Ukraine residents have ignored air raid sirens and warnings to shelter at home to visit cemeteries during the Orthodox Christian day of the dead.
Look back on Monday's updates as they happened in our live blog.
Key events
- Finland will decide to apply for NATO membership on May 12, says a local newspaper
- US First Lady to visit Ukrainian refugees in Romania and Slovakia
- Russian oligarchs to be targeted in US aid package for Ukraine
- Ukrainians mark Provody, day of the dead
- Mariupol evacuee recounts heart-stopping terror in the bunkers of Azovstal
- In pictures: Azovstal steelworks evacuees reunite with loved ones, react to rescue
- 100 civilians evacuated from Azovstal plant in Mariupol as rescue operations continue
- Russia's foreign minister says his country is committed to preventing nuclear war
Live updates
By Shiloh Payne
That's all for the blog today
We are closing the Ukraine-Russia war blog for today.
You can stay up-to-date with the latest news online or on the ABC News app.
By Shiloh Payne
Finland will decide to apply for NATO membership on May 12, says a local newspaper
Finnish newspaper Iltalehti has reported that Finland will decide to apply for NATO membership on May 12.
The decision to join will come in two steps on that day, with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto first announcing his approval for the country to join the Western defence alliance, followed by parliamentary groups giving their approval for the application, the paper reported.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has pushed Finland and Sweden to the verge of applying for NATO membership and abandoning a belief held for decades that peace was best kept by not publicly choosing sides.
Reuters was not immediately able to verify the details provided by Iltalehti.
The decision will be confirmed in a meeting between the President and the government's key ministers after the President's and the Parliament's initial announcements, the paper reported.
Russia, which shares a 1,300 km border with Finland, has warned it will deploy nuclear weapons and hypersonic missiles in its Baltic coast enclave of Kaliningrad if Finland and Sweden decide to join the NATO alliance.
By Shiloh Payne
Ukraine's Ministry of Defence shares an operational update
It's the 68th day of the invasion, here's what the Ministry of Defence had to say about Military efforts in Ukraine, it says Russian forces have suffered significant losses, especially in artillery and on land.
"In the Donetsk and Luhansk [regions] only, ten attacks by Russian occupiers were repulsed in the past 24 hours," the statement said, destroying:
- two tanks
- seventeen artillery systems
- thirty-eight units of armored combat vehicles
- 10 units of enemy vehicles.
"Russian enemy continues to conduct full-scale armed aggression against Ukraine and offensive operations in the Eastern Operational Zone."
It said there were attacks in Volyn and Polissya, in the direction of Siversky and Slobozhansky and in the Donetsk region.
By Shiloh Payne
Turkey's president says the war in Ukraine shouldn't negatively affect the tourism season
After prayers marking the beginning of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is "very sensitive" about Turkey's need for tourism revenue and has already pledged to give his support.
Turkey suffers from skyrocketing inflation and needs tourists' foreign currencies, The Associated Press is reporting.
Mr Erdogan said Saudi tourists would also be arriving following his visit to Saudi Arabia last week.
In an interview with Greek state broadcaster ERT, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian tourism brought revenue to neighboring Greece and Turkey, labelling it "blood money."
Mr Zelenskyy pointed to a double standard where Turkey acted as a meditator between Ukraine and Russia while preparing destinations for Russian tourists.
Mr Erdogan said he'll speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week to discuss speeding up evacuations from the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol and to find a way for grain exports from Ukraine and Russia.
By Shiloh Payne
The UK's Ministry of Defence says it'll take Russia years to rebuild its forces
In their latest Defence Intelligence update on the Ukraine war, the UK's Ministry of Defence says at the start of the conflict Russia has committed over 120 battalion tactical groups, which is about 65 per cent of its entire combat strength.
The update says it's likely more than a quarter of these are no longer effective in combat.
By Shiloh Payne
Here's how it looks in the Zaporizhzhia region
Parts of the Zaporizhzhia region are under Russian military control.
These photos have been taken by the Associated Press during a trip organised by the Russian Ministry of Defence.
