to allow civilians to flee safely. Those stuck inside are running out of food and water.
Yesterday, a video emerged from inside the besieged factory showing women and children who said they are “running out of strength” and needed to be urgently evacuated.
Moscow had earlier declared victory in Mariupol and said its forces did not need to take the factory. However, on Saturday a Ukrainian presidential adviser, Oleksiy Arestovich, said Russian forces had resumed air strikes and tried to storm the plant.
“Our defenders hold on regardless of the very difficult situation and even carry out counter-raids,” he said.
According to ISW, Russian forces will likely attempt to starve those who remain at the plant, and not allow trapped civilians to evacuate. ISW also said Russia is expected to continue attacking southeast from Izyum, west from Kreminna and Popasna, and north from Donetsk City via Avdiivka or another axis. “Russian forces will likely increase the scale of ground offensive operations in the coming days, but it is too soon to tell how fast they will do so or how large those offensives will be,” it said.
Updated
Summary
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the latest developments in Ukraine with me, Rebecca Ratcliffe.
It is now 8.30am, and a curfew that was in place for traditional Orthodox Easter ceremonies was lifted three and a half hours ago.
Here’s a summary of the latest news:
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will visit Kyiv Sunday, the most senior US officials to travel to the city since the war began. It’s expected that Zelenskiy will ask the US for more heavy weapons. The US has not commented on the trip, which was announced by Zelenskiy as he held a press conference in an underground subway station on Saturday.
- Zelenskiy warned peace negotiations with Moscow will be suspended if Russia kills any Mariupol defenders or goes forward with the independence referendum in the partly occupied southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
-
On Saturday, Russia resumed its assault on the last defenders in the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, according to a Ukraine official. This came despite Moscow declaring days ago that it had achieved victory in the southern port city and that its forces did not need to take the factory.
- Zelenskiy, speaking via a video address late on Saturday, said new information continued to emerge regarding crimes committed against people in Mariupol, including the discovery of new graves. Russia was continuing the activities of “filtration camps” near Mariupol, he said, where Russian forces are sending Ukrainian citizens, before forcibly relocating them to Russia. He compared the camps to Nazi concentration camps.
-
Zelenskiy also condemned the killing of eight people, including a three-month-old baby girl, in a missile strike on Odesa.
-
Eight people also died in Russian attacks in Ukraine’s Luhansk region on Saturday, Serhiy Gaidai, the region’s governor, said on social media.
- UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will visit Turkey, which has played a key role in negotiations, on Monday before meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday and Zelenskiy in Kyiv on Thursday. Zelenskiy has criticised the UN’s decision to visit Moscow first, stating: “There is no justice and no logic in this order.”
Updated
