Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:
– Russian flagship ‘seriously damaged’ but afloat –
Ukraine claims its missiles struck the Russian navy’s Black Sea flagship, causing a fire that “seriously damaged” the vessel, according to Moscow.
The Russian defence ministry says the warship, which has been used to launch missiles at Ukraine’s southern coast and interior, remains afloat.
The “Moskva” gained notoriety early in the war when it called on Ukrainian border troops defending the strategic Snake Island to surrender, only to be defiantly refused.
– Russia accuses Ukraine of attacks –
Kyiv rejects Moscow’s claim that it carried out attacks on Russian soil, accusing Moscow of staging “terror attacks” on its own territory to stir up “anti-Ukrainian hysteria” in the country.
Moscow claims Ukraine sent two helicopters across the border to bomb a town in Russia’s southern Bryansk region,
Russia, which initially reported seven injured in shelling, said at least six residential buildings were damaged and that a toddler was among the injured in the purported helicopter attack.
Elsewhere, the governor of Russia’s Belgorod region claims the village of Spodaryushino, “came under shelling” from the Ukrainian side of the border, and that it and a nearby village had been evacuated as a precaution.
There was no way of immediately verifying the reports.
– Ukraine resumes evacuations –
Ukraine says it is reopening humanitarian corridors through nine routes in the country’s east and south, to facilitate the evacuation of civilians from war-scarred regions after a day-long pause that Kyiv attributed to Russian violations.
– Genocide debate –
Leaders on either side of the Atlantic diverge on whether to label Russia’s actions in Ukraine as “genocide”.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says US President Joe Biden, who has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of genocide, was “right” in his choice of words.
But French President Emmanuel Macron, who is campaigning for re-election, said such “verbal escalations” were unhelpful, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz steers clear of using the term.
Ukraine’s parliament backs a resolution recognising the actions of the Russian military in the country as “genocide”.
– Bad weather could help Ukraine –
Rainy weather in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region could favour that country’s army in its fight against invading Russian forces, which are preparing a stronger offensive in the zone, a senior Pentagon official says.
“The fact that the ground is softer will make it harder for them to do anything off of paved highways,” said the official, who spoke under condition of anonymity.
– Diversifying Russian energy exports –
Russian President Vladimir Putin calls for diversification of energy exports towards Asia, while accusing European countries of destabilising the market by moving to cut out Russian deliveries.
Putin says at a televised government meeting on the energy sector Russia should continue in the direction it has taken in recent years and “step-by-step, shift the direction of our exports to the fast-growing markets of the South and East”.
– French embassy returns to Kyiv –
France says its embassy in Ukraine will return to the capital Kyiv from the western city of Lviv, where it had been relocated in early March after the Russian invasion.
“This redeployment will happen very soon and will allow France to deepen its backing for Ukraine even further in all spheres to face the war unleashed by Russia on February 24,” the foreign ministry says
– 4.7 million refugees –
More than 4.7 million Ukrainians have fled their country in the 50 days since Russia invaded, the United Nations says.