By Shiloh Payne
US First Lady to visit Ukrainian refugees in Romania and Slovakia
Jill Biden will visit Romania and Slovakia from May 5 to 9 to meet with US service members and embassy personnel, as well as displaced Ukrainian parents and children, humanitarian aid workers and teachers.
Her office said she will meet with mothers and children who have been left displaced from the war on Sunday May 8, which is Mother's Day in the US.
The trip also includes stops in the Slovakian cities of Bratislava, Kosice and Vysne Nemecke, where Ms Biden will meet with government officials, refugees and aid workers, Reuters is reporting.
Ms Biden's visit is the latest show of support for Ukraine and neighboring countries that are helping Ukrainian refugees by top US representatives.
By Shiloh Payne
Satellite photo shows damage to Russian oil depots
A satellite image analysed by The Associated Press shows damage to oil depots just across the Ukrainian border at two sites in Russia's Bryansk.
Blasts, which are suspected to be Ukrainian attacks, damaged multiple tanks on Monday.
In the photo, the damage can be seen at the top left where an explosion has caused damage to a structure and left the ground around it charred.
You can also see another site that appears to have been hit at the bottom right of the photo.
One is an oil depot owned by Transneft-Druzhba, a subsidiary of the Russian state-controlled company Transneft that operates the Druzhba pipeline carrying crude oil to Europe.
Bryansk is located about 100 kilometers north of the border with Ukraine.
By Shiloh Payne
Germany says it's making progress weaning off Russian fossil fuels
Germany's Economy and Climate Minister Robert Habeck said the country expects to be fully independent of crude oil imports from Russia by late summer.
He said Europe's largest economy has reduced its share of Russian energy imports to:
- 12 per cent for oil
- 8 per cent for coal
- 35 per cent for natural gas.
Those steps mean increased costs for the economy and for consumers, but he said the changes are necessary if Germany no longer wants to be "blackmailed by Russia."
The announcement comes as the European Union considers an embargo on Russian oil.
The EU has already decided to ban Russian coal imports starting in August.
Weaning German off Russian natural gas is a far bigger challenge.
The Associated Press reports that before Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, Germany got more than half of its natural gas imports from Russia.
By Shiloh Payne
Pro-Ukrainian demonstrators march in the US
Demonstrators have marched along the National Mall in the US in support of Ukraine.
The demonstrators displayed empty strollers symbolising the children killed in the Ukraine war.
By Jacqueline Howard
Zelenskyy says Russian war strategy 'extermination'
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Moscow of waging “a war of extermination,” citing strikes against non-military targets on Sunday.
Mr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address that Russian shelling had hit food, grain and fertilizer warehouses, and residential neighborhoods in the Kharkiv, Donbas and other regions.
“The targets they choose prove once again that the war against Ukraine is a war of extermination for the Russian army,” he said.
He said Russia will gain nothing from the damage but will further isolate itself from the rest of the world.
“What could be Russia’s strategic success in this war?" Mr Zelenskyy said. "Honestly, I do not know.
By Shiloh Payne
Ukraine may lose tens of millions of tonnes of grain, says Zelenskyy
Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine could lose tens of millions of tonnes of grain due to Russia's blockade of its Black Sea ports.
Reuters is reporting that this could trigger a crisis that will affect Europe, Asia and Africa.
"Russia does not let ships come in or go out, it is controlling the Black Sea," Zelenskyy told 60 Minutes.
"Russia wants to completely block our country's economy."
Ukraine is a major exporter of grain and other food products and also of metals.
By Jacqueline Howard
Preparing Zaporizhzhia for the arrival of the Azovstal steelworks evacuees
Civilians who have been stranded for nearly two months at the plant will receive immediate humanitarian support, including psychological services, once they arrive in Zaporizhzhia later today, the UN says.
A Doctors Without Borders team is at the reception centre in preparation for the UN convoy’s arrival.
The teams are expecting to receive people dealing with the effects of stress, exhaustion and low food supplies while trapped underground at the plant.
