With Russia amassing more of its forces to the east of Ukraine and looking set to increase its assault on the Donbas region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he is not willing to give up territory to do a peace deal.
Take a look back at Monday's events in our blog.
Key events
- Mariupol could fall 'in hours'
- Battle of Mariupol continues as plumes of smoke are seen coming from Azovstal factory
- Two killed in Luhansk
- Zelenskyy says he won't surrender territory to end the war
- Ukrainian troops refuse Russia's surrender-or-die ultimatum in Mariupol
- Zelenskyy discusses post-war reconstruction with IMF
Live updates
By Caitlyn Davey
Closing the blog
That's all for today, stay tuned for more updates on the main page and we'll be back tomorrow for more action.
By Caitlyn Davey
Fears for residents of Mariupol
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk urged Russian forces to let people flee besieged Mariupol.
"Once again, we demand the opening of a humanitarian corridor for the evacuation of civilians, especially women and children, from Mariupol," Vereshchuk wrote.
Zelenskyy, describing the situation there as "inhuman", called on the West to immediately provide heavy weapons.
Mariupol has become a symbol of Ukraine's unexpectedly fierce resistance since Russian troops invaded the former Soviet state on February 24.
The UN World Food Programme says that more than 100,000 civilians there are on the verge of famine, and lacking water and heating.
Ukrainian officials said the city was on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe.
By Caitlyn Davey
NGO World Central Kitchen staff injured by missile attack in Kharkiv
Russia's bombardment of cities around Ukraine on Saturday included an explosion in Kharkiv that destroyed a community kitchen.
Associated Press journalists at the scene recorded the immediate aftermath of the apparent missile attack. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said three people were killed and 34 wounded by missile strikes Saturday in that city alone.
The kitchen was set up by World Central Kitchen, which is run by celebrity chef José Andrés to establish feeding systems in disaster and war zones. Andrés tweeted that the non-governmental organisation’s staff members were shaken but safe.
The organisation says it has now reached 30 cities across the country, providing nearly 300,000 meals a day. Andrés said the attack in Kharkiv shows that "to give food in the middle of a senseless war is an act of courage, resilience and resistance" and that his group’s chefs will keep cooking for Ukraine.
By Caitlyn Davey
Cluster bombs maim Chernihiv villagers
Russian forces never made it into the encircled city of Chernihiv in Ukraine's north-east.
Instead, they inflicted a relentless campaign of bombardment on civilians, who hid in basements for a month with no power, heat or running water.
Residents braved shelling and artillery fire to find scarce food.
People queuing for bread died in a Russian air strike that killed 47 civilians in a public square.
"I believe that all this was on purpose, to cause panic, to finish our people off with direct attacks against ordinary civilians," said Dr Vladyslav Kukhar, the director of the region's biggest medical institution, Chernihiv City Hospital No. 2.
Russian attacks destroyed homes, medical facilities, schools, gas pipes and water infrastructure.
Dr Kukhar was inside his hospital when the emergency department was destroyed by shelling on March 17.
The shock wave sent glass, shrapnel and doors through the building, injuring doctors and patients.
"The hospital shook and the corridors filled with a dense fog from white dust," Dr Khukar told the ABC.
"Patients were screaming. We were worried about the patients who were already on the operating table.
"Despite the direct risk to their lives, the doctors didn't leave, knowing that if the operations were stopped, the patients wouldn't survive. It was true heroism."
Russian forces have attacked more than 100 Ukrainian health facilities, in what the World Health Organization describes as a deliberate campaign.
Chernihiv City Hospital No. 2 is now pockmarked by artillery fire, its shattered windows boarded up.
But civilians still pile into its outdated wards, with lost limbs and devastating injuries.
By Caitlyn Davey
Pope makes Easter plea
In an Easter Sunday message aimed at the world but heavily focused on Ukraine, Pope Francis raised two worries — the risk of nuclear warfare and that other armed conflicts on the globe will go unnoticed.
In a speech from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, the pope quoted a declaration from scientists in the 1950s in which they posed the question: "Shall we put an end to the human race, or shall mankind renounce war?"
The pope has repeatedly made anguished pleas for a ceasefire and negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
In his Easter message, Francis lamented that "so many of our brothers and sisters have had to lock themselves away in order to be safe from bombing".
He expressed hope that the war in Europe will "also make us more concerned about other situations of conflict, suffering and sorrow” in situations “that we cannot overlook and do not want to forget".
By Caitlyn Davey
Many Ukranian refugees 'no homes to return to' says UN
Many of the nearly five million people who have fled Ukraine will not have homes to return to, the United Nations warns.
UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, says 4,836,445 Ukrainians have left the country since the Russian invasion on February 24.
By Caitlyn Davey
Ukrainian servicemen run for cover as explosions are heard during a Russian attack in downtown Kharkiv
By Caitlyn Davey
Zelenskyy pushes for further sanctions against Russia
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy again called for increased sanctions against Russia, including its entire banking sector and oil industry.
