Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:
– Deadly weekend shellings –
Weekend bombardments around Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine have claimed at least 12 lives, according to regional governor Oleg Synegubov.
“The Russian army continues to wage war on civilians due to a lack of victories at the front,” he says on Telegram.
On Sunday, the United Nations says 4,232 civilian casualties had been recorded in Ukraine to date, with 1,793 killed and 2,439 injured.
– Kyiv readies for battles in east –
Ukraine is preparing for “important battles” against Russian forces in the east of the country, officials in Kyiv say, as thousands of civilians flee in fear of an imminent offensive.
Evacuations resume from Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine, where a missile strike killed 52 people at a railway station Friday.
– More than 1,200 bodies found –
Accusing Moscow of war crimes, Ukraine says it has discovered a trail of more than 1,220 bodies outside Kyiv in towns where the Russian army has retreated.
“We have actually now, only for this morning, 1,222 dead people only in Kyiv region,” Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova tells Britain’s Sky News in an interview, without specifying how many of those were civilians.
She says 5,600 cases have been opened into alleged war crimes committed by Russian forces since the start of the February 24 invasion.
At least two bodies were discovered in a manhole at a petrol station west of Kyiv, an AFP reporter says.
– 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.
– More than 4.5 million flee Ukraine war –
More than 4.5 million Ukrainian refugees have now fled their country, the United Nations refugee agency says.
Ninety percent of those who have left are women and children, as the Ukrainian authorities do not allow men of military age to leave.
– Pro-Russia rally in Germany –
Pro-Russia protesters rally in Germany, with the country’s significant Russian-speaking population demanding an end to the discrimination it says it has suffered since the war began in Ukraine.
Germany is home to 1.2 million people of Russian origin and 325,000 from Ukraine. Authorities fear the conflict could be imported into Germany and the protests used to promote Moscow’s war narrative.
Police have recorded 383 anti-Russian offences and 181 anti-Ukrainian offences since the Kremlin’s invasion started on February 24.
– Dnipro airport destroyed –
The airport in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro has been 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.
– Biden, Modi to discuss Ukraine –
US President Joe Biden will meet virtually Monday with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, weeks after saying New Delhi has been “shaky” in its response to the invasion of Ukraine.
– Austrian leader to meet Putin –
Vienna says Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer will visit Putin in Moscow Monday, the first European leader to meet him since the invasion.
– EU to discuss new Russia sanctions –
EU foreign ministers are to discuss Monday a sixth round of sanctions on Moscow.
Although the sanctions that would hurt Russia the most — an EU boycott of its oil and gas exports — are not on the table formally, European Union diplomats acknowledge there are discussions about them.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly called for such EU embargoes, but the bloc remains divided over a ban on Russian energy imports.
– Bleak World Bank forecast –
Ukraine’s economy will collapse by 45.1 percent this year, the World Bank predicts, with the entire region suffering economic consequences from the war.
“Our forecasts show that the Russian invasion in Ukraine has reversed the region’s recovery from the pandemic,” said Anna Bjerde, World Bank vice president for Europe and Central Asia.
Should the conflict escalate, the Bank warned the region’s economy could contract by nearly nine percent — worse than the 2008 global financial crisis.
