Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:
– Kyiv readies for battles in east –
Ukraine is preparing for “big battles” against Moscow’s forces in the east of the country, officials in Kyiv say, as thousands of civilians flee in fear of an imminent Russian offensive.
Evacuations resumed from Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine, where a missile strike killed 52 people at a railway station Friday.
– Pope calls for Easter ceasefire –
Pope Francis calls for an Easter truce in Ukraine to pave the way for peace through “real negotiation”.
“Let the Easter truce begin. But not to provide more weapons and pick up the combat again — no! — a truce that will lead to peace, through real negotiation,” the pontiff tells a public mass at Saint Peter’s Square.
– Dnipro airport destroyed –
The airport in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro has been completely destroyed in fresh Russian shelling, a local official says.
“There has been another attack on Dnipro airport. There is nothing left of it. The airport itself and the infrastructure around it has been destroyed. Rockets keep flying and flying,” the head of the city’s military administration, Valentin Reznichenko, says on Telegram.
Authorities were seeking to clarify information about victims, he adds.
– Ukraine ‘must win’ in east before talks –
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak says Ukraine must score a victory in the Donbas region before any potential meeting between Zelensky and Putin.
“Ukraine is ready for big battles. Ukraine must win them, including in the Donbas. And once that happens, Ukraine will have a more powerful negotiating position, which will allow it to dictate certain conditions,” he said on national television, as quoted by Interfax-Ukraine.
“After that the presidents will meet. It could take two weeks, three,” he added.
– Five killed in Russian shelling –
Russian shelling killed five civilians and wounded five others in two eastern Ukrainian cities Saturday, the Donetsk governor says.
Four of them died in the city of Vugledar, and one in the town of Novomikhaylovka, Pavlo Kyrylenko says in a Telegram post.
– Two bodies found in manhole –
At least two bodies have been discovered in a manhole at a petrol station west of Kyiv, an AFP reporter says.
The bodies appear to be clad in a mix of civilian and military clothing.
Ukraine says it has discovered a trail of civilian bodies in towns outside Kyiv from where the Russian army retreated, accusing Moscow of war crimes.
-‘Ukraine probes Russian war crimes’ –
Ukraine is examining the alleged culpability of 500 Russian leaders for thousands of war crimes, including President Vladimir Putin, a top official says.
Speaking on Britain’s Sky News, Ukrainian prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova also thanks Prime Minister Boris Johnson for his surprise visit to Kyiv on Saturday.
– Russian patriarch urges unity against ‘enemies’ –
Russia’s Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, calls for supporters to rally to fight Moscow’s “external and internal enemies”.
“In this difficult period for our fatherland, may the lord help each of us to unite, including around power,” the TASS news agency quotes him as saying.
Kirill, whose church has around 150 million followers, has repeatedly backed the Kremlin’s military operation in Ukraine in his sermons.
– Russian bank stripped of subsidiary –
Germany’s banking regulator says it has stripped Russia’s VTB of control over its European subsidiary as sanctions hit the second-biggest Russian bank over the war in Ukraine.
The Russian group “no longer has control” over its Germany-based subsidiary VTB Bank SE after a ban on exercising its right to vote, financial markets authority BaFin says in a statement.
The regulator says VTB can no longer access the financial assets of its subsidiary, which is now “completely isolated” from the Russian group.
– ‘Russians stole from Chernobyl’ –
Russian forces who occupied the Chernobyl nuclear plant stole radioactive substances from research laboratories that could potentially kill them, Ukraine’s State Agency for Managing the Exclusion Zone says.
Russian soldiers pillaged two laboratories in the area, the agency says on Facebook.