"Everyone in Europe and America already sees Russia openly using energy to destabilise Western societies," Zelenskyy said.
“All of this requires greater speed from Western countries in preparing a new, powerful package of sanctions.”
By Caitlyn Davey
‘Unpredictable consequences’ Kremlin warns West of ‘consequences’ for weapons supply
The Kremlin has warned of "unpredictable consequences" if the West continues to supply weapons to Ukraine.
It comes as the United States readies a shipment of weapons following its pledge to supply Ukraine with US$800 million in military assistance.
By Caitlyn Davey
Italian Prime Minister says talks with Putin are a 'waste of time'
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi says talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin are a waste of time.
Draghi told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera in an interview published Sunday that “what awaits us is a war of resistance, prolonged violence with destruction that will continue. There is no sign that the Ukraine population can accept a Russian occupation.”
He noted that Italy remained close to the Ukrainian people, with the reopening of its embassy in Kyiv. The ambassador returned to the capital on Friday, and the embassy is expected to be fully operational on Monday.
Draghi, who spoke to Putin before the war broke out and again at the end of March, said he has come to believe that speaking with the Russian leader "is just a waste of time."
Draghi said: "I have the impression that the horror of the war, with its carnage, with what they have done to children and women, is completely independent of the words and the phone calls"
By Caitlyn Davey
ABC News team caught up in attacks in Kharkiv
By Caitlyn Davey
Photos of besieged Mariupol
Mariupol is under siege with one pocket of Ukrainian soldiers still fighting. Much of the city has been decimated by shelling.
Photos by Alexander Ermochenko, Reuters.
By Caitlyn Davey
Zelenskyy invites Macron to see evidence of 'genocide'
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he has invited his French counterpart to visit Ukraine to see for himself evidence that Russian forces have committed "genocide", a term President Emmanuel Macron has avoided.
"I talked to him yesterday," Mr Zelenskyy 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."
By Caitlyn Davey
Zelenskyy implores world to respond to torture
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russian troops in southern Ukraine have been carrying out torture and kidnappings and, on Sunday, he called on the world to respond.
"Torture chambers are built there," Mr Zelenskyy said in an evening address to the nation. "They abduct representatives of local governments and anyone deemed visible to local communities"
Mr Zelenskyy says humanitarian aid has been stolen, creating famine.
In occupied parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, he says the Russians are creating separatist states and introducing Russian currency, the ruble.
By Caitlyn Davey
Russian, Belarusian trucks stuck at Polish border as EU ban comes into effect
Vehicles used as international transport that have Russian and Belarusian number plates will not be able to move goods on EU territory, the Russian customs service said.
The ban applies to all Russian and Belarusian trucks, apart from those transporting foods, medicine, mail and energy.
Due to the trucks being backed up for kilometres, thousands of vehicles were at risk of not crossing the border in time.
The deadline came at midnight, local time, but the Polish border and customs have continued to process trucks waiting to leave.
Russian and Belarusian truck drivers were stuck in a long queue near the Kukuryk-Kozlovichi border crossing in Poland on Saturday.
By Caitlyn Davey
Donbas to follow Mariupol if Russia takes the port city
If Mariupol falls, Russian forces there are expected to join an all-out offensive in the coming days for control of the Donbas, the eastern industrial region that the Kremlin is bent on capturing after failing in its bid to take Kyiv, Ukraine's capital.
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.
By Caitlyn Davey
'Accelerate negotiations towards peace now' says UN chief
Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres says "we need to silence the guns and accelerate negotiations towards peace now."
By Caitlyn Davey
Reports contradict news that entire crew evacuated from Moskva
Reports are emerging from Russia that contradict official reports that the entire crew of the warship Moskva were evacuated from the vessel before it sank on Thursday.
Since the Moskva went down on Thursday, Russia has released strikingly little information — and there has been no official word of any casualties.
However, according to Novaya Gazeta Europe, an independent news site based outside Russia, the mother of one traumatised survivor said he wept as he told her by phone of the sinking.
He said about 40 crew members had died, many others were hurt and some were still missing.
The wife of another sailor said on social media that her husband had died.
On Saturday, the Russian Defence Ministry published video that appeared to show about 100 crew members being inspected by the head of the Navy.
The Moskva has a total crew of about 500.
By Caitlyn Davey
Ukraine completes questionnaire for EU membership
Ukraine has completed a questionnaire which will form a starting point for the European Union to decide on membership for Kyiv, according to Ihor Zhovkva, the deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen handed the questionnaire to Mr Zelenskyy during her visit to Kyiv on April 8, pledging a speedier start to Ukraine's bid to become a member of the EU following Russia's invasion of the country.
"Today, I can say that the document has been completed by the Ukrainian side," Mr Zhovkva told the Ukrainian public broadcaster on Sunday evening, local time.
The European Commission would 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."
Mr 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.
