Unconfirmed reports are emerging of civilians killed by Russian soldiers being buried in mass graves in a town near Kyiv. Some reports from local journalists say that hospital workers in the satellite town of Bucha have already buried more than 100 people.
"There have been many reports of the Russian forces killing civilians in Bucha," according to the Kyiv Independent. It quotes activist Oleksandr Ostapa as saying Bucha locals have buried 57 unidentified bodies, of which 53 were civilians.
The Kyiv Independent is an English language media outlet created by journalists who say they were "fired from the Kyiv Post for defending editorial independence". The reports have not yet been independently confirmed.
Videos were shared on social media, including by Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko, of what appear to be bodies in bags being piled into a grave in Bucha. Ms Vasylenko says in the tweet that mass graves are now common across the country.
Her post read: "Mass graves are now common across #Ukraine. #Russia massacre reduces cities to rubble.
"No way to identify bodies or find families. Mass burial is a must to keep the living safe. This is #Bucha, quiet #Kyiv suburbia. No more."
'Lithuania will be next target' if Russia wins in Ukraine
Ukraine's Secretary for National Security and Defence Council has said Lithuania will become Vladimir Putin's next target if Russia wins the war against Ukraine. Citing Ukrainian intelligence, Oleksiy Danilov said in a televised address: "Today we are talking about Lithuania. The Russian Federation is not going to stop.
"They have the next goal – if they win, God forbid, in our territory, then the next country that Putin will want to capture – it will be Lithuania. Then there will be other Baltic countries, then they can get to Poland."
The news comes as UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is preparing to embark on a series of meetings with Nordic and Baltic leaders as he seeks to bolster European resilience.
The Prime Minister will host a summit of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) in London this week, where he will urge leaders to work together to ensure no further nations fall victim to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression, No 10 said. The northern European security coalition includes the UK, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway.
Downing Street said the group will discuss the immediate crisis in Ukraine, as well as how they can help the country “rebuild again after war”. Talks will cover “increasing defensive military support to Ukraine” and the issue of “long-term energy security”, it said, while the Prime Minister will urge the coalition to work towards “greater resilience against hostile state threats”.
Mr Johnson will host the group for dinner at his official country residence, Chequers, on Monday night. The coalition will then meet in London on Tuesday, before the Prime Minister is joined by the leaders of Finland and Sweden at Downing Street in the afternoon.
Lviv military training ground hit by Russian air strikes
Military officials say Russian forces have carried out an air strike and fired eight missiles on the city of Lviv.
Multiple explosions were heard in Lviv amid reports that the city near Ukraine's border with Poland was under attack from Russian missiles. The explosions were reported by various journalists on the ground in Lviv, including reporters from CNN.
Reports that Russian air strikes targeting the Yavoriv military training ground outside Lviv were shared on Twitter. A photo posted by open source intelligence aggregator, Justin Peden, on the social network purported to show a column of smoke in the area nearby.
Video journalist Jason N Pakinson tweeted that he heard an explosion in Lviv at around 5.50am local time. He described the impact as being loud enough to "rattle the windows of my room".
Reporter Olga Tokariuk tweeted that there were air raid alerts on most of Ukraine's territory. She wrote of being in a bomb shelter for more than two-and-a-half hours.
British businessman Richard Dass, who has travelled to Ukraine to help deliver medical supplies, told the PA news agency on Saturday that air raid sirens had been sounding for the first time in the town where he is staying, south of Lviv. He said the area has become a hub for thousands of refugees heading from the east, many arriving with serious injuries.
Russia bombed 9 medical Ukrainian medical facilities
Nine medical facilities in Ukraine have been targeted by Russia in air strikes, according to an analysis by The Washington Post. The paper says that it has reached the conclusion after examining more than 500 videos and photos, reviewed social media posts, spoken to witnesses and hospital staff and compared the accounts with reports from Ukrainian officials and other organisations from around the world.
The Post says it has verified nine incidents where hospitals faced direct damage as a result of a reported Russian attack. It says people died in at least three of the incidents and that three of the facilities specifically catered for women and children.
Russian troops ‘no longer in city'
Russian troops are no longer in the city of Skadovsk, according to the Kyiv Independent. The city's mayor has been quoted as saying that the situation is "under control".
Oleksandr Yakovlev says the city has electricity, gas and a water supply. On March 9, Russian military vehicles entered the city and Russian troops reportedly seized all the computers from the city council.
Skadovsk is a port city on the Black Sea in Kherson Oblast of southern Ukraine. The distance to the city of Kherson is 58 miles.
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