By Jacqueline Howard
Fate of $450m superyacht linked to a Russian oligarch to be decided tomorrow
Fiji and the United States are embroiled in a court case over a superyacht allegedly belonging to a sanctioned Russian oligarch.
However, questions over who owns the Amadea — worth some $454 million — remain.
The fate of the luxury vessel is due to be determined by a judge in Fiji on Tuesday.
The US alleges it's owned by Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov.
According to Forbes, he is worth more than $US14.3 billion (almost $20 billion).
However, defence lawyers dispute the ownership, saying the yacht belongs to Eduard Khudainatov, the former chairman and chief executive of Rosneft, a state-controlled Russian oil and gas company.
Importantly, Mr Khudainatov does not appear to be facing sanctions.
By Jacqueline Howard
Russia is not seeking regime change in Ukraine, says Lavrov
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow only wanted to guarantee the security of pro-Russian Ukrainians in the east and was not demanding that Zelenskyy "give himself up" as a condition for peace.
"We are demanding that he issue an order to release civilians and stop resistance. Our aim does not include regime change in Ukraine," Mr Lavrov said in a media interview published on his ministry's website.
By Jacqueline Howard
Nadal, Djokovic call Wimbledon's ban on Russians, Belarusians unfair
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have criticised Wimbledon's decision to exclude Russian and Belarusian players from this year's tournament following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The two tennis greats said on Sunday that Wimbledon had acted unfairly.
"I think it's very unfair [on] my Russian tennis mates, my colleagues … it's not their fault, what's happening in this moment with the war," Nadal, a 21-time Grand Slam winner, said.
Nadal was in Spain, where both he and Djokovic are preparing to play in the Madrid Open.
"I'm sorry for them," Nadal said. "Wimbledon just took their decision … the government didn't force them to do it."
Nadal added: "Let's see what happens in the next weeks, if the players will take some kind of decision in that regard."
The ATP and WTA tennis tours have both publicly criticised the All England Club's decision, which was announced on April 20.
Wimbledon starts on June 27.
By Jacqueline Howard
EU energy ministers hold crisis talks after Russian gas cuts
Energy ministers from European Union countries are holding emergency talks, as the bloc strives for a united response to Moscow's demand that European buyers pay for Russian gas in roubles or face their supply being cut off.
Russia halted gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland last week after they refused to meet its demand to effectively pay in roubles.
Those countries already planned to stop using Russian gas this year and say they can cope with the stoppage, but it has raised fears that other EU countries, including Europe's gas-reliant economic powerhouse Germany, could be next.
It has also threatened to crack the EU's united front against Russia amid disagreement on the right course of action.
With many European companies facing gas payment deadlines later this month, EU states have a pressing need to clarify whether companies can keep buying the fuel without breaching the EU's sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
By Jacqueline Howard
Go inside the civilian evacuation of Mariupol's besieged Azovstal steel plant
However, images of the operation showed most evacuees were women, children and the elderly.
Not all civilians were evacuated from the steel plant, with hundreds still believed to be trapped in the facility's Soviet-era underground bunkers.
Video posted online by Ukrainian forces showed elderly women and mothers with small children bundled in winter clothing being helped as they climbed up a steep pile of debris from the plant's rubble via ladders.
Some were seen bringing their pets and bags filled with their belongings.
They were ushered onto Red Cross or Russian buses and removed from the conflict zone.
By Jacqueline Howard
By Jacqueline Howard
Explosion damages railway bridge in Kursk
An explosive device has damaged a railway bridge in the Kursk region of Russia, which borders Ukraine.
Recent weeks have seen a number of fires and explosions in Russian regions near the border, including Kursk.
An ammunition depot in the Belgorod region burned after explosions were heard, and authorities in the Voronezh region said an air defense system shot down a drone. An oil storage facility in Bryansk was engulfed by fire a week ago.
The explosion caused a partial collapse of the bridge near the village of Konopelka, on the Sudzha-Sosnovy Bor railway, the report from Kursk said.
“It was a sabotage, a criminal case has been opened,” said the region’s governor, Roman Starovoit. He said there were no casualties, and no effect on the movement of trains.
